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Regis High School

School rating 4 / 5 by

55 East 84th Street New York NY 10028 United States
Day
9th to 12th
Gender
Boys only

Academic

Regis High School review by .

When you make the decision to attend Regis, you are doing so because of their academic reputation. In my four years, it lived up to and exceeded that reputation in all academic areas. While all departments are exceptionally strong, I would have to say that I found Regis to be a more humanities based school, which is the norm for Jesuit schools. The English department is the most outstanding at the school, featuring several of the best teachers, including multiple who graduated Regis in the past 15 years, allowing them to connect with students very deeply. The history and theology departments are also full of incredibly smart, talented, and dedicated teachers that students learn immense amounts of knowledge from without even trying. These three departments also offer some of the most well-rounded courses, which have been refined continuously for decades, rendering them enjoyable for nearly every student. But the thing that makes Regis High School such an outstanding school for the humanities is the interplay between these various departments. These three different departments are in constant conversation with one another and, because of this, the courses are connected in such a way that students are encouraged to think in an interdisciplinary manner and get an panoramic view of whatever era or topic they are studying. This interplay in heightened by supplementary courses, such as the art history course in junior year, which ties into the European History, European Literature, and Ethics courses which the students are taking concurrently. It's important to note that the math and sciences at Regis are also very strong, if not quite as coherent with one another. I've felt extremely well prepared at Yale in Math, Science, and Humanities classes alike. I feel like I was especially well prepared by Regis for the writing required in college, both for papers and for essays on tests/finals. The one negative point is that there is not much room for class selection until senior year. Freshman, sophomore, and junior year students are all on essentially the same track, although all of those courses are fantastic Students are also encouraged to think for themselves by the classroom style that pervades the school. None of the classes at Regis are lecture based; they all are founded upon discussion, and many, especially in english, are exclusively based upon group discussions. Even science and math classes take an interactive approach to learning, and it's nearly impossible to find yourself bored in class. Many of my teachers remarked that their goal for the class was for it to simply be a discussion among peers, with the teacher just being another student, contributing thoughts, but still open to learning. The courses that ended up like this--of which there were several--were truly incredible. However, this classroom philosophy can only be carried out if there are two things present: fantastic teachers and intelligent, motivated classmates. Luckily, both those are the norm at Regis. The teachers are all experts in their fields, excellent at teaching, and able to authentically connect with students. The students, by virtue of admissions being so selective, are also all incredible. Even Yale included, I have never been in a community where I was surrounded by such intelligent peers. Classroom discussions never failed to be outstandingly enriching, and they are unparalled, even compared to my ones at Yale. It's also a virtuous circle since so many alumni come back to teach after college. Class size is about 13 students per humanities class, and a very manageable 20-25 for math and science courses. The teachers are all easily accessible and willing to lend help to any student who simply asks. The "resource center" structure, where a department has one large room, completely open to students, where all the teachers have their desks, makes it easy for students to get help from teachers and also to connect with them outside the class room. Help is also available from several peer tutoring groups. Students looking to augment their studies at a more advanced level can also find outlets, especially in the science and math departments, which offer advanced courses and credits for year-long research projects. The workload is quite heavy, especially if the student is commuting. Students can expect to be doing a minimum of 3 hours of work per night, and upwards of 5 hours per night during busy times. That said, the work is manageable and pays off in the end. Most students come back from college firm in the belief that Regis was more difficult, which says something about the preparation it gave them.

College Counseling

I could not have been more pleased with the college guidance department at Regis. I....

Sample insights on college counseling

  • They have contacts at most of the major universities and feel perfectly comfortable picking up the phone and advocating for a student to get accepted somewhere they feel is a good fit for that student. However, these counselors are certainly not magic bullets. They cannot guarantee that a student will get into an Ivy League university...
  • For those wishing to move on to Oxford or Cambridge, the provision is second-to-none. In the months running up to application and interview, every subject faculty offers classes (often run by former Oxbridge tutors) exploring further areas of their subject as well as offering advice on personal statements, interview technique and more...

Admissions - Getting Accepted

The Regis admissions process begins with an application and a test. The application features a....

Sample insights on admissions

  • For the interview, dress conservatively. Try to be very clean and put together. Also, I was a tour guide for two years and at the end of every tour, we were asked to evaluate the candidate so if you think the tour is not apart of the process, you are very wrong. Ask questions and be interested. Also, tip for the parents: the kids speak on the tour. Do not ask their questions for them...
  • Most younger siblings have an easy time in the admissions process. I can only think of one case of a younger sibling not being admitted. About half of the students who entered with me had come from public schools. The remainder came from private K-6 schools, or had transferred from other New York private schools The Elizabeth Morrow School and St. Bernard were two of the larger feeder schools...

School Life

Regis is located in a wonderful building nestled in the Upper East Side of New York, probably the nicest and safest area of the city. The building is upkept wonderfully, and the classroom, library, and lab facilities are always state of the art. The cafeteria is undoubtedly a cafeteria, although the food is decent enough to keep you from bringing lunch from home. There are numerous study spaces throughout the building and students' schedules are set up with free time so as to encourage them to manage their time wisely and try to get some homework done during the school....

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