Webb Schools review by Princeton University student.
The Webb Schools are what you make of them. If you are a competitive student, always wanting to challenge yourself, you will find yourself on a tough track with great teachers. If you do not challenge yourself, nobody is going to make you take hard classes. The school is small, and so everybody knows which teachers are good and which are not good. Most older students are more than willing to offer their advice. The strange thing about the Webb Schools is that the majority of classes are single-sex classes until the junior year. Language and elective classes are always co-ed, but non-AP freshman English, science, math, and history classes are single-sex. I actually found this nice. I shared a campus with boys and interacted with them in some classes, but it was easier to speak up in an English class without loud, obnoxious pubescent boys. My AP Spanish Language, AP English Literature, and AP Biology classes definitely prepared me for a Princeton workload. For upper level classes, the workload can be rather heavy: sometimes 4-6 hours of work for one day. Honors and AP classes obviously tend to require more time and effort than normal classes. My average class size was, I would say, about 10. The largest class I ever had was 17, which is the max size (it was a popular AP course). During school, freshman have required Study Hall (or did while I was a student), and boarding students have quiet study hours at night. Also, the Webb Schools use a rotating schedule for classes, and every student is required to have a "free period" (used, presumably, for schoolwork). The teachers on campus are very accessible. It is a boarding school, so a lot of the teachers live on campus. Even though teachers are required available for "Extra Help" hours, usually they will go above and beyond to help their students do better. Given the small class sizes and the close quarters, the faculty often gets know the students on a personal level.
Webb School has one college guidance counselor. His name is Mr. Martinez. He.... Get the real inside story on college counseling at Webb Schools as experienced by former pupil and Princeton University student — Login or Sign Up to access full review
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...
The school favors kids with something different about them. I went to public school.... Get in-depth insights and personal advice on admissions to Webb Schools by former pupil and Princeton University student — Login or Sign Up to access full review
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...
Webb is probably the safest place in southern California. Claremont is a wealthy suburb. Campus is two minutes away from the Claremont Colleges. It is a very nice little town. Even on campus, the students have an unspoken agreement that allows everyone to leave their backpack anywhere on campus without having to worry about it being stolen. Thefts are rare, and they are a HUGE deal when they do happen. It is important to the students to be able to leave their things anywhere--to be able to drop their backpacks outside the dining hall before going.... Get the real inside story on quality of school life and extracurricular offerings at Webb Schools as experienced by former pupil and Princeton University student — Login or Sign Up to access full review