High School Students Are Betting That Paying $40,000 a Semester to Do Farm Work Will Help Them Get Into College
The Mountain School promotes alumni acceptance to selective universities, including Harvard, Brown, Dartmouth and UC Berkeley.
Key Takeaways
- Vermont’s Mountain School charges students about $40,000 for a semester of academics, farm work and communal living.
- Students clean, cook, tend animals, harvest crops and maintain shared spaces across the school’s 418-acre campus.
- Some students view the school as a differentiator in the increasingly competitive college admissions process, alongside rigorous classes such as AP Calculus.
At Vermont’s Mountain School, students pay $40,000 to trade conventional classrooms for farm work and communal chores for a semester. According to a recent report from The Wall Street Journal, students are eager to explore a life with less technology — and get into a top college.
High school students wash dishes, clean classrooms, prepare vegetables and maintain irrigation systems across the school’s 418-acre campus. They also harvest corn, herd sheep, care for cows and chop wood. Around 30% of Mountain School students receive financial aid.
Student Max Sherman told the Journal that he enjoys dish duty. A notice outside the bathroom credited him with a week of cleaning the composting toilet, asking classmates to thank him if it was clean, or tell him if it was not.
For some families, the program offers a break from screens and a broader education. Others see it as a possible edge in the increasingly competitive college admissions process.
Many participants come from affluent households where chores were not routine. Alex Myers, the school’s director, said some students arrive without basic cleaning skills. He has watched teens attempt to sweep without letting the broom touch the floor, and has had to help them.
Myers told the Journal that the Mountain School program tells college admissions officers that students are willing to take a risk to learn more about themselves.
The Mountain School helped establish the semester-away model for high-school students in the 1980s. Similar programs have since emerged, often with similarly steep tuition.
At the Island School in the Bahamas, students study marine biology and sustainability through activities including scuba diving. The Alzar School in Cascade, Idaho takes students white-water rafting during semesters divided between Idaho and Chilean Patagonia.
Dreams of a top college and corporate jobs
Thomas Whitney, whose daughter attends the Mountain School and who graduated from it himself, told the Journal that the work is about more than chores. It is also a lesson in adulthood.
His daughter, Estela, feeds piglets and refills their water at the school. She once showed up hours late, leaving the animals hungry. “I’m going to be a lot more careful to not make that mistake again,” she told the Journal.
Estela, who lives in Buenos Aires and hopes to attend college in the U.S., also sees the program as a way to strengthen her college applications. Mountain School attracts high-performing students nationally and combines courses such as AP Calculus with environmental science and “creative handiwork.”
“I have good enough grades to get into a good college, but I want something that’ll make me stand out,” she said.
The school’s Instagram highlights alumni admissions to Harvard, Brown, Dartmouth and UC Berkeley. Leland Whitehouse, the Mountain School’s admissions director and an alumnus, said its college-placement record is strong.
Milton Academy, an elite Massachusetts private school, owns the Mountain School. After college, many Mountain School graduates move into corporate careers. Myers said alumni are particularly well represented at Goldman Sachs.
Key Takeaways
- Vermont’s Mountain School charges students about $40,000 for a semester of academics, farm work and communal living.
- Students clean, cook, tend animals, harvest crops and maintain shared spaces across the school’s 418-acre campus.
- Some students view the school as a differentiator in the increasingly competitive college admissions process, alongside rigorous classes such as AP Calculus.
At Vermont’s Mountain School, students pay $40,000 to trade conventional classrooms for farm work and communal chores for a semester. According to a recent report from The Wall Street Journal, students are eager to explore a life with less technology — and get into a top college.
High school students wash dishes, clean classrooms, prepare vegetables and maintain irrigation systems across the school’s 418-acre campus. They also harvest corn, herd sheep, care for cows and chop wood. Around 30% of Mountain School students receive financial aid.
Student Max Sherman told the Journal that he enjoys dish duty. A notice outside the bathroom credited him with a week of cleaning the composting toilet, asking classmates to thank him if it was clean, or tell him if it was not.
