GROTON SCHOOL · PRIVATE SCHOOL GUIDE
Groton has about 380 students on a 480-acre campus in Groton, Massachusetts. Start here to picture daily life and prepare each part of your application.
Fall 2027 entry
GET TO KNOW THE SCHOOL
Groton calls its grades forms, from Second Form (eighth grade) to Sixth Form (twelfth grade). For fall 2027, boarding and day students can join in grades 8, 9, 10, and 11.
IN CLASS
The year has three terms, and Wednesdays and Saturdays are half days.
IN YOUR DORM
Faculty heads live in apartments in the dorms. Younger forms live separately, with Sixth Form prefects, and older students share dorms across forms.
AFTER CLASS
Every student does one each term, and there are more than 40 student organizations too.
Most advisers meet their students one-on-one regularly, and advisee groups meet every Thursday. Your adviser is also your parents’ first contact.
To graduate: Groton’s 2026–27 catalog asks for English through the fall of Sixth Form, two years of lab science, three years of language study, modern global and U.S. history, a term of religion, and three art credits plus art in Third Form. Math runs through Precalculus or through Fifth Form, whichever comes later.
Languages: Groton teaches Chinese, French, Spanish, Latin, and Greek, and new Third Formers take Latin.
As a senior: Sixth Formers with a strong background can propose an independent tutorial. In the spring, seniors who have met their diploma requirements can apply for a Senior Intensive: one regular course plus a faculty-designed independent program.
Entry points: Grade 11 is the last year you can join; there’s no grade 12 or postgraduate entry.
Placement: New students take placement tests in math and languages in the spring. If you think you’ve already taken your form’s suggested science course, send the science department head a syllabus description and your textbook’s name by May 1.
Diploma requirements: Ask each department which courses you still need, especially in math, the arts, and lab science.
Your room: Second Formers live in curtained singles and Third Formers in doubles, and older students mostly share doubles.
Evening study: The younger forms have supervised study, Fourth Formers study in their rooms, and Fifth Formers get more freedom.
Counseling: Groton’s counseling team has three licensed clinicians and a well-being educator. Any student can have individual counseling, and campus care comes at no additional charge.
Learning support: Groton offers skills coaching, peer tutoring, and Student Learning Plans for documented disabilities, reviewed twice a year. If a learning difference appears and testing is recommended, Groton requires full neuropsychological testing by a licensed practitioner.
Phones and laptops: You don’t need a phone, and some dorms don’t allow one after lights-out, so pack an alarm clock. Every student gets a school-managed Mac laptop.
UNDERSTAND WHAT GROTON LOOKS FOR
Groton publishes no formula for weighing your application. Its mission names character, scholarship, leadership, and service, and its core values say what character means there.
YOUR CHARACTER
Groton’s core values are “Personal integrity,” “Empathy and selflessness,” and “Courage and resilience.”
Letrado’s adviceShow those values in action, not as adjectives. Owning a mistake says more about integrity than the word does.
YOUR LEARNING
Groton says it reads test scores in light of your educational background.
Letrado’s adviceRigor counts relative to your own school. Take the most demanding courses you can do well in.
YOUR COMMUNITY
Groton’s mission also speaks of contributing to an inclusive community.
Letrado’s advicePick two or three commitments you know well and show your part in each.
WHAT GROTON DESCRIBES
A student-led tour, then your interview
Strongly encouraged in the summer if your family can’t visit
Up to five minutes, in place of an interview
To book, submit your Gateway Candidate Profile. Within 24 hours, Groton emails you access to its portal, where you choose a time. After November 15, send your test results or your first-term school report, or both, before you request a remote interview.
For the video, Groton wants a simple introduction to you, your interests, and your hopes, without heavy rehearsal or editing.
WHAT GROTON AND GATEWAY SAY
Groton’s sample candidate statement asks you to certify that the “ideas in the Candidate Statement, and their expression, are essentially your own.” It acknowledges that you may receive occasional advice.
Gateway’s Candidate Profile asks you to certify that everything you submit, including your essays, is “factually accurate and honestly presented.” False information can cost you your place.
GROTON’S SAMPLE DAY
Groton’s 2026–27 catalog is clear about private tutoring: “the school does not support the use of outside tutors for any reasons in any classes during term-time.” That covers help in person, on Zoom, or in shared documents.
GROTON’S PUBLISHED FIGURES
PLAN THE APPLICATION
Groton uses Gateway to Prep Schools for the application, and its own portal for interviews, your application status, and multimedia. It prefers tests in November or December, though January still works.
Application and aid
Jan 15, 2027Decisions
Mar 10Dates without a year are as Groton lists them.
Start with the Candidate Profile. The fee is $50 for domestic and international applicants alike; ask the admission office about a waiver.
From your current English and math teachers and your principal or counselor, plus a personal or special-interest recommendation, or both. Your school sends this year’s first marking period and the two previous years.
Required. Grade 8: the Middle or Upper Level SSAT (Secondary School Admission Test) or the ISEE (Independent School Entrance Exam). Grade 9: the Upper Level SSAT or the ISEE. Grades 10 and 11: see the testing notes below.
On campus or by video chat, or a short video instead.
A candidate statement, a parent statement, and a graded writing sample, in Part 2 of the Gateway application. Groton asks for the paper in English and prefers nonfiction from this school year.
Grade 10: Take the Upper Level SSAT or the ISEE, which both of Groton’s lists accept. If you’d rather send the PSAT, SAT, or ACT, confirm with Groton first.
Grade 11: Groton’s pages list the SSAT, PSAT, SAT, ACT, and ISEE. Confirm your choice with Groton before you book.
Which level: For the SSAT, the level follows the grade you select when you register: Upper Level for grades 8 to 11, Middle Level for grades 5 to 7. The ISEE follows the grade you’re applying for: Upper Level for grades 9 to 12, Middle Level for grades 7 and 8.
Sending scores: Scores must come straight from the testing agency. Groton’s codes are 3598 for the SSAT and 220930 for the ISEE.
Fee waivers: Groton considers SSAT and ISEE fee waivers once you’ve submitted the Candidate Profile and Clarity and emailed a request with your previous year’s household income. After November 1, add last year’s transcript.
English tests: If English isn’t your first language and you haven’t spent the past two years at an English-language school, plan on a test. If English is your first language but you haven’t had those two years, ask Groton whether you need one.
Typical scores: Groton accepts the TOEFL iBT, IELTS, and Duolingo English Test, and admitted international students tend to score above 5, 7.5, and 125. These are typical scores, not minimums. TOEFL has used a 1 to 6 scale since January 21, 2026, and Groton’s TOEFL code is 8224.
Breaks: Campus closes for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Winter Long Weekend, and March vacations. Every student must leave, and no one can return early.
Travel: School buses run to Boston, Logan Airport, Manchester, and other stops. Book flights home for 2 p.m. or later: Groton doesn’t allow early departures for overseas flights and can’t provide airport escorts.
A family nearby: Groton parents who live nearby can volunteer as off-campus contacts for international students.
Part 1: The Candidate Profile, which can go to several schools.
Part 2: Groton’s own pieces, which you submit after Part 1 and the fee.
Part 3: You request recommendations and school records, and your teachers and school complete them. You can’t fill them in yourself.
Your grade and status: Settle your entry grade and boarding or day status before you add Groton. To change either later, contact Groton.
With a community-based organization: Groton accepts the Standard Application Online (SAO) for community-based organizations or your program’s own application. You still send an inquiry and the Gateway Candidate Profile, and register for an interview, in person or online.
WRITE IN YOUR OWN VOICE
Four short answers and one longer responseIn the sample Groton posts, each short answer allows up to 750 characters (about 150 words), and the longer response up to 3,000 characters (about 500 words). The sample may be from an earlier year, so follow your Gateway application.
The themes below come from that sample. Your parents write a statement of their own.
Letrado’s advicePick small, true moments you remember clearly, and write them the way you’d tell a friend.
Choose one thing you did, and show what changed.
A team, a class, or your family can count, and so can jobs no one sees.
Include what went wrong and how you fixed it.
Say exactly where the idea showed up outside class.
Imagine looking back on the opportunities you took. Name real ones, like a Senior Intensive, and say why they fit you.
Groton’s sample asks your parents what delights them about your character and mind, how you’ve grown, why they want Groton for you, and about any irregular schooling or discipline. Their signatures let Groton request your records, including disciplinary records.
MAKE ROOM FOR THE FINANCIAL QUESTION
In 2026–27, 40% of Groton students receive financial aid, from a $7.6 million budget. Groton gives no merit awards, and international families can apply for aid.
INCOME OF $150,000 OR LESS
for domestic and international families whose assets are in line with their income and who apply through Clarity with tax returns. Groton adds money for expenses, and the support lasts while finances stay the same.
INCOME ABOVE $150,000
Groton’s 2026–27 table shows families receiving aid in every income band, including incomes above $300,000.
AIDED FAMILIES · 2026–27
average family contribution for boarders on aid, and $11,958 for day students.
Assets, other children’s tuition, family size, and debt also shape each award.
Groton’s tuition and affordability (opens in a new tab)PUBLISHED 2026–27 TUITION · BOARDING
$62,740Day tuition is $48,850.
For fall 2027 entry, use the 2027–28 costs when Groton publishes them.
Tuition and fees, in Groton’s fast facts (opens in a new tab)
AI illustrationLetrado’s adviceBecause admission is need-blind, asking for aid can’t count against you, so apply if there’s any doubt.
Many aided students also get help with summer programs, global education trips, travel, books and laptops, spending money, and parents’ visits.
What Groton’s aid covers (opens in a new tab)ADMITTED TO GROTON · M.B.
She was a French-Moroccan student at a bilingual school near Paris, applying for grade 10, and her family kept comparing her with an older brother who had collected debate prizes. We helped her choose what she valued and keep her writing clear and still hers.
She listed backstage theater work and helping younger students rehearse as real commitments, rather than copying her brother’s pattern.
She recorded two relatives who remembered the same family move differently. She began by asking who was right and ended by noticing what each memory protected. She wrote it herself.
She practiced asking when she didn’t understand an idiom, and her family agreed not to rank her school choice against her brother’s experience.
You don’t need one spectacular credential. M.B.’s application held together through her own voice and her own choices.
AI illustrationHER GROTON OUTCOME
Offered a place at Groton School
HER CHOICE: ST. ANDREW’SFront lawn, St. Andrew’s School · Photo: Clemens Robinson / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Cropped.
She compared discussion culture, theater, the closeness of residential life, language support, and distance from home. Groton offered different strengths, but St. Andrew’s smaller, all-boarding community and its approach to discussion felt less performative to her.
ALSO ADMITTED TO
St. Andrew’s SchoolWHEN YOU’D LIKE A HAND
Bring your questions to a free 45-minute introduction with your proposed mentor. Afterward, we’ll email a personalized plan with recommended next steps.
