Boarding School - Why or Why Not?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to one of the 'big 3.' I grew up in a suburb of NY without elite day schools. I dont know enough about the schools here - maybe if you live here it isn't worth it. There were a lot of things I didn't like about boarding school, but I will say this - the academic and intellectual experience was incredible - so much so that college (HYP) paled in comparison until junior year when I started in upper level classes in my major. Also, as pps mentioned, the resources were amazing - we're talking school radio stations, rowing teams, diving, things most high school kids would never be exposed to. Not to mention the interaction with the amazing faculty. And for a smart girl, it was so refreshing to have intelligence taken out of the social equation - everyone was smart, so you weren't automatically a 'nerd' for talking in class or getting good grades. For the right kid, I think it can be an amazing experience. I wasn't that kid, and I didn't like it, but my brother thrived and there is no doubt it changed his life for the better.

+1. For a really smart, driven, independent kid, the day schools don't even come close.
It took my peers in college (HYP like pp) at least 2 years to catch up to those of us from what pp referred to as "the big 3". Which meant we were able to get a lot more out of our college experience, in some ways, too.

Hmmm -- I went to a top suburban public and then HYP. I'd say it took about a semester for me to "catch up" with the Exeter/Andover types, and within a year, my roommate, who went to a lousy consolidated rural public school, was nipping at our heels. Interestingly, my kids, grads of a "Big 3" day school, have made exactly the same observation about their HYP classmates.

[Anonymous]

DC-area residents live in fantasy land. Top schools here are at best average nationally. Except for Thomas Jefferson, there is no other school here that is on the same level of the top boarding schools and the top prep schools in NYC and Boston. Don't get me wrong, the areas top prep and public schools are strong, but people need to pull off the blinders and realize that DC is not the center of universe. I moved to the area a few years ago and realized that this beltway culture that everyone told me about is true. People here are clueless about what life is like elsewhere and this post is proof. Get real folks, attending one of the top boarding schools will provide a great academic, athletic, and social experience beyond what most top DC-area schools offer. These schools are not for everyone but to argue that DC-area schools can offer a similar better experience is "crazy talk."

[Anonymous]

Our family has several members who went to boarding school.

My mother went to bs because she was orphaned at a young age. She had a scholarship to an elite boarding school. It was very difficult socially because of the wealth and families of the other students. However, it was a good education and she lived a very different life after school than she would have been able to live if she had not gone to the school.

My FIL went to an eastern boarding school because his father suffered from health issues and retired at a very young age. It was a great success for him – went to Ivy, very successful. It boosted his social EQ tremendously and he is very charming and personable yet tough when he needs to be.

My nephew teaches at a military boarding school. He went to boarding school due to both illness in the family and lack of a good school where he lived. Some of his students friended me on fb. They are extremely proud of themselves and doing well in life (after school is over and they are adults). The number of people who are successful in life after military boarding school is extensive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lots of drugs and alchohol.

There is incredible disdain for students who waste their lives with drugs. That is seen as the ultimate loser move. HS -- that is how they think.

[Anonymous]

I've observed that people who went to boarding such versus private day schools:
A) are quite good at maneuvering the social scene of college
B) have terrible table manners, and
C) are awful drivers

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Haven't yet read all the posts to this thread, but have to say, I am laughing. Daughter #1 transferred to one of what us known on college confidential a "HADES" schools. #2 is currently at a highly regarded New England school, studying abroad this year. Both had been in MCPS; both asked to go. No boarding or private school tradition in our families. We're a normal, happy, close family that loves each other.

It's been fantastic. I feel like we -- and must importantly they -- won the lottery.

And in a way we have. All the folks here who talk about the great local options... Ahem... Perhaps if you're full pay, and even then a whole lot of kids chasing very few slots. But if you need financial aid? (We're typical well-educated DC-area government worker / nonprofit professional types.) Lots of luck. There's no way my kids would have been able to attend a "big three" (let alone others) because the money just isn't there in the same way. At boarding school we're paying a fraction of what local private school would cost and my kids are getting a superior education. The worries about drugs... "caffeine abuse"... And multiple other horrors ascribed to boarding school? Keep telling yourselves that, Lol. (As if that stuff doesn't exist everywhere, both private and public.) Just means more opportunities to those savvy families and kids who have figured out a way to get world class educations and experiences for themselves.

I agree that the top boarding schools offer an unparalleled education. The education I had there was superior to what I received at the Ivy League college I attended. Nothing else came close.

But while my sibling and I went to an excellent boarding school, and the educational experience was transformative for me, I would still never send my kids to boarding school barring some sort of unusual circumstance. Adolescence can be a fraught time, and I want to be there parenting my kid as best I can during those years. I don't personally regret attending boarding school but I do not believe that it served my relationship with my parents well. This is even truer for my sibling, who started boarding school younger than I did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC-area residents live in fantasy land. Top schools here are at best average nationally. Except for Thomas Jefferson, there is no other school here that is on the same level of the top boarding schools and the top prep schools in NYC and Boston. Don't get me wrong, the areas top prep and public schools are strong, but people need to pull off the blinders and realize that DC is not the center of universe. I moved to the area a few years ago and realized that this beltway culture that everyone told me about is true. People here are clueless about what life is like elsewhere and this post is proof. Get real folks, attending one of the top boarding schools will provide a great academic, athletic, and social experience beyond what most top DC-area schools offer. These schools are not for everyone but to argue that DC-area schools can offer a similar better experience is "crazy talk."

We're not talking about "most top dc area schools." We're talking about ncs, sta, and sidwell. My friends and I, all at top ten colleges, ncluding hyp, though our education at ncs was better than at college.

[Anonymous]

For people who are saying kids can do drugs anywhere, that's true.
But if your kid is at your home, you can see and smell him when he gets home from school and after going out. Your kid sneaks out of his dorm room in boarding school at 2am to smoke pot or sneaks some alcohol in the dorm, there's a much greater chance the dorm parent who is supervising forty kids isn't going to notice (assuming you are a decent parent).

[Anonymous]

Makers of men, creators of leaders be careful what kind of leaders you are making here.

[Anonymous]

HYP Harvard Yale Princeton?

[Anonymous]

We're not talking about "most top dc area schools." We're talking about ncs, sta, and sidwell. My friends and I, all at top ten colleges, ncluding hyp, though our education at ncs was better than at college.

I went to a suburban school that was one of the top non-selective admissions high schools in the country, and people said this sort of crap about college there too (even, yes, HYP). I went to a rigorous small LAC, and did not experience this, and one of my teachers said that it spoke very highly of my college that I didn't find my freshman year to be vastly easier. Perhaps this has more to do with the state of undergraduate education at even the most selective universities and how the resources are allocated (to research with teaching being an afterthought), or perhaps boosters will say what they will about their school. People who went to prep schools also had their ass kicked at this LAC.

But I will say that if you look at rankings (a flawed measure, to be sure) of the top 20 or whatever prep schools, all the DC prep schools (yes, even NCS/STA and Sidwell) come in the middle of the pack nationally (top prep schools: http://www.forbes.com/2010/04/29/best-prep-schools-2010-opinions-private-education.html; top day schools:http://www.thebestschools.org/blog/2013/04/30/50-private-day-schools-united-states/

So if you are talking about how people perceive prestige nationally, or which is more likely to draw a higher caliber of student and have a large endowment that offers opportunities, the NE prep boarding schools have an advantage over DC prep schools. The prep schools in DC are fantastic schools, but the world does not center around DC, which is what people are trying to get across here. The degree to which it matters is questionable to say the least.

[Anonymous]

Well said.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ok, here's a better way of articulating it:

1) You are at no disadvantage being in the middle of nowhere because the facilities are fantastic. In that sense, it's like being at a liberal arts college.

2) You are competing with a larger pool of people who came nationally rather than regionally. You might meet someone from a rural area or someone from Texas or California or Chicago. Or someone from China or Europe. Maybe this is not so important, but I think it would certainly shape your academic experience and networking potential

3) If financial aid is a concern, you might have better luck getting it at boarding schools rather than day schools due to the size of the endowment and need blind policies

4) You are living at school, so you don't have to worry about commuting eating into homework time. You also get a sense of independence.

5) The course catalogs at some of these schools have more offerings than even Sidwell or STA.

Do the boarding schools provide need-blind, full-tuition financial scholarships? If so, they sound like a great option for anyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC-area residents live in fantasy land. Top schools here are at best average nationally. Except for Thomas Jefferson, there is no other school here that is on the same level of the top boarding schools and the top prep schools in NYC and Boston. Don't get me wrong, the areas top prep and public schools are strong, but people need to pull off the blinders and realize that DC is not the center of universe. I moved to the area a few years ago and realized that this beltway culture that everyone told me about is true. People here are clueless about what life is like elsewhere and this post is proof. Get real folks, attending one of the top boarding schools will provide a great academic, athletic, and social experience beyond what most top DC-area schools offer. These schools are not for everyone but to argue that DC-area schools can offer a similar better experience is "crazy talk."

We're not talking about "most top dc area schools." We're talking about ncs, sta, and sidwell. My friends and I, all at top ten colleges, ncluding hyp, though our education at ncs was better than at college.

What do posters think of boarding at STAs?

[Anonymous]

Do the boarding schools provide need-blind, full-tuition financial scholarships? If so, they sound like a great option for anyone.

Yes, the wealthiest, most prestigious ones do. Andover and Exeter are need blind and provide full financial aid for students whose family's income is 70K or less (which you can do with a 1 billion dollar endowment). Other schools offer many full scholarships and financial aid, although are not as public about their cutoff is. At many of these schools 50% of students receive some amount of financial aid.