Reply to Boarding School - Why or Why Not?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]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.  [/quote]

+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. 
[/quote]

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.        [/quote]

I'm the first PP here.  The multiple responses just show how competitive minded you all are.  I didnt say anything about being 'ahead' of my peers at HYP or that they needed to 'catch up' - what I said was that the intellectual environment at Andover was far superior.  In other words, not grades, but in how much I actually learned and took away from my teachers and classmates.  For some kids, that matters.  If all you care about is summa cum laude at the end of the line, be my guest.[/quote]

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