<p>This thread about English/History in boarding school (<a href="http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/prep-school-parents/1539769-english-history-at-prep-schools.html">http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/prep-school-parents/1539769-english-history-at-prep-schools.html</a>) makes me wondering whether boarding school is a good fit for a STEM-oriented, but not so humanity-oriented kid. If a kid is good at math and science, but does not enjoy writing essays and lengthy history research paper, will he be happy attending a boarding school which has a rigorous curriculum in English and History? Should he spend a lot of his high school time and efforts working on something that he is not passionate about, just for the sake of good grades? What are your thoughts?</p>
<p>It depends on what your kid’s goals are. The ability to write well can be important in many STEM careers. If your kid is interested in attending a highly selective college, they will expect to see high proficiency in the humanities as well as math and science.</p>
<p>Depending on the school, you do have some flexibility in class selection. At my kids’s school (Concord) you have to take 4 years of English (probably the case everywhere), but only 5 semesters of history. Science-oriented students may do that and double up on science and/or math classes in their last two years. All English classes in junior and senior year are electives, so there are plenty of options for students who don’t want to be writing essays all the time (examples: screenwriting, fiction, various other forms of creative writing).</p>
<p>In addition, your kid might be surprised to find he enjoys humanities classes in a private school. History was my kid’s least favorite class in middle school but has become the favorite in high school. Part of the appeal was the ability to choose which history classes to take starting in freshman year.</p>
<p>Spend some time lookin at last year’s “AP Report to the Nation.” <a href=“http://apreport.collegeboard.org%5B/url%5D”>http://apreport.collegeboard.org</a></p>
<p>If your son hasn’t entered high school yet, it may be early to determine what he’ll be interested in, in four years. The quality of instruction influences a student’s interest in a subject, particularly in the humanities. A student who’s “not interested” in the humanities may not have had a good teacher. The typical middle school curriculum is also not intrinsically interesting. It’s social studies, rather than history. The language instruction is slow, in comparison to high school. </p>
<p>It depends on the sort of college you have your eyes on. I see lots of discussion of “hard” vs. “soft” APs on this site. There seems to be the idea that students should present APs in math and science. And yet, many of the leading universities teach the liberal arts. They have large history, English, philosophy, and language departments, as well as math and science departments. They have tenured people who teach this stuff. And time has shown that smart people who become politicians and lawyers have a good chance of ending up in positions of influence. </p>
<p>Who stands out more, among the students who earn a 5 on the AP? One of the 35,687 who scored a 5 on the 2013 AP Calc BC exam? Or one of the 203 students who scored a 5 on the Italian AP? One of the 458 who scored a 5 on the Latin exam? (only 3,545 students took the Latin exam; only 1,495 students took the Italian exam.)</p>
<p>I have the impression that students who do well in math also do well in the sciences; thus, of the 35,687 students who scored a 5 on Calc BC, I’d wager a good number scored a 5 on Bio/Chem/Physics. So how does one distinguish between them? The kid who does well in both sciences and humanities may really stand out.</p>
<p>Boarding school ought to be a great choice for a STEM-oriented child, and all of these schools are used to seeing exceptionally talented children in the math and science departments. While it’s great that he has raw talent and knows where he kind of wants to end up, it’s important to remember that he does have four to eight years to really figure it out. It’s important that he be a good writer and have a working knowledge of world history, just for the sake of being an educated and well-rounded member of society, and also for his future career. So, while he may not like it, writing papers and researching historical events is something he will have to do. However, boarding school also brings with it a multitude of choices, opportunities, and classes that can and will change his life. These choices will help him with STEM, because he will be able to pick and choose more of his classes, allowing him to advance and be more challenged. So I would keep STEM in mind, but take a look at the humanities departments at schools for a good sense of the overall education and for your son. </p>
<p>All you need to do is visit one of the boarding schools with a relatively new science building (like St. Paul’s or Deerfield) to know the answer to this. The facilities are amazing, and couldn’t possibly be matched by any public school. Your kid’s going to have to take English and history no matter what school he goes to, he may as well do it somewhere with stupendously good math and science programs too.</p>
<p>STEM at boarding schools is an important topic and one that will interest many. I concur with the replies so far and might add a few more bits…The universe of boarding schools is quite broad and some will most certainly provide a great STEM environment whilst some will not. So, as always, it is best to do your research and find those schools that best suit your student. One terrific aspect of boarding schools is the custom of placing incoming students according to their abilities and prior education rather than their age or grade level. If your STEM student is very advanced, many boarding schools can accommodate him with commensurate courses and some will place very advanced students in nearby college courses. He is also likely to find other STEM wonks to study and pal around with and those may well be world class wonks that the local high school can’t offer. The points made previously about boarding school writing and humanities courses merit more ink: if college placement is important to you and your son, his ability to nail an interview and application essays could put him at the front of the line of other STEM aces. Boarding schools are particularly good at enhancing students’ communication and critical skills, aspects that crop up quite a bit in STEM careers should he continue on that path.</p>
<p>We chose boarding school BECAUSE my D was so advanced in math and science. Take a look at the course catalogues - the strongest schools offer 6 years of post calculus math, for example, right through graduate level classes. After AP biology, chemistry and physics there is moleculat genetics research, astrophysics, organic chemistry and the list just goes on. For us, the appeal was that it was happening ON CAMPUS with PEERS rather than traveling to unfamiliar colleges with difficult transportation challenges. </p>
<p>And we got surprised - she remained in STEM, but also found she loved history! </p>