Boarding School or Study Abroad?

<p>Okay well ever since last year I've wanted to go to Boarding School but at the same time I really want to study abroad! I'm going to be a sophomore in high school this August so if I was applying to boarding school then I'd be applying for my Junior year. I heard there are really slim chances if you apply as a Junior. Then again I want to be an exchange student next year which would be my Junior year. What should I do? Both are once in a lifetime opportunities.</p>

<p>Being an exchange student to somewhere like France, Sweden or Italy would be amazing, but so would boarding school!</p>

<p>Help please?</p>

<p>Do you speak any of those languages?</p>

<p>I've always been discouraged from studying abroad since my foriegn language is Latin. </p>

<p>Why not apply for boarding school, see if you make it and where you make it and go from there? I'm not sure how well this would work with going for the study abroad programs, but I thought I'd throw and idea out there.</p>

<p>No, I don't speak any of those languages fluently but I do take French in school. For foreign exchange programs you don't necessarily have to know the language though :) Learning the language is part of the whole exchange thing. Most exchange programs don't have a language requirement.</p>

<p>Most, if not all, of the boarding schools have study abroad and it is usually in junior year. Maybe you could do both :)</p>

<p>if you would like to go to boarding school for senior year I would go to boarding school with a study aboard program. If you really want to learn french then go to boarding school there for two years.</p>

<p>Since you would be entering as a junior it might be hard to go abroad during the school year. You would only have 4 semesters to integrate yourself into the school as it is - giving up 1 or 2 of them might be very disruptive. Instead you might consider a summer study abroad program. Some are merely 'teen tours' but others are pretty serious. I recommend you look into EIL, the Experiment in International Living, based in Brattleboro, Vermont. AFS also has summer study abroad programs. Neither are inexpensive but you can apply for grants and raise money locally as well.</p>

<p>I agree--a summer exchange program seems a lot more practical for you. But definitely choose an exchange program that suits you--there are some pretty hardcore ones which totally immerse you into the culture and language, and some easy no-brainers that are pretty much just sightseeing. I've seen some people on exchange at our school (I live in China and our school has a load of "sister/brother" schools) and the various programs are truly different in many aspects. </p>

<p>Good luck and (hopefully) have fun at boarding school and in your exchange program!</p>

<p>I was similar to you, dancelovex3, in the sense that I wanted to boarding school and a year abroad. Unlike you though I'm going to be starting high school and boarding school at the same time. My advice is go to a school that lets you just do a term abroad. That is what I am doing since Exeter only offers a term abroad for students studying German. Also, even though 4 terms sounds like a short amount of time, it really isn't. That is a WHOLE YEAR, another half to keep up with friends either at the beginning or end of your senior year, and then the other half for being abroad. I say you try to do both.</p>

<p>if you do a year abroad go to sweden. it's amazing. and swedish people are awesome...not that i'm bias.</p>

<p>You could apply to repeat sophomore year, then go abroad junior year through SYA, and then have two years at bs. Remeber, you also could go abroad for gap year or college-- so keep that in mind when deciding. Best of luck!</p>

<p>Considering you wrote in your other post that FA is critical, I would suggest you look into the United World Colleges. If you are selected to represent the US, tuition, R&B are fully covered and FA is available for your flight, insurance and regular expenses. You can study in Wales, Hong Kong, Swaziland, Norway, India, Bosnia,Singapore and other countries. </p>

<p>You attend the school with students from about 100 other countries and earn an IB diploma. Matriculation to top colleges in the US is excellent -- and all graduates of a United World College get a $10,000/yr scholarship to over 90 top colleges. It really could be the best of both worlds -- and it sounds like a good match for you.</p>

<p>You might also consider boarding school and a gap year abroad between high school and college. Our students who have done that have really loved it. I think they get a bit more out of it, too, because they are a little more mature and, because they have had a couple years at boarding school, they are already accustomed to being away from home. Just be sure to pick a boarding school that isn't going to shove you along to college right after graduation because of their concern for their matriculation statistics.</p>

<p>My older brother wanted to go to boarding school and stufy abroad.
So.....he went to a school In Switzerland. =)
Have you considered applying to highschools outside the U.S?</p>