To those who think day students have “the best of both worlds”, if the school is not the best for the student, half of that “best” is gone. Just as not everyone can choose their local public schools, not everyone has easy reach to a best BS as a day student. For non BS goers, going away for school is a very foreign idea and those could include some people who are going to BS as day students.
Following the very useful older thread suggested by @PhotographerMom above, I wish @SevenDad could share some updates about his daughter’s experience with her sport in BS, as I see many parallels between her as a BS applicant two years ago, and GoatKid1. Did it work? What are some insights and lessons learned along the way?
This thread actually inspired a dream for me last night in which my daughter was able to perform in two Broadway shows during her school’s winter break (although she had to turn down the lead in a third). I didn’t know I was that much of a stage mother! Anyway, if an athletic scholarship remains your daughter’s goal, BS may not interfere with it. It seems to me that quite a few students at my children’s school get athletic scholarships, and some alumni are professional athletes. They even had a presentation on the athletic recruitment process on Parents’ Weekend. So you may not be closing that door if your daughter goes to BS, plus there are so many other things to try if her sports interest wanes.
:-bd =D>
So funny… I almost tagged @SevenDad when I shared the thread 
With all due respect to fellow CC’ers, I suggest the analysis is fact specific. SPS, Andover, Westy, in some cases Deerfield and Hotchkiss, but most demonstrably Choate are able to hire outstanding coaches, field highly competitive teams, and provide easy access to quality club/travel/pay-to-play fockey, hockey, soccer, and lax programs. These teams range from 100% boarding to 75% day students. Take a look at these schools’ NLI signing day posts and ask yourself if you would be happy with similar results. I recommend GK1 pursue admission and if good news arrive on M10, let the seduction begin. Good luck.
I am not the most well-versed on this topic, but seeing Goatkid’s very good results on M10 and knowing that she now has several options, I would say that although a true sports scholarship is less likely at BS, FA for a fine athlete/scholar is very likely even if you are higher income. My DD’s school just won their basketball AAA prep league - during the semi-final game, the commentators counted 21 Division 1 recruits on the court. I would now go and meet with coaches and see which coach seems like a good fit for your daughter. My daughter gave up her sport where she was nationally ranked to go to boarding school as it wasn’t possible to compete in her sport at any BS school really and she also has no regrets - in fact, she found a whole new sport to love.
@GoatMama – I have a lot of experience in youth sports and I am on several Boards. There are too many variables that you would have to disclose for meaningful advise.
For example, the sport, your location, collegian level theKid wants to play at: D1 or D3, plans for the college major, graduate school goals, etc
In Boston, the majority of male lax players come from LPS. the majority of D1 soccer players come DAP, etc. In general terms to play D1, I would imagine to receive the year round training that is now necessary unless you are talking about IMG Academies.
@laenen You are right about the limitations of this discussion without disclosing specifics. We’ve gone a long way in considering the issue. Since she has been accepted to several schools already, I can disclose that her sport is volleyball. Compared to the Midwest and the South (where we are), New England volleyball, both club and BS, are a joke (sorry for the strong words, not sure how else to state it). However, she has made up her mind and is at peace with her choice. She will play for her school, and possibly for a nearby club after freshmen year. Both will be a huge step down from her current level of training and competition, so playing on the collegiate level in the future is unlikely. Anyhow, it’s been a long process during which we’ve considered pros and cons, so the decision we’ve reached is well informed. I’m confident she will be ok with it. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Even though v-ball was invented in MA, you are correct, we are not very good at it. Good luck to TheKid. She might be a star and make captain.
Congrats to Goatkid! Personally, I think it is a great choice. Don’t forget that BS kids also play their sport every day in season so they do have a lot of practice time at least, even if her level of play will not be the same.
Apologies again for sounding like the total volleyball snob that I’ve become. It is indeed quite different what goes on down here and up there. Her current training, which is quite typical for an elite VB club in the South/Midwest, includes 12 hours of practice a week year-round, and about 12 tournaments per season, at least half of them national qualifiers. The clubs up north that we’ve looked up seem to practice once a week for 2-3 hours and play in about 4 tournaments per season, with one-two of them being national qualifiers. Since she plays up age-wise and is in a College Prep program, they have college coaches come to observe practices almost weekly. She has an NCAA profile, but I’ve been telling everyone that it’s unlikely that she will play in college, presuming that her BS years will be a setback. As if to prove me wrong (yet again), I just had a call from an NCAA rep today, who wanted to connect her with some college coaches who were interested in her. I delivered my BS spiel, and to my surprise it was quickly discounted. So what do I know… Apparently not much.
All I want right now is to figure which BS is she going to! Fortunately, she’s cut the list down to two and it’s not based on strength of the volleyball program, so I’ll give her that.
Even the most multi-talented student has no more than 24 hours per day. Every hour she didn’t spend on VB will be used for something equally good or better for both personal growth and college prep. I don’t see any setback since she doesn’t seem to be a sport only type.
I mean, she will have to better than ignoring academics and writing an one-sentence admission essay, “I wanna be a better VB player” to get admitted across IVY schools. But wouldn’t her VB still a big help? And does she want to play for a college varsity team?
The biggest academic change DD had when she transited from elementary/middle to high/college wasn’t the learning level. It was amount of work required. She could not afford 20+ or even 10+ hours per week on art while doing meaningful work on English, History, Chemistry, Math and Spanish, even at peak efficiency and organization, and by burning midnight oils more days than not. And even though she was never ill and was at full mental/body health conditions during the period.
The change from elementary/middle to high/college for multi-talented students, seems to me, is that she really is forced to set priorities and make sacrifices at the latter.
@GoatMana Of course, I don’t know how hard is boarding school. DD’s experience was based on her community college years.
@GoatMama I dont know about v-ball but in soccer and lax, female commitments happen their sophomore year. My understanding is that it is because growth has pretty much maxed out.
@SculptorDad you’re right, the time commitment has become a huge issue, and she recognizes that. Volleyball has either cut into or completely eliminated other ECs, pleasure reading, etc. This is one of the reasons we decided that BS will be a more fitting environment for her.
@laenen mostly sophomore and junior year. Of course, the Rolfzen twins (U Nebraska) committed in the 8th grade, but they are truly one of a kind. In our club, college coaches and scouts come to observe everyone who plays in the College Prep program (ages 15-18). GoatKid is 14 but because she plays up she gets recruited too. They just don’t know she is younger. Well, they eventually figure it out.
@GoatMama, time commitment was the reason my dd decided for BS too. She took two studio art courses and one art history course each during the first three semesters and they left her very little time for academics, let alone other EC. She decided that, she would rather spend her teenagehood for learning and experimenting variety of what life offers. The decision was easier for her because she can always return to full time art later. But even if she couldn’t, she didn’t want to commit her life to sculpting so early in the life, not when she has interest and talent for other things as well.
How does BS alleviate the time commitments? Is it because it eliminates driving times?