<p>My d is admitted to cate. We are from cal. She also got into Peddie. We are thinking of Cate because the distance. Advise?? Thanks!</p>
<p>Also, does any one know Cate well regarding what classes to chose for freshman? What need to be prepared before school start? Thanks!</p>
<p>Send a Private Message to CateParent. He’ll give you great counsel about the School’s inner workings. </p>
<p>There are significant advantages and disadvantages inherent in sending your child across the country to boarding school. The biggest of these are:</p>
<p>DISADVANTAGES</p>
<ol>
<li>Reduced opportunity for you to participate in your child’s life</li>
<li>Remote hands/eyes makes problem resolution more thorny. You are far more reliant on faculty, advisers, prefects etc to help you identify and resolve problems that may arise academically and socially. I do not advise a x-country choice unless your child has a history of resilience, independence, extroversion, resourcefulness and emotional stability.</li>
<li>Travel cost.</li>
</ol>
<p>ADVANTAGES </p>
<ol>
<li>Exposure to a genuinely different “other coast” culture, its people, its traditions, its climate etc creates a sort of inner diplomat in your child. He or she becomes adept at succeeding in very different environments.</li>
<li>Psychologically, setting up shop 3000 miles away is a deeper, more significant act of independence for your child. As a general proposition, any boarding school experience cultivates resourceful thinking and habits. A x-country choice takes this to the next level. </li>
</ol>
<p>We loved our x-country decision (East Coast to Thacher). It was the best educational decision we’ve made across three kids, high school and college. But, it’s not for everyone. Another poster on this site struggles mightily with the disadvantages described above. </p>
<p>Do the best you can to be honest about your daughter’s strengths, weaknesses and interests - the family safety net will not be nearby. And do the best you can to be honest with yourself about whether you will be able to cope successfully when the inevitable problems arise (and they will).</p>
<p>Cate is a fantastic school (almost as good as Thacher :). Peddie has many supporters on this site who could give you outstanding advice about whether it, too, is sufficiently supportive for a x-country kid. It’s a big decision. Good luck!!</p>
<p>Thanks, thacherparent for the valuable advices! I think if peddie and cate are two similar schools in terms of ranking, then, the distance does matter. Make sense?</p>
<p>Read beatlesforever’s thread on academic rigor.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Finding the right school for your child is about a lot more than rank. Look at all the kids on this forum who are struggling to decide between Andover and Exeter, or St. Paul’s and Groton. If rank were the only thing that mattered, they’d flip a coin and move on. Each school has its own unique personality - the trick is finding the one that will most encourage your child to flourish!</p>
<p>My daughter is a boarder in Massachusetts,40 min from home. She never looked at schools in Calif just because we have great schools here. We love having her in same time zone and being able to visit her often, even though she almost never comes home during term time. So, if I were in your shoes with acceptances to 2 great schools, I’d go with her preference and if she didn’t have one, I’d encourage her to pick Cate. Time enough to be on the East Coast for college. Just an opinion, but you can’t go wrong sticking with Cate, what’s not to love?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Sometimes that’s exactly what they do. :)</p>
<p>Congratulations to your daughter! The admissions office reported that it was an especially competitive year for 9th grade boarding girls at Cate, with more than 10 applicants for each available slot. She is so fortunate to have a choice between two wonderful schools.</p>
<p>I’m in total agreement with Dodgersmom and ThacherParent’s assessments. We’ve sacrificed to send our son across country, but the decision was easy because we felt Cate was the school where he would be happiest and achieve the most personal growth. It’s been a good experience.</p>
<p>Regarding the choice of classes for your daughter, here’s how it worked when my son was entering as a freshman: The school sent him a few academic placement tests during the summer before his freshman year and the results of those tests were used to map his academic path. An advisor was also assigned and she contacted us during the summer to discuss the suggested courses. Upon arrival at school another placement exam was administered. Depending upon the result of the second placement exam, the school may consult with you and your child again to revise the schedule if needed. For example, if you daughter was originally placed in French II and she did surprisingly well on the second placement exam, they might suggest that she move to French II honors (or vice versa).</p>
<p>Please PM me and I will try my best to answer any questions that you have.</p>
<p>If your daughter doesn’t have a strong preference, I vote for choosing Cate to be close to home. lemonade’s reasoning is common sense, and it’d be a cost saver too.</p>
<p>CateParent, dodgersmom, DAndrew, lemonade1, muf123, neatoburrito: </p>
<p>Thanks you all very much for the informations & references! It’s very helpful. I think Cate will be a more practical choice for us. On the other hand, we know that we are very lucky to have these choices. Thanks again.</p>