<p>okkk. i'm going to a private catholic
day school for ninth grade, and i'm
pretty souped. but i've always wanted
to go to boarding school, ever since
harry potter and zoey 101 (hahah.)
my grades are good, i test pretty well.
i do a pretty good number of extracurriculars.
i applied to groton this year as a day student.
REJECTION. durnn.
i think my chances would have been a lot
better as a BOARDERR.
the only issue is that my parents have told me
"you are never, ever going to boarding school.
you are going to college. deal with it." any advice?
thankss guys! :D</p>
<p>B/S is nothng like zoey 101 harry Potter (Oh, Golly I wish it were!)
But use things like "I think it would be benifitial to forming my sense of Independence, and self reliance." Also TABS book "the truth about Boarding schools" should help</p>
<p>Some schools have "why you should attend <em>insert school name</em>"</p>
<p>Good Luck :)</p>
<p>I think that you should have your parents roam around on this discussion board for a while. I mean, if you take a good look around, you'll find plenty of parents on here seemingly finding comfort in reading first-hand experiences and the real down-low on many of the most saught-after boarding schools...
I think that it may actually allow your parents to visualize how much greater of a future (though this is not always the case!) you could be investing in by going to one of these schools.</p>
<p>It took me a coupleof years to convince my parents. I made a powerpoint. If I had it on my new computer, I would send it to you. I added in matriculation rates from different schools, school break times (to show they'd still see me), testimonials from parents saying they felt like they'd grown closer to their children, and lists of alumni from different schools (Celebrity</a> Prep Schools is a good site, although I'd search for specific schools as well).</p>
<p>risingjunior--
WOW.
and I thought I had a hard time convincing my parents.
every time i did something wrong they would threaten me saying "we won't let you go to boarding school even if you do get accepted"
it was scary.</p>
<p>I don't know how I got my parents to let me go...I really don't. (Wow, that's just a huge help for you, isn't it? :P) I think it was just that I'd firmly decided on it as a given type of thing for ages before the grade to apply and stuff came. I was away from my parents for a month or so each summer, spending my time in the states, so I guess that kind of helped. But that's not much good for you, since you're applying next year (or a late application this year...?) but...maybe try to sit down with them to discuss it? It seems to work for some families.</p>
<p>Order application materials from a bunch of schools just for the heck of it (even if your parents end up saying no to being a boarder) and show them what other people say about it. The experiences offered at boarding schools would certainly be much better than any that would be offered at your current private school (um. i think. But I guess it's kind of just a wild guess. Well, I go to a private catholic school as well, and I know for a fact that boarding school would offer a LOT MORE in courses, sports, etc.)</p>
<p>The whole "independence" thing would probably be pretty big as well. :D</p>
<p>THANK YOU EVERYONEE!
and sball;
my mom has been on this
site. she's the one who showed
it to me, and she's still not
convinced. :/</p>
<p>Prepp, maybe it has something to do with the fact you probably first mentioned boarding school and Harry Potter in the same breath :D. Rather than us try to give you solutions first, why don't you tell us what are the objections your parents have to you attending boarding school? If we know their reasons for saying no, it will be easier to come up with a counter arguement. "Deal with it" doesn't provide much insight.</p>
<p>Are the objections due to cost? Are you an only child or the last kid left at home? Or are you the oldest, and your parents hover over you?</p>
<p>hahahah, kitkat.
okay. well i am
the first child,
but i've always
been pretty independent.
my mom says she'll miss
me too much, and although
cost isn't too big of a deal,
she's not a huge fan of it
either. my parents also say
that they want to see me
grow up, and that they
don't want other people
raising their kid through
highschool, too.
ughh.</p>
<p>I used the 30 weeks there working/ 22 weeks quality time at home (without homework) argument on my mom.</p>
<p>I used this just a few days ago. Print off the truth about boarding schools. You can google it. I put together a nice little packet with a sincere letter on the front saying please consider this. Go into this with an open mind. It would mean a lot to me. All of that good stuff should take you somewhere.</p>
<p>But they were willing to let you go to Groton as a day student? I can tell you that they would have seen only slightly more of you then vs. being a boarding student.<br>
When we started looking at what my son would do next (he's at a Jr. Prep now as a day student) the then head of the upper school gave a great talk about day vs. boarding. As a day student, you get to drive your child to school - usually by around 7:30 or so. They almost always want to have breakfast on campus - by 8 at the latest. They have classes, sports, and are in most cases encouraged to stay for dinner and clubs. Then many stay for study hall / help from teachers. You pick them up between 8-10 pm. They then go right to their rooms, and do homework.<br>
You see them in the car and they sleep in your home. That's about it. Weekends they have sports and some still have Saturday morning classes. He told us one of the best reasons to have your child board is they won't drive. Seriously, they will drive, but they won't be driving to and from school as a teenager. </p>
<p>We made the decision that if we were to consider boarding it would have to be within a certain distance from home. You are fortunate that you could make that distance be an hour or two hours and you would have MANY options. We want to be able to go to his games. Any further than that and both home and away games would be too far. We wanted him to be able to easily come home weekends as well. </p>
<p>As far as the other people raising you...they already are in many ways. You spend so much time in school already. We put a priorty on things that I know others don't when looking - like family style meals. It's not a replacement for OUR family, but we like that. We liked dorms that are "comfy" and not all concrete and college-like. All that helped me, as the mom, feel ok with having my first child go away. </p>
<p>Combined with the fact that we found what we feel will be the perfect school for him. And that is not available here.</p>