<p>Truly it was! Crickett is such an intuitive person really, she truly is. There is a gilr to not mess with. I feels sorry for the next guy to mess with her, dont you agree CrIckett?</p>
<p>100%, Aussie!</p>
<p>Haha, this is all so funny. Aussie how are you gonna insult her then complimetn her? That thing earilier was hilarious. lol.</p>
<p>I can't bring myself to think it would ruin your expierence.
It might better prepare you for it.</p>
<p>Back in the dark ages when I graduated public high school as salutatorian I found the academics in college not overly challenging but the social skills that the prep students had acquired really impressed me. Confidence in public speaking, for example was cultivated in BS. Gradually I have learned to give lectures without note cards or Inderal. My son who is already quite confident will attend BS next fall and it will be interesting to watch his social skills develop. My observations are anecdotal but I remember the BS students were significantly more articulate than the prestigious day school kids.</p>
<p>My prep school daughter is concerned that college classes will crawl, as others catch up, and that she will devolve into foolish behaviors, because about 1/3 as much homework is required. The colleges that move at prep school pace are wicked competitive to get into, and the rest are sooooo slowwwwww. (said my 16 year old.) More seats are needed at the competitive schools to accomidate the students who are ready to hustle.</p>
<p>I wouldn't say 'matured', since a lot of kids on this website live very disciplined lives, but boarding school gives you a chance to do a lot of dumb things (like stay up all night talking and miss class next day) with less penalty since it happened in high school rather than college, where missing class may possibly have greater repercussions.</p>
<p>So when you get to college, you have a lot of stuff already figured out from experiences duirng boarding school that other students have yet to do. </p>
<p>I'm so glad that my d has had boarding school experience for 2 years. It has truly been the making of her. She needed to grow up fast, having been really delayed by living at home and hibernating by 10th grade, and she is now so much more ready for college and being on her own. Her junior year was a huge adjustment, she spent a lot of time on the computer and overslept and had to work thru the ramifications from that, and she has found her feet now in her senior year, joined lots of clubs and has really blossomed socially. Had she stayed at home these last 2 years, I really think she would have had a hard adjustment to college life, and actually, to life in general.</p>
<p>boarding school gives you a chance to do a lot of dumb things (like stay up all night talking and miss class next day) with less penalty since it happened in high school rather than college, where missing class may possibly have greater repercussions.</p>
<p>^ (not that i'm going to do this) wait, isn't missing class in COLLEGE less punishable than class? because i heard missing classes doesn't really matter, well it does but in the sense that you have basically missed part of your exam. whereas in boarding school if you actually do "board", then you have no real excuse to not be in class (unless, obviously, if you were sick in the nurse's office or out of campus with permission), even if you were tardy.</p>
<p>then again i could be wrong</p>
<p>If you miss class in college, no one misses you. You are free to flunk out and plenty of freshmen do just that. BS gives you many freedoms that you may not have at home, but there are plenty of rules and you are accountable for your actions. At BS, you learn that your actions have repercussions (SP?) and you learn and earn independence in baby steps and with some guidance. My D watched and predicted the ultimate exiting of several freshman at college due to their wild unruly behaviors that went unchecked by any adult save the RA who was merely a sophomore needing a rooming subsidy.</p>
<p>College and boarding school can be so different that you can't really make a blanket statement about whether boarding school kids are overall better prepared. There are plenty of kids from day schools who are just as mature and disciplined. I definitely felt I was more prepared at the very beginning, but everyone catches up fairly quickly. My courses generally move at the same pace, if not faster than my boarding school classes. This is especially true of "weeder classes" that many students wind up taking their first year. What took some adjustment for me was having my grade based on only two or three assignments for the whole semester.</p>
<p>westcoat - as far as missing classes go, it really depends on the teacher. No one minds if I miss lecture, but my grade will be lowered in several of my smaller courses if I miss more than 2 or 3 classes.</p>
<p>Toadstool:
"The colleges that move at prep school pace are wicked competitive to get into, and the rest are sooooo slowwwwww. (said my 16 year old.) More seats are needed at the competitive schools to accomidate the students who are ready to hustle."</p>
<p>I understand your daughter's ideas, but they're probably unfounded, for the following reasons: If she took APs, was in IB or other advanced options, she could find herself in higher level classes which will take care of the s-l-o-w problem you're anticipating. Also, if she's in the honors colleges of almost any institution, she'll have a lot more advanced work to look forward to. You don't have to go to a "most competitive" ivy environment to get stellar academics, you just have to be on the right track, whether it be a large public university, which, with the cost of an education, find themselves turning away so many applicants - or a smaller liberal arts college where they accept relatively few. There's always good options, it's finding the matches that are the trick.</p>
<p>KitKatBar, what college and boarding school did your sister attend?</p>
<p>I would like to know as well. Do BS students totally act differently from others? Are they made fun of in college, and do they hang out within their own self selected group?</p>
<p>Boarding school graduates don't act any different than other college kids. During the first couple weeks it's obvious who has experience living in a dorm situation, but after that it really evens out. College is much more relaxed then high school. It's not really a big deal where you went to high school. Most people I've met don't ask about it unless we're from similar areas. Depending on where your college is, the majority of people may not have heard of your school. There aren't many boarding school students at my school, so I've never formed a whole group of them. I do have one friend that I enjoy talking about boarding school with, but you can live in the past for only so long. Judging from my friends, they've formed groups off of other similarities, not just the type of high school you went to.</p>
<p>In terms of grades, etc. are people who go to BS really a leg up from others?</p>
<p>I think where the added benefit of boarding school comes in is outside the classroom. Boarding school prepared me very well for managing my time, living away from home, living with a roommate, managing my money, etc. This translates into grades to some degree. This leg up doesn't last very long though, maybe a couple months at most. </p>
<p>I believe that any good high school can prepare you for college. I have many friends that went to public schools that are doing very well in all of there classes. Yes, going to a top school really helps prepare you for the rigor of college classes, but it is no guarantee of an A. I feel that what boarding school prepared me extremely well for was writing classes. Overall, I think I am was more prepared than 90 percent of college students.</p>
<p>^Cool thanks… Would you agree, though, in terms of academics BS kids can deal with the workload better than those from public schools. Even schools like Thomas Jefferson (even though it is a great school, I doubt it is as well rounded or strong as some BS).</p>
<p>I would say that the average BS graduate can handle the workload better than the average public school graduate. There are tons of exceptions though. There are many good public schools out there with great AP and IB programs that are just as rigorous as BS. It also depends on what college you go to. Large state schools will have more variance in preparation than a small school like Caltech.</p>
<p>I would say in terms of people I know-boarding school makes you appreciate all the freedom you have at college even more. One of my friends was so shocked when she realized she didn’t actually have to “check-in” at a certain time every night.</p>
<p>In this economy as schools have a greater population of well-heeled students, does the school put one in a bubble? Even top colleges may not provide such a bubble away from reality, with young (somewhat cocky, in a good way) and well healed intellectuals.</p>