<p>lbftw....good question. For me, yes, absolutely! I envy my sons' experiences at bs and, every time I visit, I wish I could have had that opportunity. I had a very boring and un-challenging hs experience.</p>
<p>This is proving to be a very interesting and worthwhile thread. Even though I don't agree with everything that's posted here, I think it's interesting to get a variety of viewpoints. </p>
<p>One of the dangers of this forum is that it is composed of people who are applying to BS and whose focus is primarily on getting in. Because many of these schools are competative, prestigious and it very difficult to get into, it's easy to idealize them and think of them as some kind of shangrila. If I remember the etimology course I took at Choate some 30 years ago (thank you John Joseph) the word Utopia comes from a book written by Thomas Moore and is actually Latin for "nowhere". In other words, no place is perfect. Every school has it's share of jerks (both kids and teachers) and students who struggle to fit in - sometimes socially, sometimes academically, sometimes both. Moreover, the high school years are tough for everyone and it is the rare kid whose not going to feel depressed, lonely, and misunderstood at some point in time, regardless of where you're going to school.</p>
<p>Moreover, the elite boarding schools do have a lot of rich kids. And a lot of competative high achievers. And for a lot of kids it is difficult to adjust to no longer standing out among your classmates.</p>
<p>However, I do think that, for the right kid, boarding schools will offer you what few high schools can. Outstanding academics. A huge variety of extracurriculars and sports. Dedicated teachers who become a part of your life outside the classroom as well as in it. And the opportunity to establish deep and longlasting friendships with classmates who share every aspect of your life and get to really know you because you live with them 24 hours a day.</p>
<p>lbftw - Absolutely, I went to boarding school and loved it.</p>
<p>Oh, and lbftw - some adult posters also went to BS, so we do have firsthand knowledge, and even those that didn't go to BS presumably went to college. For me, living with my classmates was definitely a positive and enabled me to form friendships I don't think I would have had if I'd stayed home.</p>
<p>Well said, prpdd. Do it again in a heart beat but yes there were some rough times but no escaping those lessons in life whether in BS or PHS. Got a letter from S the other week "Can't imagine home being more fun than this." I truly believe he understands simply put, how lucky he is.</p>
<p>note that i didn't say live at some idealized version of high school, i just said live at high school. not college. high school.</p>
<p>lbftw....that's the point...my son does consider his bs to be an "idealized" version of hs. He absolutely loves it as did his older brother. I would have loved it too.</p>
<p>Given a choice of attending high school or not, my son would opt out. So, no he wouldn't want to live at a place he would rather avoid. A year ago his answer might have been, "No, I wouldn't want to live at high school. I'm not sure I want to go to high school at all."</p>
<p>A semester in to boarding school -- a decision that was entirely up to him -- his answer as to whether he would live at his current school (not some abstract concept of any old high school) is delivered with conviction. There's no doubt about where he stands on this. No waffling. He won't have it any other way. In fact, he's surprised at how much he's enjoying high school and how much being a boarder has to do with that.</p>
<p>Of course his choice is personal and he wouldn't presume to extrapolate that into a universal truth applicable to all.</p>
<p>well, that's good that he likes it. i'm just saying, most people (in my experience) don't.</p>
<p>lbftw
i dont know if you answered this in one of ur previous posts and i dont wana go bak and look thru all those pages so im just wondering, which boarding school did you go to? wht abt it made you so uhh bitter abt the concept of boarding school?</p>