My younger brother is looking at attending boarding school for high school. So far, he’s interested in Deerfield, St. Pauls, Hotchkiss, Choate, and Lawrenceville.
From looking at this forum, it seems that these schools are very academically demanding and difficult. Can anyone with experience at elite boarding schools tell me what it takes to rank within the top 10% of your class at these places? My younger brother would be excited to attend any one of these schools, but he doesn’t want to ruin his chance at getting into an elite college because of his grades suffering due to the enhanced rigor of the work.
I’d have to ask what kind of student your brother is now. Because part of the answer is like the old chestnut about “How do you make a small fortune in the wine business? Start with a large one.” I think it’s fair to say that the kids who excel at a rigorous BS were excelling before they went to that BS.
FWIW, I am not a huge believer in words like “elite”…because it implies something that is so subjective and irrelevant to most of life. Outside of a handful of industries and social circles, no one cares where you went to college after the first few years of working. It’s what you do that counts. As I’ve shared elsewhere…I went to Penn (Go Quakers). My business partner went to BU. We make the same amount of money/have the same amount of equity in the business. So, from a purely financial POV (and money is certainly not everything or even the main thing), there is no additional impact from my Ivy League degree.
Remember that the MAJORITY of kids who end up at what I’m assuming you consider “elite” colleges come from public schools. A quick Google search shows that 63% of Harvard students attended a public high school.
I’m not a fan of thinking of BS as a means to an end (if the end is admission to a selective – that’s a word that I prefer, since it’s more objective than “elite” – college). Because plenty of kids at Deerfield, St. Paul’s, Hotchkiss, Choate, and Lawrenceville (what, did you forget Exeter and Andover?) do not get into those selective colleges. And some get in but choose to go elsewhere.
Your brother should go to a boarding school for the experience of boarding school…not the promise of getting into a selective “elite” college. He should also probably widen the scope of his search to include more than five of the most selective BS in the country.
I’ve parented 2 kids through 3 BS (one transferred as a junior) and through the college process, so I am speaking from experience.
Thanks. Yeah, he’s also looking at Kent and The Episcopal School in VA. His SSAT is 97% so he should be able to get in somewhere.
He’s not interested in Exeter or Andover because they’re too big in size and the culture there seems to be very academic and he’s really sporty. Not to say any of the other schools aren’t academic, but they seem to have more of a balance.
He’s a really hard working student and tends to get done with work very quickly. He finishes his essays and homework ahead of time and takes lots of notes. He’s very determined to get all A’s, but we’re worried that boarding school would make it difficult for him to maintain his stellar academic record.
I’ll concur with much of what @SevenDad wrote, but will add a few things:
The size I’ll agree with (although for some that’s a plus), but I would not say that E/A are any less “sporty” than most other schools, with exceptions of some schools noted for dominance in a particular sport.
He needs to let go of that. At most of these schools, 95% of the class will graduate with a GPA <4.0. As shocking as it seems, 50% will be in the bottom half of the class. For almost all of them, assuming their expectations are realistic from the beginning, they will gain acceptance to one of their top choices - perhaps not their dream school, but there are few guarantees there.
Trust me, that will change if he goes to one of these schools.
To paraphrase Tonto: “What do you mean “we” kemosabe?” If he is worried, and that is of the utmost importance to him, than perhaps boarding school is not the best option for him.
It varies by school. 4 for a freshman is common; 5-6 for a senior is common if they are loaded with AP/AP-equivalent/post-AP level classes.
Time management. Many schools have mandatory study periods for freshman, but still the student will need to manage his/her time and avoid distractions with the phone/laptop, etc.
Would you recommend taking many AP classes in Boarding School to get into HYPSM? I’ve heard of kids doing much less academically and still getting into top colleges because of sports, legacy, etc.
Boarding school is not for the faint of heart, students and parents alike. The academic workload is serious, kids need to manage all aspects of their lives (laundry, sleep, food, social relationships, mental health) on their own, away from family, and separation anxiety can strike even the most independent. It’s like going to college 4 years early. Is your brother ready for that? Does the prospect excite him? The experience can be truly transformative, pushing one’s intellectual boundaries, challenging biases and prior experiences, and accelerating one’s development and emotional maturity - or it can be rather unhelpful or even damaging. It all depends on who embarks on it and for what reasons. Selective college admission does not strike me as the right reason.
Think of it this way: Would your brother prefer to go to a college where he can easily get all As but not be challenged, or to a hard college where he will learn a lot but struggle to be in the top half? Whatever his answer is, the same answer applies to high school.
Good luck figuring it all out! These are questions that many of us still ponder… As I said, BS is not for the faint of heart.
Many boarding schools do not offer AP classes. Consider this explanation from SPS, one of the schools on your brother’s list: “All St. Paul’s School courses are college preparatory. Our highest-level courses are labeled in various ways by the academic departments, some as Honors, some as Advanced. While we do not offer an AP curriculum, many of our courses are beyond normal secondary-school academic work; most use college-level texts and are designed to match undergraduate offerings.”
If the purpose of going to a boarding school is to seek an advantage to getting into HYPMS, one should think twice about going to boarding school.
Which is why I stated “AP/AP-equivalent/post-AP level classes” in an earlier post. Many schools don’t have course labelled AP, but they all have courses that are of that rigor and beyond. The students who want to be academically challenged take as many as they can successfully handle.
It depends upon ones definition of “top colleges.” Most college’s admissions processes are pretty opaque, but for most, a hook won’t make up for sub-par academics. Also, while some BS students are athletic recruits for college, the best athletes in many sports will find that the boarding school environment is not the place to maximize their athletic potential.
He sounds very smart. GoatMama described the environment very well imo. BS is like a mini-college - with younger kids and more oversight, but where you may not be the biggest (smartest) fish in the pond, but you will be challenged. For example, my son is an excellent math student. But at his school, he is not on the highest Math track because there are international students that are ahead in math by 1-2 years. Even his class is full of kids that are very, very smart. However, I think he is learning far more than he would in public school. But he won’t end up #1 in his class…
As far as sports, BS are great for the kids that are multi-sport athletes; not as good for kids that want to do one sport all year (as that often is not allowed).
We really opposed D going to BS. She went through the process and earned admission to her top choice school. She had been a standout at our local private school and we thought it was better to be a standout than to join a community of highly talented kids from around the world and be just average. She got her way, has worked her butt off at BS, and has a much deeper education than she would have had she stayed local. She is more than ready for the load of college.
Homework load is easily 4 hours a night at a minimum. She actually joined the kids in detention today as a chance to study in a restricted environment (she wasn’t in trouble-she’s just got a sense of humor). She is not a genius but she is a hard worker and she has managed to have all As except for one B+ freshman year. So to answer your question about getting good grades in BS, it’s do-able but it’s hard. Rarely gets to bed before 2. Very rarely.
The pressure is intense, the competition even more so. For many, it is a great chance to grow and become independent. I’m not convinced that BS kids are equally competitive on paper because they are among top students in pressure cooker environments but they do get more out of their experience than they would have had they stayed local.
Thanks so much! What strategies does she use to excel academically in such a competitive environment? Does she preview the coursework over the summer? Although I’m impressed with her work ethic, does she manage to carve out time for hanging out with friends or having any fun? Does she manage to get a decent night of sleep as well? I would hate for my brother’s high school experience to be nothing but studying and pressure without fun memories.
@umichwolverine23 I think your brother should be taking ownership of the research on competitive boarding schools. Quiet frankly you seem overly obsessed with this question and there are no easy answers to your questions. i.e strategies to excel–they would be similar to what he has, theoretically, already been doing to gain admittance to such a school.
I have to agree now. As a rule, we don’t allow “Asking for a Friend” threads, but I let this one go (an error on my part in hindsight) as it was not impinging on the brother’s privacy. However, at this point, the conversation is going in circles. Your brother is welcome to open an account and ask his own questions on the process. Closing thread.
If he is worried, and that is of the utmost importance to him, than perhaps boarding school is not the best option for him.
Go Blue!