<p>Hey y'all I've been reading up on some prep schools recently, and quite frankly I'm really interested. I talked to my older brother about it, and he said that my only problem was going to be convincing our parents.. so I was wondering if any of you had any tips to help me with that? Thanks (:</p>
<p>Truly, I begged and pleaded for months. My mom wanted me to stay at home and go to a private high school. I had such a hard time. Even when she flat out told me no, I kept persisting. Give your parents the facts, compare boarding schools to the options that you have at home. And if you can, my best advice is to get them to go tour a school. My mom totally agreed that boarding school was the best option for me after she saw the type of environment that I would be in. Ease them into the situation, and try your hardest to show them that even though they might be a bit uncomfortable with it, that it’s the best suit for you.</p>
<p>Be persistent! I am in the same boat with my parents although I’m running out of time =/ incoming sophomore at my public highschool.</p>
<p>It took me almost a year to get both of my parents on board. Don’t be pushy about it, but just talk to them about it. Occasionally just mention prep schools and how much you want to go to one.</p>
<p>Also, another great idea is to convince your parents to let you go to a school that’s nearby to you. I convinced my parents at first to let me apply to Middlesex as a day student, then to Andover as a boarder, and so on. By the end of two years, they now let me apply to a school that’s a 3 hour drive from my house (Hotchkiss).</p>
<p>ifax108, do you know of any boarding schools close to Westchester, New York? I like your idea trying to convince your parents to let you apply first as a day student.</p>
<p>You may need use parental control on your internet so that your parents won’t find any negative info about BS on google such as: [thread=1036606]Drug Ring at Andover[/thread] :D</p>
<p>Ok whenever I want something from my parents that I think they won’t like, I always think of all the good things about what I want. And think of all the bad things because when I ask I don’t want to say anything close to the bad part. And I always try to go off topic when my mom says something bad about it that I don’t really care about. I hope that helped! :-)</p>
<p>O hi again! I tryin to get my post number up so I’m replying again hahaha! But just be calm when to talk to ur patents about it u will b fine :-D</p>
<p>@glow: Taft, Hotchkiss, Blair, Berkshire and many others are a short drive from Westchester. If you go to [Boarding</a> School Review - College-Prep & Jr. Boarding Schools](<a href=“http://www.boardingschoolreview.com%5DBoarding”>http://www.boardingschoolreview.com) and pull up on of those schools, you’ll see a map that lists other nearby schools. Good luck!</p>
<p>Honestly I did not have any trouble. First of all I will not be a boarder, and second of all it was my parents’ idea to send me to private school. I’ve been going to private since I was old enough, and my school only went up to 8th grade. In my area/school it is normal to apply to private high school/boarding school. My parents were already on board with me.</p>
<p>@glowinthedark,
Westchester looks fairly close to Kent, CT where Kent School is located. Convince them to let you apply there, then convince them to let you apply to Hotchkiss, which is in Lakeville, a little further away.</p>
<p>@glowinthedark, Choate is also close to Westchester.</p>
<p>Show them the aspects that makes boarding school appeal to you, maybe it’ll appeal to them as well. Show stats and scores, for some reason—my parents like higher SSAT scores. But that’s just my parents. It’s not the same for all. Find out what they like about education, and show the kinds of boarding schools that appeal in that nature. For example, I showed my dad Andover’s matriculation on BSR and I can tell he was impressed. Numbers for Ivy’s in the hundreds looks impressive at first glance. Which brings another point, you don’t have to go in full depth. My parent’s are uneducated in the “boarding school world” so, they presume that 50% of the graduates go to HYP. Which is totally not true. So when I showed them Andover’s matriculation, it seemed as if a hundred so graduates went to those Ivy colleges in two, three years—when in actuality it was about five to six years (don’t get me wrong though—that’s still a lot, and IMHO Andover is one of the finest boarding schools in the country). Show them pictures of the campus, schools YOU likes, and present them with the opportunities BS can give you. And when you get to the point of when you can go on a tour, you should have it in the bag. My two cents, go to your first choice school for an interview if they’re not fully on board—what appeals most to you will appeal to them when they see how happy you are. Plus, if it looks nice that’s a good bonus! Good luck!</p>