<p>I spent around 2 years, crusading against the tyranny of my parents will.</p>
<p>I needed to go to boarding school. I felt it had all the right qualities.
A great environment and a new step in my life.</p>
<p>They wouldn't listen. They sent me to a public high school.</p>
<p>I knew I'd hate it. I gave it a chance.</p>
<p>It's been 3 or 4 weeks now.</p>
<p>I hate it, like I knew I would, and now I'm stuck here with no way out.</p>
<p>I hate it even more then I thought I would hate it. Sure, its one of the top high schools in Florida, Grade-wise and whatnot.</p>
<p>Doesn't mean its the best school for me. I hate the environment of the school, and... everything else that comes with it.</p>
<p>But even if I can break down the walls of rejection from my parents opinion on boarding school, I'll be a new sophomore.</p>
<p>I won't know anyone. Everyone will have already started their little cliques.
They'd have experiences from their Freshman year at boarding school, that I'd never get to share. Never get to experience.</p>
<p>Sure, I could refresh my Freshman year and do it over at Boarding School.</p>
<p>But that would be even harder to convince my parents on.</p>
<p>If you think you're going to hate the school you're going to, then chances are you're going to hate it. And no one likes being wrong, so they convince themselves they hate it. But unless you have thought about it without any stereotypes/expectations/etc (don't know if you did or not), then you can't say that you are sure that you hate it.</p>
<p>i can sympathize with you on not liking your school. im like 6 weeks into mine and it's stressful and I honestly thank my friends for if not for them i would have died.</p>
<p>but to make it sound like coming in as a new sophomore is a bad thing? come on, you DO know that new kids (usually when there are less than the regular ones) always get the friendly hellos and "where did you come from?" questions? cliques are so easy to break when you're a new kid, you feel less restricted. and you wouldn't be the only one; i highly doubt there is a school that accepts less than 20 fourth formers unless they're like thacher (but thacher has like 60 people per grade, which is reasonable) and veryyy small.</p>
<p>Boarding schools have marketing departments. Public high schools do not. A significant number of students get to boarding school, and discover it's not for them. There is no perfect school!</p>
<p>If you enter any school with a negative attitude, you will be miserable. Even if your parents were to agree to send you to boarding school, this year's teacher recommendations and counselors' recommendations will reflect your misery. </p>
<p>To improve your future chances, find an activity to which you can devote yourself. It doesn't have to be at school. Investigate community service opportunities outside of school. Make friends. In two years, you will begin the process of finding a college. College is the ultimate boarding school.</p>
<p>Get over yourself, you might find out that your life isn't that hard. Public school isn't that bad, why don't you try to find things that you like about it instead of bemoaning the fact that your parents "tyranny" has kept you out of boarding school.</p>
<p>A lot of people don't come in until sophomore year. I know at the BS i went to about half of the class didn't arrive until then, and by the end it was hard to remember who'd been around for four years and who'd been around for three.</p>
<p>Story of My life. "Give high school a fair shot". (hs by me is 10-12). It blows. My middle school (7-9) split so im with 1/2 kids from middle school, and we merged with our rival to form highschool. The rivals school didnt split. Despite two or three kids from rival, they are all tools. I am trying to cope with it, but I want to go to BS so bad. My parents wont let me go to BS, let alone my dream schools (hotchkiss, taft, st georges). I want to go to Lawrenceville, Peddie, or Blair since they are somewhat close by. Fill us in on your decision and feeling, as numerous people here are all in the same boat.</p>
<p>You might have a problem with your parents not letting you apply, but you definitely shouldn't have a problem not starting in your freshman year!</p>
<p>I'm also applying for boarding school for sophomore year. I had decided this late in eighth grade, when all spots for freshman year were essentially taken. I didn't want to retake a freshman year, but I was NOT dreading going to take my first year of high school somewhere else, granted if I actually got into a boarding school. I'm enjoying high school so far, I'm involved with activities, and I've made new friends that I hadn't talked to before in middle school. I'm happy where I am right now.
So far, I really like freshman year here, but I'm also still excited at the prospect of sophomore year and above at a boarding school.
Now you might really HATE this public school of yours, but are you really, truly, giving it a chance? Are you signing up for school activities, getting to know more people? Are you judging and comparing everything you see?
Who's to say you also won't do this in boarding school? If you give it such unrealistic high expectations, you're bound to be disappointed as well.
No offense, but your ranting about how you don't respect your parent's decision, hate your school, and can only be happy if you go to a boarding school, isn't a very attractive quality. If you also keep this negative attitude up in school, negative attitudes are hard to get rid of. They will reflect in your interviews, your essays, and through your recommendations (as stated above). Boarding schools are not an escape to happiness, they are just a challenge you have to be intellectually and emotionally ready to take. If you can't emotionally handle your public school now, boarding school will be a much harder process.</p>
<p>Life is all about choices. Your parents have made a choice. Character is built by dealing with things that are not "optimal". You can have a miserable 4 years by mourning the "loss" of something you never had, something that you have blown up in your mind as being "so gut-wrentchingly awesome" that no real boarding school could live up to the image you've created, and miss all the opportunities that you do have.</p>
<p>Or you can say, "OK, this is what I've got. How do I get the most out of it?"</p>
<p>Your HS sounds all right, and you've saved your parents a pile of money, some of which is now freed up to finance your college education at the school of your choice.</p>
<p>misbandit, I feel the EXACT same way. I do not wake up every morning and realize that my life today is going to be a living hell, I just am not content with it. My parents wont let me board, even though I have the grades to be accepted into pretty much all of them. I ge excited when I read about BS, I cannot describe it. </p>
<p>I have lately thought long and hard on the issue, and it is really something that if you are going to pursue, its better off mentioning it in like 7th grade. It may sound early, but you have 2 yrs to get your parents on board.</p>
<p>I would reccomend seeking out a private school, or even a local bs so you could be a day student. Its the perfect compromise.</p>
<p>With my parents I just sat them down and said "look," ect. and explained my reasons for wanting to board. i made sure not to include in my reasoning "but mom my school succks!" you just got to present it a mature and adult way and hopefully they will listen. it worked for me</p>
<p>wow lucky you. I am giving a powerpoint presentation and saying : here is the lowdown. my parents think its like a school for troubled teens and people trying to get away from parents.</p>
<p>When I brought up the boarding school idea, I didn't have a very good go at it, tbh. I was sitting on the stairs, my mother came in from getting the mail, and I just said, "I want to go away to boarding school." Couple it with the fact that I was in a sour mood from who-knows-what (teenage antics...) and that my tone implied I was saying, "I want to go away from you!".</p>
<p>She was so hurt. I don't blame her. I just burst into tears and we had a small fight. Not half an hour later, though, I just sat her down and tried to explain why. I'd suggest that you make sure you know exactly why... in my hysteria, I basically said, "But I hate my school! I won't hate this one!"</p>
<p>Finally, the next day, I was able to bring up all the points I believed in. A better education. Smaller classes. More discussions. Better student-teacher relationships. No traveling when it comes to extra-currics. I want this opportunity for myself. The whole time I explained this, I was near tears again, but I got it out. I come from a family that really would NEVER consider this alternative... however, a few weeks later, after receiving some informational packets from my top school, my parents decided to support me.</p>
<p>You need to be reasonable, but sure. Good luck :D</p>
<p>I seem to have been in a situation similar to yours. I privately asked my dad, and I randomly got upset. I figured taking each parent aside may help. My mom hates it, and is bluntly embarrassed and shameful. She thinks I mean to "seek independence from the tyranny of my parents". My dad, basically agreed with her, mostly to not upset her. </p>
<p>I am not going out without a fight, and I will do everything it takes to go to Portsmouth Abbey, Taft, or St. Georges.</p>