<p>So my top four schools are Millbrook, Episcopal, Mercersburg, and Westminster. Wminster and Millbrook are two hours away from each other, and Mercersburg and EHS are pretty close to each other too. I don't think it'd be too difficult in terms of finances or places to stay or anything.. but my mom is a teacher (can't miss too many days of school, apparently one or two is too many -.-) and my dad is never home. She also says missing 2 or 3 days of school is "impractical." But is it really impractical when NOT missing the days of school could possibly hurt my chances of attending a better school? How do I explain to her that an on-campus tour and interview is ten million times better than a Skype interview? How do I convey that I REALLY want to do this, and this is a one-shot thing (unless I apply as a repeat sophomore next year) and if I don't get in, I'll remain miserable at my public school? I'm smart, but not smart enough to get in solely based on them. I know if I somehow get there, I'll own the interview.
She wants to call the schools to see if we could schedule a tour/interview over winter break but I keep telling her they don't do that. That you simply have to show your commitment to getting into this school by doing whatever it takes and that's the way it is. I'M willing to - I'll do the makeup work, it's whatever - but it seems like she doesn't care. Maybe I should talk to the admissions directors about this problem? I feel like if I don't do an on campus interview, they'll think I'm not committed enough, especially since I'm not international or like live on the other side of the country or anything.</p>
<p>Do any of these schools have Saturday interviews?</p>
<p>A) It sounds like your parents are still married, so without knowing why your dad “is never home” (you don’t have to explain that, btw), I am curious why you don’t ask him to shoulder some of the responsibility for visits if your mom is stressed about taking any time off; B) Do you have a relative (like a grandparent or aunt/uncle) nearby who would be interested in chaperoning you? I know that if my wife or I couldn’t swing the visits that my retired parents and in-laws (who live within an hour of us) would most definitely pitch in to help.</p>
<p>Unless visits are truly impossible due to scheduling/distance/finances, I’m pretty sure most CCers would stress the importance of a campus visit to get the best sense for fit. For example, the school that was at the top of our list fell off the list after an in-person visit and a school that gets very little play on this site has risen to share the top slot, again, after a visit.</p>
<p>The fact that you can kill 4 birds with 2 stones makes it slightly less daunting (we have done a few “doubles” in a day and that can get stressy in and of itself, but I’m glad we made the effort). Best of luck. BTW, as a parent, I never advocate creating drama or tension between a student and parent…</p>
<p>Regarding you being out of school…you’d miss school for a doctor’s appointment, right? I would put school visits up there with that in terms of being a valid reason to miss a day at your current school. Additionally, I know plenty of families that think nothing of adding a day out of school at the beginning or end of a week of vacation.</p>
<p>My dad’s never home because he works (for the most part) out of state and can’t really take leave between now and January. He might be able to, if I’m really, extremely, incredibly lucky.
Well, my mother has a whole slew of excuses, why we should not do this. “I don’t like to drive in the dark” seems to be her favorite. And while she supports me with the applications, when it comes to the visits and interviews, she just does not get the importance of them. In fact, I don’t think she gets the importance of boarding school to me, period.
She said the two schools closest, about 3 or 4 hours away, to home will be do-able (but apparently still “hard”) in January.
I might think about asking her about my uncle taking me since he lives close-ish to EHS and Mburg. But I really and truly fell in love with Westminster and Millbrook and it would be a shame to not get in because she “doesn’t wanna drive in the dark” or thinks she’ll be stressed out.
Talking to her about this whole thing is always hard, but I have to. I just wish she were one of those parents that were like “YOU ARE GOING TO BS. YOU HAVE NO CHOICE. I’M DRAGGING YOU TO INTERVIEWS.” 
Some kids get all the luck.</p>
<p>@Sevendad: can you say what school that’s not being discussed much here got to your shortlist after a visit?</p>
<p>@bshopeful: Cut your mom some slack – there are a lot of people who aren’t comfortable driving at night, especially in unfamiliar territory. If your uncle takes one of the trips and your mom or dad take the other, that’s a start. Perhaps you try to schedule the Westminster/Millbrook visits for a Monday, so you can drive up in daylight on Sunday, do an AM and early afternoon, then sprint back so that most of the unfamiliar part of the trip home is covered in daylight.</p>
<p>As a teacher, I can sympathize with your mom; it IS difficult to take time away from the classroom and most teachers have limited personal days they can even take to do stuff like this. We managed to fit the interviews in on days when the bs’s were open and our school wasn’t; you might want to do some calendar comparisons and see if there’s a day or two like that that might work for you. </p>
<p>That said, it sounds like your mom is hedging. BS is hard on parents–we love you guys and don’t really want you to leave so soon! You might get further with her if you sit down and talk to whole bs thing over–what she might be worried about, why you really want to go, etc. A heart to heart might do you both some good and get you both less in battle mode and more on the same page.</p>
<p>If your parents think the interviews are ‘impractical’, what will they think in the future about preseason practices, parent’s weekends, school breaks, and so on. BS is a family decision and experience. I know that all teachers get ‘personal’ days; take a ‘personal’ day next to a holiday. BS schools interview on holidays too, although at this point many of those slots are gone.
For a place that will educate you in your most formative years, you really need your parents on board with all this.</p>
<p>Bshopeful, the schools try to discern the parents’ level of support, as well as the child’s. If you live within a four hour drive of the schools, it’s essential to visit. I’m not only thinking of convincing the schools of your sincere interest. All the schools look beautiful in the viewbooks. On a visit, you can get a feel for the school. </p>
<p>Perhaps your uncle, or another relative, could drive you to the schools, and your mother could Skype her section of the interview? If her school faces a round of staff cuts, she may have good reasons to avoid taking personal days.</p>
<p>Often, teachers need special approval to take personal days and it is even more difficult to take them on the tail of a holiday. Many districts tell teachers to not even ask for them on those days.</p>
<p>If you must, rely on skype and get your parents to take you to revisit days. All is not lost if you need to use a skype interview.</p>
<p>You may want to rethink the schools that are so far away. If you are encountering stress just to visit these schools, what will it be like when you have school breaks, parents weekends and just getting to and from campus?
Stick to the schools close to home. I`m not sure of your location but St. Stevens is between Episcopal and Mersersburg.
Millbrook and Westminster are nice schools but not worth the logistical aggravation.</p>
<p>I would like to reiterate the public holidays which so many of the boarding schools do not take and of course the Saturday interviews. The Saturday time slots are usually reserved for those that live out of state. Not to rain on your parade but your parents enthusiasm has to show during the visits. Personally, I think once you get your Mom or Dad on any one of these campuses that they’re perspective of boarding school will change favorably.</p>
<p>opps sorry, I ment St. James school in Md.</p>
<p>I agree with maddog"s suggestion.
Are you in the southeast? There are a number of boarding schools that look very nice in the southeast, such as the Asheville School and Woodberry Forest (all boys). If you are in that area, why not look there? </p>
<p>On this board, people usually talk about boarding school in New England or the northeast, but rarely other locations. Don’t let that discourage you from looking closer to home.</p>
<p>I understand that it may be difficult, but I still say you should make the effort to convince your parents to do so.</p>
<p>This is the next 4 years of your life you’re talking about…and more.</p>
<p>bshopeful: You may feel better about Skype interviews if you know that my daughter went to two in-person interviews and was eventually rejected from both schools. But her phone interview went so well that the admissions lady later said that she’d decided to admit her before they’d even gotten off the phone! She has spent 4 years now at a school that we could not visit before she went and has loved every (or almost) every minute of it.</p>
my daughter had exclusively either off site interviews (with members of the school’s admissions team) or Skype. She’s at Miller School of Albemarle and we never had even set foot on campus before she decided to go there. It can be done with this age of technology.
I see what happened…@skieurope, please close thread to save me further public humiliation.
closed 6 year old thread