Choate has peer tutors in some subjects and it is available at no cost to any student who requests it.
Most schools have peer tutors, however, if a child is really struggling with a subject and peer tutor often doesn’t cut it. Being students themselves, they lack both the time and teaching experience to handle a kid who is struggling. If its not getting a one off concept or two, it can be very helpful or for catching up when one was sick. But, for the kid who is challenged by math or chem for example, more attention than a peer tutor might be needed.
I think we are discussing two different issues here. Tutoring when a student is struggling a subject vs tutoring “culture” for perfectionism. The first case is a reasonable use of tutoring either in-house or outside. The second case is race to nowhere.
Point taken, @ payn4ward–they are indeed two different issues: “Real” need vs. Perceived need for tutoring. I cannot imagine paying tuition and for a $80 (?) an hour private tutor across several subjects for several hours a week on a “maintainance schedule.” I do know that many of the families at the private day school in our area have succumbed to this sort of familial peer pressure.
GMC2918 - At least in my DS’ social circles, I am not aware of extensive use of outside private tutoring, or a “tutoring culture” at Choate. And it is a very rigorous school.
This topic comes up from time to time. I remember asking our son about it a year or so ago and he looked at me like I had three heads. Peer/teacher tutoring, sure. Outside tutoring? He wasn’t aware of anyone doing that. Maybe in secret?
My opinion: Really? I hoped my kid’s BS was good enough to educate and support him sufficiently on its own to ensure he could hit the ground running at college. Choate did that in spades.
Neither of my children reported peers receiving outside tutoring. Teachers are available outside of class time for advice and help. The skills of 1) admitting you need help, 2) contacting your teacher in person, and 3) arranging your schedule to find mutually convenient times are very important for later success.
itcannotbetrue, when my children were in public middle school (some time ago), friends seemed to think the going rate was more than $100/hour. Many of the tutors were retired public school teachers.
So this all varies by school. I would think it would be a good question to ask at Revisits.
@ChoatieMom I’m very interested in how BS kids do compared to their peers when they start college. Is your son at a school where many other BS students also attend? Does he perceive an academic difference among students from various high school sources? Thanks!
ChoatieCadet is at West Point; not many BS students choose service academies. Our son reports a HUGE difference in his preparation compared to the cadets around him, most of whom were at the top of their HS school classes but appear to be very unprepared for the academics at WP. One of his roommates first semester has already separated due to academic struggles, one of his current roommates is on academic probation, and I see on the service academy forum (not the CC board) that, of the 1257 cadets who entered this summer, the class is down to 1202. Historically, around 1,000 will graduate. Some of that attrition is due to kids getting there and then realizing the military is just not for them, but a number do separate due to an inability to handle not just the academics but the general demands of the academy. Unlike civilian colleges, service academies require cadets/mids to continually pass physical and military components along with academics and sports. Also, the regimentation is relentless—there is no sleeping in, missing classes, missing formation, unmade beds, failure to report for duties/detail/inspections, etc. For most kids, acclimating to academy life is overwhelming at first. Most struggle mightily with time management, and most discover that the effort that got them to the top of their HS classes isn’t going work there. And then there’s the homesickness. What our BS kids have already conquered, most college students are facing for the first time.
So, I can say that BS prepared our son exceptionally well for his college. He validated out of all of the Plebe-killer classes, is a peer tutor in several subjects, and (brag alert) is among the top 100 cadets after rankings came out after winter break. I asked him if he thought BS made a difference for him and he said, “Absolutely!” He says most of his success is due to the time management and study skills he picked up at Choate as well as being used to being away from home. All who endure at an SA eventually learn to succeed there, but that first year is really tough and generally a GPA-killer. BS has really been a boost in that regard.
Glad to hear your son is doing so well. @ChoatieMom ! I bet it makes your sleep easier at night.
That graduation rate for West Point is actually not that bad considering the 4 and 6 year graduation rates at many colleges, when you think of the pressure and lifestyle changes those cadets are faced with. It’s a lot for an 18 or 19 year old to take on.
It’s great to hear how well your son is doing, @ChoatieMom !
Thanks @ChoatieMom for your helpful and reassuring reply. Thanks to your son for his willingness to serve.
Outside tutoring is actually addressed in the Student Handbook of the boarding school my D graduated from. It was expected that students would first seek assistance from the “peer tutoring” program and of course from their teachers during “office hours.” Also don’t forget that your physics or chemistry teacher could also be your housemaster, coach or advisor giving a student access to them at various other times. You could always find housemasters in the evening sitting in the common areas assisting students with the subjects they teach,
But the policy of my own D’s school then goes on to say that if a student is still struggling, an outside tutor can be retained by the family, but the school will not arrange or monitor that tutoring. The tutor has to check in to be cleared by security or the child needs the required permission from school and parent to travel off campus.
I have no idea how much of this actually went on at D’s boarding school, as I agree it would be very hard to schedule that in. My own opinion is that the tutoring that does take place is probably for standardized testing weakness, after the first round of tests results come back.
My daughter has peer tutored at St. Andrew’s - DE, which expects teachers to also give extra help. Not aware of any outside tutoring for coursework, certainly not a “culture” of it. SAT/ACT prep is an option chosen from online resources via school’s Naviance. (I’m not aware that live test prep is offered.)
I know of one family friend at boarding school who used a videochat tutor for the SAT. What do most kids do in terms of SAT/ACT prep at boarding school?
My kids just read the book. They had no time to focus on studying at school and so they did this over breaks.
Breaks and summer. Too little time while at school. I actually had one kid who refused to study at all. One of those “sticking it to the man” types not believing in the whole College Board thing. Still got accepted to college. 
edited to add: and probably some laziness and other priorities factoring in there as well. 
My kids’ school arranges for an SAT prep class to be held on campus, and kids can sign up for it if they want. They also recommend the Khan Academy online materials.
Our BS offers a short six week prep class on Sundays which did help dd. However, I highly recommend getting any test prep out of the way, especially for subject tests, during the summer whether you go with online, workbooks, or classes. As noted, the kids just do not have time to devote to test prep while they are at school junior and senior year. My DD ended up taking subject tests cold and results were not helpful.
@chemmchimney that’s a good point about subject tests, which I hadn’t really considered. But don’t kids usually take them at the end of a class - in the Spring? How would you study for a subject test that you haven’t taken in school yet? As the parent of a Sophomore I’m in the sweet spot of both uninformed and worried about all of this!
True @GMC2918 - It’s best to take them as close as possible to a class in the same subject but many BS kids finish their school year in late May and you can take the June 4 tests at home if for some reason your student doesn’t take the May tests at their school or needs a redo. Also BS classes do not always cover the subject test’s same content.