<p>I've had experience with many types of schools and now I'm looking at boarding preps. Oldest has LDs and went to a magnet public, to a cc and is now at UCSD. Next child just got into Columbia ED with great grades and ECs, but an average (for them) SAT (1490). Child I'm looking at boarding preps for is a top student at a private day. Some are telling me to leave well enough alone but in meeting with some children earlier this week who go to good boarding schools, I saw a spark in their eyes that I'd like to see in my daughter's. Life is a bit too easy for her and she craves more. So give me your opinions on the Choates of the world. I would especially like to know if the competition seems more elevated than that at the Country's top private day schools. What is the truth on college placement? What is the truth about supervision? It seems many of these schools do not rank, what is the effect?</p>
<p>I don't have one who goes to boarding school but D has several friends who go to Cate School in Carpinteria. Since you are in Ca. it might be worth a look. The kids we know who go there all are happy, bright and extremely busy and well-rounded. I don't know how it compares to an east coast boarding school but the kids we know have done really well in college admissions.</p>
<p>I sent you a PM. I have a lot of experience with boarding schools- mostly good. Important to watch for ration of day to boarding students. You don't have to have 100% boarding, but I wanted at least 70%. Otherwise, the campus empties out on weekends and the community feel is missing.
Karen</p>
<p>I sent both kids to second-rate boarding schools. They were both the best day schools in the area and had a boarding school as well, with the boarding school aimed primarily at Asian-ESL students. Why boarding school? We decided too late that private high school was necessary and their MS grades weren't good enough for the best local schools. Both ended up as the top students in their schools, which served them well in the end.</p>
<p>The great thing about boarding school is that it entirely gets rid of the "did you do your homework?" argument.</p>
<p>Check the school's list of where its grads have gone to get a flavor for the school. Attend classes. </p>
<p>I found supervision perfectly adequate. However, any student in any school anywhere in the country can get drugs, sex, and alcohol if they're so inclined.</p>
<p>we have a school near us in PA - it's called the hill school.. you could always check out that school. <a href="http://www.thehill.org/home/home.asp%5B/url%5D">http://www.thehill.org/home/home.asp</a> i know some people who went there and were very happy.</p>
<p>A few silly questions: How do I receive a PM??? Also, when looking at the number of students fcolor at a school, what does this include? Do Saturtday classes mean that the kids have 6 days/wk? Cate does sound interesting and so close! Thanks all for the input.</p>
<p>For your private messages go to the upper right of your screen, just below the Welcome message. It will tell you if you have any private messages. Just click on it.
My son has Saturday morning classes, but they don't have class on Wednesday afternoon. Wednesday afternoon is when they usually have athletic competitions. Frequently, some of the Saturday classes are cancelled (SATs etc.) My son complained about the Saturday classes before he started, but seems to accept it. It basically gives them only 1 weekend night, which is fine with me!
Karen</p>
<p>I don't know much about boarding schools firsthand, but here are a few interesting websites I've collected in my trolling of the internet:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/%5B/url%5D">http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/</a> Statistics & student reviews of boarding schools. It's kind of like an online version of the big college book guides. You can search by criteria such as average SAT scores, geography, sports offered, etc.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.prepreview.com%5B/url%5D">http://www.prepreview.com</a> Site that collects statistics and info on boarding schools, private college prep day schools, public high schools, military academis, etc in the USA, Canada, Australia and England. Particularly relevent to your questions, it let's you sort, rank and compare schools by SAT scores, matricualtion to Ivy+Stanford+MIT,% international students, etc. You can restrict your search to private shcools, boarding schools or public high schools. They seem to be updating some of the data now, and may be switching to charging for access to some parts of their site, but the data available is very interesting for someone evaluating various high school alternatives.</p>
<p>For PM look in the upper right hand corner of your screen, click on the Private Messages link. My dd went to boarding in Calif and I'd enthusiastically recco her school. The teachers live on campus so supervision is excellent. Plus the girls dorms are wired with alarms from 11pm for saftey. I think 20% are day students and they must live in a 10 mi radius. Day students hang out on campus frequently and the 2 students she hangs out most with are day students, her next best set of friends are boarders. The workload is intense for kids that take the most challenging classes but the entire school is not all competitive brains--normal range students do quite well too. There are some really exciting EC opportunities. </p>
<p>So far they are having great response to the ED/EA round this year. I've only heard of one deferral, but not all answers in yet. I think these schools tell you the acceptance rates. I don't think the ranking is an issue. There are so many stellar it does not make any sense to rank. dd has a terrific completely unique hook because of attending this school and getting involved in an special EC. She's in the top 20 or 25% academically, but when considered as a whole and with her leadership she is considered a star and was chosen to be a featured senior in their magazine. There are terrific leadership ops at boarding schools (dorm prefect, honor cabinet, as well as student govt and the other usuals) and this is a crucial area for college acceptance.</p>
<p>I should add that she has great depth of EC's and sports and I don't think she could have done everything she wanted in a day school. She also truly loves her school.</p>
<p>Thank you for the suggestions. I had found Boarding School Review, but it doesn't rank outright. Prep Revies does, and I never even heard of the number one school, St. Paul's School, except on the high school board here. 42% to ivies, MIT and Stanford? Could that be right? The average SAT is 1345. How could that be? What exactly do these schools accomplish with kids to achieve that?</p>
<p>St Paul is indeed prestigious. That's where John Kerry went, by the way. The top prep schools achieve high SAT scores by having stringent entrance requirements to start with, something that public schools cannot have unless they are exam schools such as Stuyvesant or Boston Latin.</p>
<p>The high SAT averages are very possible, I went to a small private (non boarding school) and our sports teams played many of the prep schools (boarding ones) in NJ. Is it possible that these schools send an excessive number to the Ivies as many are seen as feeders. I don't know if this is statistically true, but Lawrenceville is viewed as a feeder to Princeton from what I've heard.</p>
<p>dd's school has that rate as well. And 99% to UC, but you have to remember, this is of kids WHO APPLIED to ivy's etc. Not of the entire school population. I think I'm right on this, but I don't know that site.</p>
<p>Ok, but at my children's current day prep, the average SAT is 1410 and they send maybe 10% to ivies. What gives?</p>
<p>In my office, everyone raves about Choate, yet it's ranked 13 if I remember correctly, is this right?</p>
<p>Kirmum:</p>
<p>What gives is probably that your kids' school is in CA and many of its graduates probably go to Stanford or some of the more prestigious UCs. Hard to trade great CA weather for the cold of the Ivies unless, like my S, you happen to like snow.</p>
<p>What is this focus on raising SAT scores?
Is the fit determined by a test?
I don't think so.
There are fine boarding schools but to pick one cause you think it will raise your childs chances to attend a prestigious college?
Pls tell me I am misunderstanding.
I really don't think that is why you should consider a boarding school, lookee here.
The average SAT score at the top day school in our area is 1310, but my daughters inner city public high school is comparable in everything but how well the students are prepared when they begin 9th grade, how much money their parents make, how much money the school has, and control over who is admitted.
The students we know that have attended boarding schools aren't attending schools (colleges)very different from kids that attended prep or public schools. Some didn't have prep options in area, or they possibly missed by not applying in middle school as they usually start in 5th or 6th grade and after that it would be as competitive as an Ivy.( more). Others I believe attended boarding schools because it was expected in the stratosphere of social and economic life in which the family traveled. Kids are expected to somewhat be involved in family business, so it was important that they make these contacts.
If your daughter really can't be challenged in any other way than by going off to school then go for it, but for others on the board who may be in similar situation, I think there isn't only one option.</p>
<p>I have heard the good, the bad and the ugly about Cate. </p>
<p>I have no vested interest in the school, one way or another, so while the info I have is anecdotal, I have no personal bias one way or another. I did not consider it for my children because we decided against the boarding school approach.</p>
<p>I know very successful students who have gone there; I also have heard that a few classes in recent years were generally viewed with disappointment in terms of the college outcomes. The most disturbing thing I have heard about the school was from someone who serves the student's needs from the outside and who observed that many of them were over-stressed and under-equipped emotionally to cope with life, to some degree because of the phenomenon of many students being sent there by wealthy parents who are "too busy" to manage a teenager at home. It is entirely possible that the person who told me this was operating under a personal bias; it's hearsay, nothing more.</p>
<p>On the other hand, I have heard that it is a gorgeous campus, truly selective, and I know of families who have been very happy with it, although I have also heard it is somewhat unfriendly to those attending as day students. A nearby option is Thatcher; somewat different, I think in philosophical approach.</p>
<p>On boarding school in general: long ago a friend suggested that I was selling S short not to send him to a well-known boarding school as she did her children; that he would be denied the access to an Ivy League education as a result of my short-sightedness. One of her S's went to Penn, another is in school somewhere in CA. My S was just accepted to Princeton, so fortunately, we were not as short-sighted as it may have appeared. For some kids, it's a great option, for others not...you will no doubt have fun researching it.</p>
<p>The kids who seemed to do the best, both socially and academically, at the boarding schools with which I have personal experience, are the kids who are pretty good at managing themselves. The kids have to be able to get themselves out of bed, manage their time, maintain some semblance of a nutrious diet etc. My daughter said she would NOT have wanted to spend more than the 2 years she did (junior and senior) at her boarding school. She loved the experience and it has served her well, but the communities are not very big, and it can all wear thin. (Especially true in the case of her school, which was populated by a bunch of temperamental musicians, dancers and actors!) Karen</p>
<p>Emeraldkity, I would not judge any school on college placement alone, but it certainly is a factor and something I want to be aware of as we look at schools and what they offer overall. I know it's considered somewhat unseemly to consider ivy league placement in CC parlance. The fact is, many do want to now what their children's access will be to top schools given high school choices and I am among them.</p>
<p>Dizzymom, your friend's gander at what makes up the student body at prep boarding schools certainly fits the stereotype I subscribed to. This is probably my biggest query at this point: Are these kids who have been sent away or kids who wnt to be there and thrive there on the whole?</p>
<p>Karen, thanks again, your outlook is very balanced.</p>