<p>Interesting new thread on the CC Parents Forum, entitled "Student College Review Websites". I've forgotten how to paste a link so here is the title & OP:</p>
<p><<student college="" review="" websites="" does="" anyone="" else="" panic="" when="" they="" read="" those="" where="" the="" students="" different="" colleges?="" every="" once="" in="" a="" while="" i="" will="" reviews="" of="" my="" younger="" daughter's="" top="" choices="" and="" really="" have="" hard="" time="" taking="" them="" lightly="" even="" though="" know="" are="" often="" contradictory="" exaggerations.="" sometimes="" i'll="" compare="" what="" these="" say="" about="" school="" older="" daughter="" goes="" to="" just="" put="" things="" perspective="" but="" schools="" is="" looking="" at="" very="" size="" interest="" than="" school,="" plus="" two="" people.="" don't="" usually="" overreact="" or="" reading="" upset="" me.="" yes,="" but....="">></student></p>
<p>It made me wonder if boarding school parents go through the same feelings expressed in the thread. I don't think that there are student prep school review websites (are there?) but how much have you been influenced by hearsay here & elsewhere on boarding schools, and how reliable have you found it to be?</p>
<p>I think that Boarding School Review had student & alumni/ae comments posted for some schools, but they were already out of date when I was first looking at schools. Most teenagers are going to complain incessantly, wherever they are. When people ask me about my own experiences, I have to say that I’m sure I would have been miserable most of the time between the ages of 13 and 17 anywhere in the known universe. I’ve spent the day fielding unhappy texts and calls from my senior at boarding school. That doesn’t mean that he isn’t in the right place - I shudder to think of what the past 3-1/2 years would have been like for our family if he had attended the local public school. He complains about how much he hates it at home when he’s here. I attended an Ivy League university where most undergraduates were beset with an inferiority complex, and couldn’t seem to overcome their disappointment that they hadn’t been accepted into Harvard or Yale. It was my first choice, and I always felt that they failed to appreciate just how great an education we were all actually receiving, along with the cultural and extra-curricular opportunities. Most young people, regardless of circumstances, tend to think that everybody else has an easier time than they do - academically, socially, financially, etc. I would never allow negative remarks from students to determine where my kid should go. Similarly, the exceedingly glowing comments might well come from people with “skin in the game” (ie. admissions offices) much as the positive reviews on “TripAdvisor” often come from the hotel management posing as guests.</p>