<p>With all due respect, summer session is not the same as being at boarding 24/7 for the academic year. There are mandatory sports that require bus rides and a full academic courseload, not to mention an existing social situation when you arrive that you will have to navigate. There are also three non summer seasons that include bad weather. Summer kids are ALL new so you don’t have to worry about missteps with upperclassmen, and it is a very temporary term with an end point and a lot more freedom. I can see why you think it’s a giant sleepover. That’s not the case during the year. It’s hard work.</p>
<p>Not sure about other schools, but to find out about sex, drug/alcohol use, disciplinary issues, etc. at Andover, you can go to [The</a> Phillipian](<a href=“http://www.phillipian.net%5DThe”>http://www.phillipian.net) and search “state of the academy.” If you check out other school newspaper websites, you might find something similar.</p>
<p>Basically, high school is high school. You’re going to have to deal with the usual stuff - drugs, bullying, sex, the “cool” crowd(s), and all the -isms that exist wherever you end up. I went to boarding school as a day student in the early 90’s, and I dealt with all of that stuff, but to a lesser extent than I did back at my public school, most likely because most of the kids at my boarding school were just busier and had less free time. I went through the typical teenage angst stuff and got through it fine. It was mostly the kids who didn’t want to be there who would act out and get kicked out. But then they were gone and life continued as usual. </p>
<p>For me, boarding school was exhausting and sometimes even boring (work, work, work), but I made some of the best friends of my life there. I keep in touch with more people from high school than from college, and I was just a day student. </p>
<p>Some things to consider…</p>
<p>Possible pros:</p>
<p>Deeper connection with peers / deeper friendships that last forever. Your teachers get to know you a lot better - they’re also your coaches and dorm parents. That makes for excellent recommendations for college if you deserve them. The facilities tend to be better - better library, better athletic facilities, etc - than at public school. Boarding schools will work with you to plan study abroad and/or a gap year, whereas public schools might not. You gain independence and really learn to take care of yourself, which means you will be less likely to fall apart when you get to college. You’re going to go to school with people from all over the world, not just from your hometown. It really broadens your social network. Going to Hong Kong or Johannesburg for a business trip in your 40’s? Chances are, you’ll have a friend from high school who lives there.</p>
<p>Cons: Greater independence can also mean less day-to-day privacy. Some schools like St. Paul’s place a greater emphasis on personal responsibility and let students study and sleep when they want, but most schools have strict study hall periods and lights out periods that you’ll have to abide by whether you like it or not. Your room might get inspected. You may have restrictions on what time of day/night you’re allowed to use the internet. There might be a policy about cell phones. </p>
<p>You might have to fill out three pages of paperwork just to be able to get into a day student’s car to take a quick trip to Target. Expect basic things like that to be a pain. Expect to ask permission to do things you’re used to not having to ask permission for now, and to be respectful about it. If you have a hard time with not mouthing off when adults tell you “no,” boarding school might not be for you. You WILL be told “no” sometimes, and you might not think it’s fair. You’ll just have to deal.</p>
<p>You might feel some of the expectations are unreasonable. You might have a dress code to contend with. Some are more strict than others. Some schools don’t have them at all. You might find some hidden expectations that feel like too much… like you’ve got to get from class in full dress code to the athletic trainer to tape your feet (there will be a line!), get in uniform, and get to the athletic field that is completely across campus in 15 minutes. If you’re late, there are consequences, so you’ve got to really hustle and manage your time even at the micro level sometimes.</p>
<p>You might have Saturday classes, followed by a Saturday afternoon away game far away, and get back at dinner time. That leaves you with only Sunday to get weekend homework done for every single class you have, so forget about that bus trip to Boston with your friends. But that’s life! Sometimes you get to have fun, sometimes you don’t. If you manage your time and study really, really efficiently, you’ll get to have more fun. If you waste time, procrastinate, and get distracted when you study, you’ll have a lot less fun during your free time. So it’s up to you how you’re going to handle that.</p>
<p>If you’re bored with your current school and feel like the classes are too easy, if you want better athletics/arts instruction, if you are independent and like taking care of yourself, if you want to make very deep bonds with friends, if you’re tired of hanging out with just your hometown crowd and want to meet people from other places, and if you generally get along really well with adults and aren’t the type to act out and rebel (or are at least smart enough to do your rebelling without getting caught), boarding school might be for you. Will it be a walk in the park 24/7? Of course not. You’re going to have bad days. There might be a crisis incident on your campus. You might get stuck with a crappy roommate. But that can happen at college, too. So as long as you’re realistic about it,weigh the pros and cons as best you can, and make the most of your campus visits, you should be able to decide with pretty decent accuracy whether or not it’s a good decision to go. Hope this helps.</p>
<p>@coconutcake Awesome post! :D</p>
<p>Thanks. :)</p>