Why are we doing this?

Prep School Admissions
1

<p>We had this subject a while ago.</p>

<p>Let me bring it up again.</p>

<p>What are real advantages of attending Boarding Schools?
Are kids going to better colleges comparing with public High School?
If they were attending public high school, they would be flying instead of
facing tough grades system in Boarding School.</p>

<p>I am not sure if BS kids have advantages in applying to colleges, and I do not know how
colleges interpret BS grades comparing with public high school grades.</p>

<p>Please feel free to post any comments or facts. Those comments or facts will help the students and parents who are about to apply BS this year as well.</p>

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<p>Hi Erkybk! We should meet in person some time.</p>

<p>NCLB has changed public schools. Several parents I know have reported that administrators at public schools said to them, “Well, you’ll have to go to private school for that,” when the parents asked if it were possible to give their smart children some–any!–challenge. </p>

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<p>We can never know “what might have been.” You’re assuming your child would be able to take suitable courses. Some local public high schools do a great job challenging the highly capable. Many don’t, either due to a lack of money, or due to the pressures of NCLB. I do think admissions officers know the differences in grading systems. </p>

<p>In my opinion, the tough grading systems in boarding school are great for the real high fliers. In a public school, they would be one more kid with straight As. College admissions officers know that it’s much harder to maintain a high grade point average at challenging prep schools. I do have friends who have children at public high schools who worry that their really smart kids “blend into the crowd.” </p>

<p>Then again, in our local school district, our school committee members and administrators have been quoted, more than once, worrying about the negative effects of “academic stress.” My kids need the challenge to be interested in school. A dumbed-down curriculum, and a classroom where they’re expected to tutor others (because they’re ahead of the class), is a recipe for boredom and disengagement on their part. Some students can conceal their boredom and play the game. Mine can’t.</p>

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<p>I’ll grant that I’m not focused on college admissions. They’re so unpredictable these days that I figure it’s best to try to attain a high school and a schedule which challenges my children, rather than try to guess what a hypothetical college admissions officer will think of our choices. Boarding has allowed my eldest child to pursue interests she wouldn’t have been able to pursue at home. Plus, she’s able to arrange her schedule without consulting us, and without getting rides home from teenaged drivers.</p>

<p>A cousin just graduated from a public high school. He was accepted to an elite college, but most of his academic classes in the last two years of high school were independent studies. Calculus was an independent study. His school only offered three years of French. Physics is only offered every other year. His parents had to hire an outside consultant to provide the guidance a high school counselor should provide for free. He’s an exceptional kid, but it took a lot of extra planning and pressure from his mother to convince his school that it was just easier to get out of his way. (She’s quite fearsome when her mind’s made up.)</p>

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<p>Don’t go with BS to get into a better college. It probably will not help. Small pond with lots of big fish. </p>

<p>Go with BS if it is the right HS experience for your child. If it offers the better academics or ECs your child needs to thrive. If your child will flourish and grow with strong relationships with teachers and with classmates who are engaged and interested and want to be there. Basically, if it will better meet your child’s particular needs than what your child can get at home, and if they will be a better, happier person in the end. HS should be about HS not just about getting into college!</p>

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<p>Periwinkle - if it makes you feel any better, tutoring of other students by children who are ahead of the class happens in even the best private day schools. While it is admirable to help out your classmates, it can become “expected” all too quickly. It is one of those things that gets under my skin. It is a hard subject to broach with teachers without making yourself (and your child who may be complaining) look bad.</p>

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<p>Interesting topic! An argument that’s often made on this forum is

True, just as colleges should be about colleges not just about finding good jobs or getting into graduate schools after college! BUT, no one can deny those are important goals of HS and college AS WELL. I know most of you are current or prspective BS parents. Instead of trying to justify why you send your kids to BS despite a possible worse college outcome (you already made that choice and no one can take that away from you), why not look into the process and see how your kids can enhance the chances of getting into a top college on top of getting a good education? Too much to ask? Well when you spend $40K+ a year for HS, you shouldn’t think so. </p>

<p>I know someone would jump right out and shout “it depends on what you think is a top college”! For the sake of argument, let’s “rank” colleges by selectivity. Why? Because in many cases when your student is strong, s/he can choose to attend a less selective college while s/he has to “fight for” for the admission of a selective one. Let’s focus on the “freedom” or the choices of colleges your student out of BS can have instead of making it another “fit” debate. Don’t get me wrong, fit is important and interesting to discuss, but some talks can be about something else right?</p>

<p>The reality is that except the top few, boarding schools are not doing a particularly good job in sending their students to highly selective colleges. Even with the top few, some argue that we are seeing a downward trend. You can expalin all day how colleges nowadays are seeking diversity of all kinds, etc. etc., but wouldn’t it be more helpful to talk about what can be done to improve the situation? What can a boarding school student do make him/herself more attactive to top colleges? What does the boarding school (especially the college conseling) do to help their students to be more competitive?</p>

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<p>There have been lots of discussions here around this same topic that I’ve followed with great interest. Until now, I’ve been reluctant to speak to this, feeling that my thoughts might be too simplistic for most folks here. Well, for whatever it’s worth, here goes…</p>

<p>When we were considering BS, I decided that quality of education would really be the only big determinant for me in our decision. I’ve long believed that quality of education is most strongly influenced by two things: first, the talent level and intellectual earnestness of the peer group, and, second, the quality of the teaching - pretty much in that order too. </p>

<p>Our son was in a public Middle School that was considered to be well above average, but there were really only a few peers that were at his intellectual level and only one who matched his level of intellectual earnestness. My research into the HADES schools convinced me that his peer group there would be startlingly superior academically, would represent an amazingly diverse range of backgrounds and perspectives, and virtually all of them would be at least as intellectually earnest as he is.</p>

<p>When I looked at the credentials of the teachers in our public high school (sometimes listed as one of the top 500 in the country), the vast majority of the teachers had majored in “education” for either one or two degrees. When I looked at the credentials of the teachers in the top HADES schools, very, very few had majored in “education” either as undergraduates or as graduate degree candidates. The vast majority had at least two degrees in the subject matter(s) that they were teaching. It was obvious, at least to me, which teacher group would be most successful in infecting our son with enthusiasm and passion about the subject matter they were teaching.</p>

<p>Many of these discussions here on CC have been centered around whether BS or public high school would be the better threshold for admission to the Ivies. My personal opinion is that there is no simple answer to that question, but, more importantly, I don’t care about that at all. I think the real strength of the most prestigious Ivies nowadays is in their graduate and professional schools, and, furthermore, too large a proportion of their undergraduate courses are taught by graduate students. I think the kids going to the really strong small liberal arts schools (Bowdoin, Williams, Middlebury, etc.) actually get the best undergraduate educations. But my bottom line with respect to preparation for college is that I believe the HADES graduates will be far better prepared than almost any public school graduate to get a superior undergraduate education no matter what college they attend.</p>

<p>After his first few weeks of BS, our son was telling me how impressed and delighted he was with the amazing talent levels of all the students around him - and how different it was from his Middle School. I remarked that “Before now, you were a big fish in a small pond.” His response sort of stunned me, “Yes, and now I’m a big fish in a big pond. Everyone here is a big fish!”</p>

<p>We believe we made a good decision.</p>

<p>I hope these thoughts (and personal opinions) are helpful to some.</p>

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<p>Some parents send their kids to Boarding Schools because it’s considered a status symbol. Some send them because they don’t know what else to do with their money.</p>

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<p>Mainer, This is more of a myth than reality. Do you have any stats as to how BS grads do in college compared to public school kids? Many magnet public high schools like TJ, Stuyvesant produce many high achievers. More than 70% of HADES graduates don’t go to ivies. Also, don’t forget that there will be GBJrs among your son’s peers. Recently there was a news article in which a Yale Teaching Assistant said his BS students aren’t as smart as many non-BS kids in his class. I think people want to believe what they want to believe.</p>

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<p>Well, pulsar, you should at least believe that bit. Note Mainer didn’t even say top bs’s prepare their students better. She said HADES. Sure, TJ, Stuyvesant are great but you know those few are not the ones she is comparing HADES with. So, let’s see: These schools have huge endowments, incredible facilities, faculties with stella credentials, student body selected from all around the world at an admit rate of 15% and they work their butts off 24/7 away from home, and parents spend $40K a year… now you are saying they are gaining NOTHING, not even the academic preparedness for college? Come on…</p>

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<p>pulsar, I normally choose not to respond to your posts, but in this case you’re actually affirming my points. TJ and Stuyvesant are unquestionably top American high schools. However, public schools comparable to TJ and Stuyvesant are geographically unavailable to 99+% of American families. In addition, I’ll still give the edge to the HADES schools because of the far greater diversity of their student bodies. Exposure to a truly broad range of perspectives and life experiences, IMHO, does the best job of preparing kids for successful, enriching lives where they are also motivated to “pay it forward” themselves.</p>

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<p>Mainer, I think you are saying that BSs select top students who do well later in college. Are you saying that BSs have no added value? What if BSs take all kids like public schools? It will be interesting to see if BSs take all kids and then produce great grads well prepared for college. The merit of BSs may be in choosing top students rather than providing great education that is superior to public schools. If you put all the Exeter recruits in a good public school, they will do equally well.</p>

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<p>Mainer: great post–every line of it.</p>

<p>pulsar: yes, they’ll do equally well, BUT…you’re assuming there’s a good public school to go to. Again, as Mainer points out, some of us don’t have those options. </p>

<p>Consider what my husband calls the “crabs in a bucket” syndrome. I’ve seen far too many bright, motivated, eager-to-learn kids become mediocre students to fit in and have friends here. </p>

<p>The recruiting of top students is exactly what gives BS their added value. Bingo! That’s the benefit…and that’s what the average public school will never be able to give a bright kid.</p>

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<p>Well, and the facilities and the faculty are pretty whizz bang too… :)</p>

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<p>Value is in the eye of the beholder. Parents who see getting their kid into an ivy as the only reason to go to BS are likely to be disappointed and feel like they wasted their money. They are also usually the ones pounding on the GC’s desk, prodding teachers and pressuring poor junior about grades and athletic accomplishments. They cannot believe that everyone does not measure value and success as HYPMS. </p>

<p>Then there are the rest of us. We do not feel cheated if junior does not get into an ivy. I do not want my kid’s school to work on better acceptance rates to HYPMS. I do want them to focus energy on continuing to deliver an extraordinary education. We send our children to BS to be part of a dynamic and exciting learning community. We want them to be exposed to the tremendous facilities, opportunities, speakers, teachers and peers that BS offers. No, it may not be the only place in the world where these things exist, and no it is not necessary to junior’s future success. However, it is a wonderful experience to be able to offer a child. One that will help them grow and mature and thrive. It is consistently producing that engaged, confident, competent, life-long learner that is the true measure of BS success.</p>

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<p>World wide high level friends network doesnt hurt either.</p>

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<p>Is this thread for BS recruiting purpose? If the BSs are so valuable as you think, people should be seeking them out without a lot of advertisement. Why are all these schools going to every nook and corner of the world to recruit? I hope you are all right in your beliefs of the value of BS education.</p>

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<p>Only if you can get in it. Have you heard of BS Cliques?</p>

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<p>You are right. If you have trouble making friends, this will not be a benefit to you.</p>

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<p>C’mon pulsar, you’re not even trying anymore.</p>

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<p>@1012mom</p>

<p>“it is a wonderful experience to be able to offer a child. One that will help them grow and mature and thrive. It is consistently producing that engaged, confident, competent, life-long learner that is the true measure of BS success.”</p>

<p>This is what I hope my d will have at bs. Though it has only been a few weeks, my d’s happiness at the challenges that bs is presenting is making her more excited and thrilled than I knew possible. Her love of learning has been restored. The tone and passion in her voice when she speaks of her geometry classmates and teacher only solidifies my heart that I made the right decision for my child. </p>

<p>She is happy, engaged, and thriving.</p>

<p>(I only wish she was a day student–lol)</p>

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<p><a href=“I%20only%20wish%20she%20was%20a%20day%20student–lol”>quote</a>

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<p>This may be an indication that people may not like the boarding aspect of these schools, but send their kids there any way.</p>