Boarding school

[MamaSprout]

I know this is a long shot, but if anyone has sent a DC to boarding school or special early-college residential program (or carefully considered it and choose not to), can we chat?

Off or on list is fine, but don't quote me on-list, please.

Some of my concerns are specific to transition from homeschool and college classes to... school that is sort of college but still high school. Some of my questions are about fit for my particular student. It would be nice to talk with someone with some BTDT experience.

TIA

[Sneezyone]

19 minutes ago, MamaSprout said:

I know this is a long shot, but if anyone has sent a DC to boarding school or special early-college residential program (or carefully considered it and choose not to), can we chat?

Off or on list is fine, but don't quote me on-list, please.

Some of my concerns are specific to transition from homeschool and college classes to... school that is sort of college but still high school. Some of my questions are about fit for my particular student. It would be nice to talk with someone with some BTDT experience.

TIA

I haven’t considered it for my own DC. I considered it for myself (25 years ago), applied on the sly and got in. I let my mom talk me out of it. I still regret not leaving early. Simon’s Rock at Bard College was my school of choice and their program would have paired me with other early-college entrants. It was only a year early. I’d already taken a bunch of AP classes and even a CC class after my sophomore year so capability wasn’t the issue. My mom just didn’t want me to forgo the ‘senior experience’.
 

I was a lot more clear-headed than my custodial parent, TBH, both about my readiness and about the value of ‘senior activities’ to me. That last year felt like I was treading water, desperate to escape. I am not proud of the choices I made that year. Nothing good came of it. NOTHING. I don’t know what kind of student you’re dealing with academically or in terms of motivation tho. I was bright but bored. That boredom was my doom.

Good luck with your decision!!

Edited February 3, 2021 by Sneezyone

[MamaSprout]

Wellll... it's a good school but definitely not Simon's Rock.

It possibly could make her slightly more competitive for selective schools or programs with the extra year of high school?

How important would average SAT/ ACT play in a decision like this? 

There is no social advantage to staying home.

Edited February 25, 2021 by MamaSprout

[historically accurate]

I graduated from a boarding school (grades 10-12) almost 30 years ago - Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy. While it was a wonderful experience overall, I don't know that I would choose it for my child. We looked into IMSA for my oldest, but for a variety of reasons, she chose dual enrollment instead which worked out well for her. Neither of my other children would succeed at IMSA. 

I applied on a whim, and then I had to talk my parents into it. Honestly, my parents worked nights, and my brother was in college by the time I went to IMSA, so I had been alone or with babysitters a lot during my freshman year, so it was quite a bit different than transitioning from homeschool to boarding school. 

I was one of the first classes to go through IMSA, so it was very different than we found it when we attended some admission things with my oldest. It's a lot less like college, and more like high school. We were kind of thrown in there and expected to swim although coming from a semi-rural area with low (for IMSA admissions) SAT scores, I had access to the at-risk student assistance program. There are a lot more helps in the form of tutoring centers, study hours, etc, in today's IMSA.

I think Jenny in FL's daughter went to an early college program if I am remembering correctly. 

[Sneezyone]

What are *you* hoping to gain and what does your student want? The two don’t necessarily match up. Does your student have the test scores and grades to be successful?  If she’s already well over the average SAT/ACT (and keep in mind that includes all student 9-12) it may not be a great fit. Is she into hyper competitive HS stuff? I wasn't. That crap was/is meaningless to me. I wanted and craved the freedom and flexibility of actual college life, to learn at a deeper level, not take prescriptive HS classes. Does *she* want to go to the school? I didn’t have *any* issues being admitted to highly selective schools after my extra year but I did have to explain in my admissions essays why I basically checked out and hated my life. lol.

Edited February 3, 2021 by Sneezyone

[8filltheheart]

Someone who knew our physicsgeek ds quite well recommended we look into our state's science and math boarding school.  When I investigated it, their course options were less compatible with his abilities than DEing at our local 4 yr U.  After meeting with the local U with his transcript and test scores, the registrar agreed to allow him to register for the classes that fit his personal needs vs. their limited list of courses that high school students were allowed to take.  

  Using her extra yr of high school to make her a more compelling applicant definitely makes sense, but I'm not sure that a boarding school is going to be that line to cross.  Research, internships, major community outreach, regional/state/national/international awards, demonstrating strong internally motivated learning (for example, my dd translated a Russian fairy tale into English, did a capstone research project on Shakespeare.  Ds designed an independent study around dark holes and dark matter, researched with local professor, etc)----something that makes her stand out vs. looking like all other typical brick and mortar applicants would be to her benefit.

(ETA: deleting misunderstood info)

Edited February 3, 2021 by 8filltheheart

[Lecka]

This is also someone my own age..... I knew someone who went to Simon's Rock between 10th and 11th grade.  I think it was a great choice for him.  It worked well for him.

He was not someone you would pick out as extremely mature in every way, before he left, but he thrived there.  He was very ready academically.  

His parents were also getting into a divorce situation and they fought all through 10th grade and put him in the middle of their arguments.  I think they managed to maintain boundaries 1,000 times better after he left.  

I do not think he would have gotten a lot out of continuing at high school because it just did not suit him.  

 

[MamaSprout]

Dd is alone a lot right now between Covid, DH and I working, and her on-campus DE did not work out this semester. She wants to apply. We want her to apply. We don't want her to have any regrets about not checking it out completely. Her friends skew older, meaning they are gone or graduating soon.

 

Edited February 25, 2021 by MamaSprout

[saw]

I have two who graduated two years early and did not want to go to university that young. One went to boarding school for two years, and the other did two years of study abroad. DC3 was in boarding school from age 9, which was the best possible option for him. DC4 is 14, homeschooling and in no way a boarding school type at the moment. I'd be happy to answer questions, here or by pm.

[8filltheheart]

If this is what you all want, then she should apply.  What works for her right now is more important than hypothetical college admissions.  There is more to life.

[MamaSprout]

5 minutes ago, 8filltheheart said:

If this is what you all want, then she should apply.  What works for her right now is more important than hypothetical college admissions.  There is more to life.

We've only got as far as, "We all want her to apply". So still solidly in the information-gathering stage.

[skimomma]

My dd attended a one-semester boarding school her 11th grade year.  So, not directly relevant.  But she did go from 100% homeschooled to boarding school to nearly 100% DE at the STEM university she will be attending as a freshman next year.  I had huge reservations but dd was very interested in attending.  Dd loved it and would not have traded the experience for anything.  It was also a great transition from mommy-classes to being accountable to someone else.  She was able to move into serious DE classes directly afterwards with far less trouble than I think she would have otherwise.  There were downsides too.....mostly from the parent perspective, but overall, the pros outweighed the cons looking at it one year out.  In our case, the school dd attended was not academically challenging for her, even though on paper, she should have been in the middle of the pack academically.  Had it been more than one semester, that would have been an issue.  That turned out to be ideal because she was able to concentrate on the other aspects of being independnet and academically accountable to someone other than a parent.  I now have zero worries about how she will fare (academically, anyway) in college next year.

[MamaSprout]

2 hours ago, saw said:

I have two who graduated two years early and did not want to go to university that young. One went to boarding school for two years, and the other did two years of study abroad. DC3 was in boarding school from age 9, which was the best possible option for him. DC4 is 14, homeschooling and in no way a boarding school type at the moment. I'd be happy to answer questions, here or by pm.

Can you tell me a little more about your DC who graduated and then went to boarding school? Academically, that's kind of what she would be doing.

[MamaSprout]

13 minutes ago, skimomma said:

There were downsides too.....mostly from the parent perspective, but overall, the pros outweighed the cons looking at it one year out.  In our case, the school dd attended was not academically challenging for her, even though on paper, she should have been in the middle of the pack academically.  Had it been more than one semester, that would have been an issue.

Can you talk about this a bit more? PM is fine.

[saw]

10 hours ago, MamaSprout said:

Can you tell me a little more about your DC who graduated and then went to boarding school? Academically, that's kind of what she would be doing.

DDs (twins) graduated homeschool high school two years early, because of grade skips from when they were in b&m school. We were using an umbrella school from the country where we had lived when they were in school, which provided accountability for the girls in terms of check-ins with tutors and so on. One of them was/is very interested in music and decided to go to an academic boarding school with a strong music program for sixth form (we are in the UK right now, so she went for the last two years of high school to do A-levels). It was not that far from home, and the school's boarding structure was such that every third week was either a long weekend or a holiday. She took classes that she had not had the opportunity to take in high school. The school itself was not known for being academically rigorous; however, they did provide DD with many opportunities, both academic and otherwise, and supported her in challenging herself. So the flexibility of the school in recognizing DD's needs was key for success. This was down to individual staff but also the general approach of the school in supporting students as individuals.

Other DD decided against this school and did two years abroad with an American high school program. This required her to learn another language and live with a host family for a year each time, without prior exposure to the language. This provided plenty of academic challenge; in addition, the program offered multiple AP options. Extracurriculars were dependent on location and luck, and this was one downside to these programs. DD was not able to continue with some of the activities she had enjoyed. In addition, looking back, I think that there was not a great deal of supervision of the students, who were left to roam free, depending on their host family's requirements. DD is sensible and mature and so this was okay for her, but from what I gathered, other students should have had more supervision. I think the supervision varies by country as well. 

In terms of college, both ended up at their first choice school and have done very well. In terms of SATs, IIRC, both took the SAT a few years early and the extra year or two didn't really improve on their scores. I

[MamaSprout]

On 2/3/2021 at 1:52 PM, 8filltheheart said:

If this is what you all want, then she should apply.  What works for her right now is more important than hypothetical college admissions.  There is more to life.

I've been thinking about this. For DH and I, it is about finding the right fit right now... for her it's a lot about having a shot at a selective university and possibly because she's liked the teachers she's met.

Edited February 25, 2021 by MamaSprout

[skimomma]

15 hours ago, MamaSprout said:

Can you talk about this a bit more? PM is fine.

The downsides mostly revolve around the difficulty of dd being completely independent then having to come home and deal with rules and expectations.  This is a big reason why we went straight to DE.....to give dd academic independence.  We had been warned that it would be a difficult transition.  It was not nearly as bad as other parents report and dd has always had a lot of freedom anyway.  It was still a rough transition for dd.  The pandemic happened to hit shortly after she came home so that exasperated everything.  I don't think this would be an issue for you since your dc would go to college after boarding school.

We did not anticipate that the academics would be so weak.  Or maybe I am just out of touch with what level of rigor is to be expected in traditional high schools.  Dd is an only child and has always been homeschooled so that is a real possibility.  All students only attend this school for a single semester.  It is part of a collection of "semester schools" that each have a specific theme. The school had told us that although they are selective for academics, it was too difficult to get everyone on the same page in just one semester.  All of the students came from different schools/states and there was (supposedly) big variation in academic level/background.  They skip math entirely.  Students were encouraged to follow a plan from their sending school or take an online class.  Dd opted to take an elective rather than math self-study because she planned to take DE math the next semester which would "count" as a full year of high school math.  The lack of rigor seems to mostly be due to the short duration that students attend.  Knowing what I do now, I would want to see examples of students work, syllabi, and curriculum before committing to a school that lasted more than one semester.

Another struggle was maintaining dd's music and sport. She is pretty serious in both and found it really difficult to practice and workout without others doing the same.  She came home right as her race season was starting up for the year.  Having largely missed four months of coached training, she had a pretty disastrous season and she still has not fully recovered from it.  Dd would say it was worth it and the damage was somewhat muted by the pandemic anyway.  

Anything else you'd like to know?

[8filltheheart]

3 hours ago, MamaSprout said:

I've been thinking about this. For DH and I, it is about finding the right fit right now... for her it's a lot about having a shot at a selective university and possibly because she's liked the teachers she's met.

I would not factor the bolded into the decision.  It is doubtful that boarding school, unless it is a direct feeder school, is going to make much of an impact.

[Patricia J. Miranda]

On 2/3/2021 at 7:55 PM, historically accurate said:

I graduated from a boarding school (grades 10-12) almost 30 years ago - Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy. While it was a wonderful experience overall, I don't know that I would choose it for my child. We looked into IMSA for my oldest, but for a variety of reasons, she chose dual enrollment instead which worked out well for her. Neither of my other children would succeed at IMSA. 

I applied on a whim, and then I had to talk my parents into it. Honestly, my parents worked nights, and my brother was in college by the time I went to IMSA, so I had been alone or with babysitters a lot during my freshman year, so it was quite a bit different than transitioning from homeschool to boarding school. 

I was one of the first classes to go through IMSA, so it was very different than we found it when we attended some admission things with my oldest. It's a lot less like college, and more like high school. We were kind of thrown in there and expected to swim although coming from a semi-rural area with low (for IMSA admissions) SAT scores, I had access to the at-risk student assistance program. There are a lot more helps in the form of tutoring centers, study hours, etc, in today's IMSA.

I think Jenny in FL's daughter went to an early college program if I am remembering correctly. 

Thank you for sharing your experience. My friend is thinking about applying to such a school, I will be sure to tell her about your thoughts. She has already found https://edubirdie.com/college-application-essay-writing to help her with the admissions process. She has been practicing college applications for a long time, but she is still worried that something will go wrong. I'd like her to reconsider her decision, too.

Thank you for sharing your experience. My friend is thinking about applying to such a school, I will definitely tell her about your thoughts.

Edited August 2, 2021 by Patricia J. Miranda

[Dmmetler]

My 16 yr old is entering college as a residential student this fall, at a school without a formal EC program. We chose to stay local and do DE for the last few years vs doing early residential college, but couldn't really stretch it out longer given what was available locally. 

 

[MamaSprout]

I never follow up on this thread, I guess. Dd applied, was offered a spot, and declined it. 

She realized that even a really great public high school is still a public high school, and a poor fit for her for many of the same reasons. 

She identified an academically-challenging-but-not-ivy-university and she is applying a year early. Her tribe seems to be there.