Public school to boarding school transition

[mylife]

i know there was a thread on this recently but i can't find it.

my little bro (15 years old) got caught smoking trees so my mom suddenly thought he was doomed for failure and she's sending him off to boarding school. in a twist of irony, they elected for a school in New Hampshire (ie the northeast pot haven, lol)

i'm trying to stress what a great oppurtunity this will be for him. he'll have a chance to get out of Anytown, Midwest to meet new people and lay a foundation for his future. it seems like a situation he could thrive in given the right circumstances.

what kind of advice should i give him about adjusting to his new life? he's a great kid, but has a low self-esteem and isn't very sociable. i'm not sure why, he's tall and attractive but hasn't come out of his "shell" i suppose.

 

[MattTheSkywalker]

what school?

I went to a boarding school in NH and it was fucking great. Best thing to happen to me under age 18.

 

[Mr. dB]

Best advice for him is "don't drop the soap".

 

[MattTheSkywalker]

Best advice for him is "don't drop the soap".

lol at some places, but times have mostly changed.

 

[Raptorex]

I hate rich little kids, who cares...go to public school

 

[MattTheSkywalker]

I hate rich little kids, who cares...go to public school

private school > public school for education though.

 

[mylife]

what school?

I went to a boarding school in NH and it was fucking great. Best thing to happen to me under age 18.

it's called Kimball Union, about 20 minutes away from Dartmouth in Meridan(?)

he seems to have the right attitude going in, i'm just wondering how well he'll adjust once he's there. hopefully it's not one of those private schools where all the rich kids blow yay all day and their parents buy them out of trouble and into college.

 

[mylife]

I hate rich little kids, who cares...go to public school

i see where you're coming from but he'll be much better off in this situation. he needs teachers and classmates to push him because education was never stressed in our family.

 

[MattTheSkywalker]

it's called Kimball Union, about 20 minutes away from Dartmouth in Meridan(?)

he seems to have the right attitude going in, i'm just wondering how well he'll adjust once he's there. hopefully it's not one of those private schools where all the rich kids blow yay all day and there parents buy them out of trouble and into college.

lol I know KUA pretty well..knew it anyway.

It's not an elite boarding school like andover or exeter, among boarding schools it is a little less "pretentious". Lot of kids whose parents sent them away like your bro, but not a troubled element like St. Thomas More or Hyde. (Those are bad places).

Boarding schools always have issues - kids smoke pot, fuck around etc, but KUA is a pretty middle of the road place...if it is the same as it was in 93. He'll get what he needs as far as attention and role models etc.

 

[mylife]

lol I know KUA pretty well..knew it anyway.

It's not an elite boarding school like andover or exeter, among boarding schools it is a little less "pretentious". Lot of kids whose parents sent them away like your bro, but not a troubled element like St. Thomas More or Hyde. (Those are bad places).

Boarding schools always have issues - kids smoke pot, fuck around etc, but KUA is a pretty middle of the road place...if it is the same as it was in 93. He'll get what he needs as far as attention and role models etc.

right, right. his academics are subpar so he couldn't get accepted to the more prestigious schools. his problem, like 80% of high school kids, is ambition. once he's placed in an environment that pushes him along i'm hoping he'll realize how privileged he is for the oppurtunity.

do you know anything about the "post-graduate" year? is that just a scam to milk another 30k out of parents?

what did you find so great about the experience?

 

[MattTheSkywalker]

right, right. his academics are subpar so he couldn't get accepted to the more prestigious schools. his problem, like 80% of high school kids, is ambition. once he's placed in an environment that pushes him along i'm hoping he'll realize how privileged he is for the oppurtunity.

do you know anything about the "post-graduate" year? is that just a scam to milk another 30k out of parents?

totally depends. Most PGs are

1. athletes with low board scores /non qualifiers

2. athletes not quite ready for college (sports wise) but for whom another year will get them there (me - I was a PG...graduated HS at 16 and needed to grow to play college basketball, it workde out OK)

3. Hockey players - boarding schools in the NE have great hockey teams

4. academic delinquents who need a year of good academic performance to get into a decent school, and they need a structured environment.


if your bro is one of these, then no, it is not a scam.

 

[samoth]

Make sure the school is a feeder for a couple Ivys. Watch out for the grade deflation, too.

 

[MattTheSkywalker]

Make sure the school is a feeder for a couple Ivys. Watch out for the grade deflation, too.

KUA is not reputed as a feeder for Ivy's, but it is a better entrance to elite northeast universities than a public school by a mile.


mylife,

I liked it for a few reasons, and not just the 17 year old soccer player girlfriend I made the first month....though that helped.

On a serious note, it's an environment (at least mine was) that allows you to be yourself, it;s not the typical academic structure - you have a lot of time to do other stuff.

And because you live with your classmates, you can't have a 'school act' and a 'home act'. Layers of bullshit get peeled away and you find your identity.

After my year at boarding school, I went away to college and was far more prepared for it. I may have been too prepared; college was still full of children trying to find their way.

 

[mylife]

Make sure the school is a feeder for a couple Ivys. Watch out for the grade deflation, too.

like matt said, it's not known as an ivy feeder but it's a gateway to better oppurtunities he'll have at home.

are you familiar with the Culver institute in indiana? i was supposed to go there in 4th grade but cried like a little bitch til i got my way