Close the gap between private day and boarding?

SoyIndio · 11-06-2012, 11:07 AM

Hi, as the title suggests, I'm wondering how to close the gap between a private day school and a boarding school. What happened was that I decided to leave my public school (which was a pretty mediocre school, not a lot of clubs, ~400 kids overall) pretty late in my Freshmen year. I ended up applying and getting accepted to my private school right now in New Jersey (Rutgers Prep). I'm living with my grandparents right now in order to go to this school, but I know I'm not getting the same experience as my boarding school friends. Right now I'm active in really only one club, I'm taking two APs, and one honors class. I play tennis outside of school.

My question is, what can I do to "close the gap" between me and boarders. To get the kind of same experience as they do. Especially in academics, as I feel it isn't as great as I thought it was going to be. Any thoughts?

2kidsnoanswers · 11-06-2012, 08:57 PM

I am not familiar with your private day school, but do know something about a variety of boarding schools. The truth is, you really can't lump all boarding schools together any more than you can see all private day schools as the same. There are many differences among various boarding schools.

There are also quite a few kids who attend boarding schools as day students, and do not board at all. While the boarding experience can be a very good one to many, being a day student also has its advantages.

Therefore, I'm not quite sure what you mean about the 'gap' you describe. It sounds as if you feel that your school is not as academically challenging as you would like it to be? If so, perhaps your guidance counselor can help you with that, or you could consider taking a course at a local college.

GMTplus7 · 11-06-2012, 10:59 PM

Quote:

what can I do to "close the gap" between me and boarders. To get the kind of same experience as they do.

Since you are already living away from home to attend a private day school, then what is stopping you from going "all the way" and simply attending a BS, if that is the experience you desire?

JaceyLacey · 11-07-2012, 05:40 AM

Yeah I was also thinking about this when I was reading the post and I was gonna say exactly what you were going to say but you beat me to it.

SoyIndio · 11-09-2012, 10:44 PM

okay, I guess what I mean by the gap is that boarding school students are always surrounded by peers, and have clubs, activities, sports, etc. But a private day student doesn't have all that, so I was wondering of ways to fill the gap, that lack of people around you, and always doing something. I know I'm not going to get the same thing, but I'll try.

And yeah, I actually want to go to boarding school now, but by the time I made the choice, it was too late to apply for this year, and I'm not sure it would look good for colleges to change schools so much (My public school -> current private school > boarding school). It's worth noting that my school DOES NOT have a boarding option, it only has day students.