I could not agree more with @one1ofeach. And I don’t think it is less of a factor at the larger schools, in fact it may be more because they tend to run more like a college and there is a lot less handholding and oversight. If you are not mature enough to deal with it all the boarding school experience may not be what you envision it to be. Yes there are young for grade kids, and they tend to be extremely academically precocious but not necessarily well adjusted socially. At our school they seem to be mostly day students with serious ECs outside of school so the limited social life at school is not that much of an issue for them. But for the few that are boarding students it is quite hard, and they are lonely. It can be hard even for kids who are the right age, I just fielded a ‘mom I really want to leave and go to a normal HS’ from my kid, and it feels beyond terrible (BS was entirely the kid’s idea btw). The students are expected to handle a ton and there is not a lot of support when things are not going great and you are utterly miserable. So pushing ahead to be with older kids could well backfire, as good close friends are the only saving grace my kid has at the moment.