Boarding School "Fit" Assessment

GMC2918
Tue, 21 Oct 2014 14:58:22 +0000

I agree with cameo43 that “fit” maybe doesn’t present itself fully until revisit days. A 2 hour interview and tour visit don’t really give you a full picture.

Try, if you can, to go see a game, or a play, or attend an admissions reception in your area. The more interactions that you have, the better. Pay attention to interactions between students, and students/faculty.

Also, don’t be afraid to ask about the mundane: my DD asked about lights out (how strict is this? what is the policy on weekends? Freshman year vs older years?), study hall rules (in your dorm? at your desk only? can you go to the library?), off-campus policies, what do kids do on weekends (ask to see an actual schedule) and other things.

At one school they gave us a copy of the student handbook which was really helpful. Also ask for a copy of the curriculum guide and try to map out your classes. My DD wanted to study two languages, so she asked a lot of questions about how that might be accomplished. It was amazing to me how different schools answered this question and how much their “attitude” varied in terms of willingness to help her accomplish this goal.

If you can look at a handbook, curriculum guide, and activity/weekend schedule - all meant for current students and not applicants - that will give you a clearer picture of what life will be like. In our case, it also heeled my DD formulate questions and gave her things to look for.

I also think that it’s really important for your child (daughter?) to ask current students about disciplinary policies and/or kids’ attitudes towards partying, hook-ups etc. This was VERY illuminating for her, and is one of the main reasons why she loved both Cate and Thacher even though they are small schools (she thought she wanted big) and far from home. Obviously, you have to take all of these impressions, observations, comments, advice with a grain of salt, but more more that you gather the better you will feel about “fit”.