<p>I have heard that BS academic is very rigorous. Even those students who got straight As in the middle school say the exams and classes are too difficult to solve and the score they get from quizzes and tests are at most around 80.</p>
<p>Their parents say that they are fraid that the kid smight lose confidfence and they are terrified after the firts tests.</p>
<p>If they had gone to public high school, they would’ve enjoyed a good life with a high level of confidence.</p>
<p>If there are naybody who’s share the experiences about the rigorous program at BS, I’d appreciate it.</p>
<p>Better to be challenged than bored! Boarding school generally prepares the student well for the rigors of college and helps students develop study skills that will aid them while studying more independently at college.</p>
<p>It’s very hard but this rigorous strategy that boarding school offers raises SAT scores. They make you prepared for college rather than you going to public school then college and being blown away by the work. If you work hard and get straight A’s then your SAT scores will be better then you would do if you got straight A’s and a lower SAT score at public school.</p>
<p>My son was always the straight-A kid and he is definitely challenged at BS. He has much, much more hw (probably 1-2 hours/night per class). But…he loves a challenge, so this is an excellent environment for him.</p>
<p>The other night I had 3-4 hours of homework. It was horribly time consuming, but for some reason, you don’t really care. At Exeter I know they ‘make’ you study from 8-10, so that’s nice. And for the other time, it just doesn’t bother people. This is all coming from the kid who pulled all nighters to do projects that had been assigned months in advance.</p>
<p>I think no matter where you go to BS, if you are taking challenging courses, you should be prepared for a rigorous workload. Like Keylyme, and most who are interested in BS, my S was an A student in an accelerated program prior to BS. He reports to me that he is working very hard now at BS, with at least 4 hours of homework a night; but he loves it, and doesn’t even want to come home on the weekends! I think the benefit of BS goes well beyond college preparation. It encourages a strong work ethic, efficient use of time, and prepares students for a lifelong love of learning (at least that’s my hope as a mother).</p>
<p>The best way to kill someone’s self esteem is to praise them for doing mediocre work. </p>
<p>Eventually, they come to think that’s all they are capable of doing. It’s what routinely happens at public school. How can one gain confidence if they’ve never faced a challenge? What is the confidence that is attained by doing easy work worth? So one may be confident that if nothing is hard, all will be fine. Pretty worthless confidence, if you ask me.</p>
<p>^ Thank you neatoburrito. I’ve been saying that for the last couple of years at my public schools.</p>
<p>A’s aren’t really deserved A’s here. It’s a C where ever else you want to go because regardless of your intelligence or work you can get an A. Teachers think average is an A so they have to make it easy for a student to reach this level.</p>
<p>I opened this thread to find out how students at BS are doing since my daughter went to BS this fall as a III former(9th grade). She has been
outstanding and so confindent at academic during elementary and middle school. However these days, she has to work until lightout time(11PM)
and sometimes she gets up at 5:00AM to work more. I did not expect that much work load, and I worried about my D. Today I called Dean of Studies and her advisor, and they told me not to worry since she is doing all right. and they said that is a typical study style at BS. Yes, it is better to be challenged rather than to get bored. Hope evreything goes all right. I appreciate your opinions. Thanks much. Now I am a bit relieved.</p>
<p>A key skill learned at boarding school is how to work efficiently. Learning how to work can be a challenge in itself. It can take a while to get into a rhythm. Yes, the bad grades are tough to deal with, but in they make the good ones that much better. Looking back, I feel being challenged and learning how to deal with bad grades made the transition to college much easier.</p>
<p>Once your child becomes a junior at one of these schools and is taking lots of honors and AP classes, they have to practice what I call “triage”- skimming through some of the reading, discarding the idea of doing some lesser assignments- otherwise it literally becomes physically impossible to finish all of the work that is assigned.</p>
I think the benefit of BS goes well beyond college preparation. It encourages a strong work ethic, efficient use of time, and prepares students for a lifelong love of learning (at least that’s my hope as a mother).</p>