Talk to parents/students/recent alum…I stress recent. Either use the parent resources thread here, or contact the school…or better yet, both!
I know some parents at DSs school that have kids in multiple schools and can give pros/cons and comparisons, which is invaluable. See if the school can connect you with such a family.
I want to echo @buuzn03 - you need to be speaking to recent parents and students. Kids should look for the school memes account on instagram. They are usually private and hidden, I don’t know how, but kids find them. It will expose the “bad” part of schools.
I would recommend giving more weight to what statistics, students and alumni say. Majority of parents tend to over endorse their choices and their experience is second hand and often heavily based up on assumptions.
Also, parent’s evaluations are often measured by cost, saving and income, very different from objective evaluation of educators or students.
Try to connect with as many students as possible through the schools’ parents networks and admissions office. We know of a few schools who are asking current students to connect with admitted students. You can learn a lot from Instagram posts, but do take it with a grain of salt - same with memes and Twines & Vines.
I disagree with the statement that parents aren’t involved nor do i agree they overendorse. There are plenty of parents here whose child had a horrible experience at a first school and transferred to a better fit later. Do you think they over endorsed school 1? No. I think parents give very poignant perspectives regarding many things kids just don’t think about -travel logistics, willingness of school to help with travel, accessibility to administrators, how the school responds to severe illness or injury—I don’t discount that students should be contacted but do not discount parent perspectives.
Actually disgruntled parents can often steer others away without a valid cause. Obviously there are parents who can give educated and objective opinion but overall, be cautious and add few grains of salt. Always be skeptic of ones who’s kid is getting free education at a place, they often over defend their decision.
All sources of information contain some element of bias.
You just need to determine what is most important to you & your son or daughter.
Try to go online and read the school newspapers. It’s very interesting reading material and gives you a sense of activities, hot topics on campus, and issues among students & faculty.
The problem is that the reason why we aren’t visiting is the same reason we’re not going to be able to meet for coffee. But that does work for areas that aren’t currently in a State of Emergency.
I did use social media to invite friends who are alumns to share their words of wisdom with my DD.
If you are picking an out of state school, make sure your kid has quick access to two airports with direct flights to your town. This pandemic is an outlier but emergencies happen, you don’t want your teen to be stuck in a secluded place or worst overseas.
A college within 3- 6 hours drive from hometown is probably the best if it’s an option, it’s a long enough distance to learn to grow independently and short enough car/bus/train drive to home for emergencies. Also makes it easier to move belongings at the beginning and end of every semester.
^ For some of us, there is no direct flight no matter which boarding school is chosen. And I’m not sure if your repeated mention of colleges is just an oversight, but this is the boarding/prep school thread, which is why parental involvement/communications continue to be stressed as important resources.
I think @CupCakeMuffins wandered into this subforum by mistake.
All of @CupCakeMuffins 's posts in this thread have been college centric.
The needs and concerns of parents sending minor children to boarding school are different from those sending a young adult to college.
I did. My apologies for being so distracted.
What are your most important criteria?
One person’s “must have” is another persons “must avoid”.
Get clear about your priorities first, before talking to parents and students.