transferring between boarding schools

Albion
Sun, 17 Mar 2013 00:31:04 +0000

I was approached this year by a student who wanted me to write a recommendation for transfer out of our boarding school and into another one. Last year we had two students who transferred at the end of the year. (In all cases, they went to peer schools, not better schools.) I just want to present a counter example to the wacky coach in the earlier anecdote, in that I wrote a glowing recommendation and continued to support the student in my class and in my sport/activity. Very few teachers are weirdo grudge holders. Yes, I teach at what some consider a dream school, but other sneer at as a backup. Late at night, we quietly weep into our teapots and shake our fists silently at the moon wishing that unicorns ran across our campus like they do at Andover; wishing that our faculty weren’t all so imperfect–

Oh, wait. Sorry. None of that happens. Ever. I happen to teach at a “back up” school with a lot of great teachers and great students. I’m always amazed at how quickly people write off a school with lower SSAT averages as if the quality of the teachers at a school equals the school’s rank.

Any kid who knows that he’s going to a school that he and his parents call a “back up” is going to be looking for things to confirm that the school isn’t good enough. Why apply to a school you aren’t happy to attend?