A majority of these applicants are already wound pretty tight and this will be their first taste of being judged by a third party outside their parent’s control. It’s shocking how even the highest-achieving kids can cue off a parent’s disappointed, tight-lipped expression or poorly chosen words and come away thinking that they have disappointed the people most important to them. But as CMom rightly points out, any kid willing to work this hard just to get to bat is going to be successful in life, with or without boarding school. That’s the reality. And that’s the best spirit to take into March 10.