Will you send you kid to Philips Academy Again?

ProsParent
Tue, 14 May 2013 15:07:21 +0000

Hi Everybody. As the OP of the thread I feel like I should give an update on my son’s situation. Although I phrased the topic in terms of college placement, the idea was really to focus the discussion on the downside of the most selective/competitive schools, including stress handling/confidence shaking/lost opportunities upon graduation etc. The positive side of going to these schools has been repeated so much that I feel like the picture was skewed to the rosy side. But if one digs a little deeper on CC, over time, I realized that we do have the pros and cons discussed extensively and they do tend to be recurring themes. In our case, we live near a GLADCHEMMS school outside of New England and for many reasons going to the local BS as a day student was always the 1st choice of our son. But somehow after exploring he thinks he’ll get a more fulfilling experience at PA and PEA. The decision is ultimately his, but as a parent it was important for me to point out the downside to him clearly. He was undeterred and applied. Got accepted by one and waitlisted by the other. We thought long and hard as a family. In the end, with disapointment, he chose the local BS because of his EC. He is devoted to an EC and is highly accomplished. Being a boarder at a far away location means big compromise for his EC. It came down to a small difference in education which he can overcome with effort vs. a difference in his EC that he will not be able to overcome. He is at peace finally and I am very happy as I always thought the local BS was ultimately the right choice.