Student Corner How to choose a boarding school

By Mok Ji-soo

When a teenage girl goes out shopping, she scours every store in the mall to find one cute dress, spending the entire weekend without minding the unbearable muscle aches in her legs. She samples tens, if not hundreds, of dresses before she makes her final choice. She spares neither time nor energy.

When it comes to deciding on her education, however, she abandons her relentless spirit of search and comparison. Upon scanning a couple of websites, she lists the top 10 boarding schools based on their name value and spreads her applications. Researching or reading reviews of her prospective schools? Not on her agenda. She does not even ask: “Are these schools fit for me in light of my academic ability, personality and interests?”

Why doesn’t she? Probably because she does not know that each boarding school has its own unique culture and atmosphere. On the surface, all schools look alike; but an in-depth study of the schools will lead an applicant to realize that there is no boarding school that has the same size, educational philosophy or characteristics with any other.

For example, Groton School, Massachusetts, is about one-fourth of the size of Phillips Exeter Academy, New Hampshire. Deerfield Academy, Massachusetts, is more academically driven than the Hotchkiss School, Connecticut, that draws lots of athletics.

Schools in the south such as Woodberry Forest School, Virginia, and Episcopal High School, Virginia tend to be more conservative. Students who dislike gossips and rumors want to avoid all-girls schools like Emma Willard, New York, and the Madeira School, Virginia.

In addition, boarding schools are not as formal or restricted as depicted on television or movies. At Episcopal High School, we have an impromptu event called the “Mass Meeting.”

There is no other word to describe it other than “insane.” Occasionally, without any premeditated planning or plot, students flock together to the gym and dance: Head cheerleaders scream but students barely hear them due to the noise and loud music. In the center of the gym, where most juniors and sophomores assemble, some inexplicable actions go on; and often times, some students even get concussions.

“This is not what students would expect when they come into a boarding school. All red tapes and regulations become powerless in the gym. We all lose ourselves in the craziness,” said Lauren Johnson, a freshman at the school. The most surprising fact is that the school sponsors the event as part of tradition.

Also, prospective students must understand what “diversity” means when they evaluate their school. They need to know the full scope of student body: Is the student body racially, socially, geographically well represented? Furthermore, they need to press a more important question, “Do students blend or segregate?”

The best place to find out is the dining hall. In some boarding schools, Afro-American students get together and form the so-called “Black Table.” Meanwhile, students from affluent background congregate and create an exclusive zone.

They wear expensive outfits from Neiman Marcus, pretty bags from Coach and Longchamp, fancy accessories from Juicy Couture and Tiffany and cute shoes from Michael Kors and Tory Burch.

“There is no such thing as being oneself here. You need the right hair, clothes and shoes to fit in,” said Grace Corton, a freshman at the school.

Thus, boarding school-bound students must ask before they reach their final decision: “Can I adjust to the school culture that looks more like a buffet in which students just exist next to one another without an active interaction?”

Wrong choice of boarding school can lead to social isolation or loneliness. And the deprived social life might affect academics negatively. It is not unusual to see some students transferring in the middle of the very first year.

As a student who witnessed and experienced such struggles, I would recommend prospective students to evaluate critically the most significant factors for them in choosing a boarding school.

The writer is freshman at Episcopal High School in Virginia.