The Postgraduate Program Dec 21 '00 (Updated Dec 22 '00)    Write an essay on this topic. Tweet What do you do if you want to go to college but are not academically or emotionally ready for the rigors of college? You might not be aware of it, but many of America's best boarding schools offer special "postgraduate" programs for students who fit the above description. "You're going to boarding school? What did you do wrong?" For some, boarding school bears some sort of social stigma- like a juvenile detention facility except not. Boarding school is not like that at all. In fact, most of America's boarding schools offer terrific educational opportunities and function just like small colleges. "But what about community college?" I have never been to community college so I cannot offer an unbiased compare and contrast, but I chose boarding school over community college because I knew I wanted to go to a small New England liberal arts school and by going to boarding school, I could add extra AP classes to my academic portfolio. However, improving myself academically was not the main reason for participating in the postgraduate program. I had gotten fairly good grades in high school except in math and science. So even though I had As and Bs in all my other subjects, I would usually get a C+ or a C in math and science. The fact that math and science was the sole reason for bringing down my average became blatantly obvious when my semester GPA rocketed to a 3.7 the first semester I didn't have any math and science. In previous semesters, the best I had done was a 3.4 or so. I could have gone straight to college, but I just didn't feel ready. I wasn't ready to leave home. I had gone to summer camp for four years but that was only for two months and that really didn't involve me taking care of myself so much. Sure, summer camp taught me some independence, but not enough to go away to college. "Tell us more about this postgraduate program, please. How did you apply?" Many boarding schools have websites, and in my quest to find the ideal school for myself, I used both the internet and the Peterson's Guide to Private Schools, which can be found at most major bookstores. I had quite a specific list of features that I was looking for. I wanted a fairly small school, in New England or the Middle Atlantic region (ie New York or New Jersey) with a coeducational student base (I had attended a private girls' school for six year and planned on attending a coed college so I wanted to be in a learning environment with the male gender) and finally, the school had to offer Latin. I had tried to get a Latin program started at my school only to be told that Latin was an archaic language not worth learning. I found and requested information from approximately 11 schools that fit my criteria. Applying to boarding school is just like applying to college. You have forms to fill out, teacher recommendations to fill out, essays to write, SAT scores to submit, etc. I ended up applying to 4 schools and I got into the one that I wanted to go to. The Berkshire School The Berkshire School is located in Sheffield, MA a small town about ten minutes form Great Barrington, MA. The school is located at the foot of a mountain. The mountain didn't have a name, it was just called The Mountain. At the Berkshire School, I was given the opportunity to take Latin, along with AP English Literature, European History, AP Art History and Spanish 2. In high school, I stopped taking math after Algebra 2, so I had an empty space in my schedule. I was given the choice of PE or Spanish, and not being one to enjoy PE, I chose Spanish. I had been taking French, and I took French again the following year. I didn't want to leave my transcript with 3 years of French and only one of Spanish when I had the opportunity to take a second year. After classes, everyone participated in sports or drama. Because everyone participated, there were teams for various skill levels. I played junior varsity field hockey in the fall and junior varsity lacrosse in the spring. In the winter, I managed the junior varsity boys' ice hockey team and that was a lot of fun. I got to fill up the water bottles before and during practices, travel and keep stats for the team, and be in charge of the walkie-talkie in case the athletic trainer needed to be called! At the Berkshire School, we had classes six days a week but Wednesdays and Saturdays were half days and "game days." We had games on other days, but for the most part they were on Wednesdays and Saturdays. So really we had five days of school spread over six days. Scheduling was also by "block" periods so we only had a class four times a week. Living in a dorm was a great way to prepare for college life. Every Sunday through Friday, we had study hours from 8-10 when we were expected to be in our rooms studying. Only students who were on the high honor roll (3.5 GPA or above) could close their doors. To some, this might sound extreme, but it really helped. The Berkshire School had two full-time college counselors and each student was assigned a college counselor. The counselors were very helpful and even mailed the college applications for us. Granted, this didn't teach us very much responsibility, but the students were responsible for asking teachers for recommendations, filling out all the proper forms and making sure scores got sent to colleges, so all the counselors were doing was the actual mailing. I didn't really make any friends, but I wasn't really looking to make friends. Most of the kids had been going there since 9th or 10th grade and they all knew each other. I had a boyfriend and he was one of my only friends, and I had kids that I sat with at meals, but that was about it. Needless to say, my boyfriend dumped me right after I went home for summer break. The teachers there were very supportive and classes were small and taught at round tables instead of classrooms with desks. Some of the teachers invited me over to babysit their kids and they really went out of their way to make me feel at home. Overall, boarding school was a good choice for me. At the Berkshire School, I was fully integrated into the regular school community and was treated just like a senior. This meant that I got senior privileges, which was really nice! At the end of the year, I graduated from high school again. Is the Postgraduate Program right for YOU? The majority of the students who were in the postgraduate program the year I was there were male athletes. In fact, I was the only non-athlete in the program. So, if you are a very good athlete, but your academics need work, then the post-graduate program may be for you! If you are like me, and wish to pursue further academic opportunities, then the postgraduate program may be for you. For example, if you didn't do as well as you think you could have for a year and now you realize that you might not be able to get into the college of your choice, then the postgraduate program may be right for you. If you are not willing to follow rules and attend classes and sports activities, then the postgraduate program might not be right for you. There is not too much expected of you, but you have to do what you are supposed to do. Is boarding school expensive? A year at boarding school costs about as much as a year at the average private college. However, like most colleges, boarding schools offer financial aid on the basis of both need and merit, so resources are available Final Thoughts Overall, if you know that you want to go to college, but you aren't quite ready for it and you know that community college is not for you, look into the postgraduate program at a boarding school. Find schools through a search engine or through the Peterson's book I mentioned above and request information. Most deadlines for applications aren't until March, so you still have time. If you have any questions, please leave a comment and I will get back to you.

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