Milton Academy is a coeducational college prep school located outside of Boston, MA.

When kids learned I was applying to boarding schools last year, they said, “What did you do wrong,” “You mean like military school,” or “Won’t you miss your family?”

Who said boarding school was only for troubled kids? These questions show some of the most common misconceptions about boarding schools.

“I think they don’t understand very much what boarding schools are all about,” said Rick Hardy, former interim head of school at Milton Academy and current Head of School at Concord Academy.

Boarding schools in this country are modeled on the English boarding school. The philosophy was that you were educating not just the student and the intellectual but the entire student, the whole student. A student’s character, morals and values were part of the educational process, explains Hardy. They also believed that students who live and learn together is a very healthy environment.

College preparatory boarding schools such as Milton Academy and Concord Academy are the most common type of boarding school. The main goal of these schools is usually to prepare their students for the academic rigors of college life.

“Students who come [to Milton] come here because they’re serious about learning. We need students who, in a classroom with twelve or thirteen other students, take active roles, take responsibility for their own learning, who act like difference makers, not just out in the world after they leave school, but while they are here,” says Hardy. “The learning environment is very intense. Around any table, you’re going to meet students from a great many walks of life and backgrounds, but I would argue that what is common to all of them is the notion that learning is important. Learning is what you do. Learning is cool.”

But there are other kinds of boarding schools. The Boarding School Review website tells about them.

Therapeutic boarding schools are aimed at teens facing problems such as substances abuse, emotional and behavioral problems, and significant learning differences. Military schools use military-type discipline and structure to prepare students for college life. Some schools focus on the arts, music, and sports. Kids from these schools go to either traditional colleges or specialty schools.

The stories I had heard from other people who had gone to college prep boarding schools made me believe that if I graduated from one, I would not only have a great education, I would also be independent and ready for challenges.

The application process
I spent the first half of eighth grade applying to schools. First, I visited the Association of Boarding School (TABS) website. You can search for schools in the United States and Canada, make contact with up to five schools you are interested in and request a free boarding school directory. You can also watch videos and read information about what boarding school is really like.

Next, I went to the three schools’ websites that I liked and requested an application. Most applications ask for information about you and include one or two essays (about 500 words) and some short answer questions. In addition to filling out the applications, I had to take a test called the Secondary School Admission Test (SSAT). You can register online for the test on the SSAT website. To take the test, it costs $110 for the national test ($215 for the international test). Last, I had to ask my teachers for recommendations and get a transcript, which is a list of your grades and tests, from my school.

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