By Nicole Hager, Dean of Students

Boarding schools offer a wide variety of co-curricular activities. When considering which school is right for you, make sure you ask the hard questions, and press for honest answers.

The classroom and beyond: A school’s academic strength clearly is the most important thing to weigh, but consider that more time is spent outside of the classroom than in it. The moments in your dorm room, at the dining hall, on the athletic fields, or in the arts studio help define life at boarding school and help you develop as a human being. That time should be full and meaningful.

Tip: When visiting, make sure you like the feel of these spaces. Are the students smiling? Do they seem engaged? Are they interacting in a positive way with adults?

Look at your peers. When you walk around the campus during your visit, look around. Are there students who look like you? Are there students and faculty of color? Is there a GLBT group that meets weekly? How many international students attend? Do you get the sense that you’ll be part of a community?

Tip: Don’t just observe your peers—ask them questions if you have the opportunity.

Juggling the schedule: How your time is scheduled can dramatically affect how you experience school. Some schools have highly structured schedules and requirements regarding participation in athletics. Some offer more flexibility to format the day, and let students make more choices about sports and other activities.

When you visit a school, ask a tour guide or a student how they spend their day. What time do they wake up? How much time do they spend doing homework? Do students have time to start up a new club or to volunteer? Is there downtime for taking a walk or chatting with friends? What time is lights-out?

Tip: Walk around the campus and check bulletin boards in dorms and in common spaces. Does it seem like there’s a lot to do outside the classroom?

The nitty-gritty: When evaluating whether a boarding school is right for you, you’ll have to sift through lots of questions. Here are a few to start with.

• Is there a dress code?
• Are there Saturday classes?
• Is there a work requirement?
• What is there to do on weekends?
• Is the campus rural or urban?
• Is the school secular or does it have a religious affiliation?
• Is chapel required?
• What are the athletic requirements each term?
• What affinity groups are on campus?
• Is community service a requirement?What is the cell-phone policy?

Defining moments: Make sure you pay attention to activities you don’t yet participate in, but are drawn to. Boarding school comes at a time when teens can easily reinvent themselves. If you’ve always been an athlete but feel you just may be an artist inside, make sure you ask about and visit the arts center.

Tip: Ask whether you’ll have the time and support to be both an athlete and an artist.

Integrating it all: Sure, you’re going to learn in the classroom. You’ll learn to write better, you’ll learn calculus. But moments outside the classroom also support a school’s curriculum. On the fields, you’ll learn how to compete, how to play as a team, how to handle defeat.

On stage, you’ll learn to project your voice, how to develop confidence, how to be creative. In service projects, you’ll learn that you can make a difference; you learn how to solve problems.

All these can be brought back to the classroom to help you develop as a learner, so it’s important to make sure a school’s offerings are rich enough to sustain you.

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