Advice for Athletes Applying to Independent Boarding Schools

You are considering attending an independent private boarding school as a student athlete. Perhaps you’ve even been encouraged to apply to one or more schools because of your athletic ability. While your family and the admission staff at the schools will help you through the process of applying, remember that you still have your work cut out for you.
You must complete the steps required of all applicants in a timely manner. You should express genuine interest in the school’s athletic program. And most importantly, it is your job to learn as much as you can about each school to be sure that it would be a good fit for you, not only in terms of athletics, but overall. Here are some tips for you and your family as you apply to independent schools and consider your options.
The Admissions Timeline
Ideally, you’ll begin researching and visiting schools in the fall, or about a year before you plan to enroll. While applications are most commonly due in January, it takes time before then to have completed any standardized tests and submitted any required transcripts and recommendations. (See more below.)
Make sure you and your family have in hand all the information you need to meet all application requirements of every school in which you are interested. Pay careful attention to deadlines for applications for admission and financial aid: they vary from school to school.
Even if you’ve been recruited or had contact with a school’s coach, it is the admission office you will work

https://www.boardingschoolreview.com/missouri-military-academy-profileFrom time to time publications ask us why parents would consider sending their child to boarding school as opposed to leaving them in public school. What follows are my answers to some questions which were recently posed to me. I hope that you find my answers helpful as you weigh the pros and cons of sending your child to boarding school.
1. Why should you consider sending your child to a boarding school, instead of to one of the many private day schools and charter schools in the area?
In a perfect world, most of us parents would decide to send our children to schools which meet all or most of our requirements and needs. When you are fortunate enough to live in an area which has good public schools, then it makes sense to comparison shop carefully. Tune out any prejudices you may have about any kind of school, and try as much as possible to compare apples to apples.
For example, if your child has special needs, you need to look carefully at the quality of instruction which she will receive in order to continue enjoying learning. Boarding schools which offer programs for students with special needs tend to do a good job simply because they offer plenty of individual instruction. The other advantage they have is that most, if not all of their students have some special need of one kind or another. Boarding schools which specialize in learning disabilities such as dyslexia often called reading

I have assembled this spotlight on sports in boarding schools so that parents and prospective students can explore the incredible variety of athletics which schools offer. As I have pointed out many times, athletics are not optional in boarding school. Athletics are one part of a comprehensive program most schools adopt to educate the whole child in mind, body and spirit. What do you do if your child is not athletically inclined? Don't worry. Schools are accustomed to students with just about every background you can think of. Your child will surprise you after a few weeks at school by exclaiming "Mommy! I love sprinting!" If you live within driving distance of her school, even better. You can attend games. We used to enjoy driving up to the old girls' campus of Kent School on Skiff Mountain to watch our daughter play field hockey. The toughest issue with boarding school athletics which she will encounter is which ones to select.
Crew
69 schools offer crew. Most schools assume that their students have never rowed before. As a result, they offer a solid grounding in the sport combined with all the ergnometrics required.
Groton School, Groton, MA
"Since Groton’s founding in 1884, rowing has been a prominent sport. Girls began to row as soon as the school became coed in 1976. Groton rows in 4 person shells with a coxswain to steer the boat and give commands. We generally have eight boats of girls for a team

