Different ways to learn
Phillips Exeter Academy · Interlochen Arts Academy · The Marvelwood School · Bard Academy at Simon’s Rock
Free boarding-school guide · Students and families
A Place to Belong: A Student’s Guide to Boarding School Fit
Choosing a boarding school means choosing a place to learn and live. This 45-page guide helps students and families explore daily school life, research sixteen schools, and compare what each one may offer.
100%
of our students who apply to boarding school have been admitted to at least one boarding school.
A Place to BelongFree 45-page student and family guide · PDF
What does boarding-school fit mean?
Fit is the relationship between a student and the school’s academics, expectations, routines, opportunities, community, and support. A campus may look impressive during a visit; students also need to picture an ordinary Tuesday there—classes, meals, homework, friendships, laundry, and the rhythms of residential life.
The guide helps students name what they need, ask better questions, and weigh trade-offs with their families. It is designed to support careful research rather than produce a universal ranking or a school list for every student.
What’s inside the boarding-school guide?
- How school size, teaching styles, schedules, activities, and residential life shape a student’s week.
- Questions for students to identify learning preferences, community needs, personal priorities, and readiness for boarding.
- Guidance for researching dorm life, student support, family logistics, and financial considerations.
- A method for evaluating school claims and recording what still needs to be confirmed.
- Sixteen school profiles that illustrate different educational and residential experiences.
- Five reproducible worksheets for student priorities, school research, campus visits, side-by-side fit, and family comparison.
A field guide to sixteen boarding schools
The profiles are grouped around different ways to learn, learning through experience, community and structure, and different paths to boarding. They include:
Learning through experience
The Putney School · The Thacher School · The Madeira School · Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy
Community, values, and structure
The Lawrenceville School · George School · Avon Old Farms School · Camden Military Academy
Different paths to boarding
Eaglebrook School · SEED School of Washington, D.C. · UWC-USA · St. Andrew’s School
Worksheets for school research and comparison
The boarding-school fit toolkit includes a personal fit profile, a two-page research profile for each school, campus-visit field notes, a boarding-school fit matrix, and a final comparison worksheet. Students can record facts, questions, evidence, and areas that need follow-up as their list develops.
Use current school information. Programs, eligibility, admissions arrangements, costs, and available support can change. Confirm details with each school’s official materials and ask directly about a student’s academic, health, accessibility, safety, and financial needs.