Prep schools. They’re utopias filled with happy, attractive, rich teenagers who mostly spend their time lounging with friends or causing mayhem on campus. Right? Well, not exactly, according to some former BHS students now attending private institutions.

“I don’t have a lot of free time here. School ends at three, and then practice goes to about 5:45 p.m., and then I eat dinner and go to study hall,” said Molly Bent, sophomore at Tabor Academy. Bent chose to attend Tabor last April, calling it “an incredible opportunity both academically and athletically that I couldn’t pass up.”

Bent plays for Tabor’s basketball team, which was a major reason she decided to leave BHS. The biggest change, she said, from BHS to Tabor, was the class sizes. Bent said she transitioned from classes of 20 to 30 students to classes of 10 to 15.

The environment of Tabor is also substantially different. “You don’t just go to school, you live here. It forces everyone to be a part of the community,” Bent said. In addition, there is a strict dress code which requires girls to wear a skirt or dress and boys to wear a tie and blazer.

Although Tabor is just over an hour away in Marion, Mass., the part of BHS that Bent misses the most is having her whole family there to support her during basketball season. “I played, my dad coached, my mom did the snack bar, my older brother announced his senior year, my younger brother would be there with his travel team, and my little sister would be sitting with us on the bench,” Bent said about playing for BHS.

Similar to Bent, Thomas Mullen, currently a senior at Phillips Academy Andover, made the decision to attend prep school late in his sophomore year at BHS. Thinking of college, Mullen wanted to ensure he was in the most advantageous position possible for his final years of high school.

“A tangible air of scholarly drive permeates the entire student body, though an odorous air of pretension also lingers,” Mullen said about the environment. Playing for both the football and lacrosse teams at his school, Mullen said he has little time to spare, but when he does get a down moment, he enjoys watching How I Met Your Mother.

Despite the fact that Mullen chose Phillips Andover in order to prepare for college, he said, “I truly believe an equal yet contrasting degree of preparedness may be utilized at BHS and I think many alumni would agree with me outright.”

Mullen has cherished his time at boarding school and forged friendships with students from around the world. He does, however, admit to missing his Barnstable “boys.”  “There is, and forever will be, a major part of me that longs to have more Red Raider days,” said Mullen. Mullen misses his friends and family “more than anything.”

Eric Megnia, now senior at Kimball Union Academy in Meriden, New Hampshire, also left Barnstable after sophomore year. Megnia said that he wished to be “challenged more in the classroom and with sports.” Megnia plays for both the hockey and lacrosse teams at his school.

One thing Megnia said he misses about Barnstable is the opportunity to see his friends at his locker in between classes. “I will always miss Barnstable and wonder what it would’ve been like if I stayed and the person I would have been but I am glad I chose to take a different route, meet new people, and experience something most kids cannot,” said Megnia.

Although preparatory schools are typically perceived as more prestigious, “what you do with wherever you may be, not where you are, will matter the most,” said Mullen.