For most people, boarding schools conjure up thoughts of young men in dark blue blazers with white shirts and ties going to a beautiful school with ivy-covered walls and a polo match played in the distance. Oh, and don't forget the thought of parents with deep pocketbooks and a family trust fund. This is what Gordon Vink, the director of admissions at Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania, calls "Holden Caufield-Catcher in Rye Syndrome" (Parker111), a book about the problems a boy faces in preparatory boarding school. To some extent the image holds up. REAL. Preparatory schools offer collegial atmospheres, have strict rules, and often teach generations of students from the same families. The simplest definition of boarding school is a place where parents pay for a student to live and go to school. The school's teachers, coaches and administrators live in dormitories with the students and act as their family by enforcing strict rules, making disciplinary decisions and supervising behavior and academic performance. Boarding schools can be any or all of the following: academic boot camp, a place for parents to put kids they don't want or have time for, a refuge from deteriorating public schools, a necessary credential for the children of the rich and famous, or a training ground for the leaders of tomorrow. These schools range from small, unknown institutions that accept anyone, to elite schools, which are very selective and are a pipeline to Ivy League schools and success. Boarding schools are superior to public day schools. Proponents of preparatory colleges say the schools offer unparalleled discipline, a stronger curriculum, excellent facilities, a way to get into better colleges, a superior learning environment, staggering extracurricular options, and allow students to reach a level of higher performance. Opponents argue that the astronomical cost, ranging from $8,000 to $25,000 a year for most elites, is too expensive. They also say the rules are too extreme and suffocating, and that students experience undue stress. The biggest argument against boarding schools is the cost. With an average cost of between $8,000 and $25,000 (Topolnicki 100), many parents wonder: are private boarding schools worth the expense??