for a minute lets forget the financial issues of seminary, with me going to israel was cheaper than my high school, plus it counted as my first year of college and it was a lot cheaper than college. but beyond that i think the bigegst problem is that seminary has been a must, in 12th grade it wasnt are you going to seminary its which seminary are you going to, personally i ddint feel it was the best thing for me but it was an option not to go, so i went. its not for everyone and it shouldnt be a msut whether for shidducim or for other reasons, depending on the girl she can agin a tremendous ammount spirtitually and from the independence she gets from that year. but for ohters it can be a potenital pitfall, some girls dont want to feel like they are in a cookie cutter system and feel like they are being brainwashed. plus the indepence in israel can be a potential pitfall, while theres so much kedusha in eretz yisroel, theres an equal amount of gasmius and the hangouts are in israel are the worst. so the things is parents and educators have to be careful who goes there. it wasnt meant for me, i wish someone would have realzied that, while i did learn to be more independent and did my own laundry, and cooked supper- we only got lunch and yes i actually cooked, i value money and do not just max out on my parents credit cards and eat out every night, i shopped for my own food cooked my own meals and made plans for every shabbos. but spiritually it was bad for me, i went off the derech for a while and the like. but anyway seminary can be amazing for certain girls, just be careful who.
