I have not sent one, but I have been one, as has my sibling group. From my (and my siblings') long-ago experience (and adolescent perspective), some of the most significant factors in a successful social experience were:
1) having a group of developmental peers outside of school (in my case, associated with my faith community and extracurricular interests). I was particularly fortunate in having siblings and cousins close in age on campus at the same time.
2) attending a commuter campus, where social life wasn't as closely tied to residential life.
3) finding an interest-based social group.
4) gender/physical development: on the average, the female students had an easier time in terms of being accepted socially--but then had to navigate romantic overtures from older men. This isn't, of course, narrowly tied to gender, but since physical development in middle teen girls looks more like adults than physical development in middle teen boys (in most cases) does, there is often a difference in experience.
