<p>If you are wanting to explore this for next year, you should get moving on this ASAP as the Admissions deadline for most boarding schools is in January and there is a test to be scheduled for January as well. Lots of helpful people with kids in boarding school available for any questions…</p>
<p>Some military style boarding schools have a PG year.
I know one boy who went to Hargrave Military Academy in VA.
I also know two brothers who went to Camden Military Academy in S.C.</p>
<p>In all seriousness, a PG year is really an excellent way for a kid to start to leave home and gives them a more structured entre into dorm living and can, at the same time, mature the student and give them a chance to take classes they just weren’t ready for earlier. Also, the focus of a PG year, for the institution is to get the kids into school, so there is a lot of guidance around college apps. </p>
<p>There are two different points of view on the PG year. One is that it does give that extra year of maturity, the student can develop emotionally and physically, take some AP courses, solidify academics, have an away-from-home living experience. The other side is if the student is really ready to be independent, the boarding school rules are too restrictive. </p>
<p>My son did a PG year – it was good for him, but also hard to have all his friends go to <em>college</em> and he was stuck in a boarding school with dorm parents and sign in rules.</p>
<p>Re a year abroad–some kids (even if they ARE ready for college) do a year in Israel on programs that combine study, travel, and community service. College credit is available. I guess you’d call it a structured Gap year.</p>
<p>^
Are you referring to the program that, IIRC, is limited to Jewish students? Birthright Israel, I think? A friend of mine from HS did that for the summer between HS graduation and college, but I believe they have longer programs as well.</p>
<p>(And just our experience–one of my kids thought about doing a PG year, him mostly for sports, us mostly for academics. We decided to go ahead and go through looking at/applying to college and then think more seriously about boarding school only if he didn’t have any good opportunities for college, which it turned out he did. The boarding schools do have application deadlines just like colleges, but most will take kids late in the spring if they have space (and if you’re full-pay). Another kid of mine needed another year of hs, so we decided to have him repeat his junior year at a local private hs. The cost of two years there was about the same as one year at a boarding school.)</p>
<p>My S also did a boarding school PG year after receiving his HS diploma. He was on the young side for his grade and had a serious illness junior year that, despite being very bright, derailed him academically and really zapped his confidence. The additional year of good health and academic and emotional growth allowed us all to be much more confident in his academic foundation and ability to handle college life. We (and he) didn’t want to go the CC then transfer route, we wanted him to be able to have the complete 4 year college experience. PGs enter college as freshmen, not transfer students. He wound up applying to a whole set of colleges we never would have considered one year earlier. One admissions counselor at a PG school described the program as college with training wheels. PG years are pricey, but we feel that gift of a year was the best thing we could have done for our son. He is now a sophomore in college, succeeding and loving every minute.</p>
<p>The book is Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld. She went to Groton and taught at St. Alban’s in DC–people think the school in the book is probably based on both of those schools. She certainly captures prep school life because lots of folks are sure she’s describing their school.</p>
<p>Question for those of you who are familiar with Bridgton and prep years… What sort of grades and SATs do most kids who have PG years have? I am seriously considering this for my son but I am concerned about finances and college acceptance. When I look at the admits for Bridgton, it looks to me like schools where he could get accepted without the pg year. That makes me think that the class level would be too low. But when I think of his doing a year with kids at a top prep school, I think the curve may be too hard for him. He is a public school kid with average grades Bs in college-prep classes and average SATs (not cc average but overall average-- good in math but weak in reading). I am considering it to strengthen his reading/writing skills. One other question: Does anyone know the prevalence of drug/ alcohol at Bridgton?</p>
<p>LOL, I went to prep school and boarded my last year there. I’m postive she’s not describing my school! It was interesting to try to figure out whether the differences were because the school was co-ed, or the contemporary time period. (re #33)</p>
<p>“What sort of grades and SATs do most kids who have PG years have?”</p>
<p>It varies tremendously. Bridgton, for example, is known as a jock factory–many of the boys who go there are trying to meet NCAA qualifying standards for scholarships, so that group will have low GPA/standardized test scores. The Exeters of the world are at the other end of the universe–the athletes who go there are generally good students. There are a raft of schools at every level in between.</p>
<p>I had a similar issue with S who, in addition to athletic issues was an in-between student who we thought could do better. So we picked an in-between prep school. I’ll send you a PM with a few that come to mind, but there are a lot and they differ greatly among themselves. The only thing that you can do is look and try to get a feel of different places.</p>
<p>But I would also reemphasize a point that was made earlier. These places are expensive–they cost about what a private college costs. I’m still unsure if it was worth it–ask me in ten years.</p>
<p>With regards to Bridgton, it is has a reputation as a school where many athletes go to improve their physical skills and NCAA eligibility. It is considered an athletics oriented school. Don’t send him there unless he is a candidate for varsity athletics at college.</p>
<p>With regards to alcohol/drugs, it will be as prevalent on any prep campus as it is on any suburban HS campus. Admissions officers don’t have a star chamber where they can weed out the weed users. If your child has demonstrated a sense of good judgement throughout his teenage years with regards to substance use, you should have no worries about boarding school. If it is a struggle, it will continue to be so. One piece of advice, definitely do not sign to allow him to leave campus with day students, if substance abuse is a concern. There are few good things that come from that arrangement.</p>
<p>As to suggestions to a strategy to pick a BS, if your son is a “late bloomer” (evidenced by a rising GPA), try to pick a school with average SAT scores a little higher (100 points) than his current scores. You’ll also probably find that the matriculation list also probably aligns with your idea of where he should end up as well by this strategy.</p>
<p>Thanks to both of you. Goaliedad, no, ds is unlikely to use/abuse drugs or alcohol. He just really hates being around kids who do use and I think it would be hard for him to live in dorms in an environment where it is common.</p>