<p>Hey everyone, new here :)
I plan on applying to boarding schools in fall 2009 for grade 11. I was wondering, then, if applying for that year is common, and whether it has a significant effect on admissions - like say, would it increase/decrease my chances of being accepted, etc. Particularly do schools tend to accommodate entrance at that level, or would it mean some difficulty in adjusting to the curricula?
I'm a freshman at the moment, I know I'm thinking well in advance, but I've just been curious.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>In my experience, many kids apply to prep school for grade 10 or 11.
S#1 did so as a repeat 11th grader. The schools told us that the percent of applicants accepted is pretty consistent from grade to grade, so if a school gets 1000 applicants for grade 9 and accepts 200, you might see 100 applicants for grade 11 and they accept 20.</p>
<p>That being said at least in our experience the adjustment to the rigors of private school can be substantial. With son #2 I would have him enter private school in either 9th or 10th grade so he can have a period of adjustment before that all important junior year. Others may make the transition easier, so do some soul searching about how you adapt to change, stress etc</p>
<p>so theres no real drastic variation. I'm currently attending a private international school where the IB diploma is the standard.. I don't imagine the adjustment will be too strenuous (hopefully), but I'm worried because like you say junior year is all important. I guess I should seek some student reference, and do that soul searching.. thanks!</p>
<p>alessaurus,</p>
<p>The school where I work will accept several students at 11th grade, even some for senior year. We will be sure that you are on track to meet our graduation requirements before we accept you, in order to avoid the sort of transition issues you are talking about. </p>
<p>What you may miss out on is the longer friendships and the continuity in extracurricular activities. On the other hand, in a small school, sometimes everyone is so tired of seeing the same faces all the time that an outgoing new student becomes a celebrity.</p>
<p>How many 11th graders we accept depends on how large the class is already. For that reason, it is easier to be accepted in ninth grade when we have a whole class to fill but there is usually some attrition that opens spaces for juniors. The other negative in waiting until you are an upperclassmen is that our merit scholarships are only available to incoming freshman and sophomores.</p>
<p>I'm curious, why are you waiting until your junior year? And, why then? Why not finish your degree overseas?</p>