Are there less chances when applying to 10th grade vs. 9th?

Prep School Admissions Prep School Chances
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<p>Good afternoon,</p>

<p>This is my first thread, so please correct me if this question has been raised before.</p>

<p>My daughter is an 8th grader at a public school. She has been in a GATE program/takes Honors classes.</p>

<p>This might sound strange, but I just found out about college prep schools in this country (we live in the US but moved from a different country several years ago).</p>

<p>I also was surprised to see that most of them offer full financial aid for middle-income families.</p>

<p>Having said all that, we became interested in applying to Phillips Exeter Academy.</p>

<p>I looked at the deadlines, and it seems that we are late for her to apply for the 9th grade, because the deadline is January 15th, and we have not done an interview or testing, etc. (I literally only found out today).</p>

<p>Please don't think that I am just a strange parent asking naive questions.</p>

<p>But since we are so late this year, I am trying to research if applying to 10th grade is a good idea.</p>

<p>IS THERE A LESS CHANCE TO GET INTO 10TH GRADE AT PRIVATE PREP SCHOOLS (PHILLIPS EXETER ESPECIALLY) if student didn't attend 9th grade there?</p>

<p>Just logically thinking, it would seem that 10th grade admission is not as easy as 9th grade (since they already have a class complete, there might not be enough room for many new additions).</p>

<p>Anybody - please advise.</p>

<p>Also, how many kids study at Phillips on full scholarship? It seems from their site, that it is a piece of cake to get financial aid if your income is below 75K. Does it affect admission decision process?</p>

<p>Thank you all for responses!</p>

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<p>I am not completely sure, but it seems as though when applying for 10th grade, there are less applicants, but they generally accept sport playing applicants.</p>

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<p>Also, after she completes 9th grade, it seems that she can apply as a repeater to 9th grade again. Does that affect admission chances? is it any different than applying directly to 10th?
And is it a good idea in general?</p>

<p>I am still not clear with Financial Aid situation. I’ve read on this forum that only Andover and St. Andrews are need-blind. So can anybody contribute - is financial aid affecting the chances to get into a prep school?</p>

<p>What would you suggest in our situation -

  1. try right now for some late admission (that would be not easy, even preparing for SSAT/interview time allocation)
  2. Apply for 10th grade for next year
  3. Apply next year as a repeater to 9th grade (does that affect chances of getting in if she applies to repeat 9th grade? not sure how admission office looks at repeaters)</p>

<p>Thanks to everyone!</p>