<p>I'm going into 9th and I'm 14 going on 15 in December. So I'm average age.</p>
<p>Monopoly, my youngest child will be entering 9th grade in August as an international student. He is finishing 9th grade now and will be repeating 9th grade at boarding school. He'll be 14 in October.</p>
<p>baseballson is entering 9th grade (not repeating) and will turn 15 in October. Kids in US boarding high schools range in age from 13 to 20.</p>
<p>thanks everyone, it looks like i'm around the norm. (13,14,15 is what I gathered)</p>
<p>One more point here is the very high number of repeats at boarding school. Most co-ed or all boys schools say that about 30% of their freshmen are repeating 9th grade, so they are actually 15 on average, rather than 14. You don't see this as much with girls. (also you don't see at as much at the top tier schools; lawrenceville, for one, discourages it)</p>
<p>Of my students this year, 6 of the 10 freshmen were repeats. One is a boy who will start 9th grade at 15 and turn 16 in December. The others will turn 16 in the winter or spring.</p>
<p>I always say that there are many many boarding school that have only been able to stay in business because they offer boys a chance to repeat. For some families, that is the main reason their son is going to boarding school.</p>
<p>Actually newyorker22, I know that SPS, Deerfield, and Hotchkiss all take repeat 9th graders. In fact, there was a NY Times article a few years ago that said 22% of the SPS Third Form (9th grade) class were repeaters. That would mean, assuming most repeaters are boys and there are 100 new Third Formers, that 20 of the 50 boys entering are repeats! (I've been told that the number is still around 20 each year.)</p>
<p>Son #2 will be a rpt 9th grader and will enter this fall at 15 and turn 16 in February
As stated before, there are many kids at private/prep school that are older and have repeated. When my older son graduated from prep at 18, his 2 best friends who also graduated with him were 19 and 20</p>
<p>Yes, my son repeated at NMH and turned 16 in March of his freshman year...4 or 5 of his friends were also repeats and, according to his house parent, several others.</p>
<p>CKSABS - I don't think NYorker said that the top schools don't allow it, she said that "don't see at as much at the top tier schools; lawrenceville, for one, discourages it"
I know that at our interview at Deerfield we outright asked about it and was told that they would never suggest / recommend it, it is completely up to the family. She went on to say in our case she didn't think it was a good idea (we agreed). BUT, on the other hand, our tour guide WAS in fact a repeat 9th grader.<br>
At 5 of the 12 schools we visited we had tour guides who repeated a grade.</p>
<p>To clarify a previous point: Massachusetts public schools, you have to be 5 BEFORE September 1st to start Kindergarten. The will NOT allow you to go to a private Kindergarten and then transfer to 1st grade if your b'day is after 9/1. They WILL allow you to transfer in later grades (not sure how long you would have to wait). Most private schools go by the same deadline or later even as they to evaluations to see if the child is ready - which doesn't always have anything to do with actual age.</p>
<p>I'm young for my grade (September, 1994) and I'm entering 9th grade this year.
Do the schools think poorly of me if I apply as a repeat 9th grader?
Do I even have to explain it?
Because I'm afraid it may be really embarassing :P</p>
<p>You don't have to explain it, no one will think poorly of it.
Every student in my son's Jr. Prep class that has an August or September birthday is repeating. In fact, most with summer birthdays are repeating as well.</p>
<p>My d will be 12 turning 13 next year as a freshman</p>
<p>Winner!!!!</p>