<p>"Although not the case for some families, who pay full price to try to give their kids a shot at playing college ball, prep schools have plenty of scholarships to give for athletes."</p>
<p>The availability of scholarship money depends very much on the school, the sport, and the athlete. The money is clearly available for top athletes at some schools, but much more difficult to obtain for nonelite athletes.</p>
<p>The PGs at my son's prep school "graduated" and participated in graduation. The prior school's record is shown on the transcript. Colleges like PG kids- an extra year of maturity and some advanced academics, in many cases.</p>
<p>Not just for athletes, EMM1. I know some kids who come from disadvantaged backgrounds and could be top college material, but their highschool preparation has been inadequate. Those kids are sometimes eligible for PG scholarships at elite schools. </p>
<p>Also if you have a late bloomer or a kid who is at a lack lustre highschool and is not ready for college but can benefit from an accelerated year of a prep school, it can help. Such kids are usually a bit too immature for college, just not ready.</p>
<p>StickerShock is onto something. I just read Ohio's eligibility rules and kids can only play a maximum of 8 semesters. Must take a toll on our prep schools!</p>
<p>Yeah but Sticker Shock is talking about public school leagues or day school leagues. The boarding school leagues have different rules. Some leagues might limit the number of PGs on a team (Founders League, football, limited to 4 PGs on the team for example.)</p>
<p>In my son's sport(ice hockey), the average age of a freshman recruit (even D3) is 20-21 years old. Many do a PG year to firm up their academics, many have repeated grade in high school and some play junior hockey for a year or two . Some do a PG year and then play junior hockey.</p>
<p>PG years tend to expose ice hockey players to more competitive athletics (prep hockey in the Northeast is far superior to public school hockey) Junior hockey accomplishes a similar thing, but will not help a kid with shaky academics. In my experience, the academic piece is much more important for D3 than D1 where coaches have wide latitude to recruit players with lowish academic profiles</p>
<p>Academic standards vary greatly among D3 schools; indeed, in some sports (I don't know about ice hockey) some such schools recruit players that do not qualify for scholarship aid under NCAA rules.</p>
<p>Many of the top D3 hockey programs are in the NESCAC league (Bowdoin, Colby, Trinity, Tufts) , so the academic standards are quite high, even for a tipped athletic recruit. PG years count for alot at theses schools--you rarely see a public or parochial school grad playing hockey in the NESCAC league</p>
<p>A grad of our (good) public HS is playing for Tufts this fall after two years of junior hockey. (I thought people usually played junior hockey for a year.)</p>
<p>That is very common in hockey. My nephew played two years of juniors and will be entering college next fall as a freshman and he will almost be 22!</p>
<p>We are exploring that option for D2 as well, who is a hockey player, since she is young for her class she can play another full year of U19 while attending a CC or play for a year at a prep school before starting with a college team if she wants...</p>
<p>A year at community college makes her have to apply to college as a transfer student; college admissions wise, this is a great deal different than a year at a prep school and applying as a freshman.</p>
<p>Yes - but one option is definitely at much less cost than the other, as someone previously posted, a year of prep school or hockey academy (or even a extra year of HS in Canada) ends up being as costly as a year at a private college.</p>
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Yes - but one option is definitely at much less cost than the other, as someone previously posted, a year of prep school or hockey academy (or even a extra year of HS in Canada) ends up being as costly as a year at a private college.
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<p>It all depends upon what you bring to the table at which school and what your EFC is. With the right academic profile and hockey skills, you can do quite well at many prep schools. The hockey academies on the other hand are generally full-fare places. NAHA isn't badly priced and comes in less than full fare at most boarding schools. And don't chuckle about their academics. They place plenty of Ivy League players every year.</p>
<p>The more important question is, does the last season in school count for much? In D1 more than half of the committments are made before they drop the puck for the prep school season, during the November signing period. Now D3 is another animal and it tends to settle out with the regular admissions cycle, as the FA is all "need" or "merit" based and is processed through the "normal" channels.</p>
<p>If I am reading your posting right, your hockey player is a rising Senior??? Goaliegirl is a rising Junior. I take it that you have yours in some tournaments for the summer scouting season? We are just beginning this cycle, getting her into the bigger summer tournaments, so coaches are aware of her (she attends boarding school in a location that most coaches don't frequent).</p>
<p>My kids aren't athletes, so I don't quite understand this thread. Your S doesn't go to college with his peers, you pay an extra $30-$50,000 for a PG year and your S gets to play hockey or whatever sport at a college with stronger hockey team? Are these kids planning on going pro or is this all simply for the enhanced college experience?</p>
<p>Enhanced college essentially. </p>
<p>Your kid, perhaps younger than peers, gets senior year to really shine as athletic recruit. Maybe junior year summer didn't yield recruiting offers desired. Quite possibly has awesome recruiting season after public high school graduation and has verbal committment from dream school before starting PG year. Goes to PG year, has a transition year of more independent living, takes some APs, makes more contacts in his sport. Has a great year of athletics with the prep school --maybe better coaching, better teammates, better competition. While he's at it, he gets better teachers, solidifies any academic holes, takes some APs and shines.</p>
<p>Arrives at better college after 'gap' year and has a great college experience.</p>
<p>At least that's how it worked for us!</p>
<p>On the boys side, particularly in hockey, it is about the route into better hockey. Some kids will repeat 9th grade, play some junior hockey, move to a prep to have a PG year and they enter college as a 21 year old man. The addidtional years of physical development will put them at a tremendous advantage compared with their 18 year old classmates. And yes, many top hockey players go from college to the pros. </p>
<p>On the girls side, it is a bit different. Most are adding on the PG year to polish their academic resume to get into a more competive academic situation. For a few, it is for the improvement in the quality of team they play for.</p>
<p>And generally, (not in my case, though) hockey is a sport that requires a good bit of income to support your habit. A lot of families involved in travel hockey will spend close to 5 figures on the sport a year. As with a lot of other things on CC, it doesn't have to make sense as long as you have the dollars.</p>
<p>What does "doesn't go to college with his peers" mean? Who cares? The seniors scatter far and wide, and college freshmen have a wide age and maturity range. It's not like being held back in the 3rd grade!</p>
<p>I agree with Mom of Wild Child. This is just another example of deferring freshman year for a year. The kids who are deferring admission for a year are making all sorts of interesting plans. </p>
<p>I am sure their HS classmates will not all be graduating in parallel in the spring of 2012.</p>
<p>Not sure if things have changed, but do the major junior hockey leagues still have unrestricted access to 16 year olds these days, unlike (supposedly)college coaches?</p>
<p>I don't see anything wrong with a PG year, or gap years, in general. An extra year of maturity prior to college is probably going to be of benefit to lots of kids. I have never understood the big rush!</p>