<p>My son has two long term goals that he has been working toward that he can only accomplish if he lives at home for the remainder of this year and all of next year. We've been weighing the options, and aren't sure which way to go. </p>
<p>We are thinking about having him attend a local day school next year as a freshman, and then a more academically challenging school for grade ten. If he applies to boarding schools this year, can he, if accepted, defer admission for one year?</p>
<p>I wondered about this last year, on the CC board and the general opinion was that, no, boarding schools do not defer admissions. If he was working towards a goal of, say, Eagle Scout, accomplishing it would make him a more favorable applicant, imo.</p>
<p>zp</p>
<p>ZP, that’s exactly what I was referring to, along with another extracurricular that isn’t offered at any of the schools we’ve considered. </p>
<p>thanks for the feedback. This is a question I am not entirely comfortable bringing up with admissions officers.</p>
<p>The schools each year are building a class and I am not aware of the option to defer. IMO, I would refrain from mentioning any reference to any conflict in order to fulfill a requirement versus getting accepted to a boarding school. In fact, I would go as far to say that the strong desire to attend XYZ far out weighs the goal of scouting for example. Again my opinion only and anything that happened in the past will be just that, the past , history, with very little relevance compared to all of the alternatives and opportunities offered at boarding school coupled with what follows. I think you will also find that many of the schools are willing to entertain student inspired EC’s, within reason. Maybe it is something he can bring to the school.</p>
<p>My question might seem strange…but why apply at all this year? Wait until you know he wants to attend.</p>
<p>Good question. We’re just so new to all this that we want to know what the options are. I’d love it if we could get all the applications out of the way this year and know what ds had for choices for this year and next.</p>
<p>No schools that I know of do, but if your son applies, gets in and then doesn’t go, he has a pretty good chance of getting in if he reapplies the next year. I know some people who didn’t like the school they chose and reapplied to the others they had applied to originally. And got in.</p>
<p>As I’m sure you can tell from visiting the Prep School forum here on CC that it is extremely competitive to say the least. I may be wrong but I sense some indecisiveness going forward with the process. It is a process, time consuming, frustrating at times but can just as easily be fun and exciting. What I really would like to stress is that everyone involved, M&D and especially your son have to want this in order to have a favorable outcome. If I can sense a reluctance on your part from reading a post, imagine what an admissions officer might interpret. IDK maybe I’m reading into it too much.</p>
<p>On the flipside…do any schools offer early decision?</p>
<p>@SevenDad - Some schools offer rolling application / admission, which I suppose can be considered de facto early admission. Here’s a list of those schools from Boarding School Review - [Search</a> Boarding Schools](<a href=“Boarding School Search Results”>Boarding School Search Results)</p>
<p>@CateParent: Thanks for that. Btw, that Cate chapel talk you posted a link to was tremendous.</p>
<p>From my experience, the only way your child will be able to hold a spot for next year, would be if you paid for the year to hold his spot. Its possible to be admitted and to tell the school _ we realized in our process that he is very anxious to stay one more year at home in order to achieve blah blah blah because that will fulfill the wishes of his dying grandmother, achieve a life long goal, make him a better person, blah blah, and this did not crystalize till now. If the school perceives the excuse as a valid one, if they dont get over enrolled, and all the stars align, then they will look favorably on your app. Essentially what is going against you is the fact that you wasted their time since you knew about this conflict before you applied. On the other hand, there is nothing that can prevent you from doing school visits and then making a difficult decision of waiting to apply next year and doing whatever you want to do in 9th grade at home, or forgoing that and deciding to apply.</p>
<p>Of course we are conflicted. We have no experience to draw from. Nobody on either side of the family has ever gone to BS. We haven’t visited any schools yet- October will be just crazy with interviews and open houses. </p>
<p>We are trying to figure out what is best for ds. You’ll have to excuse me if I ask a few questions that appear ridiculous to the prep schools veterans.</p>
<p>Nothing you’ve expressed is ridiculous, Rellieou</p>
<p><<if i=“” can=“” sense=“” a=“” reluctance=“” on=“” your=“” part=“” from=“” reading=“” post,=“” imagine=“” what=“” an=“” admissions=“” officer=“” might=“” interpret.=“”>></if></p>
<p>Unfortunately, though I think this is true. I also think if a parent of a rising 9th grader isn’t on the fence about sending a child away, there’s cause for worry.</p>
<p>This is where I think the prep school adcoms who have become callous and are actively looking for excuses to weed out good candidates could benefit from a good developmental psychologist. For lots of families new to the idea, it’s a gut-wrenching decision in lots of cases. If you’re an adcom reading this, please be sensitive to this issue.</p>
<p>Ok, my bad, I apologize if I came across sounding somewhat condescending. I like to think CC is here to help and I definitely do not mean to steer you, your son away from what I believe can be an incredible experience. Please do the visits, interviews and open tours. It is crazy and as nervous as everyone will be, I know you’ll also find it exciting. All these schools make a real concerted effort to attract those families that haven’t any experience with boarding schools much less any connections. I’m positive after your first visit that you and your son will be impressed and whatever hesitation there once existed will have evaporated. I promise your queries will not be considered ridiculous. Please do ask away.</p>