<p>In our town they are talking about cutting back drastically on school spending for next year. No one knows how bad it will be, but they're talking about eliminating AP classes, fourth year of language, etc. So if that happens, my son, currently a junior, doesn't have a lot to keep himself busy next year.</p>
<p>So is it crazy to think about him transferring to a prep school just for his senior year? I seem to have heard that there are very few openings in the day schools, so even if he gets in, it would be a social disaster. But I also think I've heard that it's not that unusual to just do senior year at a boarding school, so there he would be part of a group of incoming students. </p>
<p>Some people do, but I heard that they only accept like 12 seniors at Andover. He would have to be AMAZING. I'm not sure about non-HADES schools though. Anyone else?</p>
<p>What about applying as a repeat junior? Coming in as a senior, I think, is very difficult from a socail situation and I think a college application view as well. Socially, the seniors are getting ready to move on and I'm not sure how a new kid fits into that. From an application process, your son would have to use prior years teachers for recommendations. Not sure how college counseling which starts in the junior year would work for a new senior. I'm sure, though, if accepted as a senior, the college counseling office would do their best. But how would the adviser write a great recommendation for someone they've had for a couple of months.</p>
<p>I've also heard that seniors and Post Grads are usually varsity athletes so if he isn't a recruited athlete admission may be difficult for top schools.</p>
<p>So it sounds like the consensus is that we would be going against the flow, which is enough to kill it for us. This is good information to have and can save us a lot of time. I'll keep monitoring this thread for a while to see if there are any other points of view or bits of info presented.</p>
<p>I bet the situation is different at each school. I would call any school you are interested in and ask them directly, rather than relying on general info here. My daughter's school, St Andrew's (Del.) does not take seniors or have postgrads.</p>
<p>I'd take Grejuni's advice and talk to schools directly. Certainly some schools do take seniors, just like they take kids for a single postgrad year. And certainly some of those kids have a great time, find friends, and manage to get into college! Whether it makes sense for your son is another story.</p>
<p>Thanks for additional responses. In our case doing two years won't work; my son can't wait to get to college. Also, he's on the introverted side, so it would be tough to break into a group that's been together and is mainly focused on leaving by the time he gets there.</p>
<p>But I like the idea of calling the specific schools. (If we had a smack the forehead smilie I'd post it here) It's possible that one of the prep schools around here takes in a group of seniors, has been doing it for years, and makes them feel like family by September. Not likely, but possible. So it's worth a few phone calls. If one school is doing it, they'll all know about it. </p>
<p>But I've already started on plan B. It looks like he can take online AP classes through Stanford next year. And Plan C is to check out the jucos around here. Maybe take one or two courses there. So he'll be fine.</p>
<p>Yes, Prep schools do accept Junior and Senior transfers, particularly second tier ones.</p>
<p>You may find that, due to the higher academic expectations at Prep schools, your rising senior may only be accepted as a rising Junior. If your local public has been on a downward spiral, repeating Junior year might be a very good idea.</p>
<p>Students move in and out of Prep school all the time. For example, many pre-prep schools go through 9th grade, so as much as 1/3 of the Sophomore class may be new. D's prep school added 43 juniors this year (many the size of houses). Due to strict behavior rules, about 10% of the senior class was shown the door. </p>
<p>You may find that although he is itching to get to college, the college that will take him from a failing Public is not the college he wants to go to. Putting in a couple of years at a challenging Prep will preparing him for the high flying college that he thinks he deserves.</p>
<p>It probably won't make any difference, but just to clarify, my son is doing very well and his school is doing very well; it's just the city that's tanking. Sorry if the tone of the OP gave the opposite impression. I didn't want to make this into a "chance me" thread so I didn't get into his scores and all that. But suffice it to say that it looks like he'll be able to get into almost any college and we've already found a couple of excellent safe schools.</p>
<p>It's about 100% certain that there will be budget cuts next year. Of course we don't know yet how bad the cuts will be or what the school will cut, but the popular rumor/fear is that anything not required for graduation is on its way out. So one possible scenario is that he'll have gym, English and history - maybe math and physics - no AP, no foreign language. It's hard to imagine that it will be worse, but a year ago it was hard to imagine that Lehman Brothers would go belly up and AIG would become a government agency.</p>
<p>So in the worst case scenario he goes to high school in the AM, then off to juco, or art school, or volunteer work, or home to the internet. All of which would be better than being the only new kid in even the best prep school in history.</p>
<p>But I will make those phone calls next week and see if there is anything happening around here. If there are any surprises, I'll let you all now.</p>
<p>And thanks again for the helpful information and I'll keep checking in.</p>
<p>most prep schools wont take a rising senior, for the simple reason that their gc's do start to work with the students/families early on, and coming in Sept and potentially applying to colleges in Oct. wont give them an ability to pitch for that student. Some schools will take extremely accomplished athletes for a PG year. As to applying for a repeat Junior -- most first tier schools want the kids in 9/10 grade only. Stick out your last year where you are and write a college essay about how hard he worked to get an education</p>