<p>I went to Mercersburg Academy last year, left, came home to city schools. Really lackluster round here. I'm looking for a school that isn't based heavily on athletics and religion. I want to go to a school with a challenging curriculum and the choice to do with my spare time as i please, not having to dedicate it to a sport i don't want to do. Does anybody know of a school like this? What is it like coming in as an eleventh grader.</p>
<p>Also is exeter as hard of a school as people say?</p>
<p>Yes, Exeter is as hard as people say . . . and I’d guess that Exeter graduates could probably count in minutes the spare time they had while students there!</p>
<p>Look, if what you want is spare time to with with as you will, then what you really need is a day school and not a boarding school. Boarding school is a full-time commitment!</p>
<p>If you really have no local options for a good day school, then the only thing I can suggest is to take a look at boarding schools with very high day student populations and very low boarding student populations. You could find that by doing a search on Boarding School Review. As the percentage of boarding students drops, I’d anticipate that the number of after school activities would tend to drop also . . . and you’d probably have more time to yourself. But you can’t do just academics . . . sports are going to be a requirement wherever you go. So you might also want to figure out what sport you’d enjoy.</p>
<p>Most schools accept very few 11th graders, but, yes, it can be done. I can’t imagine that it would be a very easy transition for you, though, if you just want to hang out by yourself and not participate in any school activities.</p>
<p>Lokemer,</p>
<p>If you take a closer look at the sport options some prep schools offer, you may be pleasantly surprised at how painless they are to satisfy. </p>
<p>For example, at Andover students can fulfill the sports requirement through non-athletic options such as community service or SASE, which grants an exemption from the Exercise and Sport requirement in order to pursue an established passion (e.g., major music/theatre productions, intensive lab study, etc.). </p>
<p>For those who want to be physically active, but dont like traditional sports, options at Andover range from yoga to fencing, from Ultimate Frisbee to exercise classes, and from cross country skiing to outdoor sports such as climbing, canoeing, orienteering, etc. Eleventh graders and seniors can also take a term off from sports. </p>
<p>Dodgersmom is correct: admission for new eleventh graders is tough. For example, last year Andover only accepted 18 new eleventh graders, as compared to about 200 ninth graders. And Andovers admit rate for new eleventh graders is in the 7% range (I believe). </p>
<p>Making the transition to prep school in eleventh grade can be challenging as well. There is less margin for error since colleges pay close attention to junior year grades. In addition, demanding courses, SAT anxiety, and the commencement of the college admission process often make eleventh grade the most difficult prep school year. </p>
<p>None of this is insurmountable. You just need to hit the ground running as a new eleventh grader. And you dont necessarily have to do it in a sport at some prep schools. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>You got into Mercersburg, i’m trying to apply now!!! How did you do on your SSAT?? is it really hard to get in???</p>
<p>I’m going to agree with the others, I don’t think there’s a good shot at 11th grade. And if you’re looking for free time to do as you please, none of the boarding schools discussed here are going to fit that description. They pack the schedules full for a reason.</p>
<p>I’d stay where you are and find ways to make your free time interesting - both to you, and to a potential college.</p>
<p>I would have suggested George School, or Westtown, but both are Quaker schools - they do require attendance at meetings, but the Quaker ethos is very inclusive and tolerant. They have sports requirements, but even extremely unathletic kids are accommodated, and you don’t have to play a sport every term, especially if you are involved with other activities. Both accept new juniors. I would not recommend Andover, Exeter, or any other highly selective schools. As a rule, they only recruit athletes as upperclassmen (often “repeat juniors” or post-grads). You might give Northfield-Mt. Hermon a try, also. What about Simon’s Rock? They are very unusual and progressive - they offer only junior & senior high school classes, followed by two-year college program in partnership with Bard College.</p>
<p>stagemum,</p>
<p>Just to clarify: Andover does not “[a]s a rule … only recruit athletes” for new eleventh graders. It accepts new eleventh graders who combine excellent academics with a wide range of demonstrated passions such as singing, theater science, and sports.</p>
<p>Sorry for the poor phrasing (ie. “as a rule”) in my post. My father and uncle both went to Andover many, many years ago, as juniors (or “uppers,” as they called them, I think), but the competition has become so intense that there simply aren’t many openings. Andover and Exeter have famously, for time immemorial, recruited PG and repeating 11th-graders for varsity sports. They are often good athletes who have Ivy League potential, but need a little academic “polishing.” Of course, they have admitted other top students as upperclassmen, but I would say the prospects are slim. One person posted that the acceptance rate is about 7% (and that, presumably, includes athletic recruits). Four years ago, when we were searching for my older son, St. Marks had posted on the admissions website that they anticipated no openings for 11th graders. That would usually mean that one or two places might open up, in the event of a student’s withdrawal or expulsion, but that no student should pin high hopes on admission. If St. Mark’s was in that position, I suspect Groton, Middlesex, St. George’s, et al. also were.</p>
<p>I am not sure if it’s necessarily true that most of the new 11th graders are athelete recruits in schools like Andover although I think many if not all domestic PGs are athelete recruits. And I believe that these athelete recruits distort (exaggerate) the college matriculation data. I don’t see the point of it and don’t like it.</p>
<p>DAndrew- athletic recruiting is a fact of life not just at the prep schools but the “Ivy Leagues” as well. As long as the institutions attach this much importance to athletics, you will have preference for athletes in admissions. Not saying that it’s good or bad, but it is a fact. Several of my kids’ friends were already committed to Yale for example, before they came as PGs, and were there to make themselves academically admissable (is that a word?)</p>
<p>My guess is that most of the new eleventh graders at Andover this year are not recruited athletes. </p>
<p>The days when an athlete could simply skate, swim, or pass their way into eleventh grade at Andover or Exeter are long gone. Like everyone else, athletes must be academically qualified. </p>
<p>This is especially true for eleventh grade applicants to top schools who often face admit rates significantly lower than the overall admit rate.</p>