<p>Does anyone have any information about good prep schools for girls wanting a post grad year, specifically a motivated student/soccer player/track athlete? </p>
<p>Excellent academics, but looking at a PG year for (in this order) 1) academics and a chance to catch up age-wise (a year ahead in school and would not turn 18 until midway through freshman year if went to college right away); 2) soccer - elite club player, probably recruitable but the process is so daunting and her focus is more on academics for college admission; 3) track - enjoys the sport, 4 year varsity letter.</p>
<p>She would want a school where there are a fair number of other girl PGs, hopefully some soccer players. Otherwise she worries about fitting in with students who have all been together for 4 years already. Any experience on that from anyone at a BS already?</p>
<p>Also how does the college admission process work for PGs? Are they supposed to have already applied and been accepted at a college and deferred admission, or do the boarding schools have a process in place to guide PGs through the admission process (the latter would be much preferable to us).</p>
<p>thanks for any feedback/prep school suggestions.</p>
<p>Soccer is not my girl’s sport (hockey, field hockey, lax), but I’ll suggest an approach.</p>
<p>First, you have to have your objective in mind. Are you at school for academic resume improvement (trying to get into a more competitive school), more time to grow up, or athletic recruiting?</p>
<p>With regards to the academic, look at the college matriculation lists of the schools. Most put it online. If the list (level of the common placements) fits your target range of schools, you’ve found a candidate. </p>
<p>Next you look at the athletics. Most schools (not all) post rosters of teams over the past 2 or 3 years. You can quickly find the PGs or similar by comparing rosters year to year. </p>
<p>As to the college admissions process, I believe you can go in with a deferred admission, but most PGs go through the same admissions process as seniors (only for a 2nd time).</p>
<p>Given that your D is a soccer (fall sport) player, you’ll have the benefit of recruiting season during application season. You should be on the same page with the coach before walking onto campus about recruiting objectives (schools to invite, etc.)</p>
<p>Note: goaliegirl’s ice hockey team has 2 PGs coming in this year. She will be a 4-year Senior and appreciates having more mature players on the team.</p>
<p>Exeter has girl PGs quite frequently, and girls’ soccer is a varsity sport. Some PGs have already been admitted to college while others haven’t. She (your D?) would be assigned a college counselor as soon as she gets to campus in the fall and go through the process like all the other seniors. I think it’s unlikely that there would be more than one female PG soccer player, but there’s no need to worry about fitting in; about one-third of the students are new to Exeter every year and belong to all four class years. She will be welcomed with open arms by teammates, classmates, and dormmates. Good luck!</p>
<p>I am pretty familiar with the PG year. It is not very common for girls, and if finding a school with a solid number of girl PG’s is important, that will be difficult. Most of the schools with large PG programs have from 10-20 PGs. One year they might have 2 or 3 girls, but the next year, it might only be one, or even none at all. Some of this has to do with their applicants, acceptances, and yield, and is beyond their control.</p>
<p>I know that NMH has had a good number of female PG’s—at least 5 in recent years. Also it is a campus which tends to be a bit older—smaller 9th grade ,many repeats, etc. so it might be a good one for a female PG.</p>
<p>I agree with goalie dad that you need to focus on what your reason for doing the PG year is. And PGs usually apply to college from their PG year, unless they have a Naval Academy or West Point committment.</p>
<p>Many thanks for the thoughts. Just to clarify, the primary reason for considering a PG year is academics and catching up to age appropriate classmates. And for another year to consider college needs/wants/choices (which is why we prefer that the school aid in the college admissions process), because she is still unsure about what she wants in a college and needs more time. The soccer is secondary but I get the impression that most prep schools are looking for athletic acheivement for PG admits,and I believe her success there would give her an edge. If the soccer were primary we’d be going through the recruiting thing now, but that is not her main focus.</p>
<p>Mannix,
I know a girl who is going to a HADES school this fall as a pg. Evidently, she is one of 3 pg girls. In her case, she has a fall birthday and would have started college as a 17 year old. She also plays sports, but I would not describe her as a standout player.<br>
zp</p>
<p>The other thing that you have to take into account are kids repeating years along the way. So while there may not be a lot of girls actually PGing there may be several or even many girls (and boys) her age and older.</p>
<p>Also in my limited experience (sending my child this fall for the first time), many of the kids at the schools are so much more poised than the public school kids we see. I think it comes from having to figure out and manage more on ones own without mom and dad there every minute. So, even though she might think she’s older because she’d already graduated, I would bet that she’d encounter a lot of kids that she felt were on par with her.</p>