Looked at stats - so many students applying as repeats. Has anyone looked at advantage to getting admitted as a repeat 9th-- not talking just about social - maturity advantages. Do some schools favor repeat applicants? Do you have the SSAT advantage & say you’re in 8th when you’re already in 9th? I read somewhere that one school has 40% repeaters for 9th grade! Opinions welcome 
Academically is it better? Do you just repeat a year of geometry or your foreign language?
We went on one tour and the student guide was a 17 year-old 10th grader. So do some schools have students two years apart in one class?
Yes the repeater percentage is pretty high no doubt. I think some students who may have gone to a JBS or day school that goes through 9th grade, repeat at BS for the full four year experience (academic, life, athletics, etc.). I would venture that whether they repeat courses is a student specific decision. Depending on the course and foreign language would be a good example, you may have students who are 13 in class with 18 or even 19 year old students if the school has a PG year.
Wow! I’d be curious to know which schools have such a high percentage of repeaters!
It seems that students who aren’t the strongest performers in 8th or who need another year to get more advanced in Math repeat 9th. I think the strongest students do not repeat ninth.
Just one families experience here but my kids went: 0-1-5 as 8th graders applying for 9th grade, but wen 6-0-2 when applying as 9th graders for 10th grade. Hard to say how much of this was due to them re-investing in essays, and being better prepared, vs. the fact that for some schools it is actually easier to get in as a 10th grader. Cannot offer any data points about applying to repeat 9th, none of my kids pursued that option.
Several things that may drive repeat 9th graders are that there are more spots for 9th grade, and financial aid can be viewed as easier to get starting in 9th grade.
@preppedparent - our child is a very strong performer. We wanted to give our son 4 years to enjoy the experience, he was young for his year already, it would allow him to take advantage of some of the advanced course offerings available, and as a not yet developmentally mature athlete on the young side of his grade who projects as a college player, it would allow him an opportunity to grow and mature and gain an advantage in college recruiting.
We don’t intend on having him repeat classes - that’s what placement tests are for.
“Repeat” refers to entering form, not courses. No one repeats a course unless the performance on a placement test indicates insufficient mastery of material to move on. All students are placed into classes based on ability so, although there may be various ages in a class, all will be more or less on the same academic readiness page for that course.
To clarify, nobody repeats a course in math and foreign language unless the placement test indicates otherwise. Generally, nobody repeats a history or a science course if (and it’s a big if) the new school feels that the course at the old school is equivalent. e.g. if you already took bio, you may not have to retake it.
However, everyone will be taking the grade-level English course (and maybe the history course). That said, 9th grade English (like most subjects) at most prep schools is light years ahead of 9th grade English at the LPS.
I’m not a fan of repeating ninth, but so many BS kids do. Yes, I think it has more to do with # of spots available in ninth vs. 10th.
Do some schools have more openings in 10th? Some JBS & private day schools have kids they 9th grade-
Repeating 9th grade will mostly likely give better admission chance because the student will stand out more from his applicant pool and 9th grade admission generally has better acceptance ratio.What’s personally beneficial depends on each student.
I’ve heard percentages in the 30-40% range with more boys than girls repeating.
I have seen people on here report that they brought up repeat 9th vs 10th with AOs. Some have been told different things from different schools.
@golfgr8 there are typically more spots in 9th versus 10th, therefore your chances are better of getting accepted if you reapply for 9th. As the class fills, less and less spots are available in 10th, 11th, and 12th.
Many boarding schools ( I know at my boarding school at least) the ages and grades don’t always match up. I have a junior friend who is 16 and a freshman friend who is 16 and a freshman friend who is 13 and a senior who is 19. Because people repeat, skip grades in elementary or middle school, or do a post graduate year, ages and grades don’t necessarily match up all of the time.
Also what schools are you thinking of applying to? Some schools will double the freshman class come sophomore year so it can really depend on the school and size of the student body.
I was told handed are he same for 9 and 10 at most schools. The admit % is about the same. (depending on the school) l’ville is harder to get into as a 9 than 10 because of their house system. They only have 45 beds per grade per gender with no wiggle room.