Hello! My son – a senior at a public high school and a strong two sport athlete – has just applied to several boarding schools in New England for a post graduate year. Our question now is whether PG candidates can possibly learn about acceptance sometime before March 10 and if so, how much sooner and how best to go about it? Contact the coach to ask about status? (with whom we already have relationships – based on school visits, lots of video shared, etc – but we are always mindful not to be too pushy. The coach at one of these schools has told my son that he is their top recruit but the others have been less transparent with their thinking, aside from saying that they are definitely still interested).
My son is particularly eager to know his admissions status because he wants to resume discussions with college recruiters sooner rather than later and so knowing whether he will be a reclassified 2024 at X school would be beneficial. Also, with many of his friends/classmates now receiving ED and EA decisions, it’s particularly difficult at the moment for him to remain enthusiastic about doing a PG year and it won’t get easier if he has to wait until March 10 for a decision (he also has a few decent college options but his parents favor him doing a PG year and then doing a new/expanded college search in the fall).
Please share any thoughts about whether and how PG admissions might be different. Thanks!
I can’t be much help because I have little experience with PG year admissions but your reasons for finding out before 3/10 sound really reasonable/logical! I would have your son reach out to the coach and explain why finding out early would be really helpful. I know I’m stating the obvious but I would make sure your son does not sound at all demanding…
Thanks for the reply. Yes, I wish they would align the PG application process with the college timeline. And for athletes, perhaps even do “pre-reads” and verbal offers the way colleges do. Given that there are far fewer PG candidates (for fewer spots – so I’m not saying it’s necessarily easier to get admitted), and that the applicants are often quite different from your typical 8th, 9th or 10th grader, it does seem like schools could handle those applications a bit differently and yet I don’t know that any schools do…
My son is applying for 11th as a recruited athlete so while it’s definitely different than your circumstance, I can definitely somewhat relate! So few spots and it feels like a different process…
Hi. My twins are my youngest of four and going through the PG admissions process (they also applied to a few colleges each but we adults are all on board with the extra time in the oven). You can find my thread on that under my name, I think. Since I’ve gone through the college admission process with the other two, I can tell you that the universal lesson for high school seniors is to not compare yourself to others! Which is tough this time of year. But it’s the hardest to do, especially when adults who should know better are asking “where are you going?”
There’s a great (old) article I’ll try to find – what NOT to say to a high school senior. Because the truth is, it’s no one else’s business.
That said, being an athlete who wants to play in college is a unique situation. Depending on the sport, I’d say he should keep talking to college coaches and let them know he is planning on a PG year. I don’t think you can push for decision information–you CAN say, “hey Coach at X school, I’m speaking to A, B, C colleges and I’d love your advice on how to let them know that I’m thinking PG.” It’s a little more subtle, maybe.
Remember, college regular decisions come out in March/April as well. So the hard part is saying you’re zigging when everyone else at your school is zagging. I used to tell my older two that the only time it’s acceptable to lie is when people ask you about college and they aren’t your counselor or teacher.
I’m going to guess you can’t find out early and that 95% of PGs - all the recruits - are in the same boat.
In the communications with coaches, he can say he’s going to do a PG year at A B or C. He should know by late Match and will update the coach. That shouldn’t get in the way of discussions.
I assumed he was going to be a 2024 but had been in earlier conversations about being 2023., and that the reference to being reclassed referred to coaches who had passed on him this season. But clarity would help!
He’s a '23 that will be reclassified as a '24 if he does a pg year. He has already applied tosome colleges for fall '23.
I would guess that whatever the recruiting situation is today is what it is going to be, barring serendipity. Therefore any athletic recruiting considerations really hang on the PG year. However I realize I don’t have many of the OPs facts!
If he is applying to any of the BS in the Ten Schools Association then its doubtful you will get anything prior to March 10. My son applied to BS as a freshman and several coaches wanted him. There was only one who had a lot of communication before M10. But even in those communications there was no explicit mention of an acceptance.
The coaches most of the time, don’t even know. The decisions come down to the wire and are often made the days prior to Mar 10. The schools outside of the Ten may divulge their plans earlier.
Yes, this is correct. His primary sport is soccer (I’ve seen elsewhere that your sons play soccer, as well, and I’ve appreciated seeing your insights) and though he is a starting player for a state champion hs team and top ranked club, he had several things working against him – most notably, missing his entire high school season and half of the club season during his sophomore year due to a back injury (mostly from a big growth spurt, combined with overuse, during the summer after freshman year.) So he was relatively late to recruiting, he cast (in hindsight) a net that was too small, he plays defense – which can be particularly difficult for recruiting because there are no stats other than number of clean sheets, and then on top of it all, recruiting has been greatly curtailed during the pandemic given the glut of players with added eligibility. So a PG year is really the best option for him now (also, he’s a decent student but could use more academic prep and better time management skills before college), although he has been accepted to several large D1s where he could likely play on the club team – and perhaps end out having more fun anyway…
I think you’re right. My son is very laid back and doesn’t mind waiting to find out, but my wife and I on the other hand are chewing our nails
As an aside, it’s interesting to me that I had never heard of the Ten Schools Association (had to Google it) even though I graduated from one of those schools myself.
You probably already know this, but Berkshire and Northfield Mount Hermans, and Taft are soccer powerhouses whose coaches probably are more involved than most with recruiting. South Kent is too, but their beloved longtime coach just left. Williston Northampton and Northwood are two others that focus on recruiting. I do realize you are probably all set, though!
Thanks! Yes, he has been in close contact – Zoom calls, in person meetings, attending games, sharing highlights and full game video, etc — with coaches from most of these schools since last August. They all seem very interested with quick and enthusiastic replies to every communication my son sends them but I guess we’ll see in the coming weeks what that all means…
