Hello,
I have a high school senior. We are considering a PG year. He is a good student 4.0 weighted GPA at a top public MA high school in all honors classes and a strong soccer player, 4 year varsity and also club player. I do realize that the academic rigor is not the same in public schools as in prep schools.
I think he would benefit from the additional year academically and to develop soccer. I would like him to develop better study skills and habits and he could also work on the soccer. He did not do much to pursue college soccer this past year and now is regretting it. He got one d3 offer to play but was not interested as it was a lower tier academically than he is aiming for. He has applied EA to a few colleges but if he could get into a strong PG program it might be worth considering. How difficult are the top schools to get into for the PG year? Deerfield, Lawrenceville, Choate, etc. Thank you!
If he is really strong at his sport, you should contact the coach and share ….many students choose this route for a PG year to gain maturity, study skills, independence being in BS, and to get an extra year of athletics. Be prepared, however, that the PG year is very popular - and there are many applicants for limited places.
You might also want to look at more schools.
Thank you very much!
My son attending a boarding school which offered a PG year. Typically they were students who needed an extra year to grow/mature in their sport. Often they already had verbal offers lined up before the PG year even started. Also there were a handful of PGs who did it for extra prep for college.
The PG year is very expensive. You might consider instead sending him to a community college for a year. That would allow him to mature, but still transfer the credits later. PG year credits will not transfer to college (unless he takes APs).
I think it’s a good idea however I’m not familiar with how competitive the application process is…I speak from a parent perspective and I’m considering the same thing for my son. My daughter attended BS and I know some PGs who had a great experience. My son wants to stay in his public high school and continue on his club team but he is a summer birthday and has a lot of maturing to do academically and physically. The community college idea could work if he had a club team to train with and showcase. In this situation, it would be a gap year and he would be home. I think I prefer the structure of the boarding school environment as a stepping stone to the independence one will acquire at college. (and the coaching/team ready made)
hi there,
just chiming in to add to the other posters thoughtful comments. we were thinking of the pg year option too, but were advised that 80% of the spots at the top schools like gladchems, were already filled by athletes who had already been accepted to college, but needed an additional year to brush up academically, so that left only 20% of the spots for already competitive spots. seems like connecting with the coaches at the schools you are interested in could be a good move to see if they are interested in your son, if so, you will have a direction to move in, good luck to you, let us know what you choose!
If a student attends a CC he/she might be considered a transfer rather than a freshmen for admissions which could negatively impact merit aid. Just something to be careful about.
Not sure about the 80% figure; my understanding is that a more accurate figure would be far lower than 80%.
I think that the 80% figure is reasonable for the number of PGs who are athletes capable of continuing their sport in college and are seeking to enhance their academic qualifications for colleges & universities. While many may also have college acceptances in hand, many are trying for more selective colleges & universities or for D-1 scholarships versus a D-3 acceptance.
But, I really do not have specific knowledge about all of these prep boarding schools’ PG athletes.
Hopefully, some other posters will share their experience & knowledge in this area.
the 80% figure came from a boarding school placement specialist who has been in that position for 20 years…the figure surprised me, i knew that was some of the makeup of a pg class, i just didnt realize how many of the spots were already taken by athletes already committed to colleges. but to your point, looking forward to others posting who might have some knowledge in this area.
This is the issue. The only ones with actual knowledge are AOs. And they’re not telling. The placement person you referred to may have plenty of anecdotes, including from AOs, but it’s still not knowledge.
Don’t get me wrong. I’d hazard that the number is “high.” But is it 80%? Maybe? Is it 60%, 70%? 90%?
Or are those distinctions without a real difference? BS admission rates are very low and consistently getting lower across the board every year, at all grade levels. All the OP can really do is apply and do their best. But depending on other options - and OP did say they have college applications outstanding - I see no reason not to give it a go. Worst/best case = more choices.
I’d tend to agree that the “already committed” number is high. Keeping in mind that between acceptance in March and the start of PG year in September, many college commitments will happen. But of all the athletes I’ve known who’ve PG’d in recent years, only one had a DI commitment by the time he was accepted to boarding school. More had one by September. YMMV
What school has a good PG program for an artsy kid?
Might depend upon whether or not “artsy” refers to a specific field within the arts such as acting, singing, drawing, orchestra, dance, etc.
Not boarding; not PG; worth noting for those in the NYC area who want a Saturday program:
https://juilliard.edu/school/preparatory-division/juilliard-pre-college
Does NEPSAC have rules regarding how many total PGs are allowed for each sport?
For example, in football I believe the number is eight but not all schools carry the maximum.
I think that’s why L’ville abandoned the MAPL in football. That league limited total PGs to 4 putting the Big Red at a distinct disadvantage when it played some of the New England schools.
In hockey, some schools like Avon Old Farms and Salisbury are loaded with PGs. And, Northfield Mt Hermon seems to have embraced basketball PGs.
Not sure what the maximum PG limits are in basketball and hockey, though.
Mercersburg has 15-20+ PGs each year. Most are athletes and many are service academy-bound, but not all. Mercersburg welcomes PGs as full and valued members of the community, whether they are athletes or not.
I did a PG year a one of the places you had mentioned you are looking at. Unless you have a coach who can help put in a good word for you in admissions, your chances are really slim at those places. Counting my year, the year before, and the year after, there were less than 10 total PGs that weren’t being actively recruited for their sport by a college. The non-athlete kids were very exceptional students, some domestic, some international, and most went on to attend an Ivy or similar. Most kids in my sport were already committed entering the year. I only imagine the process/number of kids applying to PG is increasing because of the disruption of their recruiting.
No PG limits for basketball. Idk about hockey, though (this is entirely unrelated) a lot of hockey PGs seem to be the oldest students in the crop–a bunch were entering the year 19 going on 20!
Are you willing to name your PG prep school ?
thanks so much for sharing your experience and insight, that is really helpful information!
I only recall a handful of non-athletes in PG slots over the past few years - I hear from folks I know at Loomis, Choate, & DA that over the past couple of years there has been a significant increase in PG applications.