PG Year

Prep School Admissions
1

<p>Hello! I'm a junior currently on an year long exchange to Belgium. After i return for my senior year, i plan on taking a post graduate year at the best bs i can get into (AESHD). But i can't find any information to compare myself to other pg applicants. Most of them seem to be athletes, but you do have to be a d1 prospect to get in? I was all-league at linebacker last year and once i get back home i don't have any doubt that i can win all-state honors. (partly because my school is in the lowest classification in Oregon, 1A). If i didn't get all-state i'd be the first in the family not to, and thats not something i want to be known for ;). </p>

<p>I have a few other questions:
Is Oregon an under-represented state?(do they ever break down states? I'm in a really depressed area, the SW, isolated rural town of 700)
How will bs look at my family situation?(Mom and dad divorced but dual custody, live with mother-25k income, dad is 10 hours away maybe makes 15k but doesn't support me)
Is my sat good enough?(took it jan, practice and research says i'll get around 2150, i had an old score of 1950 from 9th grade but lets just say i wasn't in top form)
Will my exchange and work experience give me a edge or "hook"? (Rotary exchange, payed for it with my own money-3 summers of 40hr/wk jobs, and i'm getting closer to being fluent in french, maybe i'll start dutch)
Will being a decent and well rounded athlete work instead of being an nfl prospect?(2 years starter basketball, 2 years starter football, district finalist in javelin, threw discus, ran hurdles)
Since I'm on exchange, i have a year of unused eligibility, is that good or do you automatically get another year when you do a pg?</p>

<p>I can't seem to find any information about postgraduates so i'm hoping someone here can help me. Thanks in advance.</p>

2

<p>Mason17 -- I'm no help on PGs. </p>

<p>In your post above, you did not include information on your grades and any academic honors, ec's, etc. This is probably helpful info for people evaluating chances.</p>

<p>There are a number of athletic powerhouses that are not among the top 10-15 boarding schools. Their athletes are recruited by many top colleges. What I am trying to say is, if you go ahead with this idea, don't limit your search to the top 10-15 schools. There are many others that can help you fulfill your ambitions.</p>

3

<p>Most PGs are recruited athletes to Div I universities or to the service academies. The university then suggests that the student/athlete get an extra year of academic and athletic preparation before matriculating to the univ. Ice hockey players,however,are sometimes sought out by prep schools and are given substantial aid,sometimes special housing and easier courses taken with other hockey players and tutoring. St. Paul's School does not accept PGs or summer students (they do have a summer program only open to New Hampshire juniors). Deerfield Academy is the best for PGs re:academics and quality of life. Blair Academy is a cozy country club type boarding school near the Pocono Mtns. of Penna.,although Blair is in New Jersey. Students LOVE Deerfield and Blair! Wyoming Seminary,Mercersburg Academy, Lawrenceville,Peddie,and The Culver Academies are some to note. Bridgton Academy in Maine is an all boys boarding school for PGs only.Exeter,Andover Northfield Mount Herman also accept PGs. Deerfield,Blair,Lawrenceville,Peddie and Culver are the best schools to start your search without more specific info. about your needs and abilities.Mercersburg Academy is also a great all around boarding school with top baseball and swimming teams.</p>

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<p>Other PG accepting boarding schools include Kent School,Hotchkiss,Cheshire Academy Taft,Westminster,Loomis Chaffee,Pomfret and several others all in Connecticutt. Valley Forge Military Academy in Penna. if you want a strict military environment. Regarding athletic eligibility,PGs are typically limited to playing only against other schools which accept PGs.</p>

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<p>"Other PG accepting boarding schools include Kent School,Hotchkiss,Cheshire Academy Taft,Westminster,Loomis Chaffee,Pomfret and several others all in Connecticutt. Valley Forge Military Academy in Penna. if you want a strict military environment. Regarding athletic eligibility,PGs are typically limited to playing only against other schools which accept PGs."</p>

<p>i think he mentioned hotchkiss, "i plan on taking a post graduate year at the best bs i can get into (AESHD). " i cant think of another school that starts with H ...</p>

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<p>I had to specify by name since OP was under the mistaken impression that SPS accepts PGs-which they do not. There are approx. 65 other private schools that begin with the letter "H". The Hill School,HunSchool,Holderness School,Houghton Academy,Howe Military, Hargrave Military(the most prolific football factory in the U.S. of boarding schools),Hoosac School,Hawaii Prep,etc.Hebron and Harvey School also come to mind.</p>

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<p>To the OP: Why do you want to do a PG year if not for athletics? OP= original poster to my understanding of "OP".</p>

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<p>Not the OP...but I JUST NOW figured out what people mean when they say "OP!"</p>

<p>(very proud of myself)</p>

<p>EDIT: Also, I'm wondering the same thing? I can see improving one's status for the Div. 1 football recruiting cycle -- often based on junior (or sophomore) year performances. And I can see doing it to become an academic qualifier if you're already heavily recruited. But just doing it for another year of high school?</p>

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<p>The Erickson League consists of Loomis Chaffee, Hotchkiss, Taft, Avon Old Farms, Trinity-Pawling, Kent and Salisbury. League limits PG's to 4. Last two Class A NE champions have come from this league: Trinity-Pawling and Salisbury. Kent and Avon also traditionally field very strong teams. </p>

<p>Most of the players that go on to college football from this league end up at
Div. I AA or III schools like those in the Ivy's, Atlantic 10, Patriot or NESCAC
(Williams, Trinity, Bowdoin etc.).</p>

<p>You might be interested to know that this years Boston Globe Prep Player of the Year came to Salisbury from Washington State and will play football at UPenn next year.</p>

10

<p>Oddly the kids who benefit from having PG football players on their team also suffer the most because they have to play against these bruisers every day in practice. My prep school brought in about 6 all state quality football players each year from across the country. Several were Navel Academy candidates and the others typically went on to play at Notre Dame and Penn State(not the Ivy-the real football school),and it was not as much fun as one might think tackling these guys every day during practice.</p>

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<p>to Garritty: I'd like to be able to improve my academics, my grades are perfectly fine but i really don't have to do any work. 50 minute class=15 to finish work, 5 to talk teacher into letting me do something else, 30 minutes playing computer, going to another classroom, writing song lyrics, etc.... Plus I've always been in love with the idea of boarding school. My top college choices ideally have residential colleges.</p>

<p>In Dec of next year i'll be applying to top universities as well as top boarding schools. I'm still not completely decided on what to do. I might even take another exchange :). I just want to see some more information first.</p>

<p>As far as Div 1 recruit, its pretty rare in 1A. My brother was a 3 time all-state player and lead his team to 3 state championships and a national (voted) championship. He didn't get any calls from D1 programs. Well for football anyway. I'd say i'm probably not going to get in based on just my athletic abilities.</p>

<p>And my academics are good, but my courses might be seen as too easy. I take the MRA(right acronym?) of my school but we don't have honor classes. I've take 4 college math courses independently but it's hard to get them to let me take other classes.</p>

<p>9th grade:3.96 UW-One B, first college math course
10th grade:3.5 UW-Partially due to the deaths of my brother and my grandmother, i had some major problems with alcohol during this time
11th grade: 4.0 UW My school office has said they will transfer my classes from exchange favorably
12th grade (expected):4.0 UW-I've grown alot during my exchange, i've found out what it takes to get myself motivated independently</p>

<p>Awards, EC's: Rotary exchange to belgium, 2 year job as carpenter in Building Trades program, 1 year as forester in Coastal Health program, District Winner(twice) +2nd place County in Voice of Democracy writing and speech contest, County spelling bee champion, NHS, SB Treasurer, Class Rep(7th-10th, 12th?), Wrote grant to buy new computers for the school and assembled them, Student of Distinction, Best Student Award in:(9th)Pre-Calc, geo, english,journalism ,(10th) calculus, biology, computer repair, english, and journalism.</p>

<p>Theres a few other things, can't think of them at the moment but they're nothing too special.</p>

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<p>MAson- it is not true that "most" PG students are there for athletics. Many are, but just as many need or want an extra year to mature and improve their academic transcripts. Some kids may be a little young for their grade or simply want to have some more time in a structured environment before college.</p>

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<p>What about financial aid for PGs. Is this a favorable situation for most schools?</p>

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<p>Wrong -- most PG's are athletes (boys and girls) -- that's just a fact.</p>

15

<p>I'm under the impression that there's not a lot of aid for your typical PG student. Never hurts to ask, but I might ask <em>before</em> interviewing and applying. </p>

<p>You will want to interview <em>on campus</em> if possible in the fall of your senior year. </p>

<p>Most PGs do seem to be at school with athletics as a focus -- but as far as recruiting goes, most of that recruiting would be complete before ever heading off to the boarding school. Particularly true of spring sports of course.</p>

<p>You should also consider that this is another year of <em>high school</em> with all the rules and regs of high school. My son chose to do his PG year although he had a college acceptance in hand -- he was hoping for a different school if he grew up for a year. Even though he <em>wanted</em> to be there, he found the restrictions of boarding school chafed a bit.</p>

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<p>Momof Wildchild: At which prep boarding schools are the PGs non-athletes? I called Deerfield on behalf of a friend's child who wished to improve academics to increase Ivy hopes and Deerfield stressed that it would be rare for a non-athlete PG to attend. I am very familiar with many PG boarding schools and while an occasional student is a non-athlete it is not the norm. That being said I do know some PGs who are non-athletes incl. Andover-but just one. There is a remedial school in Maine that is only for PGs. You can apply and attend as a non-athlete PG,but most of us are asking why. And where are the non-athlete PGs you speak of attending boarding school? "Most" PGs are athletes,and attending boarding school as a PG to improve chances for athletic scholarship. You are the first person in decades that I have seen claim that most PGs are not athletes. What school? Certainly not Hotchkiss,Deerfield,Blair,Mercersburg,Wyoming Seminary,etc. Where??? Where does your info. come from? Who would spend that type of $$$?</p>

17

<p>I see that it's rare to have pgs who weren't recruited, but is there any kind of info about them? Would i have a decent chance of being accepted? If i want to look at applying next fall, when should i start contact with admission and/or athletic offices?</p>

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<p>All athletic PGs are not recruited. Many are self selecting athletes who want an additional year of skill development and physical growth to enhance chance of playing college sports. Contact the school and the coaches as soon as you find a school that meets your needs. Start with Deerfield as it loves intelligent athletes and accepts PGs while enjoying a stellar academic reputation. But be sure to look at the academics as some schools are better in certain academic areas than others. Many schools have special courses open only to PGs. Andover,Exeter,Mercersburg Academy,Blair,Peddie, Wyoming Seminary,etc. depending on your needs and interests.Lawrenceville in New Jersey is another academic powerhouse that accepts PGs.Hotchkiss(ice hockey),Taft,Loomis Chaffee,Kent-are good starting points.</p>

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<p>I would tend to agree with Garrity that althetic PGs aren't necessarily recruited. They may be very encouraged -- but it's not my experience that the coaches are running around the public high schools looking for seniors to snag to bolster a roster.My son was considering both college and prep school simultaneously. The coaches at the boarding schools were enthusiastic about his application -- but they weren't showing up at our house and calling and doing the things that college coaches do when they recruit. My son would have entered college at 17. The PG year allowed him to grow and enter at 18. He took some APs, was challenged in a way that his public high school never did, and made some close friends. </p>

<p>The PG year was a way for him to grow up and mature -- and as it happened, play his sport with a former coach from the college he was ultimately recruited by -- but IMO that was a coincidence not a specific stepping stone.</p>

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<p>it's just how u defined recruited...they dont actively go out and recruit as much as college coaches, but they do go around the country and watch players sometimes...also, they have a huge impact on the application, that's what being recruited in BS context means...</p>