<p>Hi there, I'm a Californian (Orange County, to be precise) who has attended public schools throughout his entire life. I'm currently a high school junior.</p>
<p>So by chance I came across the website for Phillips Exeter Academy and it would be an understatement to say how blown away I am by what these kids get to do (: Truth be told, I've always wanted to attend a boarding school.</p>
<p>As a result, I'd love to have the chance to join them. My question is this: how hard is it to go there for junior year, and if I need financial aid, will it make admission more difficult?</p>
<p>Also, how will transferring to another school midway in my high school career look to colleges? I'm thinking of applying to HYPS and a couple of other ivies such as Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, etc. </p>
<p>Sorry if these questions come off as kind of newbish, but I've never really considered going to a prep school until now.</p>
<p>From what I gather, the only people who are admitted for senior year are PGs (post graduates) who are nearly almost always athletes. It would be easier to repeat your junior year, but even then, it’s ridiculously hard to get in due to the lack of spots. Someone correct me if I’m wrong.</p>
<p>I’m not sure about the senior thing (although there are quite a few PGs) but this yearv uppers had one less member than they did last year but that’s because they did lose some people. I don’t know how many they accepted.</p>
<p>I have two friends to went to Exeter last year as repeat juniors and they were strong students with hooks. If you are a strong student AND can bring something special to the school besides academics it is completely achievable. Both got FA as well. My son also is a repeat junior this year and we were advised that it does not look bad to be changing at this point…looks more like you wanted a challenge.
Good Luck!</p>
<p>Will taking junior year over have adverse effects on my college applications? Also, will taking the SAT suffice if I apply for jr year? (I know you can take the SAT instead of the SSAT if you’re applying for senior year, but what bout junior year?)</p>
<p>SSAT is enough for junior year. I do not profess to be an expert but we were told repeating jr year would not have adverse effect at all. Repeating one year is common in prep.</p>
<p>That’s an excellent idea, siliconvalleymom. If the OP is at the top of his public and has leadership positions, interesting EC’s, etc, he may be in a better position to attain his college goals from his current school. The summer program will show the desire to challenge oneself as well.</p>
<p>I was thinking of applying to TASP, but I think I’ll apply to both and see what happens. What do you guys think?</p>
<p>A small part (I’d say 40%) of my desire to transfer to Exeter is to be more competitive for admissions, and the other 60% is to experience boarding school life and living by myself. I already kind of have a bit of experience for that (traveling to Taiwan to help needy under Red Cross) but doing that in a college-like environment would be way cool. </p>
<p>As I stated in my chance thread, I don’t think transferring there is going to be a possibility (parents do not approve). However, I think they’d be more okay with the summer program. </p>
<p>Quick question: is it one of those “pay bucketloads of money and you automatically get in” programs, or is it like RSI/TASP? Also, do they offer financial aid?</p>