<p>My son is a junior at a top-ranked public high school and is a very bright "gifted underachiever" with a horrible GPA (2.7) but good test scores (93 rd percentile). He has played some sports but is not a jock, plays the guitar, had a few paid jobs, and this summer is going on a community service trip to Equador and the Galopagos Islands. We are seriously considering a post grad year at a boarding school and a way to boost his chances at a decent college and give him time to mature and "get with the program!!" Any ideas on this? Has anyone else sent a child to prep school for a post grad year??</p>
<p>Does he have braces?</p>
<p>No, but why is that relevant?</p>
<p>I think it would be a good idea but I am not very informed but from what I have heard it is usually athletes that get excepted as pgs.</p>
<p>There are lots of non athlete PGs at schools other than the top. If you can pay you'll find space.</p>
<p>Not really.</p>
<p>My brother used to be kind of like your son, except he's in lower middle school and his grades were a bit higher. Then, my parents switched him to a more nuturing school (the classes were smaller and the teachers were more on top of their students and were better with kids) and now, he's getting all A's, and the level of the work he's doing hasn't changed. </p>
<p>If you do look for a post-grad school, you should try to find something that isn't about dealing with stress, but rather about organization and you should try to find a place where the teachers really care. Exeter takes PG's, I think, for example, but it's the kind of place where you have to be tough-ish to survive it and you can ask for help, but the teacher won't actually actively seek you out if you're not doing so well. I don't know enough about boarding schools to tell you which schools are nurturing and which schools aren't, but I'm sure if you ask around, you'll find someone who'll know the answer to that.</p>
<p>First I'll say that no boarding school has ever "fixed" a kid who doesn't want to be fixed. Assuming that he has the interest in fixing his situation...</p>
<p>First you have to understand what makes him underachieve. Is it the kids he chooses as friends and what they do? Is it that he takes on too much outside of school? Is he a poor organizer of his time? Or is it that he feels disconnected from his school with little if any support from teachers?</p>
<p>From this you should be able to tell what if any PG experience might help him.</p>
<p>The kid who makes poor choices with his friends and time will probably find the same types of kids and time wasters at a boarding school.</p>
<p>The kid who is disaffected by the public school could very well find that the right boarding school is just the ticket, especially with the smaller schools, lesser know schools. Sometimes, all a kid needs are a few teachers who they can connect with. </p>
<p>And from the 2.7 GPA, you can pretty much say that the big name schools are mostly out of the question. They have plenty easier to place students to work with than they can handle. And ultimately the name on the diploma will not hide the 2.7 from college admissions. What you need to demonstrate (and have the boarding school stand up for in their recommendations) is that your son has turned the corner and now is a candidate who has grown up and is moving forward.</p>
<p>I know it is a bit late, but there are a few of these smaller schools (including the one my D attends) who have a few slots open for Senior/PG transferees. Personally, if you can get 2 years in at a boarding school, the recommendations carry much more credibility with the colleges. </p>
<p>If you do wish to take this route (switching for next fall), you will need to get admissions offices to give you names and phone numbers of parents and will have to make a gut decision at this point in the game as a summer visit only tells you about the facility and perhaps a few of the staff who stay for the summer. I would talk to no fewer than 6 families of any school before making such a decision, though. If you can get any of the families to give you other contacts (not as pre-screened by the school), that is even better.</p>
<p>If you can get past the cache of the big name schools, you might find that you get more of what your son needs at some of the lesser known schools. In the end, is should be about his development and happiness more than the piece of paper issued.</p>
<p>I'm a bit tied up the next couple of days, but you can PM me if you wish to discuss off-line.</p>
<p>I am assuming your son will complete high school at his current school before his PG year. I do think a PG year would be beneficial. Take a look at Blair- I know there were several non-athletes in the PG class and they benefitted greatly. One is at WashU now. It is a great opportunity for a kid to mature and learn some skills for living in a dorm community and being independent. Blair is very nurturing and there are a lot of checks at all levels to make sure the kids are doing OK.</p>
<p>just because i am curious I would like to hear if your son ended up going on a pg year what college did he end up going and how did he like his year at a prep school.</p>
<p>My 16 year-old son is a rising junior at a top private day-school, and a B student, who will be taking some honor and AP courses next year. He is also a mid-tier D-1 prospect at football, who is currently 6’ 3 1/2" tall, weighs a lean 230 lb and is still growing. He has attracted interest from top academic colleges in football, but we are concerned with the banding systems that it may be a reach for him to be admitted to an Ivy or top NESCAC college. How much would it help his chances if he did a PG at a top prep school, like Andover, Exeter or Deerfield?</p>
<p>Please use old threads for information only. Please start a new one with your question.</p>