<p>Anyone have info on a postgrad year for a student athlete planning to play in college?</p>
<p>Would it affect NCAA eligibility? Would the student's GPA be over the five years, or just the last four years?</p>
<p>I am going to look for other threads about the general subject, but I was wondering if anyone considered it or did it for a student athlete. The main reason would not be for athletics.</p>
<p>Many people we know have done this. Generally (and really) the only reasons are to bolster the academics and get more size/age under the belt. I only have experience with football, but there are some football kids who will easily get another 15 lbs of muscle and 2 inches under their belt with a post-grad year if they are still growing, plus playing for a good prep school team - it’s an almost certain boost into the next range of college apps if it’s done for all the right reasons.</p>
<p>I understand that colleges more heavily weight the PG year by up to .25 and will incorporate it significantly to bring up both the first semester or quarter grades of a previous senior year to (hopefully) bring up the average. It doesn’t erase a previous senior year, it just gives you the opportunity bring that B- up to a B+ or even an A if all goes really well. That difference is small in terms of a paper, but can mean a lot in terms of a college application.</p>
<p>We have known families who did a post-grad year. We did not choose this because we felt there was no possibility of our son getting taller or larger to the extent that it would affect his playing level. He was also clearly at the top of his game, and his scores/grades would not get any better to change where he was already being recruited.</p>
<p>There is also always money to be considered. Prep schools have scholarships but if you don’t get one, it’s an expensive trip down the road if there’s any question about why you’re making that choice. Have you tried to find out if any prep schools are interested in your son for a PG year?</p>
<p>Just an FYI: The application date for most selective prep schools is January 15/February 1.</p>
<p>Rhandco, since you say you would not be doing the pg year for athletics, keep in mind that if there are not clear and predictable benefits academically, taking the extra year can conceivably be as much of a risk as it could be a help. </p>
<p>One of the boys at our school whose parents felt confident he would get a lot more size with a pg year and improve his recruitability went to a very good prep school that his parents paid full freight for. He instead ended up with an injury he could not come back from, and that was that. No more sports recruiting at all.</p>
<p>Keep in mind also if your son is having a really good current year, you run the risk of his pg team being mediocre or even having a bad playing year (player gets sick, etc.). </p>
<p>The point is, anything can happen in a season, not always for the better.</p>
<p>“Would it affect NCAA eligibility?”</p>
<p>In general the NCAA allows 4 years of college competition and allows athletes to compete for 5 years after starting college, so I believe that even if your athlete did a PG year he would still be able to compete for 4 years.</p>
<p>“Would the student’s GPA be over the five years, or just the last four years?”</p>
<p>For Ivy League schools the GPA used for the AI calculation would probably include his freshman year. For other schools the admission committee would determine how the GPA is calculated.</p>
<p>As always, the best source for the answers would be the coach.</p>
<p>Thank you for the info. The reasons would be academic, although the coach at his top choice thinks his GPA and SAT scores are fine, we are worried about a drop-off due to medical issues that the school has refused to acknowledge and accommodate until recently, that don’t affect his sports at all but rather his academics. He still has a 3.7 GPA, but we are both worried it won’t be enough and know he can retake a few courses and raise it.</p>
<p>I would lean towards a PG year rather than a gap year, so he can retake any courses he had trouble with. He would want a gap year I would bet, but somewhere like IMG might be a possible compromise.</p>
<p>He is a junior, so we have time to think about it a bit. Might go to a few open houses though, we have to start saving if he ends up doing a PG year.</p>
<p>Rhandco</p>
<p>If the coach is offering full support/likely letter then for an Ivy League school a 3.7 UW GPA should be sufficient. If there is a question about his AI not being high enough then the most effective way to raise his AI is by studying for the SATs and raising his test scores. This should have a much greater effect on his AI then the effect of raising his GPA by taking a PG year. This assumes that his transcript will pass a pre-read (and the coach has indicated that it will). In any case the decision to take a PG year can probably be delayed until after the ED notification deadline of Dec 15 of his senior year.</p>
<p>That’s what I wanted to know, that we had time to decide and that since he has time to retake standardized tests, the PG year might not be necessary. </p>
<p>Thank you all for your advice.</p>