<p>Im going to Pomfret School in Ct right now, which is a boarding school in CT. If I were to repeat senior year after graduating here, would that hurt me? Would it be good to pad my grades in public school then apply for college?</p>
<p>Generally speaking, if you hold a high school diploma, then the public school will not accept you as a student.</p>
<p>how does that work for people that take a post graduate year?</p>
<p>PG years are done at private schools. Occasionally, a public school wil make a RARE exception and allow a PG student (usually an ESL student with good scholarship potential). Think of it in taxpayer's dollars terms.....</p>
<p>so I would essentially have a small chance to be able to do that, I had thought about this because a PG year would help my grades out a lot but I dont think i would have the money to PG at another boarding school. Is it worth finding out you if the can make that rare exception?</p>
<p>It would depend on your hometown district. I would guess that the chances would be slim to none. Sorry!</p>
<p>It's worth checking out as it really depends on the school district. I know that in our area, my daughter's school was quite receptive to our request to have her "reclassify" as a junior (we got this idea from our son who was attending bs and new this was a fairly common practice). Our reasons were sports-related and she didn't need to end up doing it, but we were told that it would most likely not be a problem.
It never hurts to ask.</p>
<p>Also, you might qualify for financial aid if you did your pg year at a private school.</p>
<p>I know some kids that have gone back to my public high school have been re-entered as juniors but I'm sure that reentering after graduating my boarding school would be a little harder as I would already have a high school diploma</p>
<p>Repeating a senior year is a bad idea unless there are compelling medical reasons that caused you to miss a substantial number of days at school. Also may suggest to some that you are afraid to grow by accepting new challanges in a more demanding environment. Are you a boarding student at Pomfret? Look to a summer school program at an elite prep school such as Andover , Choate Rosemary Hall or Exeter. Also consider attending a local college or university over the summer or for a year or two. It is much more common to "repeat" a year of college than to repeat the senior year of high school after graduating. A Post Graduate (PG) year for academics may be appropriate in your case if you are a day student at Pomfret. The elite prep boarding schools often accept PGs with substantial athletic ability as a quid pro quo for the right to be an alum of one of the world's best schools after just one year. Look beyond the most elite boarding schools which offer a PG year to second tier schools that accept PGs for academic preparation to bolster your resume for college.</p>
<p>An academic PG year at an elite school such as Hotchkiss, Andover, Exeter or Deerfield, assuming that you could get in as a non-athlete PG, would probably be more academically demanding than a freshman year at most colleges, and could, therefore, harm the academic record that you are trying to bolster. There are many prep schools that will accept you as an academic PG. Another, and possibly better, idea, would be to take a year in a study abroad program, do an internship or volunteer as it shows a willingness to grow and mature. Some even sign up for two years of military service before entering college. An interesting option might be a PG year at The Culver Academies in Indiana, which is a co-ed military school.</p>
<p>Some suggestions for a PG year: Study abroad can be done at American schools in Switzerland (choice of two schools), Salzburg, Austria ( I have spent a good amount of time here and can recommend the location), or in Rome, Italy. Several PG options in Pennsylvania include Hill, Wyoming Seminary, Mercersburg, and Valley Forge Military. Also consider Peddie and Blair, both in New Jersey. Bridgton Academy in Maine only accepts PGs and all 185 students are boarders. You probably are familiar with the sixteen Connecticutt options: Kent, Taft, Westminster and Pomfret. Kent, however, can be quite challanging as an academic PG, as well as Taft (if either school will even admit an academic PG). Others in Connecticutt are Avon Old Farms, The Gunnery, Canterbury, Cheshire, Loomis-Chaffee, Woodhall, Watkinson, South Kent, Salisbury and St. Thomas More.( The other Conn. school, Ethel Walker, only admits females).</p>
<p>Why, specifically, do you want to do another year of high school? If your academic performance is lacking, I agree with icy -- you would probably find another challenging school to be more difficult rather than boosting your GPA. If you aren't an athlete and your academic record is lacking, I think you would find it very hard to find FA for a PG year.</p>
<p>I also think that colleges are going to wonder why you would do another year of BS when you already attend (and will graduate from) an excellent boarding school. It doesn't make much sense.</p>
<p>icy had some good ideas regarding a gap year -- study abroad is looking on favorably by many colleges.</p>
<p>Yes, I too am curious as to the purpose of the extra year of HS. I am also unsure if an additional year at a public HS would be beneficial in the college admissions environment. Yes, some of the potential benefits remain even at a public HS (athletic development, social maturity, etc.), but I can't imagine that most publics will help much over what you've gotten at Pomfret.</p>
<p>That being said, I don't know when your birthday is, but back in the day, public schools (in certain states) used to be required to make additional school years available to any student who hadn't turned 18 by the time school started. If you have a September - December birthday and will be 17 at the beginning of the school year, you may have an automatic in - regardless of HS diploma status.</p>
<p>I personally passed the HS proficiency exam (was considered the equivalent of a HS diploma in my home state) in 10th grade and considered an early exit from my HS (at the end of 10th immediately after turning 16 - my local public school was particularly horrible) and was advised that I could re-enroll even after a full year away if things didn't work out (at age 17) because of my age. BTW, I didn't take that option (neither left school early or had to re-enroll), but instead focused on things outside of my school.</p>
<p>Getting back on-topic, perhaps if the OP can give us more background, maybe some more useful suggestions may come about.</p>
<p>One more question for the OP - Pomfret should have a pretty good college advising department. What kind of suggestions have you gotten from them?</p>
<p>Looking back at another post, I saw that you were looking to pad you grades (colleges see right through that, BTW) and to save up some money. I take it that you are concerned about getting scholarship money (need and/or merit) as well as admission to a better school. </p>
<p>If you've taken advantage of your time at Pomfret, you should be ready for a good school. Getting into a "better" (i.e. more prestigious) undergrad should not be a be-all end-all kind of thing and shouldn't be driving this extra year of school decision. If your end goal is a good grad school degree (typical for top prep school students), being a top student at a lesser institution is probably more advantageous than being a middling student at a top institution. </p>
<p>If money is an issue (many families go way too far into debt for prep school) - a gap year with meaningful employment (deferred admission) is always a good option.</p>
<p>Valley Forge Military is a disaster these days.</p>
<p>Can you elaborate on the reasons why? I have not visited for decades.</p>
<p>It used to be an excellent school (decades ago). It really slipped and got desperate for students. It has now expanded into taking many day students and many discipline problems. It gets low rankings in Philadelphia Magazine's school ranking issue. I think they are trying to improve, but there are too many other good prep schools in the area. There have been some hazing and alcohol/drug issues, too.</p>
<p>Thank you. I should have pointed out that my laundry list of PG school options was not a recommended list as I am unfamiliar with several of the schools that I listed. Although decades ago I was given an academic and athletic (wrestling) scholarship to Valley Forge Military. I am, however, familiar with over half of the schools which I listed. My intent was, and is, to get the OP to investigate many options.</p>
<p>Alright to clarify some stuff for myself. A repeat senior year would not only be hard to get, it would be looked upon poorly by colleges. I would be 18 by the start of the repeat senior year if i were to somehow find a way to make it happen. ultimately though, is it agreed it probably isnt the best thing for me right?</p>