Hey, guys.
Currently, I am a freshman in a public high school with decent grades (not my best grades though because of the transition from middle school to high school and all that).
Anyways, I am applying to several prep schools (Choate, Taft, Lawrenceville) but want to repeat ninth grade. The main reason I want to do this is so that I can spend four years in one high school, along with building my academic base. However, I am afraid that this will affect the way colleges see me as I am a year older than everyone else. My mother is against the idea, but after some research, it does not seem like such a bad idea. I don’t know right now; what is your opinion? Is repeating a grade at a prep school worth the time in the long run? Will ivy-leagues still be possible then? Thanks for your help! 
A friend of mine is in admissions at one of these schools and he says that there is no downside to repeating and that, if anything, it may allow the student to better take advantage of the advanced classes that they offer. Colleges also do not care and in fact appreciate maturity in their applicants. A significant percentage of BS kids repeat.
One potential huuuuge downside is the expense of an extra year.
Having said that, many kids do repeat a year, and colleges will not look adversely at applicants who repeated a year.
Schools said that roughly 30 % are repeats.
Somewhere I read that international students at US colleges and universities are on average 18 months older than domestic students.
I know lots of repeats. I don’t think it affects college admissions or else less people would do it. I actually think it gives you an advantage
My daughter went to PA and she said lots of kids did this. I went to Kent ages ago and I did the same thing. I was so happy I did. In many cases it puts you on a higher track or at least a better footing.
I think whether this is a good idea would depend partly on your current curriculum and academic level. Look at the course catalog to map both a three and four year plan. How do your parents feel about paying for an extra year?
As a ninth grade teacher in public school, I have seen many students do this.
Please remember that the prep school has a vested interest in your family paying that extra tuition, so they are not a good source for advice on the matter. They are further biased because they can teach someone in a grade where he will likely show more “success,” reflecting well on them.
It generally does look suspicious to high end colleges, and I believe you are required to list all high schools attended. Also, if relevant, check local rules for athletic years of eligibility.
That said, if you really feel that you were too immature to have done your best in ninth grade, and the down sides are worth it, a lot of kids make exactly that decision.
In the absence of a written source to validate, I’m just going to say, “No it doesn’t.”
@skieurope
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2005/11/06/us/education/if-at-first-you-dont-succeed-enough.html
This is just the beginning but I’m on my phone with limited signal.
@fretfulmother ,. Really, it depends. The schools want students to succeed and they know their environment. And they can fill beds and seats without duping people into an extra year. I don’t think their advice is as biased as you suggest. The school’s that do this most seem to be the most selective, and they have acceptance rates of under 20%.
I think that when a school does this a lot (as several do), much the way NYC private schools encourage kids to wait a year to start kindergarten, it can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. You will be young at the “right” age because everyone else is older.
There are issues for foreign students who often repeat to get their English up to snuff. Athletes may repeat for an additional year of growth and strength (which they also do as PG but that bothers people less.)
DS didn’t repeat but coming from a “good” public system, he was 1-2 years behind many classmates coming from private schools in math, for example.
I suspect that the reason for the repeat matters most. Personally, I don’t like this practice, for kindergarten or high school, so didn’t do it for my kid (with a summer birthday) at any point. But for some, it could make sense. If you’re not ivy material, an extra year of prep school isn’t going to change that but it could make you better prepared.
OP, I don’t think it hurts in many cases, but ask yourself this - if it did, would I do it anyway for the 4 year experience at one of these schools? If you can legitimately answer yes, you have your answer. BS is about a lot more than college admissions.
I’ve no doubt that schools (and of course the students/parents) find it advantageous while they are in HS. If you can be ahead of other kids, more mature, more practiced - this is definitely an advantage.
(Apart from the issue of poor behavior when 19yo are forced to behave like younger teens in school, which is less likely at private schools that choose their students vs. in public schools where this happens when parents sometimes delay Kindergarten a year or two.)
But the question wasn’t how the students feel, or even their HS - it’s about the wider world, in particular college admissions staff. For most colleges, it probably doesn’t matter. But I emailed and asked some contacts of mine and it was unanimous:
- if the repeated year is omitted and later found out, that would be a huge red flag re. honesty
- a kid who repeats a year is seen as potentially less capable academically, even if more "mature" because they took five years to accomplish what other kid accomplished in four.
The reason that it doesn’t matter for most colleges is that all of these kids clear admission’s academic bars without much trouble. But when you have HYPSM looking with a fine-toothed comb, they will think that the kid who made it through “six years worth” of math in four years, is smarter than the kid who made it through “six years of math” in five years. And probably this is true. A student who doesn’t have the kind of 9th grade that s/he thinks could get him/her into HYPSM may actually not be HYPSM material.
As for the rest of the world - it is considered a “choice” to repeat a private school HS year that only the elite/rich can make, and that do-over is seen as an unfair advantage. You could argue with me about other unfair advantages that kids get, etc., but I didn’t make the system, and I’m not the only person who sees it this way.
Can someone comment on the purpose of PG year? Is it usually for sports? Or also done for academic reasons? I am just curious. Also, I heard that schools won’t keep a kid for a PG year; it must be done elsewhere. Is that correct?
Most PGs are for sports, but it can be done for other reasons too. I have a neighbor who was homeschooled. She did a PG year at a boarding school as a transition - to get acclimated to school setting before going to college.
Interesting! Did it work well for a transition year, and help her get into good colleges?
I appreciate that the OP framed this in the context of Ivy league schools and I think that an additional year of high school has a lesser influence when it comes to those schools. Where I think it matters more is at slightly less competitive schools where top grades and advanced and high rigor classes may stand out more in their applicant pool than they would in the Ivy pool where that is the base line. Even at the best boarding schools, 2/3rds their students do not go on to attend Ivy or equivalent schools.
I think it is safe to say that the playing field isn’t level in both public and private education. To the extent that we are able, we all work within the system that is available to us. For some, that includes the option of an additional year of high school.
(I have three kids in BS and none have repeated.)
Every kid I have known personally has done it for sports. For example, Dartmouth wants the kid for hockey but feels like academic prep could be better. A year at PEA fixes that.
Or a kid needs one more year in his sport (to be bigger, stronger, and maybe play more competitively) and Lawrenceville can provide that.
Just one thought, kids at BS don’t typically get through 4 years of math in 5 years, they get through 5 in 5 because the BS offers more advanced classes. I wonder if the issue isn’t clouded by the perception that they are using the repeat year to repeat material. That generally is not the case. It does happen when kids take a course over the summer and repeat it during the school year. I fully agree that regardless, there should be transparency.
And yes, the system favors those with money, whether it’s living in a better public district, paying for tutors, test prep, and enrichment, or enrolling in private school and summer programs. I tend to think adcoms see through that, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good system.
@gardenstategal What about this particular nuance? For example, if a kid starts bs on the younger side and could use an extra year for athletic development but is quite happy with their current school?