<p>Hi everyone,</p>
<p>As some of you may know, I applied to 6 schools (Blair, Deerfield, St. George's, Middlesex, Lawrenceville, and the Hill School) for the 2012 school year. Of those schools, I was only accepted at Blair, but they didn't supply enough financial aid for me to attend. My parents are trying to make a case for more, and I am on the waitlist for Deerfield, St. George's and Middlesex (I was rejected at Lawrenceville and the Hill). However, I am not counting on anything, because I know the chances of getting more financial aid are very slim. I am already planning for applying again next year.</p>
<p>Now I am faced with a decision: Should I apply for sophomore year, or as a repeat freshman? On the one hand, I want to get the full 4 years of high school. Plus, I would be able to take more APs, which would look great on college applications. On the other hand, I want to be active socially, and I feel that being a year older than everyone would put me at a disadvantage. Also, I will be a year older than everyone when applying to colleges, etc. Which would you recommend? Is there a way to say, I am applying for either repeat freshman OR sophomore, whichever the school has room for? Which is easier to gain admission to? Thanks so much!</p>
<p>@ballerina</p>
<p>Before you consider what grade to re-apply, you may want to contact the AOs at the schools you are interested in, and find out why you were rejected. If your preparation could use some work, re-applying next year as a repeat 9th grader is a good option.
If there was a different problem with you application, they may tell you about it, which would help you plan what to do over the next year you will be preparing to re-apply (for example, working on SSAT scores). After April 15 they should have the time to talk things over with you. </p>
<p>Good luck and your tenacity is impressive.</p>
<p>Well since you are an FA applicant, I think it’d be in your best interests to apply for 10th.</p>
<p>2prepmom - Yeah, I will definitely do that. I believe that needing financial aid adversely affected my application. However, if there was anything I could do to improve my application for next year, I would absolutely want to know.</p>
<p>americannigerian - True. Plus, I really want to apply to Cate, but I couldn’t this year due to the cost of travelling across the country. However, my mom said I could apply there for next year, because if I attended as a sophomore, the travelling fees would probably cancel out the cost of going for one more year.</p>
<p>Any other opinions? Thanks so much!</p>
<p>Apart from being an FA applicant like so many, applying for 10th may very well be a better choice. Socially, it would work out and you could keep your whole academic “flow” until college. Just my opinion. Also I would think more spots are available for 9th but 10th could be more competitive at various schools.</p>
<p>^ But you also have to keep in mind that there are less people vying for the few 10th grade slots. I think applying for 10th just sounds better socially and academically, because freshman year isn’t that important for college admissions IMO. You could also contact the schools and ask which would be better (but after April 10th). I also recall you saying you were accepted into a local day school (?) so you could just spend your freshman year there and work on becoming a stronger applicant. Either way, best of luck to you!! :D</p>
<p>I went through this same decision process last year, and I ultimately decided to apply for the 10th grade. A large part of the reason for this decision was selfish and has no actual advantage to me - I was scared of what my peers back home would think of me and really didn’t like the idea of graduating a year after everyone.</p>
<p>That being said - there are many advantages to repeating. You get an extra year of adjustments, an extra year to take more advanced courses, and a much easier time making friends. But since you are a FA applicant, you should consider how the schools will see that - if you apply for 10th they’d need to apply one less year of aid for you. Also, if you are already a strong applicant, maybe it would be in your best interests to just apply for 10th, just so you can get out into the real world sooner. 
Good luck!</p>