I am wondering if I should reapply for 9th next year or apply for 10th as I know that people redo 9th grade a lot, as I applied for 8th grade last year and did not get accepted into any schools, and decided not to apply into 9th when in 8th.
It’s honestly a personal decision that varies from person to person. I decided to not reapply 9th because i did not want to have the feeling that I “wasted a year of my life.” However, that is just me, but there are a lot more benefits to reapplying 9th. First off, friends and social stuff will be MUCH easier, and you all will have the "we are all in this together vibe.’ Huge disadvantage for applying/going into 10th, is that you are tossed in and expected that you perform on par with the returners, thus, most people’s GPA will suffer their first term.
@RChen006 Do you think I will get better chances, and did you think you had decent chances going into 10 as opposed to 9?
It’s a personal decision, but I think it’s not a bad idea to repeat. There’s no rush to get through your high school years. Being away from home for school will presumably be a new experience for you and the work expectation is often a jump too. You can take advantage of the 9th grade programs (many schools have special opportunities for 9th graders) and have more time for electives as you progress through the 4 years. When my son applied last year, his educational consultant told us that it is easier to get into schools for 9th grade than 10th grade. Again, that is just in general, and you have to decide what is right for you. There is no right or wrong.
@owlfoxmama9 do you think I will need to repeat? Could you please take a look at this thread… http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/prep-school-chances/2099315-chance-me-for-the-following-schools.html#latest
Your credentials are impressive!
Choose to apply as either a repeat 9th grader or as a 10th grader, and after you get accepted have a discussion about the grade level (but be willing to stick with the grade you applied for). In my opinion this is a better strategy than asking the schools to choose.
I think that your decision about whether or not to repeat should be made considering more than just your chances of getting in. Have a set of reasons that you can explain for your choice so that during interviews you can talk about the topic easily.
I can’t judge whether or not you will be accepted to schools. Nobody can. The pool of applicants changes every year, and you never know what the admissions committee is looking for. Plenty of good applicants get in, but plenty get turned down too.
There are many fine boarding schools, and I recommend that you broaden the number of schools that you apply to. It doesn’t look to me like there is a safety school on your list. In my opinion every student should apply to at least 1 if not 2 or 3 safety schools. You already had the experience of not getting into any schools when you applied 2 years ago, and you don’t want to repeat that.
Good luck!
Whatever box you decide to “check”, you can always tell the AO during the interview that you are flexible and would accept a spot in the other grade.
@owlfoxmama9 I am not applying to any safety, as I will not attend a boarding school unless it is the top, what kind of questions should i ask myself in terms of applying for 10 or reapplying for 9
@badminton4life The “top” boarding school really depends on fit for the student. There are about 50 ( some would say more) where you can get the type of education that few students in the US have access to—incredible classes, facilities and support. They are all so great that you can attend any university and do exceedingly well. I often see on these boards people applying to the same name schools. As someone who knows many graduates of various boarding schools, there are a number of schools whose names don’t appear as often. These schools rank the same as those you mentioned. They are just as difficult to get into and offer impressive graduates. So you might want to expand your thinking and rather than going for the same 3 schools, look at those in the top 25 or 50.
In terms of your original post, there are many “repeats” I think parents and students realize that starting in 9th grade has definite advantages.
Hi @Happytimes2001 if you look at this link you will see that i am applying for much more than 3 schools http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/prep-school-chances/2099315-chance-me-for-the-following-schools.html#latest
Many students come in at 10th. The school reserves many spots for 10th and expects the class to fully expand with 10th graders. Repeating 9th only makes sense if you need more time to get some basic writing and math skills acquired. I don’t think applying for 9th will give you any kind of advantage. In both years, AOs are looking for students who have leadership potential and who have unique and interesting stories. The grade you apply to won’t be a major factor in their decision.
@preppedparent I’m not close enough to the issue since we are new to boarding school culture. But everyone I met at the BS cocktail party whose child was coming in for the 10th grade were coming from local private schools. Many were legacy at the BS and many seemed to have close connections. My thoughts were 10 th graders who are not repeats must be channeled in ( top of their 9th grade private school class?) and the repeaters were kids from non connected Privates or those who had something else going on ( many were sports recruits). All of it seemed strange to me.
As a parent, I wouldn’t have kiddo#2 wait and apply for 10th grade, for example. Too much risk of the pool being even smaller and the slots being already spoken for. Again, it likely depends on the school. Many schools have very few entrants for 10th grade. Given that many schools are about 100 kids total, there is room for less than 20 total coming in each year ( and in many cases even less). In any case, it seems like all spots for students in any grade are competitive.
@Happytimes2001 My two kids went to Choate. There were approximately 150 9th grade spots, 60 10th grade, maybe 30 11th grade and a dozen PGs by graduation. Again, my sense of it is that you apply when you can make your best application.
@preppedparent Well that’s great. It really depends on the school size. Many are 100 kids total by Senior year so they are NOT accepting that many kids past 9th grade. None of the schools we applied to were that size. I know PA and some others are large so they can accept more later but for the tiny schools there isn’t much room. My nephew is at Choate. Loves it.
@Happytimes2001 in my very limited experience with BS, what you’re describ No is typical. DS was a true, non-repeat, 14 y.o. Freshman last year. He came from an independent K-8 school and had no reason academically to be held back; and where would he have gone. We wouldn’t have sent him to our mediocre public HS for a year and then gone through the BS process. However, at a school with a big sports culture, DS is young and small among his friends and teammates. Although he played varsity last year, he was the youngest and may still be the youngest as a sophomore. Many kids go to public school through 9th or even 10th or 11th and then go to BS and repeat — it’s very common especially for kids hoping to be recruited. One of DS’s friends is a junior who just turned 18 — he came in as a repeat sophomore last year and probably started kindergarten when he was turning 6, so he’s basically 2.5 years older than DS (and a high ranking prospect). I think DS’s class started with 45 freshmen and will be close to 100 at graduation.
@CTMom21 Yes, this is particularly true with boys. While I don’t remember it being a factor when I was in high school although that was long, long ago. In those days, many kids from high income families with boys who weren’t good academically had them do a PG year. This was particularly true if they were good in sports. There are few PG programs today.
Now, it seems that many high income families/families in some demographics hold their boys back esp. for sports reasons. Some kids are smaller than others, some are young in the calendar year etc. Among our extended family of boys, we have one who is a stellar athlete. He was held back around K or grade 1 ( mainly for sports reasons and young in the year). Has worked out for him. But maybe for the kid who is the true grade age, it might not be that great. It’s hard to play against someone who weighs 80lbs more than you and is effectively 2 years older as another member of my family learned the hard way.
I have noticed that there are fewer girls who repeat for sports reasons. Have seen a few come in to fill particular slots ( weak X team, bring in a few more girls). These kids are repeats. The rest are coming from private schools. It also depends on the school. The schools with less than 20% admit rates have pretty high academic levels of competence so that can mean repeats are more common with athletes. Seems even in the highest rated schools there’s a mix of kids with various talents. I haven’t run into any kids yet who are strong in the arts and are repeats. Seems the rules bend most for the athletes.
It’s interesting. And varied. Yes, some schools seem to double in size. Others vary by only a handful of students. Guess that they are all looking for different things.