<p>I'm a junior who's worried about next year. I really have been examining future colleges and it seems that I can only see myself attending ivies. I was going over my application and I have a 96 average weighted and have a projected 34-35 ACT. </p>
<p>I really want to go to Brown, Columbia, HYP. Most preferably Harvard.</p>
<p>Would taking a PG year at a school like Phillips Exeter to boost my application chances if I don't get into my top schools?</p>
<p>By the way, I know other schools are mazing. However, I just don't want to attend the schools outside of my top 5.</p>
<p>i just recently talked to a post-grad that i will meet next weekend as i visit a school and he told me that at his school that most and i mean like 95 percent of pgs are athletes. Very very frew are muscisians maybe a scholar. In my opinion these top notch schools are more willing to accept pgs to help win their athletic contests who are probably going to get scouted by big name schools. They have enough top notch academic students who are ivy league bound. </p>
<p>Hey that’s just my thoughts, but what do i know? I may be the blind man leading the blind</p>
<p>At Exeter, the majority of PG’s are athletes, but there is still a fair amount of “academic” PG’s. Many of them don’t have a specific talent that brings them to the school, but they are just strong students. I would encourage you to consider applying to prep schools even if you are not a superior athlete.</p>
<p>However, if you’re looking for a guarantee at an IVY, it’s not assured. </p>
<p>Your scores are already strong - so how would an academic PG year help?</p>
<p>And remember, you’d be spending upwards of $50,000 for that PG year - the same as a year of college. What happens if you spend the money and the results are still the same? Would you feel as if it was worth it?</p>
<p>You have to ask yourself about the timeline: If you don’t get into a top school, you’re already locked out for applying PG at a boarding school since the application window is the same.</p>
<p>The PG year won’t give you much of an advantage in your situation. If you don’t get into one of your top 5, you should consider a gap year, and then apply again from the gap year. You could do something meaningful and unusual—volunteeer in Africa or something of interest to you. You would stand out in the college process, and schools like Harvard (which loves the gap year so much that they invite every accepted student to do one), would give you preference.</p>
<p>Check out The Complete Guide to the Gap Year by Kristin White, which has a few stories about students who did this, and further explains the advantage with top tier colleges.</p>
<p>Depending on your financial situation, you may get a lot of financial aid at boarding school, so it could be cheaper than college. Also keep in mind that although you have high standardized test scores, that is not the whole story. Unless the academics at your current school are incredibly strong, classes at a top-tier boarding school will probably much more difficult and thus rewarding. You will probably also probably have access to more extracurricular opportunities. An extra year at a place like Exeter will doubtless ease your transition into college, whether or not it helps you get into a better one.</p>