<p>Is re-taking junior year considered a "post-graduate year"?</p>
<p>No, post graduate means doing another year after you graduate 12th grade. Not sure if this goes for everywhere but people around where I live mainly do it to try and get recruited for sports.</p>
<p>Then what’s retaking junior year considered to boarding schools?</p>
<p>That’s called a “repeat junior”.</p>
<p>Candidates do it to get at at least 2 years at the new school. For college applications, entering a new high school as a senior is awkward.</p>
<p>Is it common among students at boarding schools like Exeter and Phillips Academy? And why do most students chose to “repeat junior” year?</p>
<p>I wouldn’t necessarily call it “common”, but it definitely does occur. Not just at Exeter and PA, but other boarding schools too. As GMT said they do it so you can get more than one year(no sense in spending 50k for one year) and it looks better on college apps.</p>
<p>Would you have to submit teacher recommendations, SATs, transcripts, etc., for this special type of admissions?</p>
<p>I believe you would submit the same materials as everyone else applying no matter what grade. This includes teacher recs, personal recs, SSAT’S, essay, short answer questions, any supplementary materials(sports clips, artwork, music recordings),transcripts and sometimes more if you are applying for a special scholarship(ex Icahn scholarship. You can submit SAT scores with it as well.</p>
<p>“Repeats” are fairly common. There is no stigma to “repeat” in a top prep school the way there is in public school.</p>
<p>The top schools generally will not accept applicants who intend to enroll for only one year. So, no, one cannot get a diploma from a prestigeous prep school having attended senior year only. If u are already a junior now, your realistic options are to enroll for 2 years as:</p>
<p>Repeat junior year + senior year
- or-
Senior year + PG year.</p>
<p>But this is not a decision u need to make on your own. When u interview at the school, ask the school’s admissions office what they would recommend. They will guide you.</p>
<p>The application process is the same no matter what grade u apply for: painful…</p>
<p>^^You can’t do a senior year at a prep school and a PG year at the same school. You graduate in your senior year and get a diploma; you can’t get another diploma from the same school. PG means senior year at one school and a PG year at another.</p>
<p>@makenna, thanks for making that clear about PG’s!</p>
<p>My son went to Exeter as a “repeat sophomore”. He’s very glad he did and it is quite common. Graduation is Sunday and it is extra special after FIVE years of HS! :-)</p>
<p>Repeat years are not considered a “special” type of admission. In some top schools the percentage of repeats, especially in 9th grade, can be as high as 30+%.</p>
<p>ExeterMama, What effect did repeating have on your son’s college admission? How do colleges treat repeat applicants? How did you explain it on college applications?</p>
<p>Transferring to Exeter only improved his chances of attending his #1 choice, Tulane. Colleges don’t look at it any differently. He just had to send transcripts from both High Schools. It was really no big deal at all. I believe he had to write a short paragraph about why he has 5 years of High School listed on his transcript, but that’s about it.</p>
<p>Junior year at Exeter is extremely challenging, he chose to repeat his Sophomore year to give him a year to adapt to the school before “Hell Year”. :-)</p>