1-Year Academic Program Options besides a Boarding School PG Year

Parents Forum
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Hello, our D could use 1 more year of school (high school) before attending college to take some classes that will help her prepare for college-level engineering classes (such as Calculus, Physics).

Community college is not a (very) viable solution because most colleges treat students that take more than 2 classes or 12 credits as transfer students which can interfere with our D’s chance of college acceptance as well as block her from being able to enter as a first-year (which she wants).

Boarding school is a possibility but they tend to be expensive and tend to take few PG students.

Online schools, and self-paced classes/programs) are not a great option as our D wants to learn in-person.

Studying abroad would be welcome – I am curious about programs in the UK but cannot find very much good info. Academic rigor is also a must.

Any ideas are welcome as they may help not just us, but others as well. Thank you in advance!

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Is it that she wants to enhance her college applications by showing that she can achieve a high grade in rigorous college classes that are the equivalent of Calc BC and Physics C? Or is it that she wants a dry run of Calc and Physics before doing them again at college?

Most students who do a PG year are doing it for sports for college recruiting, or to enhance their chances at acceptance to a highly selective college, when their 9-12 record doesn’t seem quite good enough. But it doesn’t sound as if your daughter fits in these categories.

The reason that I ask this is that, aside from highly selective engineering schools, which like to see high performance in such classes in high school, it’s completely normal for engineering students to take Calc and Physics in freshman year, without having had either beforehand. They’re college level classes! So if the issue is that she will be taking precalc in 12th grade, and maybe a physics class that doesn’t require calc in 12th grade, she still would be in good shape to take Calc and Physics in college.

Taking Calc BC and Physics C in a PG year won’t affect ED/EA applications, although good grades in such in the first semester could affect RD applications. Taking these classes at your local 4 yr public college the summer before freshman year would be good prep for taking them again at a highly selective engineering program. If she’s not ready for them in 12th, she’s not ready for them the summer before 12th, either.

My point is that if her goal is improving her shot at, say, MIT, it seems that a PG year with Calc BC and Physics C is a long way to go for that. A lot of kids who take Calc BC and Physics C before 12th grade, and do very well in them, still don’t get into MIT. Summer classes the summer after 12th grade at a nearby state college would be an easier way to get her some possibly gentler exposure, and it would not involve 12 credits - more like 8 at most. She will have already been accepted to college, so it wouldn’t affect her entering as a freshman.

Unless she aspires to a highly selective engineering program/school, her best bet would probably be to simply apply to college, and take Calc and Physics at college, as most people do.

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Is the student just finishing 11th grade or 12th grade now?

Has she had (or will she have by high school graduation) math to at least precalculus and high school physics and chemistry?

Contrary to popular belief around here, it is not necessary to have calculus and AP or advanced level physics before starting undergraduate study for engineering.

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You could take a look at programs like AFS. There are a lot of twists to navigate, (including language) but for the right kid, this can be an amazing year. It’s also not unusual for kids to do this after they graduate.

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@parentologist
Thank you, I appreciate your trying to spare her from a potentially unnecessary year of studies. To answer your questions…

She will not have Calculus, Physics, Comp Sci by the time she graduates. She does indeed want a dry run of these before taking them again at college. We realize many students seek a PG year for athletics and to try and get into a more highly selective school. It is not to get into a more highly selective school; she is likely to apply ED to a college and would defer to have a PG-type year for college preparation.

In-depth… her motivation is to know that she can be effective in these classes and have another year to grow academically. Taking these classes will (1) help inform her if she can be successful in these classes in college, (2) give her more of a taste of what the Engineering classes will be like, (3) allow her to be more relaxed in these classes in college so she has reduced stress, (4) hopefully more time to get involved in other activities (besides studying all the time which she does now), (5) potentially higher grades in college. She could also use another year to mature and learn as she really loves learning. Going abroad as an option will have many advantages as well since she wants the study abroad enrichment experience.

Classes over the summer before college (as she is going to doe before her 12th grade year) is another option we may pursue but will not give her the same depth of preparation. We will see how her 12th grade goes as well – summer alone may be sufficient.

Any ideas on programs or pathways are much appreciated!

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@ucbalumnus
Thank you, when she finishes the 12th grade she will have taken PreCalc and Chemistry but not Physics. Taking Calc + Physics + Software Programming (as more engineering using programming in some form now) will really help her in college.

Any ideas on programs or pathways are much appreciated!

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@gardenstategal
Thank you, this is the kind of lead we are looking for. We emailed AFS but think they have limitations on age and types of programs.

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It’s been ages since I’ve had contact with AFS, and I think their top age was 18. You might want to pick up the phone and call them if it doesn’t work and see if they have other ideas for you. They live in this world and know the options AND they really believe in cultural exchanges so often will take that extra step for someone.

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What you describe is more of a gap year program (since she would already be admitted to college) rather than a PG program. There are many resources online for gap year programs. Prep school admissions board might not be the best place to ask - college board parents might have more experience on this one.

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Thanks for suggestion on thread placement; will see what happens here first. Gap year is generally experiential and not academic.

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I hope you know that there ARE college engineering majors that haven’t taken calculus, physics or software programming before going to college.

If she needs a year to grow and mature, that’s a different story than needing these courses for an engineering major applicant.

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I moved this to the Pre-College forum with tags for study abroad, prep school, post grad. If you want it back in Prep School, let me know. But based on your title and posts, it doesn’t seem you’re looking for a PG at a prep so I think this will get you better feedback.

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Yes, we are aware thanks. Her current GPA, ACT and accomplishments will already get her into a good school (probably a “top 50” lib arts college that offers a 3-2 program) but she really wants to own the material and the (college) experience. She could use more time to grow and mature but could survive in college; just not in an ideal way. In short, she needs the classes and the time to grow and mature.

Any ideas on academic programs that cover Calc, Physics and basic Computer programming are appreciated. The answer may be an AFS or AFS program and taking only 2 of these classes at the local community college so she is not treated as a transfer student. It may also end up being a PG year at a boarding school but we do have limited finances. A 1-year program is more ideal and so placing this post out for ideas please.

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Coursera or other internet course providers.

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Some colleges (and I would say many selective colleges) do not allow any CC classes to be taken post-HS graduation for a student to still be considered an incoming first year when applying to a four year school. Your D has to look at the website of each college she may be interested in and see what their policy is…if it’s not obvious on the website she should email or call admissions.

It does not seem that these constraints (no online/self paced classes) leave your D with many options. Has she researched PG options, I expect there would be plenty. I can’t help with study abroad programs…but look at AFS, Verto, CIEE (and their possible impact on freshman status.) Has your D spoken with her HS counselor?

Why the interest in these programs? They tend to not be popular for many reasons, including financial (paying for 5 years of college to get a BS) and many students do not want to leave their school and friend group for senior year.

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And as I said above…there are many 4 year engineering programs where your daughter will be taking physics and calculus in college as a freshman. Have you also researched those?

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If you are looking for a year for growth and maturity, what about Americorps?

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Americorps has a good purpose however it is not academic

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It would give her that growth and maturity year.

Perhaps @MYOS1634 can contribute whether these study abroad courses taken abroad will be aligned with college courses here in this country…in terms of preparation.

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Thanks for your post. We are aware of these and online course platforms and schools a (synchronous and asynchronous), she wants it to be in person but we may have to go with a synchronous platform like Crimson Global Academy that may not be overly strict in taking a student that has just graduated from high school.