What are the disadvantages for applying for 10th grade? (besides the obvious lower acceptance rate) Is it difficult to make new friends when you go? Is it hard to get into the loop of the school when so many others have already been there for a year?
Lawrenceville’s house system makes the tenth grade adjustment a lot easier.
It really depends on the school, because they handle new 10th graders differently. Definitely ask where new 10th graders are housed (with new Freshman? with the other new Sophomores? with returning sophomores?), what orientation activities are planned to help integrate, and also pay attention to your classes. Certainly you can ask current students who were new in 10th grade about their experience.
I don’t think 10th graders have the pass/fail opportunity that the 9th graders in some schools have.
Some schools add a significant number of students in 10th grade, so at those schools, I think you can safely assume that coming in as a 10th grader wouldn’t be too hard, as the school is already attuned to getting the new students oriented and integrated. At Hotchkiss, for instance, class size goes from about 115 students in 9th grade to about 155 in 10th.
It’s a bit tough to adjust academically, as you kinda get pushed into the deep end of things, but you’ll be fine socially, and after a while, academically too.
I’m including the CC thread regarding 10th grade available spots that @payn4ward linked to in the Freakout thread for future reference: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/prep-school-admissions/1687542-identifying-hidden-gem-schools-by-the-numbers-and-considerations-for-admissions-after-9th-grade.html#latest.
Loomis increases its sophmore class by approximately 50 students. They also have a sophomore retreat 2 weeks into the start of the new school year, presumably to get the new sophs to bond, etc.
My DS is a senior at Andover and started as a Lower (10th grade). While 3 year seniors have different graduation requirements than 4 year seniors he feels they are more burdensome to complete in the allotted time. He is at home on break right now and is somewhat jealous of the spring schedule that his 4 year senior friends have for the coming trimester.
Schools to consider when applying for 10th grade or higher:
Thank you all so much for your responses! Another question: What are the pros and cons of applying as a repeat 9th grader vs. jumping right into 10th grade?
@goldenfygg what month is your birthday? Many kids coming from private school start kindergarden later so the class may be older than you think it would be, in my opinion that argues in favor of repeating 9th grade
I’m a late-ish summer birthday and I’ll be repeating.
Pros to repeat:
- Easier transition academically
- Easier transition socially
- 4 years of BS
I’d make my boys repeat if it meant they could get in - but theyd be old as their birthday is closer to beginning of the school year.
@LifeLongNYer I would like to know the same thing.
My birthday is in late fall/early winter 2000.
Advantages for Repeat-9
- More available spots for 9th grade
- More time to “average out” GPA if u have a rough transition to a more academically rigorous school
- more social onboarding integration & support programs in place for 9th graders
- size & maturity advantage in sports
- age, height & maturity advantage socially
- intellectual development & maturity advantage in the classroom
- getting one additional year to enjoy being in a great school
- being competitive w the many other repeats in tbe school
Disadvantages for Repeat-9
- paying another $50k for another year
- need to read rules very carefully for qualification for National Merit Finalist and for college NCAA athletes.
S1 reported that in some of his classes a third of his classmates were repeats. A few kids were even double repeats-- redshirted 2 years.
My birthday is in October, so I would be an older kid in the class even if I went in as a 10th grader. @lifelongnyer
What I love about BS is that repeating is considered “normal” and “fine to do so.” For non-BS schools, repeating has a negative connotation.
That’s because applying to repeat in prep school is a preemptive, deliberate strategy to sustain high performance.
Being held back after the fact of demonstrated poor performance is an acknowledgement of failure.