Newbie parent to boarding schools here. We recently allowed our son to apply to elite boarding schools. We were opposed but eventually stated we would support the effort if he did well enough on the SSAT, which he did just recently. Having an older son in college, we naively didn’t expect all the required parent essays, which detracted from our time researching the process. He is a rising 3rd year, so he applied for 11th grade. In hindsight, it appears that there are limited slots for 3rd years that often preferentially go to athletic recruits, so we now regret not reclassifying and having him apply to 10th grade. Our son would love to go to his selected schools and is fine with repeating a year.
Any strategy recommendation at this point? Would it be foolhardy to reclassify after applications were just submitted as it’s a bad look, or is it still recommended since we’d bolster his chances of acceptance?
There have many threads here about students reclassifying during the applications process. You can contact the schools and tell them that you would be willing to expect a slot in either class or that you have reconsidered the matter and that you would simply like the reclass. Explain you think it will give your kid more time to grow, develop their X whatever skills, bond with the class, etc.
I believe it’s not a bad thing at all and is pretty common. According to the placement counselor at my son’s junior boarding school, he even has that discussion with schools well into the deliberation process, w achools asking if a family would be open to 9th instead of 10th or alternatively with him telling schools that a family is open to reclassifying. Not every family is interested in this option.
I believe you can just email your AO or even just call the office and ask them if it would be possible to change the application to 10th grade entry instead.
Reclassifying is really common. I remember hearing that 40% of kids reclassify. Since it would probably improve your admissions chances, I’d say go for it.
Re-classing at BS is extremely common and even recommended by the school themselves sometimes. If your son is more mature, you may want to ask if they’ll consider him for both grades. If he is young for his grade or could use some maturing, I would just have him re-class in general.
I’d reach out to the schools and tell them you are amenable to, and would maybe prefer, having the application being read for 10th grade. Ask them how they’d recommend that you make that part of the application.
Schools know that many families come to this process without tons of knowledge. In fact, their survival depends on it! To say you’ve been learning along the way reflects that you’re being thoughtful about this and are invested in making it work. That’s a good look.
I wish that the interview process made people more comfortable about doing this kind of exploration in that forum, but knowing that it’s evaluative doesn’t exactly encourage that.