Hi, I am considering to apply to top boarding schools as a 10th grader for 11th grade. I have heard that schools don’t accept many students for 11th grade, especially the top ones like andover and exeter. So, is it worth applying, and if I get in, will I still be able to have a full boarding school experience? Also, how many students get accepted to 11th grade each year?
Two things concern me. For both of these, I am assuming that the vast majority of students who attend high end private boarding high schools are intending to go on to college or university. If you have no intention of attending university then these concerns would not apply.
First of all, if you change schools and switch to a rigorous private high school (whether boarding or not), you are likely to find a sudden shift in the level of rigor at which classes are taught. If this impacts your grades, this would impact your junior year grades. Junior year is the last full year of grades before university applications are due. This is not a good time to suffer a “glitch” in your grades.
Also, when applying to university, letters of reference are very important. You would be better off if the people writing your letters of reference know you very well. It would be best if they have known you for somewhat longer than one year.
Putting these together, my inclination would be to just not do it unless there is some compelling reason that you have to. You might get something similar to the “boarding school” experience when it is time to go off to university.
We did not look into boarding schools. At one point we looked into a high end private high school. We discovered that they accepted very, very few students entering into grade 11. In retrospect I suspect that there were multiple reasons, one of which might be that this just would not have been a good idea. Instead our kids stayed where they were, did well, did well in university admissions, and did well in university.
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Whether it is worth it depends on what you want from the experience.
Most of the students who transfer into the most selective schools in 11th grade are athletes, and they are doing it to improve their academic profile. They often are already on colllege coaches’ radar.
11th grade doesn’t have a lot of openings. It is hard for most students to understand and then meet the expectations at this kind of school. Often, students will repeat 10th to get up to speed. It is highly unlikely that you will run out of coursework at any of these schools, even with a repeat year should you choose that option. It gives you more time to experience everything a school like this offers. It is also another year of tuition!
I wouldn’t worry about LORs. Faculty tend to know students because of small class size and the residents nature of the community. These relationships are part of what you are paying for.
Why are you considering this now?
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I have a lot of experience in this area, so feel free to private message me or continue the thread if you have anything to add/clarify. I’m obviously not familiar with your situation, however, what the other people in this thread have mentioned is largely true. Obviously DadTwoGirls didn’t go through any prep admissions cycles, so I would take his discouragement with a grain of salt. One thing I would recommend you think about is taking this opportunity to “reclass.” Reclassing is when you apply to the 10th grade after completing a year of 10th grade, effectively, repeating. This has many athletic and academic benefits, but the biggest one is definitely the fact that you are entering in a much less competitive application pool, you have more time to grow, and you form more connections in your school. If you want to talk about where you stand re: scores, demographic, etc. let me know, I went through the process of reclassing and I go to a competitive boarding school so I have some advice to give.
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Pathway Scholar speaks the truth. I also urge considering reclassing. It’s not any different than doing a PG year in the absolute sense, but soooo much better with respect to your personal development.
Dad of two girls is right that it is a critical year from a college admissions standpoint. You cannot overstate how shocking a transition to one of these places is. I’ll take it step further, which may be most important: Eleventh grade at these schools is a wood chipper in any case. Even for the kids who have been there three years previous. It’s the hell year. You wouldn’t be doing your application folder any favors.
Do I know people who have come in 11th grade? Yes. Would I recommend it? Absolutely positively not. Is it a proper boarding experience? Second half of second year certainly isn’t, in my opinion. And the benefits of the boarding school experience that you will carry into college are minimal.
Reclass
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We went through one. The result was rejection.
However, the student staying where they already were worked out very well. In retrospect I think that the prep school made the right choice just because staying where we were was the better choice (edit: better choice for us).
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So what if you apply and don’t get in?
If you choose a reasonable number of schools and pace yourself through the application process (instead of saving everything for late December and January), then it doesn’t cost terribly much in terms of effort and expense to apply and potentially come out the other side with some interesting and maybe even life-changing choices to make.
Because the cost is relatively modest while the upside, for some, can be very high, then why not try?
If you’re asking about odds, it’s hard to say. Schools accept individuals and not statistics. There are far fewer open seats for incoming 11th graders than 10th. There’s no argument there. But the truth is, if you’re applying even as an incoming 10th and don’t have a compelling narrative to fit you into the school(s) that you’re applying to, then your odds will be extremely low. Very few students make it into “top” schools as an all-around great student.
As others have noted, when applying ask for the Admissions teams’ thoughts on the possibility of reclassing to repeat 10th grade. I agree that reclassing is a great option (if the cost isn’t a barrier), and the schools will give you honest and valuable feedback on the topic. You won’t be committed to applying for one grade or another until you submit your final application.
In the end, if you’re admitted to one or more schools, that’s when you ask the truly hard question: is it worth it to attend.
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That is the real question.
There is an argument to be made that certain boarding schools actually diminish your college prospects.
If you’re thinking Andover/Exeter types, you’re really good at what you’re good at in your current school. You go to those places and chances are you won’t be the best student, athlete, musician or artist, etc. So you go from being exceptional at your current place to being in the middle of the pack (or worse if you jump in 11th grade). AND you’ll be working harder.
@gardenstategal asked why you’re thinking about it now. I’m also curious.
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