For athletic and/or academic reasons, many players consider a post-graduate year at prep school. Part of this consideration includes the question “can I reach my goal if I do a PG year?”. It’s not always an easy question to answer. With some athletes it’s easy to see that a PG year could get them to their goals. With others, they could do three PG years and still not get there.

If you are considering a PG year for athletic reasons, ask yourself how many of the categories below describe you.

• Do you have a lot of upside (potential)? This is the most important of these and the hardest one to determine. Listen objectively to what the college coaches have to say on this topic.
• Are you young (turn 18 after graduating from high school) for grade?
• Are you physically underdeveloped compared to others, or are you still catching up to your body?
• Have you been under-recruited in high school due to injury, missing the recruiting periods, low level of competition?

If you fit any of these, a PG year is worth considering.

If you are considering a PG year for academic reasons, make sure you know where you stand. Most of this is within your control, yet we talk to too many people who don’t know. Many of them could have known before ever wasting the time and money that a PG year wouldn’t be enough to help them reach their goals.

If you goal is the Ivy League or Patriot League, know where you stand on the Academic Index (AI) and where you need to be to get recruited. If you can, get one of the coaches to tell you your AI number. If not, we can help you calculate it.

If your issue is becoming a qualifier, know where you stand with the NCAA Clearinghouse. If you don’t know, we have a spreadsheet that can tell you. If you need a higher GPA remember, you can only get credit for one course after you graduate high school, unless you have documented special academic needs. The days of making up for many years of poor high school grades with one PG year are over. If you need higher SAT scores, make sure you understand what a realistic jump in test scores after a PG year is.

A PG year is a great option for a lot of athletes. Make sure you do your homework first.