Thanks for the post. I do know a lot about the NE boarding schools. I went to one Founders League school and have two sons who attend another Founders League school, including one at Deerfield. I think much of what you wrote is at least partially incorrect. First, these preps aren't scholarship offering athletes. There is financial aid, but I would not confuse that with something else. Consider this, back in my era there were 2-3 PGs per year. They were always sports related, and they were always instances where a kid had already been recruited but could not qualify for admissions. These kids would be steered toward a Pg year in order to make it to Cornell for ice hockey or Columbia for soccer, etc. The HUGE difference now is schools like Deerfield, Loomis, Andover have blown up the numbers and take 30-40 PGs a year. What is the same is it is always sports and it is also almost always for an academic finishing year. Like a lacrosse kid who needs it to get into Duke, Princeton, etc. What I know as an alum and former board member at one and as an informed parent at another is THIS IS A BIG $$$$$$$ BUSINESS for these prep schools. There is a reason why Deerfield and Loomis are paying architects and evaluating contractors to build new PG only dorms on top of the huge PG numbers already in these schools, and it is not because they want to be #1 in a sport or beat their rival. Of course those things are nice, but the real reason is full paying families who want or need to have their kid PG for sports reasons in preppy sports like lacrosse is a treasure trove. If you want your kid to finish up a PG year at Deerfield and your kid is a top ranked or regarded lacrosse recruit, unless you have a family AGI under $75,000 for recent tax years...then start planning your family budget for a spare $60,000 to send him there.
Not sure I agree at all with you on the sports ages either. I see few lacrosse players who are reliant on the weight room for their success and my D1 sport was soccer. I have never in 30 years seen a 20 year old who suddenly looked like he belongs on the field who wasn't also an 18 year old who belonged on the field. In lacrosse people saw the Duke team that all got an extra year of eligibility in 2007 and everyone just assumed it was magical those players were a year older. That is nonsense. Crotty and the rest of them were just great players, period.
