So I will start by saying I am bitter. My son was on the Crabs over the past two years. This year he was cut as there were many older boys brought down. Trust me when I tell you there are over 10 hold backs on that team some for academic reasons but many from the guidance of RM . These are facts there is no disputing this as my son knows all the boys
Don't think we need more evidence than this
You say academic reasons? I have been a Baltimore County public school teacher for 20 years and I have written many many recommendations for students moving from public to private schools. In my years I maybe recommended a half dozen kids o repeat a grade. Most kids repeating grades are doing so solely for the purpose of sports (lacrosse) then academics.
It depends on how you interpret the phrase "academic reason". If the kid is failing, that would be a legitimate reason. However, if your "academic reason" is part of an overall strategy to gain entrance to a particular school, that is something much different. Repeating the 8th or 9th grade allows the student to not only game the system athletically, but academically as well. It would stand to reason that the average student should be able to turn his 85-88 GPA into a 95-98 the second time around. Effectively duping the brain dead liberals that occupy the office space in admissions. Am I to believe, none of these "prestigious" schools look at the kids age verse their grade level? They don't ask: Is this the second or in some cases the third time this kid has taken these courses??? Perhaps at this point it is beyond the admissions departments comprehension that people would stoop so low to gain entrance to their name brand school. Who knows? It is clear that the strategy of recruiting 20 year old freshman is not panning out that well. Just look at the recent losses of the biggest offenders: UNC, JUH, UVA. Just five years ago these losses would never occur. Sooner or later the kid has to step up and play against the older kids...
Large majority of kids I wrote recommendations for were already "A" students.
