At the senior dinner in the beginning of this year, more than twenty new postgraduate students stood up to introduce themselves. You might wonder why these people have decided to spend an extra year in high school; while their peers gear up for college, these few postgraduate students will continue to pursue their passions at Choate. In particular, Choate’s athletic and academic programs alike attract postgraduate students from around the world.
Postgraduate students, or PGs as they are often called, consist of a small proportion of the student body at Choate. “Nowadays we tend to be very strategic with admitting postgraduate students; they tend to fill specific needs we have,” commented Mr. Ned Gallagher, Choate’s Athletic Director.
The athletic program at Choate attracts many postgraduate hopefuls. Partaking in a postgraduate year allows these athletes to sharpen their skills. However, what impact does that have on the Choate students who have been on a sports team for two or three years? “I could think of a couple of people in recent years and their families who have raised it as a concern, and it was entirely based on personal circumstances,” asserted Mr. Gallagher. “I have not heard a general concern that we’re bringing in too many postgrads and pushing out people who’ve been here for two or three years.”
According to Mr. Lawrence Spinnato, Assistant Director of Admissions, the Admission Office is mindful of these issues, “If we had an excellent goalie who was going to be rising senior in a sport and that coach, out of nowhere, decided to recruit a PG goalie, we would probably talk to coach about his decision.” He continued, “It’s really the coach’s responsibility to make sure he doesn’t recruit over another athlete.”
In addition, twenty years ago, the gender ratio in the postgraduate population was drastically different. Mr. Tom Yankus, a former teacher who also coached volleyball and baseball at Choate, commented, “Choate very rarely had female athletes come in 20 years ago. I’d say in the last couple of decades, that’s changed because of Title IX.” Title IX, a part of the Education Amendments Act of 1972, states that colleges have to offer comparable sports for male and female athletes. “Then, young women could be recruited by colleges, and the effects of Title IX trickled down to Choate and other prep schools,” explained Mr. Yankus.
However, in more recent years, the gender ratio has remained largely unchanged. Usually, the Admissions Office will accept anywhere from 15 to 22 boys and two to six girls. One reason for this phenomenon is the small female applicant pool. “There are more than 120 boys applying for a postgraduate year, but only about 20 girls,” explained Mr. Spinnato. He added, “We’ve also started accepting more freshman girls, so immediately, we’re going to be taking fewer female PGs, since we only have a certain number of beds.”
Another change in the postgraduate student body is the presence of postgraduate students in academic programs like the Environmental Immersion Program. This year, there are two postgraduate students living at the Kohler Environmental Center (KEC): Kathryn Cooke ’16 and Liam Sherif ’16.
Mr. Joseph Scanio, the Program Director at the KEC, remarked, “We don’t have a PG program at the KEC.” Rather, “these postgraduate students learned about the KEC during the application process; both of them had indicated a very strong interest in the environment.”
In addition, Choate receives a couple of postgraduate students each year from another academic program, the Royal Thai Scholars Program. Selected by performance on Thai national examinations, 50 Thai students annually qualify for scholarship to study in Western universities. Their study begins with a prepatory postgraduate year, a program that Choate has hosted for over 30 years.
However, despite interest in academics, not many PGs seem interested in Choate’s programs in the arts. Mr. Timothy G. Bradley, Associate Director of Admissions, could recall only three PGs in the arts over the last ten years. Ms. Kalya Yannatos, the Arts Department Head, commented, “In the five years I’ve been here, I can’t remember any PGs who were interested in pursuing art.”
Why is there such a dearth of PGs in arts programs? “Most kids looking for a PG year aren’t artists,” Ms. Yannatos stated. She added, “We don’t actively seek PGs—we’re here to serve the entire student body.” Ms. Yannatos also does not have plans to start actively recruiting postgraduate students.
Postgraduates have diversified in concentration area over the years, although the primary attraction seems to be for men’s college sports. What role does Choate as an educational institution and a college preperatory school play in that balance?
