<p>I have a junior who may have to transfer to the American School of London for his senior year. He goes to a jesuit college prep here that is very strong academically. I wonder how the transfer will affect his chances of getting into some top tier schools. Anyone familiar with the school?</p>
<p>You can PM me.</p>
<p>Both my kids went there…older son attended till 9th grade. At the HS parent coffee I had seen new senior parents, probably 5 or so out of a class of over 100, if I remember correctly.</p>
<p>Good school, very connected. Some teachers are painful, but I think senior year teachers were fine.</p>
<p>Better get his name down for a spot as soon as your transfer to London is confirmed. ASL tends to get oversubscribed. It is very strong academically. If your student is an athlete, though, things aren’t so rosy. Playing fields are quite a far coach ride away. I used to do alumna interviews for Harvard in the London area and it was a rare year when there were no ASL sudents on the ‘accepted’ list. Transferring in senior year sounds tough but as a veteran of international schools I can assure you that he wont’ be the only one doing it. Best of luck to you and your family.</p>
<p>Thanks to both of you for your replies. Right now we are still in a waiting mode. Hope to know for sure by Thanksgiving. It was encouraging to hear positive comments. Curious to hear your thoughts about whether it’s easier or harder to get into a top tier school from ASL than a similar school in the states?</p>
<p>I think easier because of the fact that your child had to move/adjust new country/school/culture which adds extra zest to the application.</p>
<p>Your child will be compared with students from UK, so it maybe easier for your son to get into a top tier school. Prior to coming to UK, I would contact your son’s junior teachers for recommendation letters. I would also have your son finish taking all of his tests junior year. Get a private college counselor if necessary, or send him to a college essay writing summer school. By the time he arrives in UK, all he would have to focus on is his senior fall semester grades and college applications. It would take a lot of pressure off and make his stay a lot more pleasant. </p>
<p>We moved to Mexico this year while D2 still has 2 more years of high school. It is good and bad. Junior year is a killer year, on top of that she’s had to switch from AP courses to IB. We’ve had to set up SAT tutoring via Skype, and find local teachers for her ECs. She was very nervous about maintaining her grades initially, but she is doing well. The downside is she is not finding much time for making friends. Local kids don’t seem to do as many ECs. Upside is her Spanish is becoming very fluent, she will be read with the Mexican pool instead of over populated NJ pool.</p>
<p>We’ve been expats in England, Germany and China with 2 kids graduating from overseas. ASL has a good reputation in the international school world. The question of whether it’s easier or harder varies with the college applying to and how they consider expat applicants - some put them in the international pool which can be good or bad depending on what diversity profile the school is looking for.<br>
His application transcript will come from his current school since he wont have any academic history at ASL but the college counseling at ASL and the reputation they have with universities in the US looks very good:
<a href=“http://www.asl.org/uploaded/academics/high_school/2009-2010_Profile.pdf[/url]”>http://www.asl.org/uploaded/academics/high_school/2009-2010_Profile.pdf</a></p>
<p>If he’s looking at any in-state public schools then you should find out whether he’d still qualify for in-state tuition and whether his application will be considered in-state even though he will graduate out-of-state. Policies vary and can be very specific - for example, University of Michigan gives in-state tuition if for those who moved from Michigan and were overseas for 1 year (maybe 2?) with a job with a Michigan based company.</p>
<p>One more thing, do all of your college visits before you move.</p>
<p>Great school, the move should help him, smaller pool of applicants coming from Europe. He should have a great experience there. How long will his London commute be (how far from ASL will you be living?). St. Johns Wood is a wonderful neighborhood. BTW, it’s American School IN London…good luck!</p>