<p>I<code>m in my junior year right now, and my school is terribly run. The teachers leave every year and my GC is just..awful. The principal and GC are leaving this year as well. The school only thinks about money and never cares about the students.
Anyways, I think I</code> ve mentioned this a few times but I<code>m thinking about doing a PG year to get the IB diploma. My parents hate the school I go to, and they want me to change schools. There is another school nearby where I live which offers IB as well. The GC there said I could transfer and do the diploma, and if I wanted to, I could do a PG year there. The school I</code> m thinking of transferring has a long history, and has sent kids to top universities in the past, whereas, the school I go to is really new and has never really sent any kids to top colleges( except for last year, there were ppl who went to Georgetown,stanford,and ucla, but thats about it) Therefore, my parents think that the school I<code>m thinking about transfnering has much more experience and so I could probably get accepted to some top colleges.
However, my only concern is that I hold about 2 leadership positions at my current school-if I transfer, I dont know if I can get leadership postitons at the new school. I dont know how colleges would regard this. I still have a couple EC</code> s out side of school, so it <code>s not like I wouldnt have any EC</code> s left, but leadership is really important..so I<code>m not sure what I would do.
Would colleges understand that I didnt have any leadership positions becaues of my transfer for academic reasons? Do you think it</code> s bad to transfer at this time???
Thnks!</p>
<p>I think this is something you could address in an essay. I think it shows leadership to have the guts to change schools when you're so close to graduating. </p>
<p>The only thing you want to stay away from is making broad negative statements about your old school. It's surely a wild exaggeration that the school "only thinks about money" and "never cares" about the students. If you were give your reasons for leaving, I would expect to read something more like "I felt the school's priorities were not on college-preparatory academics"</p>
<p>My opinion is to only change schools if you feel your current situation is not working for you and you cannot find ways at that school to make some changes that might improve your situation. If you are very unhappy at your school, first look for ways to fix that. If that is not possible, switching schools might make sense in terms of meeting your needs. However, I am NOT into switching schools because another high school might help your chances of getting into a better college. I just do not find that a good reason to pick a high school. Pick the one that meets what you need in a school. YOU will be the one who gets into college, not the high school from which you came. Further, there is no guarantee that going to this other high school will increase your chances of getting into a better college. If you have what it takes, you will get in no matter which HS you went to. Select the school that best fits what you need to be content in your learning environment. As far as the EC's, these would not be a compelling reason one way or the other. You have some ECs outside of school and hopefully could get engaged in some at your new school if you choose to switch. If need be down the line, in documenting your EC's, you could mention that while holding leadership roles in such activities was the case at your old school, once moving it was difficult to become a leader in a new environment that quickly but you chose to keep participating in those same endeavors. </p>
<p>Susan</p>
<p>Thanks for all the great advice!
Soozievt: I understand your point. Well, it<code>s not really that I</code>m (thinking about) transferring because the other school would raise my chances of getting into a better college. But it<code>s just hard to trust the administration. My GC sent this yr</code> s senior<code>s applications to different colleges and the administration always calculates the GPA</code> s wrong. The GC lost someone<code>s apps 3 times.. those are just some of the things about my school-sorry I</code>m complaning! Other than that, I like my teachers and my classes, it` s just that they TOLD me that I couldnt do full IB and so i didnt, but I really regret it and I am thinking about going to the otehr school to do the diploma.
.. sorry this sounds like a complaint! Thanks for the advice-I really aprpeciate it!</p>
<p>Switch if you think you will like the other school better or if you care about this IB program and so forth. I just also heard some inklings in your original post that your parents think this second school has a better track record of sending kids to top colleges and that your chances to go to a "better college" might increase if you go there. I personally would not change schools with that reason. Also, kids from your school actually have gotten into some good colleges. And ya know, does that fact really matter so much? </p>
<p>I mean our school sends very few to highly selective colleges, only a couple per year, but if you are a highly qualified person, you have a good chance even so. I know my child met with success in her admisisons process coming from a school that sends very few to elite colleges. Some here send their kids away to boarding school with the purpose of that they will have a better chance getting into particular colleges. I think boarding school is fine if you have a reason why you prefer that type of educational environment and that it suits your needs better but if the only reason is to up one's chances of college admissions...I dunno....my kid did not go that route and did fine. I still maintain the kid gets into college, not the sending school. I just am reading in your initial posts that this is part of your reason for changing. </p>
<p>Change if you are very unhappy at your school. Mishaps with logistics with apps in your GC office is not enough reason in my opinion. The IB or other reasons, might warrant a change but I would still see what I could work out in my current situation before changing. When you apply to college, work very closely with your GC and check on everything. Send as much to colleges yourself and then for the part he/she sends, double check on it or help him with getting the pieces gathered and copied and sent. Help facilitate that part and be very involved in working with that person and then following up.</p>
<p>Susan</p>
<p>What's with the strange commas? Which I'm not sure that a ` is a comma. What is that thing?</p>
<p>"Change if you are very unhappy at your school. Mishaps with logistics with apps in your GC office is not enough reason in my opinion. The IB or other reasons, might warrant a change but I would still see what I could work out in my current situation before changing. When you apply to college, work very closely with your GC and check on everything. Send as much to colleges yourself and then for the part he/she sends, double check on it or help him with getting the pieces gathered and copied and sent. Help facilitate that part and be very involved in working with that person and then following up."</p>
<p>It sounds like the GC problem is more of a problem with an individual person--the counselor either doesn't know what the heck they are doing or they don't care if they misplace things continuously. I wonder what would happen if they did that and then it was too late for the student to send their application in!! Yikes!! I would be extremely angry.</p>
<p>Japstudent--Can you take courses at a local college if you feel that your classes are not challenging you enough? I know people who took calculus courses at college while in high school.</p>
<p>bluealien-- well, I was considering doing classes at a local college but it doesnt seem like that will be an option. I live in malaysia, and its a bit limited..unfortunately. i just thought theat taking the most rigorous courses is a must for top colleges, and my stpuid GC wouldnt let me take it because I came to my current school in 10th grade from a japanese system, and thus, thought my English was not good enough. i would like to transfer, but my only concern are the EC` s.
soozivt--yes, i understand totally what you mean. I` ll try to work things out at my school, but my parents are trying to get me to transfer... I will tell them what you said and try to work it out. thank you!</p>
<p>Jap STudent...again, do not base your decision on the EC aspect. Just make sure that your areas of interest are available at your new school. If you cannot rise to a leadership position at the new school, this is not a problem. For one thing, you can explain in an interview or on a resume or on an application, that you held leadership positions in old school, then moved late in HS to new school where you continued to participate in same interest areas but were unable to head any of them as you were new. </p>
<p>By the same token, do not narrowly define "leadership". There are ways to lead without being named president of an organization. You can start things going with almost anything...taking initiative. Further, leadership is not the only thing a college looks for in an EC activity. They also care about long term commitments, active participation (not just an hour per week), and achievements. You can achieve something great in an EC without being the head of it. I mean my child's sports team does not even HAVE captains...but she has many achievements she can list in that area, as well as long term committments. My child might not be student senate president but she lead an initiative that created change in her school. Another one of my kids created her own show and directed it.....it was not an existing activity. So, this is one thing you can make happen no matter where you go. If you do not have a leadership thing going, there are other achievements you can attain in an interest area. It is NOT only about leadership. PLUS leadership is not only something when you are an elected president or captain either. I don't see this one issue as being the one you need to decide upon with regard to changing schools. </p>
<p>Also, my kids could not take college courses due to our rural location and their heavy duty extracurricular committments. But they were able to do supervised independent studies, plus long distance college level courses. These are also options for YOU to challenge yourself. If you want IB, however, maybe switching schools is the right choice in your circumstances. </p>
<p>Good luck.
Susan</p>