Graduating after junior year vs moving to a new high school for senior year

Applying to College
1

Currently I am sophomore at a large public high school outside the Twin Cities. We moved into this area before my freshman year due to my fathers job. However, it is likely that he will have to move back to where we lived before, Cincinnati, following my junior year. I will have enough credits to graduate after my junior year so I am trying to determine if it will be worth it to graduate early instead of moving to an entirely new high school for my senior year.

At the moment I possess a 3.8/4.0 GPA, 1500 SAT, and 33(34 superscore) ACT. I will be taking SAT subject tests in Bio/Physics/English/USHistory/Math this spring, along with the ACT again. Freshman year I got a 5 on Human Geo(self study) and a 5 on CSP. This year I will be taking Calc BC, Bio, Java, APUSH, and Environmental Science(self study). Next year I will be taking both AP English (on a block schedule so each class is only 1 semester), AP Chem/ AP Physics 1/ Calc 3/ AP Macro/ AP Stats/ AP Gov and AP Comp Politics.

ECs are decent, involved heavily with a world championship level FRC team (hundreds of hours including mentoring younger FLL/FTC teams) member of Programming/Computer clubs, helped start the Board Game Club, and also am a member of the Chess club. Next year I will likely be the Programming Lead on the robotics team, and have a leadership position on a few of the other clubs.

If I was to be able to stay for my senior year here, I would likely not graduate early, improve my ECs (try for team captain of Robotics team etc.), attempt to improve SAT, and would be taking full time classes at the University of Minnesota through PSEO for free.

However, the problem lies in the fact that I will likely not be able to stay here for senior year. Therefore, I am wondering if it would be worth it to graduate early or attend a high school in Cincinnati my senior year (probably Walnut Hills, as I went there in 7th/8th before we moved to Minnesota). If I moved back I would probably be able to take dual enrollment classes at the University of Cincinnati, however their program is not as strong, especially for the CS classes I would like to take. I would also probably have weak leadership roles on clubs there, and they do not have an FRC team.

I am planning to apply for Computer Science, so obviously looking at schools such as Berkeley, UIUC, Michigan, Georgia Tech(both parents attended here), etc as reaches. If I were to apply early after junior year, I would probably be targeting schools such as UW Madison and U of M Twin Cities, as I don’t think my stats would be good enough for some of the better schools. I would be fine attending Madison, as it is good for CS and is cheap due to the reciprocity with MN, but if I could get into somewhere like Berkeley I would probably go there instead.

However, it is still something of a crapshoot anyway at the better schools, even if I was to apply after senior year, and I would hate to lose in-state tuition at places like UW Madison just to end up not getting in to UIUC or Berkeley anyway.

I also am wondering about applying to some of these schools twice, once after my junior year, and then if not accepted and I decide not to graduate, again after senior year. Would this harm my chances at any of these schools?

Thanks in advance for any input!

2

You won’t have instate tuition if your parents move, regardless of where you graduated. My understanding is it’s based on where your parents live and pay taxes. My husband made a job change when our DD was a HS senior. She maybe would have gotten instate tuition, but only the first year, when we were still paying taxes, but that’s it. If you moved back to Cinci, you’d be instate for OSU.

Generally speaking, applying to a school that has rejected you is not a great strategy.

Honestly I would just plan on staying in school and graduating in OH.

3

So many things to think about:

  1. If you want to graduate early, will you have enough of the state requirements to graduate? 4 years of English?
    Don’t even think about GEDs.

  2. You could do a mostly Dual Enrollment senior year…but realize that those grades will be in your college GPA forever if you dont’ do well (think for grad schools /med schools/law schools).

  3. Your competitors at top schools will have 4 years of classes/ECs/Leadership

  4. In-state tuition has specific rules in each state. Read them.

4

http://www.ohe.state.mn.us/mPg.cfm?pageID=194 describes Minnesota residency for tuition purposes.

https://registrar.osu.edu/residency/ describes Ohio residency for tuition purposes.

Looks like both Minnesota and Ohio have some provision for those who graduated high school (or GED for Minnesota, not Ohio) in the state to retain residency for tuition purposes. Read the rules carefully.

Would they be affordable, since out-of-state financial aid is unlikely to be good?

5

I’d set everything up to graduate early, and as you go through your junior year and find out whether you’d have to move, finalize then. If you don’t have to move, then you can stay another year.

I moved my senior year and it wasn’t pretty. If I’d known ahead of time, I probably could have taken the 1-2 classes I needed as a junior and graduated early and it would have been better for everyone.

6

Another thing to consider is if it is possible to stay with relatives or friends to finish 12th grade at your current high school to maintain continuity even if your father’s job relocates then.

Changing high school just for 12th grade can run into problems like:

  • Improper placement in courses.
  • Low priority in choosing courses.
  • Graduation requirements in the new high school that were not present in the old high school, reducing your schedule space.
  • More difficulty getting good counselor and teacher recommendations for colleges that want them.
7

I moved schools senior year, although not for the same reasons you may have to, and it was fine. If I were you I’d stay in school for senior year. Some colleges require you take 4 years of science, english, etc. and most highly recommend it. If you graduate after your junior year will you be as competitive an applicant to those reach schools? (honestly I don’t know, but it’s something to consider). I would highly recommend speaking to your guidance counselor or college counselor if your school has one, reviewing the colleges you plan on applying to’s required and recommended HS courses, and speaking extensively with your family. I agree that a GED is not a good option unless absolutely necessary.

8

Close friends of ours had to move their kids in HS, one at the start of 12th grade. They spent a lot of time talking to the new school to address the concerns posted in #5. It worked out fine for both boys.

One of the unintended consequences is that now when the older son comes home from school he actually has a friend group to hang out with.

In our family, I stayed back with my DD (an only child) while she finished out her senior year. We moved the day after graduation. It’s been very difficult for her to come home to the new house, in a new state, where she has not one friend. It won’t matter for the summer because of study abroad and work but the holiday vacations were rough.

There is always a flip side to any decision!