Hi everyone!
As it turns out, it looks like I’ll be moving next year and, thus, transferring to a different high school.
My school right now- Pretty good public school, about 1000 ppl total/about 250 per grade and I’m ranked 41/252
School next year- VERY GOOD public school, about 2300 ppl total, and I’m a bit worried about my rank bc this school offers a lot more ap classes than my previous school.
I was wondering if anybody had any tips/advice about if I should get letters (how many?) of recommendation from teachers (as it’s my junior year right now, and it’ll be my senior year next year and I don’t if I’ll really “know” my teachers yet.) or anything else regarding college admissions. I’m open to any help on how to make this transition a less stressful experience for my parents, teachers, and, well, me!
Getting recs now would be a really good idea. If you ask really soon (like, this week) and give the teachers your contact information and get theirs (to add them to Common Application) they’ll have time to write a good rec before applications open in August. I would ask three teachers if you can-- often one doesn’t come through, so you still have two-- in a wide range of subjects, at least one related to your major interest and preferably all academic.
Also, start putting together a resume so that, should you need recs from teachers at your new school, you can hand them the resume for information’s sake. (The more they have to work with, the better your rec will be) Your new guidance counselor will need it too-- and a brag sheet from your parents wouldn’t hurt, for when s/he has to write a rec for a kid who’s just gotten to the school and whom s/he wouldn’t know from Adam’s off ox. You can google resume and brag sheets-- the internet is full of a bunch of different formats.
Overall, the trick is that the easier you make it for people to say lots of nice things, the more likely they are to do it.
If you haven’t taken ACT/SAT yet, do it soon. A familiar and comfortable testing place can bump your scores just that little bit that could help.
Good luck!
It’ll mess with your rank a bit, but I wouldn’t worry about that. Colleges will see that you transferred. They won’t reject you because of a circumstance that you couldn’t control. I transferred after my freshman year and I had a hard time meeting people. THAT will be hard. Get your rec letters ASAP, exchange contact info, do everything that @petrichor11 said. Don’t stress. You seem like the type of person who will adapt well, especially if you’re asking for advice on it 