I am an 8th grader in an underprivileged charter school thats 6-12. Next year, I have the choice of going to a normal public school whose population is 900 students more than my current school’s total population or staying in the old school. I have no idea which one to choose, but I think i could use the charter schools as an advantage. the only thing is i am confused which one i choose. I have listed the advantages/disadvantages of my current school, and what i plan on doing if i stay.
Advantages:
Underpriveleged
small population
easy to get in top rank
Disadvantages:
poor education
does not offer classes other than basic math science ELA spanish
not many AP courses
My plan:
Start clubs that include technology
dual enrollment in a local college
the rest, I have no idea what to do
Go to the school that you learn and enjoy more. So much time is spent on which activity, school or whatever it is is better for colleges. Find something or a few things that you really enjoy, get good at it, and keep good grades in your classes.
I think you should go to the public school. You will meet more people, and face new challenges. Additionally, colleges take into account the quality of the school when determining the meaning of your class rank. Going to an underprivileged school and gaining top rank will not put you in any edge(by that, I mean, an edge against your top public school peers).
You can additionally execute your plan at the public school as well, I presume?
The key points are that you’ll be a bit more challenged at your public school. You’ll meet people of all personalities and face new challenges. If or when you receive a good rank at a public school, you’ll feel a lot more proud of it.
Go see or email the guidance counselors of both schools. Find out where the top 10% graduates were accepted for college. That should give you a good idea of how they performed with grades and the SAT.
I’m impressed that you are thinking about this. You are probably very bright. You will need a school that offers at least three years of foreign language and two years of math after Algebra II. You can go to admissions pages of some colleges that interest you. Check your state’s flagship university and see what classes they expect a freshman to have taken. That should tell you which school will meet your needs best. I bet you will do just fine at a huge high school.
When you get further along in high school begin looking at which schools give the most aid. If you are low income find out what it takes to get into Questbridge. Look into “Governor’s School” summer programs. Good luck!
There are a lot of factors to consider, but I will say this: getting a good education matters far more than having a high class rank at a bad school. Based on what you’ve said so far, I’d recommend going to the regular public school.
My preference is for AP’s. Think about it. AP classes are mostly filled with high performing high school students. Community College courses are filled with every type of CC student. CC’s generally only require a GED to enroll. You are likely to have some students who can really drag a class discussion down.
There is usually a travel factor with dual enrollment and that may result in missed opportunities with EC’s at your high school. AP’s are college level classes. To me dual enrollment is for students at schools that have few AP choices.
At our high school the dual enrollment kids are mostly taking EMT, Firefighter, and Law Enforcement classes. Many of them will continue at CC. It’s probably different at other schools.
AP is better when it’s available. The benefit of dual enrollment is that there are more classes to choose from. (You don’t necessarily have to go to a community college. I took dual-enrollment classes at a university, which was free in my state.)