Last summer I found an amazing school that I love, I’ve had an amazing time spending my freshman year here, I’ve made lots of new friends, and I’ve had access to some service opportunities that I have thoroughly enjoyed. So why would I want to leave? For the sake of an impressive college application. At the top of my list of concerns is my school not offering any honors/AP classes. Even though the classes are arguably more difficult and require much more effort, they still don’t have that nice little “honors” or "AP’ in front of them for colleges to see. Not only that, my GPA cannot go above a 4.0 and, should I choose to take any AP exams, I would have to self study, which is inconvenient. At a close second, is the fact that they don’t offer as many extracurricular activities as I would like. The only clubs on campus are ones that I started, and it is once again, an inconvenience to have to search for clubs and organizations off-campus.
Because of these concerns, I applied to a two different prep schools in my area and got into both of them. The both offer a plethora of honors and AP classes and extracurricular activities. (at least compared to the school I am currently enrolled in.)
I need help, should I leave or should I stay? How important are honors/ AP classes and participating in extracurricular activities that are actually at the school you attend?
I’m in a similar situation. I love the people at the school I attend, I just don’t love the school itself. I think it depends on how happy you are with your classes. If you feel like you’re being challenged enough and are getting a good experience from school, I believe you should stay. With college, the only thing that matters is the weighted GPA. My school that I attend right now has a high curve for an unweighted GPA, but it doesn’t matter. AP and Honors classes look better, but it depends on the school. If you’re taking the most rigorous courses possible, it won’t matter if there’s an AP or Honors in front of it. I will add that the AP course I took last year was my favorite class I’ve ever taken (AP Human Geography). No matter where you attend just know there isn’t a “bad” decision, it’s only what’s the right decision for you.
If your current school is rigorous, don’t worry about about AP classes or gpas. Just worry about taking the most rigorous courses you can handle and doing as well as you can. AP classes are overrated. Neither Phillips Exeter nor St. Paul’s offers AP classes and I am sure there are boarding schools that have the same policy. SPS, as an example, doesn’t rank its students nor calculate GPAs. It’s grads still do quite well in college placement. Starting your own clubs and pursuing your own ECs can show leadership and initiative to colleges. These wouldn’t be reasons, in my book, to leave a school you are happy at.
AP’s often just having you prepping for a test… thats’s not creative learning and problem solving. Colleges want students who are truly thinking and engaged! If you decide to switch schools do it because you are excited about what they can teach you.
I wish I could recall the thread- a boy was trying to decide whether to stay in his high school where he started all of the clubs, etc. or take a bus for over an hour each way to Thomas Jefferson High School, one of the best high schools in the country. He came back and posted that he had a choice of top-rated universities (I think he chose Harvard) and felt he had a better experience than he would have had at TJ High School. Maybe you can do an advanced search for it?
His experience suggests staying is better. Good friends and support of the administration for starting your clubs is probably the very best value you could hope for!