<p>This is my second term in America. I moved to here in September last year.</p>
<p>I was born in 1993. But school made me begin from Freshman in high school.
The content of my classes, I learned some of them before, and got all A.
I have enough credits to skip grade.
If I want, I may skip a grade to Junior after finishing the classes that I'm taking now.</p>
<p>But, I heared something about AP classes or others, I have no idea about those.
If I choose to skip grade, I may have no chance to join any AP classes.
Is it important for admissions? Should I skip grade?
What test should I take for colleges? and when?
Any information you can think about, whatever.</p>
<p>If you were in high school in the other country, you should have your foreign school records formally evaluated by [World</a> Education Services - International Education Intelligence](<a href=“http://www.wes.org/]World”>http://www.wes.org/) or another company that does that kind of work. That way your guidance counselor here will have a better understanding about what you have already learned. This paperwork will also be helpful for any colleges that you apply to in the future.</p>
<p>You need to sit down with your guidance counselor and the formal evaluation of your earlier classes, and plan the rest of your studies. Do you need to be at your high school for four years in order to fulfill all of the graduation requirements? Can you finish in a year or two more?</p>
<p>Depending on how close you were to graduating from high school in the other country, you may be able to apply to college right now. However, since you are still learning English, it would probably be better for you to stay in high school for a bit longer - especially if there is a good ESOL at your high school! If you are at a public high school, it is free, and college can be very expensive.</p>
<p>You do not need to take any AP classes in order to apply to college. Since you have just moved here, there might not be time to fit them into your schedule. When you do apply to college, the admissions officers will know how long you have been here, and they will understand about your situation.</p>
<p>Lastly, what is your immigration status? If you are a citizen or a legal permanent resident (green card status) or fall into some other special categories you will be eligible for federally determined (FAFSA) financial aid. If you have a different status, you can’t file the FAFSA, and you will have to apply as an international student. Be sure to talk about this with your guidance counselor. You need to know now what your status is because it will make a big difference when you apply to college.</p>
<p>In fact, I’m going to get my green card this summer.
Before I entered my school, I went to Instructional Support Center, and someone counted my credits from the country I came from, and sent those to my school. I’m not sure my counselor knew what classes I took.
I tried to talk to my counselor, but she didn’t seem really care about that.
My friend in the country I was from, they are all junior or senior now. But American students go to school one year earlier before them.
Are you sure the admissions officers won’t care about my AP stuff?
And do you think I should join a club now? Or after this summer?
Thank you very much for helping me…</p>
<p>You need to talk to your counselor. If your counselor can’t help you, find another counselor who can. Your teachers can help you too.</p>
<p>If you have your records professionally evaluated, you will know what grade equivalent you have completed already. Unless your school system has a lot of students from your other country, they might not evaluate your records correctly.</p>
<p>The admissions officers won’t care about AP if you can’t fit them into your schedule.</p>
<p>You should think about participating in the extracurricular activities that are available at your high school now. Are any of the clubs interesting to you? What about a sport? Or, what about a musical or theater group? What about the school newspaper or TV station? If you have time after school, and you don’t need to have a job to make money, you could find a volunteer position that you like. All of these things will help you learn more about yourself and about life in the US.</p>
<p>The most important thing for you to do right now is improve your English so you can do well on the verbal and writing portions of the SAT test. It would be worth staying in high school an extra year in order to do that. Read lots of books. Ask your English teacher to recommend books. It will be a bonus that staying an extra year will enable you to take AP classes. They are not necessary, but might help you stand out a bit. Plus, they are a free way of getting college credits.</p>