I am thinking about transferring from my small private highschool to a bigger public school for various reasons, but most are because I think I might have more academic and extracurricular opportunities than where I currently am, which of course, will affect my college applications. I know there are tons of pros and cons for each type of highschool, but I am wondering if anyone has any thoughts or experiences about this situation or something similar to it?
Thanks in advance.
Everyone always says that colleges look at your achievements in the context of your school. They are understanding that students come from different backgrounds and opportunities. It won’t harm you, however, in a large pool of applicants, I don’t think it will necessarily help you either.
I think a really important question is to consider how your curriculum will transfer over. You’re not an eighth grader looking for high school options; you’re already in high school (in whichever grade), which involves switching some things around. Are the classes you’ve already taken going to transfer over? Do you need to take some freshman or lower-level classes at the school to fulfill their graduation requirements? How do you think you will compare to the other students at the school, and do you think you’ll be seen as competitive within the context of the school?
I think the courses should be enough and they should line up with the graduation requirements.
As far as competitiveness I took all Honors including Algebra II and had a semester average over all of an A+. My main EC was band.
Thanks for your reply!
My S transferred from a med sized private school (100 in his graduating class) to a large public (600 in his graduating class) after his freshman year. His rank did suffer from it, still not too bad. He went for more opportunities. He went into their pre-vet program and was certified as a veterinary assistant prior to graduation. That helped him get into a great program and get excellent scholarships. He starts vet school this fall so I think it was the right move for him.
Now, was it all peachy, NO! He had a rough transition and got in with a crowd that was not good at first. His grades stayed good but socially it was a mess until his Sr. year which was much better. The atmosphere was very different and the rules were not the same which caused him some difficulty.
Just go into it taking the good with the bad. He found his Ecs would probably have been better had he stayed at the private school but eventually found some unique ones outside of the public school.
With a band EC it will probably be better at the large public. It can work out just fine. Just watch for the pitfalls.
I transferred from a public school to small private school - I have to say there were so many more opportunities for me.
For ex: you can start clubs the private school does not have (but other public schools do) & there’s a ton more leadership opportunities (less people to compete for the same spot). Teachers pay attention to you so you can better ask them for opportunities/internships/things like that outside of class; they also can write great rec letters.
Very true. However, I just haven’t been feeling the school from the getgo. I know its a great school for a lot of people but it just doesn’t seem right for me; I feel boxed in and want something with more opportunities. Quite frankly for what I want from it I don’t think its worth it. Things just seem overall mediocre, I don’t hate it, and I almost feel bad for wanting to transfer, but I feel like if I am even asking these questions and my family is having to pay for it than its worth considering other options.
This is good to hear. I guess a public school is just a rougher environment in general (I haven’t attended a public school before) but if I take honors/AP classes the teachers and students will hopefully be a little more motivated and things will be better in that sense.
I’ve heard band is an all around good EC and a good way to get in with a decent group of people. But man, does the band program at my current school suck. It went from 70 to less than 30 members in less than four years. Also, band takes up a TON of time, so not completely sure if I’ll do it next year or not.
What you say is very true about band. It does take up a LOT of time. My S was in a similar situation. At his Private school he played in the band (small and not very good) and played JV football as a freshman (1 game in Varsity at the end of the year). When he went to the public he decided not to pursue these. He was in Varsity golf at the private and missed making the Public team by one person. That really meant he was out of ECs. Never really tried to get involved honestly. Ended up playing interscholastic polo for a regional hs team (horse not water).
The biggest issue was that the public HS did not allow students to come in early, you had to leave the building just when classes were over unless you were going to tutorials or another specific EC, and lunch was 30 min with barely time to get through the line. It made it difficult to find any opportunity to make friends unless you were on a team or in an active EC. He had never been to public school either. So I would say get into an EC as soon as you possibly can that seems to have people you want to spend time with. He was in AP or honors classes but there really wasn’t time to meet the people in the class. They also had their own cliques formed by that time and weren’t real welcoming to new folks. Turns out the girls he hung out with were great but the guys not so much!
Yeah, very true from what I’ve heard about getting into an EC quick to avoid getting involved with the wrong people. And of course publics have more drugs and violence. But vaping/drugs is definitely present at my private school too, just on a lower scale. I think overall the ECs and classes (at least the honors ones/AP) will be a little higher quality than at my current school. Especially since I am considering band as my main EC I’m positive that the public school bands are infinitely better. My band program is really, really bad, I am now the only freshman left in drumline and I’m honestly surprised I didn’t quit earlier along with the others. Had an unsavory incident with my band director today which makes it even worse. Oh well.
I kind of just feel overall boxed in and that the school isn’t completely worth it where I’m at now.
A lot will depend on what you’d actually do with your opportunities at a new school. How good are you at making friends? Would you be able to take the steps to join strange new ECs? Do you expect to be in a leadership role in your EC? Are you the type that’ll force yourself to get out there, take the risks, show some perseverance and hang on until you make it?
If this is a specific school thing and changing will let you enjoy band again and have a DECA team to join (or whatever) then you should go. But if you won’t join band again because it’s more work than the joy derived then just drop band today and remove it as a factor in your decision.
But there are things about smaller schools that are cool. You’re closer to the front of every line, so you can lead, you can make changes, things are small enough to be moved. One of my daughters worked hard to revive the sagging mock trial program at her school (roster went from 12 to 40 in two years) and her sister is selling ultimate frisbee to her friends to invigorate that team. She also jumped from choir to band after sophomore year to find a better fit and she’s not shy about talking to the administration about what’s on her mind. One of my college roomies went to a very small private HS and created his own fan club (literally The George Smith Fan Club except his name, as you might expect). He got pages in the yearbook and it even lasted one year after he graduated. You can have unique opportunities at a smaller place.
And here’s the last part, one that’ll be relevant in college, jobs and relationships for the rest of your life: changing schools (or jobs or boyfriends) will only work if you’ll get a different result in a new place. Know yourself, sort out what you want, what you need, what you aren’t getting, and make sure you’re leaving for the right reasons. You can say you’re not feeling this school right now, but it’s only been a half year and it sounds like you’ve only really given the band folks a try so far. Are you really going to join other clubs in a new school? How many others have you tried here? I’m not saying don’t go, but as the platitude says, No matter where you go, there you are.
OP’s original post says that the public school opportunities “of course will help with college applications.” It’s not clear that your college acceptances would be any different. You say band is better at the public but then say you might drop band anyway. If you want to switch schools because you think you will be happier there, then that is a good reason.