I’ve noticed that there are some parents here that have dealt with a situation similar to mine, so I decided to post here even though I’m a rising senior and not a parent (hope that’s OK).
I grew up in the US but moved overseas right before the 4th grade. I attended a local rather than an international school there until the 10th grade. I then spent my junior year in a different country as an exchange student attending a local school again.
My parents moved to the US a year ago and I joined them here 2 months ago. Right now we still don’t have the district’s final word on whether they’ll accept my credits and allow me to enroll as a senior. I’m not sure what to do. One option is to get my GED and start school at a community college here, which I don’t like because it’ll mean I’d miss out on the HS experience and graduation and all that. Another option is online school which brings up the same issue.
And of course there’s the whole college admission thing and how would it all look like to an adcom… not sure how to present my complicated HS career or how to move forward from here. I’d appreciate any perspective/advice.
Another option might be to spend two years at the HS. Even if it means repeating a bit of material it would give you: 1) an opportunity to re-adjust to life in the US 2) a chance to solidify your HS record (you can try to take high level HS courses) 3) time to study for standardized tests such as the SAT, ACT and if you need them SAT subject tests and 4) give you a couple of years to become solidly involved in extra-curricular activities and perhaps get leadership positions.
Life is a journey not a race. If you get to college a year later that is OK.
Keep in mind that most colleges only give scholarships to freshman…so if you did 2 years CC you would probably not get scholarships (except maybe your state U).
Could you do Dual Enrollment (take community college classes) while in High School?
What is your home state ?
Have you registered for school yet?
Do you have transcripts from all of your high schools ? In some states it is the high school that evaluates your transcript not the school district
Has the US high school evaluated your transcripts to let you know where you stand as far as meeting graduation requirements
If you can afford it, then some private high schools might look at your situation differently from your local public high school. If you have only one year of high school to complete, then the cost of a private school might not be quite as daunting as it would be for four years.
I have transcripts from my previous schools but they had to be translated which took time. And to make things more complicated, they want to see the course’s syllabus which schools there don’t usually have (and which will also have to be translated once I manage to get it).
I was not aware that transferring from a CC would mean I won’t get considered for scholarships. That definitely changes things…
My parents’ friend told us about a private Christian school here that accepts international students and might be able to work with us unlike the public school. Thing is, I’m not a Christian. Plus, that school doesn’t offer any AP courses or advanced science, math or foreign language classes which could negatively impact my application so I’m really not sure about this.
Boarding schools tend to have a lot of foreign students, but they are also expensive. Most are also done with their admissions process for this fall. Your situation is so unusual, though, that it could be worth contacting a few, especially if they are near you and you could afford it. Your background would probably interest them.
If all things magically cleared, what courses would you want to register for this yr? I am asking bc your level might lead to different suggestions.
If you are entering at a typical 10th or 11th grade level in the US, spending 2 yrs in high school might not be a bad option. I think it is a good suggestion bc it gives time for all of the testing, etc that you might not have taken for schools here. (Do you have ACT, SAT, subject tests, AP scores?)
If you are entering at an advanced level where everything will be repeated and no progress made and no challenging classes available, that might be an unappealing route. Alternative options for completing high school beyond a brick and mortar high school might fit your academic needs better. If you let go of the social aspect of a physical high school, you do open up other options. Depending on what state your are in, you might be able to dual enroll at a university or community college as a high school student and complete you high school requirements while earning college credit simultaneously. (That option might be more easily accessible via homeschooling.) Online high school is another option, but not all students do well or want online education. Homeschooling your senior yr could be any combination of DE, online, and at home courses. In that scenario, your parents would issue your diploma and provide your 12th grade transcript and you would submit your other school transcripts for 9th-11th.
The state laws where you live are going to control your options, so everything is just a generic response.
There are scholarships & need based aid available for transfer students – just typically not as generous or widely available, but then again it costs less to pay for two years of college than four. If you qualify for need based aid it might not make that much of a difference. My son transferred into a public college and didn’t qualify for aid his junior year, but as a senior received a combination of awards that ended up significantly exceeding his COA.
Also,your history might make it dificult for you to qualify for merit money at some colleges in any case – aside from figuring out whether the high school willl even accept your credits, you don’t know how it might impact GPA.
Beyond that, you could be handicapped in applying to 4 year colleges as a freshman because of your funky transcript – are you going to have all the courses the college ad coms expect to see?
Have you taken any college entrance exams yet? If not, any idea how you would score?
I also think that unless you would be enrolling in a high school with a more-worldly student body, you might find it hard to to integrate in a regular high school in any case. So that “HS experience” might not be what you want. It’s a common complaint among students who return from foreign exchange experiences that they feel a gulf between themselves and high school classmates in terms of maturity and sophistication. And even without that, you would be entering as a senior into an environment where the other kids have known each other for years, with friendships and activities well established-- socially, it can be hard to break into that.
So I think you might be happier if you just start out attending community college. That gives you the opportunity to catch up and fill in any educational gaps you might have and also to build up a stronger transcript to present to colleges when you are ready to transfer.
Thank you all. My parents read this thread and we talked it over and I’ve decided to attend our local CC. There are a few international students there, too, so it would be nice. I’ll do my best over there are hopefully things would work out later. Thank you all.
@shushu11 Depending on what state you are in, you might be able to enroll at the CC for free as a homeschool student. You would also be able to apply to college as a freshman, not a transfer student, and not miss out on freshman scholarships.