Moving to Europe - impact of college admissions?

Agreed, but they still tend to know squat about state residency requirements for college tuition.

We moved to Germany when my DD was in 10th grade and my DD went to college in the USA.

Consider having your kids go to an International (English Speaking) School (if the company will pay for it)…when they are in HS make sure they can do an International Baccalaureate Diploma. That is well understood in the USA. My DD was able to graduate early because of all of the credits.

My DD took the SAT at her HS, and also took the ACT at US Army base an hour away.

The guidance counselors may not know alot about US Colleges, but you have CC.

When your child takes the PSAT they will be lumped in with the highest cutoff for NMS.

It is harder to visit colleges…we did one college visit tour over Junior Spring break. No admitted students day…but know problem.

It’s unlikely that many (perhaps any) school organised ECs will be available. Possibly there will be some if you can find a US high school in Sweden (I have no idea if such a thing exists). But this is a long way off for such small children.

A good mantra to keep repeating, really.

Right, plenty of families have done several relocations by the time they hit college applications. Plenty of families have lived on 3 continents over the elementary school years and still landed back in time for a solid high school setting and college application process.
The special needs issue is so much more relevant. Negotiating extra therapies might be more relevant if the family is otherwise subject to the local standards, (which may be better, or worse, that would be the thing to spend time researching). International or American schools based overseas might be private enough to not offer any special needs education.

I would try to find out if there is a coordinator for international moves at your husband’s company and see if he/she can provide you with more information about school options for a child on the spectrum. I know how difficult it must have been to receive good services from the NYC DOE (I work for them) and understand how concerned you must be.

Swedish schools are TERRIFIC for elementary school students. You’d have to inquire regarding accomodations for your special-needs kid - if your husband makes it a condition his company may help you find a school that’s good with that. Honestly, Sweden is a pretty cool country. You may even get a day off for moose hunting. :slight_smile: Education is very child-centered, I don’t think they even have grades until they’re 12 and some classes have up to three adults (the regular teacher, the reading-specialist teacher, and the teacher’s assistant). Many TV programs are in English and you should find plenty of support to help you make sure they keep up with English during the elementary school years, while they quickly become bilingual. (Really, the speed at which they learn will astound you). The general level of English skills is quite high - two instructors I know who worked in Swedish universities were astounded to find their Swedish students wrote better papers in English than their native-speaker American freshmen at a public, directional university.
Other upsides for adults: a more relaxed pace of life, the ability to travel very easily and rather cheaply, the singing clubs, discovering a new culture. Downsides: lack of light during the winter, the “thaw”, having to work on making sure your kids have equal skills in English and Swedish.

There’s another current thread about Scottish universities that you might find helpful, although I agree that this is a future concern. Swedish is a relatively easy (my opinion) language to acquire. The grammar [word order, etc.] is more akin to English than German is, for example. Stockholm is a lovely town. Lycka till!

That is a plus! And consider European universities as well. There are many highly ranked universities in Europe, and they are better and more cost effective than American universities in some important ways.

I found this article you might find of interest titled “Sweden’s Winning Formula For Special-Needs Education”

http://international.sueddeutsche.de/post/110332374240/swedens-winning-formula-for-special-needs

I’m skipping the entire thread to say that my family moved to England before I entered 8th grade, and I went to a British boarding school for two years. I would not trade that experience for anything.

Don’t waste a nanosecond worrying about college admissions. The experience will only be to your kids’ advantage in every possible way.

British boarding school is an incredibly privileged option though (on the company’s dollar). But for sure, the gist is good. It is easy to make a decision when there is such an obvious carrot and no caveats like special accommodations. British boarding school would be superior to most US public schools so it isn’t any hardship.

Do you have objective evidence that “British boarding school would be superior to most US public schools”? American boarding schools are hardly lame.

Hmm, GMT, I am unaware of US public boarding schools, outside of the penal or psychiatric type. Apples, etc.

What? You’ve never heard of Deerfield or Philips Exeter or Trinity or Horace Mann or Phillips Academy or … never mind. I’ll stop there. I think you’ve already demonstrated the value of your opinion. Sheesh.

From my cousin, whose kids have been raised in Sweden (oldest now in university, youngest in secondary school):

Really truly focus on the now: all of the college things will sort themselves out. Also, not knowing your son- and not being anything like an expert on Asperbergers- I would still suggest leaving open the possibility that the move will not be as traumatic as you are anticipating. Kids- even Aspergerers kids- can surprise you with how they process things, and sometimes a very big thing is actually easier to adjust to than a small thing.

And, piling on with the others, as one of those whose children had lived on 3 continents before high school and whose D1 applied to 8 colleges in 6 countries, there are definitely some down sides to living other places and some upsides. Overall though (not every day, of course) our kids feel that they were luckier than their cousins, who grew up in one place.


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What? You've never heard of Deerfield or Philips Exeter or Trinity or Horace Mann or Phillips Academy or ... never mind. I'll stop there. I think you've already demonstrated the value of your opinion. Sheesh.<<<<

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So wait, these are public schools? Seesh indeedy.

I heard the same nonsense back in 1966. It was assumed that I would be behind the other students.

In fact, I was one of the top students in my class.

Yes, I have no doubt that the British public schools–Eton, Harrow, et al–are superior to some large percentage of American public high schools, just as their equivalent in the US, the major prep schools–Exeter, Deerfield, St. Paul’s, Andover, et al–are similarly superior to some large percentage of American public high schools. (And British comprehensives.)

BUT, there were and still are many independent boarding schools in the UK, and they are not all Eton, to put it mildly.

@Alfonsia

Sorry, I misread your post. <>

I thought you were comparing British boarding schools to American boarding schools.

So, the point was meaningless to being with. Yawn.