New here, High School question....

Parents Forum
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<p>Let me start by saying that my oldest son is a freshman in high school, and I already feel like he is behind.
He did well, A's and B's in junior high, but nothing outstanding that put him accelerated courses or anything. We live in a very rural area with only 300+/- students in the entire high school. I think this is why he was not able to do the accelerated options, since we share with three other schools, and only 5-8 kids from any one school are admitted.
This year he has had Algebra 1, World History, Biology, Lit and Comp, Gym and Art. He has had all A's all year. He wants to go into engineering, specifically aerospace engineering. We have picked his classes for next year, and he will be taking Chemistry, Geometry, Algebra 2, Spanish, American History, and English. He feels that he is behind since he only had Algebra 1 this year, and not geometry, that is why he is taking both next year.
I think that his main problem is how small our school is. They do not have a variety of course offerings, either as electives, or within the core courses. For example, Junior year all kids take Brit Lit for English, because there is NO other option. Starting junior year we do have a program with our community college that will allow students to take up to 2 college classes as electives, each semester, paid for by the school. We do have AP classes in core curriculum, but one problem there is there is only one teacher in each core to teach it. For example, there is one teacher that teaches all advanced math. If you do not learn from that teachers style very well, you have no other option.</p>

<p>Because of the limitations of the school district I am considering selling my house at a loss, in order to go to another district that is larger, and has more options. It would be considered tier 2 or maybe a high tier 2. I am thinking that a larger school would give him the flexibility to take other classes, and also give him a less sheltered atmosphere.</p>

<p>I am also concerned that colleges will not look at his achievements as high because of the reputation, or lack there of, of his high school. Most of the kids from here go to community college, or trade school, if anything. He plays football, but does not excel, he also wrestles. He also will be an Eagle Scout. However, he does not have the option of being on a robotics team, or anything like that, because we do not have it.</p>

<p>Should I bite the financial loss, and move, or is his situation not as bad as I am thinking? Also, he is the first of 5, so this will be a reoccurring 'problem'.</p>

<p>Thanks for any thoughts!</p>

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<p>he’s fine!!! schools look at what school he went to… did he take the hardest options offered? if his school doesnt offer a zillion ap’s that is not his fault. The top schools ie ivy’s only take about 5% of the students that apply anyway… if you have 5 kids, you want him to get a great gpa and score well on act/sat and look for schools that offer merit money!!</p>

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<p>Going to a small school can be an advantage. </p>

<p>You say your son plays football but does not excel. At a large school, he wouldn’t even be on the team. At your school, he has that opportunity.</p>

<p>He may also have other opportunities that would not be available in a large school just because there is less competition.</p>

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<p>You might want to do a little research with the help of your guidance office. Where have students who have graduated from your high school interested in STEM fields gone to college in recent years? How have they fared in college? Does your son have older friends who have already navigated the high school course selection and college admissions process? Do you have friends who are parents of “math & science kids” from your son’s high school who are now in college or who now are working as engineers?</p>

<p>I live in a semi-rural part of NYS and my daughters attended a small high school with limited APs and electives. They did just fine with college admissions by taking the most challenging course load that was offered, and which they could handle. So did their friends, at least those who had academic ambitions. They also didn’t have a robotics team and couldn’t take AP physics or AP Calculus. It didn’t keep some of my daughter’s friends from getting into Cornell, RPI, Columbia, Johns Hopkins, Carnegie-Mellon, Northeastern, WPI and RIT. Unless you have some sort of obsession with getting your kids into HYPS I really don’t see why you should consider incurring financial distress in order to – maybe, perhaps, possibly – marginally increase your son’s attractiveness to certain college admissions offices.</p>

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<p>Also, moving might make your son look LESS attractive to colleges. He’s already in high school. He took Algebra 1 in ninth grade. He’s just starting a foreign language in 10th grade. In a supercharged school system, a kid with that background would be way behind the pack. But in his current school, he’s not.</p>

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<p>This is what I was thinking. If you move to a “better” school, he’s already behind in math. They may not even have Algebra 1 offered in 9th grade. It is definitely good that he is doubling up on math next year, as that is the only way he can possibly take Calc by senior year. </p>

<p>The other thing you will have to concentrate on is communicating to colleges yourself. If your school does not send a lot of kids to the schools you are considering, then you need to get on their radar. This is not as hard as it seems, but you have to be proactive. My S’s school sends close to 90% to college but many to directional state schools. We have had to get info to colleges about our district because often they only have 1 or 2 applicants every other year or so.</p>

<p>But I agree that he should concentrate on being a big fish in a small pond!</p>

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<p>Colleges will look to see if he took the hardest program that your high school offered. So, I agree that moving might push him down in stature. Taking classes at the local community college when those are available will help him. No need to panic.</p>

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<p>Rather than selling your house, look for opportunities for enrichment programs, in the summer if necessary. Many colleges offer summer programs for students interested in STEM majors, and getting him to one of those a summer might be enough of a bump to overcome any perceptions of him coming from a less advantaged high school. Google “summer STEM high school” for a start at finding these–and don’t worry about the fact that it may be too late for this year, lots of them are aimed at rising juniors and seniors. Sending him to a residential STEM summer program might be good for him also, in terms of figuring out whether he really wants to pursue engineering, and make up for the lack of a local robotics program. </p>

<p>Everyone else is right, the college will look at your son “in context”, and not penalize him (per se) for his high school’s shortcomings. Just as long as takes the most challenging classes his school offers and does well in them, he’ll be fine.</p>

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<p>Take a look at programs like Operation Catapult from Rose Hulman. I mention that rogram in particular becuase the school does a great job of making engineers out of Indiana rural school kids that haven’t had the opportunities of competitive high schools. Remember that with engineering schools there are a lot of great public schools and you need not break the bank to get a great education and steady job. </p>

<p>See if there are programs in your state for summer opportunities next year. If not, there are a lot of great competitive programs.</p>

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<p>I agree with everyone else: stay where you are and continue to have your son take full advantage of whatever is available through his school, including honors and AP classes. Doubling up in math this year is a great idea, since it will put him in a position to take calculus later. Look into enrichment opportunities, such as the intriguing program mentioned by MizzBee. You might also want to check into the possibility of accelerating by taking courses online.</p>

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<p>I also agree - your son will be fine! Try not to get too anxious - life takes too many twists and turns for us to plan things out too far in advance and too rigidly. Just have him take the best of what is offered and then do what the others suggested above. :)</p>

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<p>Don’t move -stay where you are ! As others have said ,a college won’t fault you because your HS doesn’t have lots to offer . BTW ,volunteering in a rest home or with Special Needs children would be great on his EC list .</p>

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<p>Can you imagine the kind of pressure that would put on your son? As Hudsonvalley said, students from tiny rural schools get in all sorts of places — I have family who went to Stanford and full ride at Carnegie Mellon and MIT, all from the same sort of tiny one-horse school. Pick something else to worry about ;)</p>

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<p>He can set himself apart by taking online enrichment and AP classes through well known, reputable programs such as EPGY, which is run by Stanford U.
In addition, you need to find out where the PSAT is given near you, especially if his HS does not offer it to Sophomores. It is a 1 hr test that is administered in Oct each year which designates the 15,000 seniors in the nation that are eligible for National Merit Scholarships. Make SURE he takes it as a Sophomore [ for practice] , so you can see what areas need work, AND then again as a JR, which is the one that COUNTS. If he exceeds your NMSF state cut off number- [usually its around 220-225, which translates into a score of 2200- 2250 out of 2400 on the SAT, but I dont know what state you are in] , he WILL get on the radar of lots of colleges, including many who offer partial and full tuition scholarships. Read these posts from other CC’ers who are so grateful discovered the importance of the PSAT in time. And even if the HS college counselor says that everyone takes the ACT instead of the SAT- make sure he takes the PSAT.
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/1331115-grateful-national-merit-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/1331115-grateful-national-merit-scholarships.html&lt;/a&gt;
Encourage him to read, read, read!</p>

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<p>I think people are too focused on what colleges will look at. OP should be more concerned if her son is sufficiently challenged in high school and whether he will be prepared for college. Even if he was a big fish in a small pound, and he was able to get into a top 20 schools, will he be able to keep up when he is in college. </p>

<p>I would have moved before my kids started middle school to make sure the school system was good. At this point, instead of selling your house at a lost and moving to a new school system, you may want to invest some money for some enrichment classes outside of school - pay for a tutor, take courses online or at a community college.</p>

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<p>There is nothing wrong with moving, we moved our child from a low income Mexican American elementary/ middle school environment to a large suburban style high school. It all depends on how your kid reacts to the change. If gets demoralized by the initial drop in grades, loss of old friends etc he may start hanging out with the wrong type of kids and not do well. On the other hand, if he digs deeper becomes more aware and decides to work harder he might do better. </p>

<p>The suburan high school he is attending had 4 kids accepted to Stanford, 2 to MIT, 2 to Harvard and 2 to Princeton, as well as several kids to other top schools this year. In contrast, the Hispanic high school he would have attended had 900 kids, none of whom made National Merit Semifinalists last year.</p>

<p>In 7th grade son took the SAT thru TIPs and scored 50 percentile on Math at the Hispanic school. When son moved to suburban high school, he studied hard but his grades were lower than he had ever scored in his life. However, when he started sophomore year, he took the PSAT and scored 173 (85 percentile). It was not a great score, but a definate improvement in rank over TIPs at the Hispanic Middle School. He continued to work hard, did better in class in Junior year and scored 219 on the NMSQT/ PSAT, which should get him National Merit Semifinalist. So, as far as I am concerned, the change in schools was the right thing for my child. I do not think there was any chance he would have been a semifinalist at the Hispanic schools. will it hurt his chances of getting into top colleges because his GPA was hurt and his class rank is lower than it would have been? Frankly, I don’t know and I don’t care. I know he has a better chance of getting thru engineering school now with scores in the top one percentile on the SAT (Also As in Physics and Computer Science) than 50 percentile on the SAT with a high GPA and class rank; and that is what really matters to me.</p>

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<p>I think sometimes high school education is more important than college. It is where our kids build their foundation for all the core curriculum. If I had to choose where to spend my educational money, it would be in high school rather than college.</p>

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<p>definitely have him study up for the PSAT (hit those practice books and study materials hard this summer) and make sure he takes it sophomore year as stated above for all the reasons stated above and yep, take the most vigorous courses his school offers and do well. The EC’s are important and you got many good suggestions there…</p>

<p>Good Luck - he should be fine!</p>

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<p>Note that algebra 1 in 9th grade is not “behind” by US standards (though it may be by the standards of some other countries). Such students take college freshman calculus as… college freshmen. Even in math-heavy majors, such students are not “behind”, although they may have less schedule flexibility than those who start college ahead in math by a semester or year.</p>

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<p>Thank you all for the thoughts and suggestions!
To answer a couple of points:
I am not so focused on him attending a tier 1 university necessarily. As Perrazziman said, I am most focused on him being well prepared for college, where ever that may be. Unfortunately, with so few of our graduates going on to anything other than community college, it is hard to gauge that preparedness. Also, he is my oldest child, so I don’t have a lot of knowledge of the older kids to really have the answers! His dream is to attend the Naval Academy, I do not think he has much to make him stand out, to make that a possibility.
I would have never thought to have him take the PSAT’s, we are in the mid-west and ACT seems to be the focus. Thank you for that suggestion.
I did a search, as suggested, on summer STEM programs, and found a lot of useful information for next year, so thank you!!</p>

<p>There are a lot of reasons to try to sell our house, all of which are pretty subjective (from our children having more kids to play with, to my husband having less commute time, to less grass to cut! Lol) I became a bit focused on the school issue while trying to come up with a non subjective, verifiable answer to stay or go. I think at the end of the day, if we stay, my son will be prepared, basically. Not prepared overwhelmingly.</p>