not sure what to do

College Confidential Community
1

Ok. So I go to a small private school which announced it will be shutting down at the end of the year last week. I am a junior. They have made it so that us juniors are able to receive a diploma from them. So I now have a few options. 1) go to community college for a year, transfer and transfer over.
2) go to community college for a semester and do spring admission.
3) apply to a rolling admission school, like VCU, go there for a year, stay if I like it, transfer if i do not.
4) take a gap year, do a gap year program
5) take a gap semester and enter spring as a freshman
6) dont take the diploma, go to the local high school, (where I could most likely graduate early from if I wanted to but I dont see the point in doing this if I go)

So, my life has drastically changed in the past week, and I am unsure of what to do. Any advice?

I dont know if this is the right place to post this. sorry if it’s not.

2

btw I am from Virginia.

3

Do you already have SAT/ACT scores? Have you really taken all the courses you need to be prepared for college?

If you were my child, I would tell you to finish your senior year at the local HS.

Be sure to see if you can get some LORs though from teachers now.

4

If you like your local high school and think you’d do well there - it’s a good option. A year at your local community college could offer you some useful experience in learning the ins and outs of some aspects of college life (being in charge of registering for classes, buying books, managing your time…). Good luck.

5

Gosh I am sorry this happened to you. What a shock! Are they saying that all juniors are eligible to graduate? Interesting! My vote as a parent would also be to do senior year at another school. Otherwise you are kind of rushing into college (not your fault) without much search time, at all. Entering in spring doesn’t sound great, either, in terms of making those important freshman connections and finding activities and such.

6

The drawback to going to a community college is that you would then be a transfer student when you apply to college. I don’t know what schools you have in mind and how much your family is going to be able to pay for college. Transfer students usually come last in getting funding, which does not put you in a good place if you want money. This is for scholarships as well as financial aid.

If you take courses at your local high school , you have time to do a decent college search, take the Tests(SAT, ACT) apply to 4 year schools, financial aid, scholarships

7

Wow, that’s a tough situation! I’m sorry it’s hitting you and your cohort at this point in the year. These are big decisions and you’re smart to look for lots of perspectives.

Like most if the responses so far, I also think going to a local HS sounds best. All the other options force you to make really important decisions much too quickly, and some of those decisions could impact you far into the future.

One thing I will say is that this experience–the choices you make, how you deal with this surprise, and what you discover about your own strength and resilience–could make a terrific essay topic for your college applications. Good luck!

8

Could you homeschool senior year? You could go to the community college to finish up high school and then still be a freshman the following year.

ETA: I mean homeschool in name and legality only, not literally have your parents teach you. You could take two-three classes a semester and do all your school at the CC. You’d have time to take your standardized testing and complete your college apps on a standard schedule.

9

This happened to a school near me. I’m so sorry! I can’t imagine how terrible that would be; obviously, it’s a huge change and probably a big shock. To me, it seems like they should have told you earlier.

In our situation, a lot of the kids transferred to other private schools (it was a Catholic school, so they just went to others in the archdiocese). However, a LOT of them also came to my local public high school, and they’ve done just fine – they like the school, have friends, participate in activities, and are following a normal course schedule. Kids change schools senior year sometimes, whether due to a move or something like this. Senior year is fun; you don’t want to miss it! It’s also an important time for college apps, although I would second previous posters’ advice to get rec letters now (most of my teachers retired last year and I had to really scramble to get rec letters, which wasn’t ideal).

I would see if there’s another private or public school you like for senior year. If you act fast, most schools will let you tour for a day with a student (the choice of tour guides can be hit or miss, but it might make you more comfortable). If you’re looking for a more unusual option, you could be a foreign exchange student for a year or a semester. I even read a post here on CC about someone spending a gap year at a boarding school. However, my vote is for the local public!

Best of luck and good luck on your finals! :slight_smile:

10

thank you all for your suggestions.
@momofsenior1 I have taken the SAT once but was unhappy with my scores, so I am taking it again this Saturday.

@TS0104 Not all the Juniors are eligible, but yes, most are. the only credits we need for the classical diploma-28 credits ( versus advanced classical-32 credits) is 2 English ( because we are required to take 2 English classes a year) and a history. So the school will be giving us credit for the two English classes and 1 history we took in 8th grade ( my school is K -12) The only people not eligible are those who have not been here the whole time, and the international students have a slightly different diploma they have to get, so those who have been there for at least 2 years will be able to receive it. Also, for the international or the others who are not quite able to graduate early, some of the teachers have stepped up saying they would be willing to teach a course over the summer for them to receive a diploma.

@cptofthehouse Luckily for me, I have a large college savings account and will not have to worry about how to pay for college. And I have done some college search, I have a list of colleges I plan to apply to.

@Lynski :slight_smile: many of my friends have also said this would be good material for the essay.

@milgymfam I actually meant to put this on the list in my original post. I was already considering homeschool dual enrollment before they told us about early graduation. Right now, I think I like this option the best so I can still go to a four year as a freshman.

@SuperSenior19 I have looked at other private schools, most of the other ones near me are either too religious for me or the one that isn’t religious is double the price of my current school and quite snobby, id rather saves the money.

My parents are very against sending me to public school, my local one is known for drugs, a lot of teen pregnancy and many fights. My town is also known for having a heroin problem. I know that I could avoid most of this for the year I would be there, but my parents would rather I didn’t go there.

Classes I have taken so far
9th grade
math: geometry
language: Spanish 2 , latin 2
science: biology
history:world history
english: grammar/comp 9, world lit 9

elective: intro to Greek

10th grade
math: algebra 2
Language: Spanish 3 , latin 3
science: chemistry
history: APUSH
english: grammar/comp 10 , American lit 10
elective: studio art

11th grade
math: pre-cal,
language: latin 4,
science: DE environmental,
history: DE U.S gov.
english: AP Lang, lit 11
elective: yearbook, Computor programming

11

Don’t graduate, go to your Public HS, and take Calc, Physics, AP english, and whatever else you want.

12

If cost is not an issue, you can look into online and community college courses to get through the year. You need to look at what your stats schools require to get that high school diploma. Then it’s a matter of getting those SATs and ACT tests ready to submit. In fact, many colleges will take you as a junior in highschool if you have the courses and the test scores.

Applying as a transfer student from a Cc takes some weight off test scores as the primary driver for assessing a transfer student is their college transcript. With a great term or two at community college, transferring is definitely a good option for you. A good statement on why you want to get more extensive academics in a directed field would be a good bonus as to why you are transferring. But the college transcript would be all important.

13

thank you all for the wonderful help! Fortunately, it is looking like my school will indeed be open next year. they were able to raise the money to open for another year, whether they will be able to get enough money and students to stay open past that, I dont know, but after a week of confusion, distress, and a lot of emotion, especially anger from some, they announced yesterday they would stay open next year.