The title says it all…this is my second year at attempting to transfer from my current boarding school to another one, especially those “top-tiered” ones like Choate and Lawrenceville, and I am a 10th grader applying to repeat 10th grade. So this will make me an reapplicant for Choate and several other schools. (Last year I applied for 10th as well and got waitlisted in all of them) Does re-applying change anything regarding my status as a candidate? I heard from friends that it is really hard to transfer because if your current school/teachers for some reason do not want you to leave, they will intentionally write bad recommendations for you in order to prevent you from leaving…is that true? Also, last year I applied as an international student while this year I am applying as a domestic student (I am not an US citizen but I am a permanent resident with a working address in US) So how will this (as well as my race, to which I heard is a factor that the admissions will put into consideration) affect my application?
Sorry if I threw in too many questions, I am just curious…
It is extremely hard to transfer from one school to another. May I ask what school you are currently attending? If you don’t want to disclose can you at least tell us how it compares to the schools you are applying to and why you are again trying to transfer? The politics make it very tough unless there is a compelling reason and the student and school are both cognizant
I’ve been to three schools in the past year, and it’s easy to transfer, just don’t expect to get into a better school than your last one. At least, that’s how it was in my situation. Stay where you are–it’ll be easier in the long run, unless your situation is absolutely deplorable and there’s no way out.
But trust me. It can always get worse. Be grateful for what you have.
My school is honestly not that bad, it is just that I completely screwed up my application on other schools while I was applying for my current school… I mean everyone around me were saying that I should end up at a better school. (Just an example: at my current school you are qualified for a scholarship if you got more than 2000 on SSAT while I am getting 2300s) There are other factors like family reasons, but yeah it is a pretty OK place to be in if I just want to spend my high school years REALLY relaxfully. Also it certainly does not have all the resources and the oppotunities offered at the schools I am applying to.
I met a family at our DD’s family weekend and they mentioned something about someone transferring to another school so it definitely does happen. It was certainly less academically-inclined but it could have been for a variety of reasons.
I have also known of kids transferring schools; it definitely happens for various reasons. A freshman from my daughter’s school transferred into Deerfield (entered as sophomore) for this year (2016/2017). One of her siblings was already attending there, and part was academic. There are few new kids at my daughter’s school that are from other prep schools. I don’t think it changes your status.
In the situations that I have seen, there is often a compelling reason. It can be a medical reason that requires being closer to home, that a truly extraordinary athlete/musician needs to be near a particular coach or in an environment that allows flexibility for training. I can see how having siblings together could be such a reason. In the end, though, the best reasons are ones that both the school “releasing” the student and the one “accepting” them can feel are legitimate. The one you cite above doesn’t really feel like one of those.
Do you think that a school may suggest that a student attend a BS freshman year to improve their academic profile and then re-apply? I just wonder…especially the example of a student moving to a school where they already have a sibling.
Most schools try to keep sibs together if possible. At a base level, development likes it. But it often helps foster a community /family feeling as well. Families that have kids in different schools often find breaks to be a challenge. I don’t know if a school would recommend that a student take a year somewhere else before reapplying, but I would guess that they would look harder at someone applying a second time. I don’t know anyone in this position so am only speculating
If a student has a compelling reason that both the releazing and possibly accepting schools can feel legitimate, and then the student is not accepted by the hope-to-be-accepted school, what then? Does the student continue at the current school regardless of the compelling reason, or does the student go home and study at a local school?
