I am currently a junior attending a nationally-ranked, very rigorous, private day school. I am considering some changes to my education, and would value some guidance from fellow CCers.
When I first began attending my school as a freshman, I had trouble adapting to the transition into private education. This “trouble” contributed to a series of poor grades, to which substantially decreased my cumulative GPA. For the past two years, however, I have managed to make Dean’s List every term, while maintaining mostly A’s and A-'s, with a few B+'s and B’s.
Because of my September birthday, I have always felt inadequate about being among the youngest people in my grade, and therefore “behind” my peers. This is why I have considered transferring from my current school into a public school, where I would repeat my junior year and take senior-level courses.
I was wondering if anyone has ever repeated a grade, for the sake of “getting ahead” of the curve. Would repeating junior year further make my freshman year grades become more obsolete, thus making myself a more desirable candidate in the college application process? Or, would transferring to a public school make myself blend more into the crowd?
I doubt that repeating a year for better grades would be viewed favorably. Generally if someone is held back because of a late birthday, it’s before they go to school or in elementary school. I’ve never heard of anyone repeating a grade in high school that wasn’t failing their classes. Transferring to a public school may be a positive transition, but only if you continue as a senior. Also, I don’t really view the September birthday as a valid excuse this late in your education. I have one too and I’ve never felt behind my classmates academically.
A) I don’t think repeating the junior year would make you any more competitive. Sure you would have more classes but colleges would also see that you had more time in school.
B) For most schools (e.g. not Princeton) you would be better off using that extra year to attend CC college and applying as a transfer student because your HS grades wouldn’t be factored (heavily) into admission.
There are programs online tailored to kids who need to repeat specific classes or a year of school. These classes normally called “Credit Recovery Classes” enable you to repeat a class to get a better grade, ex: A or B and skip lessons you already know. I would google these and discuss them with your parents.
It is unlikely that you will get to choose to enroll as a junior. The school you transfer to will evaluate your academic records, and they will determine how to place you. If you are unhappy where you are, and want to transfer out, you probably can do so right now, and be a junior at your hometown public school when the next semester starts in about two weeks.
My nephew had exactly the same issue. He repeated freshman year though after transferring to a different private school. The age issue is a factor he also used. I agree though, it may be too late. Unless, you could say the age thing, blah, blah, PLUS you are concerned with the difference in curiculum so you want to be sure you are placed correctly.