I posted this in the parents forum, but i am posting this on the admissions forum hoping other ppl might see it… sorry for this cross-post.
I am currently a junior in an American system high school outside the U.S. I transferred to this school at the end of my sophomore year from Japan. The most rigorous course offered at my school is the IB diploma. My counselor thought that I did not have the potential to do full IB when I was choosing my junior year courses. I really wanted to do the diploma, but she would not let me- she thought that my English was not good enough to do it. She also thought I wouldnt be able to do it because I skipped most of my sophomore year (the Japanese school system is different, so I literally skipped my sophomore year because of the difference) Therefore, I am currently not doing the IB diploma.
During the first semester, I found my courses were not challenging enough for me. I was taking 4 IB subjects and got straight A` s in all of them. I wanted to do the full IB at that time again, but my counselor did not give me permission. Thus, I changed into math and physics HL. Because I changed near the end of the semester, my grades were very bad. (a B in math and a C in physics.)
I am currently taking 5 Higher Level subjects. This is probably the second most rigorous course offered at my school…
I heard the IB diploma can make a difference of acceptance or rejection in the college admissions process, especially in the most selective colleges. I really regret not doing the full IB diploma.
Therefore, I am thinking of repeating 11th grade and doing the full IB OR transferring to a British system school and doing the A-Levels.
How do you think this will affect me when applying to colleges? Is it a bad idea? Should I just forget it and go on with my current schedule? Will colleges understand that I didnt do the most rigorous courses offered at my school because of my circumstances? (skipping a grade/ transferring) Is it worth repeating?
Thanks to everyone who replied.