Should I move? LOTS of questions. Please help me.

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

<p>Hey everyone, I have a big question to ask. It's both an academic and life-changing decision, imo. </p>

<p>Well, my dad finally got a new, well-paying job after he got laid off almost a year ago last winter, in the heart of San Francisco. However, my parents didn't want my sister to go to an SF high school and risk making her upset over leaving during her senior year. Before, we had moved to Ohio from Southern California about 6 or so years ago when I was in the 4th grade, and my oldest sister had to move to Ohio in between her summer before Senior year, which made her incredibly mad, and kind of ruined her motivation to do well in high school. </p>

<p>Currently my dad lives alone in SF, and my mom and I will be left alone for two years if I stay here in Ohio. Now that she will be graduating, and going onto Indiana U (Kelley), my parents and I have realized that I will only be a junior going to high school next year. My mother and I have been debating whether or not it will be worth it to move.</p>

<p>Now here are my current stats... they are nothing to brag about. :(
GPA: 3.3 Unweighted; 3.8-3.9 Weighted
Courses:
-Honors: Biology, Chemistry, Geometry, Algebra II, English
-Regular: String Orchestra (x2), Comm. Tech, World History, Health, PE.
-AP: American History (only one is possible for sophomore year... none are given for frosh)
Extracurriculars:
-Have played cello for 11 years
-Made Regional Orchestra this year
-Played in church music group as a cellist
-Well-known youth orchestra for two years
-Beginning volunteer hours for local library
-Wrestling since freshman year... hoping to go varsity next year
Test Scores:
-Planning to take the ACT on June 13...taking review courses
-PSAT and PLAN sucked, but it was mainly because I am a slow test-taker and I didn't prepare, had bad sleep the previous night. Sorry for the execuses</p>

<p>GOALS:
-Work up to at least a 3.7-3.8 UW GPA
-Do more community service
-Get a decent ACT and SAT score
-Make Varsity</p>

<p>Here are my questions:
Has anyone moved into another school district, or city in their high school?
Will it ruin my chances for getting teacher recommendations?
Is it too late to bring up my GPA to a 3.8-3.9 as a Junior next year?
Do you think the move will impact my GPA for the Junior year?
Will moving to California GREATLY help my chances for admission to a UC?
Is San Francisco worth moving to?
How are the public schools in San Francisco? Any good ones I should think about? Are they difficult?
Would you move in my scenario?</p>

<p>I am on the fence about this move... I do want to go to a UC like Santa Barbara, Davis, or Riverside, but the thing is that I know that being OOS will hurt my chances of going from Ohio to California. The cost is also a bit more expensive if I go to a Californian school. I'm not super excited about Ohio State or Miami University either, as I don't like Ohio at all, in fact I've hated it for the six years I've been here.</p>

<p>I hate blaming people, but it seems like my friends don't give a crap about school work. Just the overall mentality was something I wasn't used to. I do blame myself for the crappy grades I have so far because I never gave effort in my classes which didn't seem challenging until they started slipping because I napped in class all the time. I know. I was stupid in freshman year. I've been a B to a B+ student so far, but I'm really trying to become an A student. </p>

<p>Please help me!!
Thank you!</p>

2

<p>There are plenty of good schools here in the city - transfer admissions, however, can be really, really hard for the public schools. You’d have to look into it more, but try Lowell (I don’t know if your grades are good enough, though) School of the Arts (could be really possible considering your music stuff), Gateway, Washington…any chance you might be able to look at private/parochial? </p>

<p>And yes, living in California <em>greatly</em> increases chance for the UCs.</p>

3

<p>I don’t think I’ll go into music… just don’t have enough passion to want to do it as a career. Minor, maybe. If I did music, I’d probably try Oberlin, CIM, and CCM first.</p>

4

<p>One of my best friends is moving to California before his senior year. That’s a move from one coast to the other on the last (and presumably best) year of high school. It really sucks.</p>

5

<p>You dont have to live in San Francisco, you could live in a nearby city so you wont have to go to an SF school, A lot of my friend’s parents work in SF but we live about 45 min. away and take the BART(the subway). ^like californiadancer said, theres Lowell, theres Gunn, Cupertino High, Monta Vista, Palo Alto High, some schools in Berkeley, those are some of the better public schools that I know of that are near.</p>

<p>Yes, residing in CA will definitely increase your chances of getting into a UC.
Your move from your current school to a california school might impact your GPA, i dont know which way though. Your GPAs not horrible! You took a lot of honors classes, right, like you listed. </p>

<p>Its not to late to raise your GPA! :] Right now im a junior, and this year gave me a huge opputunity to take mor challenging classes and whatnot. You still have half your high school career to make things better!</p>

6

<p>Hey thanks for the new replies!</p>

<p>Yeah they aren’t that bad I suppose. I should really stop comparing myself to others. I was really bummed out to hear that I wasn’t selected to go into this Top 50 leadership assembly. It wasn’t the assembly, it was finding out that I wasn’t in the top 50. I have some reasons why they are doing better than me in GPA, but I should probably stop worrying so much. </p>

<p>einnob, you make moving back to California sound so great! Ugh… I’ll have to go talk with my parents about this tomorrow. I just don’t think it’s economical (and I’m sure my dad agrees), to have our family separated in two different coasts. The rent on apartments are so expensive! But then again, I’m not so sure if moving to leave friends would be a good idea. </p>

<p>I’m really stuck on this. Would you guys move in my case? I’m almost certain that California schooling is better than Cincinnati Public School’s education, but I’m just afraid that I’ll be overwhelmed by how far behind I may become once I move.</p>

7

<p>I was kind of in your boat. I moved this year (my junior year) from a crappy no-name public school to a nationally recognized one across the country. I was reluctant at first, but when you think about it, the benefits greatly overshadow the doubts, especially since you’re not planning on staying in Ohio. </p>

<p>Sure, you will leave your friends behind, but you are going to have to say goodbye to them before college anyway; why not just speed up the process by 2 years? And also, can you think of someone from your school who moved away? Do people still talk about him/her and communicate with him/her because they miss him/her? Probably not. The sad truth is that when you move away, your friends will move on without you, and chances are, you will make new friends too. The longer you’ve been away, the less you will want to go back, especially since you’re moving to an awesome place. But in today’s world, with email and Facebook and etc, it is especially easy to stay in touch with old friends. Hop a plane back to Ohio if you feel the need, even. </p>

<p>Also, if you can pull your stuff together AFTER moving, that will be a big plus to colleges, because it will show your ability to adapt to new places. It will show that no matter where you are, you take advantage of the resources offered and do your best.</p>

8

<p>I’ve moved a couple of times to different countries, so I guess I have it pretty radical. lol. I moved in my sophomore year from a tiny 20-ppl-per-grade school to a school that’s 10 times that size. It opened new doors, and I’m glad I moved.
Wellllllll I’ll just answer the questions you put in the beginning…</p>

<p>If you can push yourself to adapt, speak up in class, suck up(sad, but it’s true) and be generally out there, I think you would be able to get a good recommendation, especially from your counselor. They love it when students show that you’ve adapted to a new environment.</p>

<p>I don’t think it’s too late to boost your GPA if you want it enough. It all comes down to motivation. It can be hard at first in a new environment, but sometimes that new environment can push you to do better. That’s how it was for me personally; I actually ended up doing better after I moved.</p>

<p>No idea about the state of schools in CA, sorry. (I used to live there though… sigh)</p>

<p>I think that this year (moving in start of junior year) is the absolute last year to move. If you’re the person that’s out there, then you can do pretty good in terms of finding new friends, getting to know the school& teachers, etc. Thank god for internet, because it can help you connect with your friends a lot from back home. Also, I think it’s important to be together with your family for as long as you can, because you’ll be going to college in 2 more years! I think you should stick together with your dad as well as your mom. However, if you really value your friends and feel that moving will make you anxious, then maybe it’s better to stay where you are. </p>

<p>hope it helped!</p>

9

<p>Wow! I never thought of it that way. I guess doing well after a move does help on a college resume, thanks for that input! I suppose I’m ready for a move then. The only thing that would hinder this is that it’s going to be really hard to sell our house until we give it another renovation, and the market for selling houses is really difficult even if we did make it look new.</p>

<p>But otherwise, I think I am ready for a move. I just don’t like how my mother and I will be alone for awhile until my dad gets his big stock option which will possibly allow us to be back with each other again. Until then, I’ll have to focus on my grades and test scores, lol. I really appreciate everyone’s replies, they really do help. </p>

<p>Thank you!</p>