Should I switch high schools?

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

I’m going to be a junior in two weeks at a prestigious medical high school (top 1% in the nation), but I’m getting tired of it; it’s extremely far away, meaning I have to wake up at 5 AM and come home at 6 PM; there are barely any extracurricular activities; it’s pretty difficult and the work can get pretty overloading at times. Also, I’m not even sure if I want to pursue the medical field. My school also has a dress code and has people leaving every year, making it harder to have a high rank. My weighted GPA is a 4.3. The only thing keeping me from leaving is the school’s high ranking and the good friends that I have made.
The other high school is much closer to me (walking distance), yet it’s ranking is MUCH lower. This school has plenty of extracurriculars, no dress code, and gets off earlier than my school; I would have to wake up at 6:30 AM and I would get home by 2:30. I would have a better social life and also a better GPA, most likely giving me a better rank. My only concern is that I would moving from a nationally recognized high school to one that no one knows about, and I don’t know if that would affect college applications.

What do you guys think I should do?

2

I think that for college admissions GPA and your ranking in the school are more important than the ranking of your high school, and overall the quality of your life is more important than college admissions.

3

I think the closest hs sounds like the better option btw. MOST applicants come from not known high schools!

4

I agree with DadTwoGirls. By the way, IF you are going to make a move, do it NOW. It’s really inadvisable to change between Junior and Senior year because you will have issues getting teacher and guidance counselor recommendations.

5

Will it not look bad though if I switched halfway? Like it’ll look like I couldn’t take the rigor so I switched.

6

If anyone asks just say it was too far away from home and the commute was too time consuming. It is very unlikely that anyone will ask though. Many kids change high schools for many different reasons. No one is going to assume you couldn’t cut it.