Currently have a 9th and 11th grader attending a fantastic high school. We have been very pleased with the school and teaching staff. Both are excelling and the 11th grader is ranked #1 in the class. They came from a top 200 school in the US previously so the work here is actually a slower pace. The 11th grader was ranked 3/600 at the old school. The present school offers many AP/advanced courses…half the AP courses are only offered online and students work at a pc in the school. There are no local cc or universities so high school is the only option. The student profile sent to colleges does not differentiate that the courses are online nor does the transcript. The school profile says all AP’s are offered at the school
Problem, the math, science, art history, micro, macro and foreign language AP courses the upcoming senior needs are only online because very few students take these courses. Regular level is available but not an option. These are graduation requirements so it is AP or regular. Most take regular. What this means is Monday-Friday, all day will be spent sitting in front of a pc at school with the exception of a study hall and and one “in-person” elective.
So the child next year has the option of taking a full-schedule of online courses (no other schools in area) and has a strong shot at graduating 1/250 OR Making the hard decision to move this coming summer back to the original school in the US. This will mean a job change. The prior school does not do valedictorian but the rank should be competitive as all grades have been an A. I assume the ranking is top 5-10% based on historical gpa data. I am estimating the senior will be now 40/600 because there were no honors course available for 4 classes.
Parents, Appreciate your input and opinion. What would you do? I am leaning towards moving back to the US so a year is not lost with the online learning. How does this get explained to colleges? Will the transcript with the #1 ranking be taken into account when applying for colleges if we make the move starting in 12th? Senior is looking at Physics as a major.
I don’t know why you say in your first line that your kids attend a “fantastic high school”, being limited to all online courses doesn’t sound fantastic to me. What do your kids think? I wouldn’t worry about losing their rank. I’d worry about what they are learning and whether they are happy.
Are your concerns primarily focused around which school better positions your children for admission to super selective colleges? Or are you more concerned about your children continuing to be academically challenged while not having to sit in front of a PC taking online classes all day? What do your children think about staying vs. moving?
"Problem, the math, science, art history, micro, macro and foreign language AP courses the upcoming senior needs "?
Why does your kid need these classes? From what I have heard from numerous college visits, all schools only require that the kids take the most challenging curriculum available at their school. Also, they can always demonstrate proficiency in key courses (for example, math and physics) through SAT Subject tests.
I would not recommending pulling a kid out of school after 11th grade and making them do senior year online.
The school in question does not seem too “fantastic” if the school does not offer the more advanced courses except in the on-line format that you do not like.
What specific course options (i.e. what level of math, what science, what history or social studies, etc.) does the student have in the current school (both on-line and in-person)?
Being #1 in a class has advantages at a few (very few) schools that give Val’s a scholarship, but most schools look at the rigor and courses. Not every val gets into Harvard.
I’d rather spend a year at an interesting school, having fun, learning by interacting with friends than to go to school online even if it meant my class rank would be lower.
I am not sure I am understanding this correctly. Are you contemplating moving to a different continent because AP’s are only available on line in your current location, for your child’s final year of high school??
Thank you for your input. lots of things to consider.
@twoinanddone you took the words right out of my mouth. I cannot imagine this child being happy sitting 6 hours a day in a computer lab at school without interaction except lunchtime, clubs, varsity sport and one in-person class a day for the school year. I also think being #1 is not a guarantee and as I relayed, a new student might arrive second semester senior year with a stronger gpa…
Please can someone elaborate on which schools valedictorian receive a boost?
FWIW school offers @ 26 AP.
AP Lite courses in school with a teacher and more challenging ones via online provider next year. Child track to finish 18 AP before graduation (5 of which online in 12th).
My kid moved to an American International school when she was a senior. Few challenges she faced when it came to college application. Her school in the States were more rigorous than the international school, but the new school wouldn’t weight her honors courses (her old school didn’t do weighting), so she was disadvantaged when it came to GPA calculation. She had to get to know her new teachers and GC very well quickly in order to get good recommendations. She then had to get into ECs and get leadership positions. D2 graduated as Sal at her new school. I think she would have been a Val if they took all of her honors courses into consideration. D2 received awards from her new school (that’s important for college application), but I don’t think she would have if she were to move senior year. D2 didn’t advance in her studies at the new school because her old school was more rigorous. At the same time, the Val & Sal from her new school went to a top 5-10 schools in the States. The Val at her school was accepted to Harvard, Penn, Cornell and few others. She chose Penn over Harvard.
I think overall for college application purpose I wouldn’t move a student senior year for all the reasons I mentioned above. Even though your student will be taking APs in front of a PC, but he will still have friends to hang out with in between classes and after school.
I would encourage the student to take a few online AP courses and a few regular courses so that the entire day isn’t spent in front of a computer. You seem to be overly concerned with the number of AP courses and with rank. Being near the top of the class vs. at the top and having a dozen vs. 8 or 9 AP classes are unlikely to matter much. It isn’t clear how a student could get highly impressive ECs by moving to a new school for senior year.
Its JMHO but I would do what your daughters want to do. As a mom, I would want them to be taking classes with real human beings and getting involved in a high school in the U.S. and hopefully enjoying all it has to offer. I also think it would be a great transition to college or University life. But if my girls were happy at their current school and didn’t want to leave then I wouldn’t rock the boat. Good Luck!
Why not have your junior apply to college now? Your student seems academically qualified, it would save you from moving and most likely will turn out to be the most enriching academic experience. You might be be sacrificing the most competitive colleges, but maybe not. For this student, it’s probably better to focus on the top academics, which you most certainly can get.
Schools like Carnegie-Mellon, USC and Wellesley have programs and definitely admit juniors who have topped out their school. I think the prospect of having all of your classes online is a pretty good justification for doing that.
Alternatively, have you considered boarding school for senior year?
I think boarding school may be a good option. My company would have paid for D2’s boarding school, but she wanted to move with me, so my company paid for her schooling abroad at an American school.
Isn’t the option of moving going back to a school she’s already attended,where she would know some kids and teachers? That’s very different than going to an entirely new school.
I think you are overly focused on class rank. And number of AP’s. Elite college admissions is “holistic.” I really don’t think class rank matters much, at least not #1 versus #5, for instance. Unless you are going for a scholarship at a large public or other university that is for #1 or #2 in the class.
I would focus on the quality of your children’s experiences and not think about college admissions at all right now. If they have a quality experience, doing what they love and exploring interests, college choices will take care of themselves and they will end up where it is a good fit.
Honestly, even the quality of the school can be irrelevant: it is what they do with it.
My kids took some online classes during high school. Their school is small and unable to offer the kind of variety of classes that can be inspiring to teenagers. Some of the online classes were great, some not.
I think, for your kids, taking 3 online and the rest in class, regardless of whether the latter are AP, would be a good way to go. You can explain in a note to go with their transcripts that the school only has these AP classes online and your kids needed a healthier school day with some in-classroom courses.
What do your kids do outside of school? If you do want to focus on college admissions, in your decision-making, I think you are misinformed about what really matters. Think less about stats and rank and more about what your kids can contribute on a campus in terms of talents and interests. And make sure they have a chance to develop those outside of school if necessary.
Most of all, ask your kids, talk to them as I am sure you are, and make a choice that makes them the happiest. When the time comes, they can thrive at many colleges.
@twoinanddone Yes, attending a school that was previously attended 5-9th grade. Many friends there and the counselor is a former teacher. So it would end up being 2 years in one school and 2 in another school. Counselor next year will be new as one for each grade level. Headmaster is leaving at end of year so she will not be there next year to write on any senior’s behalf.
The dilemma is to stay #1/250 and do all online learning or to move and have all in person learning but conservatively be ranked #40/600 at graduation. The second school is ranked a top 200 school in the US. The current school is not ranked but the kiddos are very strong academically. Both schools send kids each year to the top schools. The standardized tests scores at both schools are identical.
Both kids want to stay because this year all learning is with a real teacher. Social butterfly child will not be happy sitting in front of a pc next year. Social child wants to take the AP classes…alternative is drama, debate, home economics and piano and they are unwilling!
All other aspects of the application are super strong: test scores, awards, three sports, part-time job, leadership, 400+ volunteer hours. Hook: URM, Champion Level in International Sport (started sport at age four).
I doubt colleges will treat being the top versus near top student as any kind of deal breaker. There are good reasons some HS’s do not rank. That top student may have taken a much less rigorous course load et al. I would never try to play the class rank game for college admissions. Instead I would look at things that matter. This includes a quality education and family life. You can figure out what quality means to you by comparing several pros and cons. Family life- is it worth uprooting the family, changing jobs etc just to game the college admissions system? I doubt it. What about friends and stability? Agree with posters who feel that HS isn’t fantastic- if it were there would be no change considered.
Your kid is who s/he is, regardless of the HS attended. You need to discuss pros and cons with your children, not us. It is their lives that count.
@wis75 Family, home that we own, older children in college are at the location of the former school. Thank you for putting it into perspective. Our contract here is only for two years…this is temporary and staying just to remain #1 seems silly. Staying means gaming rank. Moving back HOME means putting quality of education first. Rephrase: HS is fantastic 9th -11th grade
Glad to read that you are looking at the full picture, and not just the academics. Where do YOU want to be? You make it sound as though you will have no trouble getting a job at the U.S. school location? Is there a spouse/partner that has to find a job also?
My opinion is the college admissions game should be secondary to the other quality of family/life issues involved.
