Switching High Schools Senior Year? (advice please!)

Parents Forum
1

Hi everyone! I was wondering if the parents of CC could give me some advice on this topic. Thank you so much in advance!

My Freshman year of high school, I went to a very prestigious boarding school. Based on my grades and EC, I was on track to getting into an Ivy League. However, due to mental health reasons, I didn’t finish the school year.

I’m currently on a medical Leave of Absence from the boarding school, and was a sophomore this year at my local public high school in the Pacific Northwest. While the school is a relatively good one, it is definitely not on the same level as my old one. Here, around 80% of students go to a four-year college and it is extremely hard to get into a top university (there was only 1 kid this year who is going to an Ivy League, in a school of 3000 students).

I am going to be staying at the local school for my junior year, but looking forwards, I’m considering going back to the boarding school for senior year. While I really prefer the boarding school over my current one, I am worried about how this transfer could affect my transcript, extracurriculars, recommendations, and how college admissions may view me.

At the moment, I have a 4.0 UW at my local high school, which runs on the IB curriculum. I’m planning on doing the IB diploma, so next year I will be taking several 2-year long HL sequences. However, the boarding school didn’t use AP/IB at all, and if I return, I will be disrupting some of the 2 year sequences.

Also, I’m worried about how my extracurriculars will look. At my school, I am a club-founder, am in several leadership positions at clubs around school, and am the CEO of a local small business (along with several other ECs that are not location-dependent). The boarding school has very competitive leadership queues, so if I were to switch I would not have any leadership positions anymore.

Additionally, while the teachers at my current school don’t really care as much about their students, I have built a positive relationship with my counselor and am anticipating close relationships with my teachers junior year as well. There is a possibility that I won’t have enough time to make a strong impression at boarding school.

And lastly, I don’t know how admissions committees would feel about me going to one school for freshman and senior year…maybe they would view it negatively? I’m just worried they’ll look down on me transferring again.

Sorry that was so long! Thank you for reading, I really appreciate it. I’ll also try to answer any additional questions that come up.

2

It sounds like you think attending that boarding school for the last year will give you an edge for Ivy admissions.

Those schools admit less than 10% of applicants. I would NOT count on the boarding school being your ticket in.

It sounds like you are doing VERY well at your current school. You didn’t complete the year at your boarding school.

My suggestion…stay where you are. Do the very best you can there…get great SAT or ACT scores. You have built positive relationships, grades, ECs, etc there. You will have great teachers to write your letters of recommendation. Don’t leave those positive things behind. They are important.

And lastly, plan to cast a broad net in terms of college applications.

3

Search on previous threads on this issue, but your premise BS will help with college admissions is very controversial.

4

BS can definitely provide an opportunity to shine but the fallacy is thinking it’s a golden ticket. That is multiplied exponentially if just attending senior year. You have to stand out in the pack. If you don’t do that, you are not better off.

OP won’t even have semester grades when applying. 80% of your HS going to a 4 year university is a good stat. Many HS don’t have 80% going to college.

Excel at the IB and apply to the portfolio of schools, reach, match, safety, and never fixate on one school as your only option.

5

@thumper1 @roethlisburger @Sportsman88 Thank you all for your advice! It’s been really helpful so far.

After rereading my post, I just wanted to clarify a couple of things. I apologize for leaving out some important details; I should make clear that I’m not sure if going to a BS would negatively or positively affect future admissions, if at all – I am definitely aware that just going to a BS doesn’t guarantee entry to any school, much less going back for only senior year.

I didn’t articulate it very well, but I guess my real question is how to balance out going to a school because I really like/miss it, and potentially hindering myself in the future.

(I also wanted to quickly say that I’m definitely not limiting myself to Ivies at all; I think there are plenty of good schools out there that may be a better fit. I just thought it would be a good comparison tool to show the matriculations for the two HS).

6

It’s fairly uncommon for high end private schools to take senior transfers. It is not going to help you at all for EA applications. 80% of students attending a 4 year college from a public school is actually pretty high. Transferring to another IB program would make more sense if you are dead set on a boarding school environment. You are not going to get good recommendations from BS teachers simply because they do not know you.

It is not surprising that only one student went to an Ivy last year. Almost no one from the west coast does, they focus on the west. You have one of the best universities in the country - UW - at in-state rates nearby and I would expect that your HS sends most of the better students there or to Oregon, or possibly to UBC or one of the UC schools.

7

Stay where you are. It sounds like you are doing well after a rough freshman year. You need stability. Why put yourself through another move/school change that seems likely to put you in a worse (not better) position for college admissions ? Also, you’d be putting yourself back into an environment where you had a mental health crisis. (Not sure if the problem was at all related to the environment) . That seems unwise.