<p>Are any of those courses offered in the summer? I know it would be nicer to graduate in May or June, but it might make more sense to lighten your load. Nine sounds like way too many courses to take. (It wouldn’t even be possible in our school.)</p>
<p>Many community colleges in our state have dual enrollment programs, where you take classes at the CC, and get credit for both high school and college. You can graduate while also doing a first year of credits that is transferable.</p>
<p>Other colleges and universities will let you take classes. In some states, once you finish a first year’s worth of college, you get both college credit and an automatic h.s. diploma.</p>
<p>You could also finish online. PM me if you are interested. We are using an online diploma program that is very academically satisfying, for one of our kids who is involved in the performing arts.</p>
<p>You can also homeschool and keep a portfolio for your last year, taking classes and doing activities that interest you.</p>
<p>As for extracurriculars, I think doing them outside of school can be better than trying to “get in the queue” at a new public school. Is there a community theater group where you live, or within commuting distance? Can you write a column for a local newspaper? Volunteer somewhere related to your interests?</p>
<p>It is ridiculous to go from such a rigorous private to a less rigorous public, and still have to take 9 courses! Is there any chance for more flexibility? We have a principal who converted our daughter’s dance to PE credits for 4 years, and our family has always requested exemption from health, which anyone is legally entitled to do, if they feel they prefer to handle it privately.</p>
<p>Finally, and most importantly, you have the right to write any admissions office a letter, yourself, explaining what happened and why, including all particulars that you described here, and what you did in response. Your ability to negotiate this “obstacle” in your life - how you handle it - is far more important than any of the factors that you are worrying about. Some Ivies have “overcoming obstacles” as their #1 criteria.</p>
<p>Many people have serious obstacles in their lives, including health issues, family violence, extreme poverty. Keep some perspective ( I intend this gently). This is painful but not catastrophic. Make it work. Also, I would personally not want to even go to a college if this was a factor in admissions. Any college with an admissions staff that looks at kids with any depth at all won’t be thrown by this at all.</p>
<p>This could be an exciting year for you. Our family is trying to put something together for one of our kids, who finished her junior year of high school in June. There are a lot of possible paths, but being penalized for a move that is not your fault, and overloaded with classwork, does not sound like the best way to finish up high school.</p>
<p>I second the recommendation to have your GC at the private school write a college recommendation letter and mail a transcript. The GPA and rank considered in college admissions are the ones at the end of your junior year. The senior midyear grades are submitted to confirm the prior impression of high achievement within a rigorous course load. Since all of your academic work through junior year was done in your former school, your GPA/rank/course selection should be presented in the context of your private school. Your former GC would be the most credible source of this verification (not you public school GC)–make sure he or she mails your private school’s profile and any grade weighting and grade distributions statistics, as well as the course offerings at your school. Since some privates actually offer fewer opportunities for AP, or consider all of their courses to be honors level, your courses through junior year should be examined in that context, not that of your public school’s courses. This is especially important because you think target colleges are not that familiar with your private school. </p>
<p>Make sure the recommendation and transcript from the old school are put in your college application files at the new school. But, DO NOT assume the public GC will handle any explanation of the differences between the two schools, or remember to include the old school’s profile etc. with your transcript mailings. They may simply merge your grades from your old school onto the public school’s transcript with little explanation, which would diminish your accomplishments. </p>
<p>Be prepared–there is typically a vast difference between the GC services in a private school like your old one and a public school. Public school counselors handle many more students, are not as expert in or focused on college admissions, and are often working heavily with special needs students, at risk kids, etc. Rely as much as you are able on your old school’s counselor. You might want to get your applications out early just in case documents get lost in the shuffle–check that everything each school mails is received by the admissions offices. Hopefully your old school is cooperative. Good luck!</p>
<p>Public schools generally do offer “Running Start” and similar options to allow dual enrollment in HS & college/community college so you can get credit for both. I agree that 9 courses sounds unreasonable. I would say make an appointment NOW to see the counselor at new school at the earliest possible moment, with or without your folks. You need to figure out how to work with them so you can graduate while having a managable courseload, considering any programs available that will help you do that. </p>
<p>There are truly many paths that work and will help you but you will likely have to be the “squeaky wheel” or will just be given roadblocks. You might call the community college and or public U near you & ask them if they have any agreements with new HS as well. Best to ask now so you have as thorough as possible an understanding BEFORE school starts as changes are MUCH easier to make now than once the school year gets underway & there are many other students competing for attention & changes.</p>
<p>You will have to get your reccomendations from teachers at your old school, so pick out two or three and talk to them ASAP. They’ve known you and your work erhic/accomplishments longer so colleges will take what they have to say more seriously. Also ask mentors/advisors to groups you were active in if they would be willing to write up a page stating your efforts in the groups, levels of participation, etc. The administration or guidance counselors should have something drawn up which explains the courses you have taken, the difficulty factor, etc- you get the picture. In other words, most of what you will need has to come from the “old” school; just keep your grades up and you’ll be fine. You do have a large course load at your new school, which leads me to wonder if all of the courses you have taken will, indeed, transfer? Sometimes, the esoteric offerings of “modern. progressive” institutions are only good if they are judged along some other " standard" so that evaluators have something to go by. Is there and chance that you could take a course or two in-line and work at your own pace, thereby taking some of the stress off of you? I’m thinking of classes like heath,etc? It’s really a shame that your school left you hanging so that it was too late for you to have made good use of summer school to complete needed gaps in your course work. It was awful for the school to have cut you loose, so to speak, in your senior year and the administration there should be ashamed of themselves for putting the almighty dollar in front of the needs of a student like yourself. One thing is for sure- you will have a terrific topic for your college essays! You show maturity and wisdom far beyond that of the adults who have placed you in this situation, and I admire your determiniation (and sense of humor!!).</p>
<p>That really sucks. I faced a similar situation (transferred from a top private that got at least 40% into top LACs and Ivies) to the local public. And I have the EXACT same problem with my weighted GPA. definitely try and get a letter of recommendation explaining the situation from your private school (I’m probably going to try and get one from the head cuz I had a really good relationship with her)
I didn’t know counselors could separate the two gpas (mine certainly wont) but if you’re having trouble fulfilling the local requirements online classers are a great option. i’ve taken one so far and will be taking another in the fall. I’m not sure about your area but I know my county offers APs online</p>
<p>Oh and I have to take 8 courses next year. All except one is AP/IB and I’ve talked to couple other students who’ve been through this. Its probably going to be a ***** but its definitely doable. Honestly I found I had considerably less work at the public school, even with more classes so it shouldn’t be that painful. Ask me again second semester and I might have a different answer haha.</p>
<p>Well considering that different schools have different levels of difficulty, I don’t think it would be unreasonable to the OP to ask that her old school’s GPA be completely independent of her new school’s GPA. I talked to my GC about it and she understood my concern. Now on my transcript, there is one GPA for my private school, and another GPA for my public school.</p>
<p>thats awesome. i wish my counselor would do that. its such a logical solution</p>
<p>well have you asked? asking never hurts.</p>
<p>yeah I’ve tried pretty much everything. he said he’ll explain my gpa in the rec but that other than that he couldnt do anything</p>
<p>Having to change schools Senior year for financial reasons is a very appealing story. Better than continuing on automatic, in college admissions, IMO.
Remember that admissions folks like to feel good about themselves when they get the chance. After all, the financial aid money does not come out of their personal pockets. A freebie for them, and lucky for you. Except for the anxiety for you and your family in the meantime.</p>
<p>@ fruitloops</p>
<p>I think that I am in a similar boat as you. I have spent the last three years at a local public school. My parents did something stupid and got me kicked out (not technically expelled) for not following the residency requirements. Maybe I cannot compare to a private school education, but my high school was extremely competitive, where my 3.8 GPA is in the top handful or so and it offered me a much more rigorous course load. So, I’m really worried about that. I’m going to take the advice on getting a rec/transcript from the old school. I definitely agree that I’m going to miss my leadership positions the most. I was captain of two teams, one made 2nd in state and the other, 2nd at nationals. I really loved those teams, and it will definitely suck to miss out on that glory of winning, if it happens. I do feel a little worried about colleges seeing that I held no leadership, but I will try to explain in the apps.</p>
<p>I think that you are lucky in that you will know where you are going to school next year. My parents want to send me out-of-state in hopes of getting me in-state tuition somewhere. They really dislike the public school I should be attending for reasons that I don’t really understand b/c they lack any real knowledge of the school to begin with. It makes more sense to me, even though it will still be difficult. And yet… my parents are still trying to make me go back to the school I got kicked out of, but I don’t think that is the right choice.</p>
<p>Shoebox- I feel for you- that’s more than any kid should have to deal with. But, even if you do have to attend a different school for the last year, make sure you contact 2-3 teachers from your old school and ask them to write your reccomendation letters. They know you better and the letters should definitely come from them. Also, you should really ask your Guidance Counselor from there to write you a letter also. We have had problems in this area with kids being asked to leave schools because they don’t really “live” in the district, and also, the parents are being jailed. If that’s what happened to you, your parents are lucky and should not try to force the issue and have you go back to the school- unless they have moved and established true residency, you know the school isn’t going to permit you to register, so your parents have to face facts. For heaven’s sake, don’t let them do something similar for college, which it sounds as if they are. You have more common sense and will be just fine. Don’t worry about the leadership positions- you held them in your junior year, and that’s what the colleges will see. As for explanations, you have a built in topic for your college essays. Stay strong, do the right thing, which you are, and look ahead. Your parents made the mistakes, you know right from wrong, so start getting your paperwork in order and work on those applications.
PS- if your parents are trying to send you to live with a relative in another state in order to qualify for “in-state” tutition for college, be aware that they may have to sign over legal guardianship of you to the relative, which means that A)your parents can’t claim you as a deduction on their taxes B) Health insurance will be a problem and C) you will need to be careful about applying for financial aid for college since whom you live with and who is financially responsible for you will become an issue. The relatives need to be filled in on all of this too.</p>