University Admission [after living a year abroad]

Applying to College
1

My son will be completing his 1 year (sophomore year) from American international school outside USA. Had to move out of country due to job duties.
And other 3 years from US public high school.

Will it matter while considering good universities like CMU, Rice, Brown, North Eastern, Chicago, Georgia tech, Virginia tech etc…

2

Lots of students move during high school. It likely becomes most difficult if it is between junior and senior year.

3

How is your kid doing? Is he OK? These moves can be disruptive and can have a negative impact on the wellbeing and emotional state of teens.

4

Pls feel free to PM me - we lived overseas and my DD22 applied to college from a competitive US HS in Asia and my DD24 and DD26 moved as a junior and freshman to boarding school (this yr)

There are def things to consider when moving to/from school overseas - so pls PM me and i can share my experience as well as experiences of friends who moved as late as 12th grade!

thanks!

1 Like
5

been there/ done that.

short answer is the fact of it won’t matter in itself

longer answer is that how he handles the transition (both directions) can make a difference:
-socially

  • academically: some things are taught in a different order in other places; in an American International School that should be less of a problem, but may be a factor. For example, one of the Collegekids was too late to get into the honors math stream when we arrived in the US, because the way they structured the math sequence was different than the system we were coming from.
    -ECs- coming in as a Junior makes it harder to get the higher leadership roles.

Unfortunately, there are so many applicants with multiple moves & international experience that it doesn’t even make a compelling essay - again in itself. It can be the root of a good essay, but there won’t be points for novelty!