We have to move suddenly and my son will need to change schools immediately. This was unplanned. He has already applied to his colleges, but his projected courses for the rest of the year will change. How is best to handle this? How much will this affect his chance at admissions. He is a reasonably good student, and is applying to mostly moderately selective schools.
Is there possibility of nontraditional approach? Do you have friends in the area who can take your son for the rest of school year so he does not have to move?
Can you work with potential school ahead of move to guarantee that your son will have all necessary classes to match and graduate?
Is there a possibility to take community college classes for classes that do not have a match?
I would also speak with admission of all schools he is applying for an advice and suggestions.
I would say moving half way through senior year is not the best approach.
Be aware that different states have different graduation requirements.
Another very unorthodox approach: can he be homeschooled for the rest of the year?
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It can also matter if it is a different school in the same district, same state, or different state. Difficulty will be greater in the latter, due to greater differences in graduation requirements.
If he can stay with friends or relatives to finish at the current school, that is probably the least disruptive to his educational path.
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I would also say moving schools, teachers, friends for less than 6 months is very stressful. I would protect mental health of my kid as much as possible.
Unfortunately he does not have the option of staying at his current school. We are looking at private schools in another state.
Be mindful that if you are changing states, your student may lose their in state residency rate if he applied to instate universities.
I would think if the core courses will be similar, universities will be understanding. But if it means a drop in rigor or missing coursework, he may have more difficulty.
FWIW, I’m also in the camp of trying to figure out a way for him to finish out at his current school. We went through this when my D was a senior too - my H had to make a sudden job change many states away. I stayed back with my D so she could finish out her senior year.
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Certainly reach out to the guidance counselors at both high schools for advice. But I would have your son email each admissions officer (best done in writing) with a brief description of the situation and how it will impact his coursework, ECs, etc.
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Thank you. I appreciate the answer to my question.
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I don’t think that it’s going to affect acceptances, because his applications are already in, so they’re based upon his first 3 years of high school. He should reach out to each of his schools’ admissions offices, inform them of the emergency move and that there is nothing that he can do about it, and discuss with them whether it will affect his applications, and what they would expect of him for minimum credits for this year.
I’m very concerned that he will not be able to receive the appropriate credits for senior year, so that he will fulfill graduation requirements and entrance requirements. If there were any way that he could stay with a friend or relative just through the end of this semester, so that at least he’d have grades for the semester, and he’d only transfer to the next school for the last semester of high school, that would be better. How would a new school (or his old one) give him credit for this first semester of senior year, if he moves now, in the middle of the semester?
When you say that he doesn’t have the option of staying at his current school, even to just finish out the semester, has something happened that he is being asked to leave?
OP- hugs to you. This is stressful and I’m sure the college angle is only one of many things you need to deal with on the fly.
Most adcom’s have seen this situation before- parent gets transferred, parent gets deployed, a family tragedy, job loss, whatever. There are lots of things that disrupt a kids educational plan.
I agree with the above advice to email admissions at each college he’s applied to. State the facts- unavoidable transfer. Attach a one-pager which compares the senior year schedule to the new schedule (a really simple Word table with two columns showing “European History at current HS”, “Post WWII World History at new HS” with the compare/contrast made super clear. ) Make sure the current guidance counselor is on track to send transcripts and everything else to the new HS- you don’t want an administrative glitch to mess up his graduation. Verify what the new HS requires to graduate- a health class that your son hasn’t taken yet? Another semester of PE? It might be something dumb but HS’s get very bureaucratic if something is either a district requirement or a state mandate.
Good luck to you… it will be fine. They’ve all seen this show before even though there’s a TON of work falling on your shoulders managing a move mid-year.
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I do know someone who did this, I think it was earlier in the year- maybe sept/oct but was a voluntary switch due to deep unhappiness ( I think maybe some bullying) in any case, it was not a problem and he went on to college as planned. I think colleges will be understanding and can help guide on what steps need to be taken.
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Thanks - this is the other piece of it. My child has struggled with his school for a while - as parents we think the switch would be ultimately okay, even if not ideal given the circumstances.
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