graduate early??

Colleges & Universities California Institute of Technology
1

<p>Well, this is not really graduating early. My situation is kind of complex. I need help and advice~~ ><</p>

<p>Okay, my family moved to the states about one year ago. (Sep 2005) I finished my sophomore year in my high school in Taiwan before I moved. My counselor asked me to bring all my grades I have from Taiwan for credit, and that what I did, so I had two years of grades before I started my high school career in America. BUT, my counselor also suggested that I should stay in 10th grade for one more year, so I would have one more year to prepare for college and everything. I thought that’s a pretty good idea, so I started as a sophomore.
Now, two days ago, I went to the guidence and wanted to talk to my counselor about my next year’s schedule. She looked at my trancript and asked, “Why are you scheduling? Aren’t you a senior?”
…
I spent, like, ten minutes and explained all the stuff to her again and that SHE, in fact, was the one that suggested me to stay for another year. Then, my dear counselor, still looking confused, called the guidence secretary and asked her what she should do. (…) Then, after another five minutes, they came to a conclusion that 5 years of grades on a transcript is going to look really weird on a college application, so they would suggest me to graduate NOW.
I not really sure what I should do. Caltech is my first choice. I REALLY REALLY want to go to Caltech. But, looking at my stats now, even I know that I don’t have the smallest chance to get in. I have great passion for math and science (I know this sounds kind of cocky, because compare to people on CC I’m probably like a middle school kid. All I’m trying to say is that I like science and I want to be a scientist.), but the language took me some time to overcome (Im still not too good at English now. My SATs is around 2000, I think.), and plus I THOUGHT I would have another year to prepare myself…
I don’t know… I’m really not sure what to do. Is it really going to hurt if I have five years of grades on my transcript? (All the classes I took in Taiwan are graded “satisfied”.) Another thing is that my counselor doesn’t like me too much. I told her that maybe I can stay for another year and take classes at community college or something, and she was like “then why don’t you just graduate and be a college student?” Ahhhhh… This is really driving me crazy. Can anyone give me some advice? Thanks~</p>

2

<p>Hiya. </p>

<p>Five years in your situatioin wouldn’t look bad. The Taiwanese grades are kind of uninformative, as you point out, and three years of American high school would be very useful for many reasons (not least of which would be getting to know some teachers well so that they could write informative recommendations). Caltech and most other highly selective colleges are quite understanding about the special circumstances and complications that arise when people move from their native country at a relatively late age (i.e. high school age). What we care about is that you do everything you can to develop your mind and your passion, not some silly number like how many “official high school years” are on your transcript.</p>

<p>Now, to be fair, this is just me talking, but I’d bet currency that if you called our director of admissions (or any other top school’s) they’d say something very similar.</p>

<p>So, bottom line, I would recommend staying in high school for another year, learning as much as you can, and applying to Caltech next year. It would be kind of ridiculous for you to change all your plans now just because someone changed her mind on a whim.</p>

3

<p>It sounds like your counselor doesn’t know what she’s doing.</p>

4

<p>That too</p>

<p>.</p>

5

<p>Thanks for the advice. I guess I will stay for another year. The only thing left now is to tell my counselor on monday. hmm… what a pleasant thought.</p>

6

<p>To add, if it is possible, try to find another counselor you can see for the rest of high school. You do not want to have an incompetent counselor at such a critical time. Don’t be afraid of hurting her feelings, be firm.</p>

7

<p>Since you might very well be bored, you should also consider taking classes at a local college or university.</p>