I attended two very different High Schools!

Applying to College
1

I attended two very different high schools, one for freshman and sophomore year, and another for junior and senior (currently a rising senior).

The school I attended during F/S was a small private American school in London, England. It was extremely competitive and around 10%+ of kids went to ivy’s, and 80%+ went to top 40 schools. The curriculum is based off a normal US school, so there is no problem differentiating class wise. (I attended because my father’s job took my family to Europe for 2 years.)

For J/S I attended a large public school in the ultra competitive Fairfax County in Northern Virginia. The class size is much larger here and kids don’t go to as competitive schools but it is still a very competitive area.

My GPA F/S was 3.7 UW (they didn’t do weighted grades), and my GPA Junior year was 3.85 UW/4.6 W. I took the most rigorous classes available, I’ll be doing the same senior year and I expect to get A’s with a few A-'s then as well.

My E/C’s are very split as I was new to the school in London, and then again new to the school in Fairfax county.

Will colleges understand that it’s harder to get involved around the community if you’re new to an area? Also, how does my international experience living abroad and visiting various different countries affect my general chances?

(I’m just generally unsure about my situation, comments about anything are appreciated!)

2

Sounds like an excellent topic for your essay – which would explain your situation and show how you’ve dealt with it. And yes, colleges understand that a major move/school change will affect your ECs.

Your international experience living abroad won’t have much of an impact on your chances at the most selective schools. Lots of students have that experience, and in the end what counts is how you stack up against the (very many) qualified candidates competing with you for the same spot.

It may make your application stand out a little bit at the non-Ivy-caliber schools.

3

Don’t worry. They’ll see where you attended and extrapolate the rest. Even with the twist of differing countries, switching to a school that differs in size, opportunities, and rigor from your original school is more common than you think. I agree with katliamom – it could be a good essay topic for you!