Is there a downside to transfer at 12 grade

Parents Forum
1

Kid has high IQ, but in special ed and not doing “well” in school…they will give pass her with 2.9 to 3.0 GPA, but parent doubts the kid can study independently in college as the kid does not have the skill set…continue in the current is not helping her…

Parent is thinking to transfer the kid to a private school, but is there any down side for college application…for a kid to transfer to a new school?

Does anyone know whether there is any small class size private/public school in DE?

thanks

2

Can the kiddo do two years at the new school?

Also, your post sounds either hypothetical, or for someone else…if it’s for you, why not say “we are considering transferring our student to a different school for the upcoming year”. Just my opinion on this.

3

will repeating 11th grade be a problem? just thinking

4
  1. There are real downsides to transferring schools in 12th grade, from a college application perspective. It's hard to get teachers who know you well enough to write recommendations, and the guidance counselor has no idea who you are. It's difficult to show leadership in school-based ECs, because you are out of the queue. There are often real problems "translating" the courses and grades (and even requirements, if the systems are different) from one school to another. And you spend a lot of energy just fitting in and finding your place, at a time when it's important to show academic skills and to focus on college applications.

Whether any of that really matters depends on the school and on the kid and his or her ambitions.

My older child transferred schools at the beginning of 11th grade, and there was no doubt that the change affected her college applications in a negative way (although, at the end of the day, she wound up pretty much exactly where she belonged). The effect would have been far more negative if she hadn’t had a whole year at the new school under her belt before starting the application process. When she was a senior, various people at the new school, including the principal, were very aware how badly they had screwed her in the transition, and actually devoted meaningful effort to giving her a boost.

  1. If the money is available, it's pretty common at high-quality private schools for kids coming from other schools to take an extra post-graduate year, and not to apply to colleges until then.
5

The parents need to meet with the student’s IEP team, and consider delaying graduation. It looks like some services aren’t being provided appropriately, or that the student is not progressing appropriately. If the student is in a public school, he/she can stay there through age 21, so there is time. However, the parent has to be a lot pushier than it looks like the parent has been, and it may be necessary for the parent to flat-out lawyer-up.