Repeating 11th Grade for Boarding School

JustYourAverageGuy
Sat, 25 Jun 2022 22:03:26 +0000

Hi everyone! I’m a incoming 11th grader looking to go to a competitive university in the US.

For context, I’m an international student ( I’m neither American nor do I live in America), however I’ve always attended American (high) schools. I’m a straight-A student, and have lived in three countries before (in West Africa, the Caribbean, and Latin America).

I’m actually Latino, and just moved back home, the second semester of 10th grade after Covid hit and forced us to move. Unfortunately, there aren’t many American schools, and none that offer the IB program as well which my previous schools did. Suddenly, I find myself in a position with no APs because I was planning to take the IB program, and my school doesn’t offer many. I have to take courses online which are pretty expensive.

Again, for context, I will take the following APs/Adv. math courses next year:

AP Statistics

AP Physics C

AP English Lang

Multivariable Calculus

Linear Algebra

(Maybe Differential Equations, if I have any brainpower left I’ll take it the second semester of 11th).

I’m currently taking studying AP Calc BC with the help of the AoPS (online) course, and plan to take the exam as well next year. In 12th grade I’ll try to take AP Bio/Chem/Lit and Real/Complex Analysis, but nothing’s fixed.

Ok, so now onto boarding school.
My main problem is that as a Latino living in a country in Latin America, though I may be attending an American high school, I’m afraid colleges will have doubts about my abilities. I’m going to take the SAT this October/December (aiming for a 1530+) to help remedy this, but I’m afraid there will still be doubts. For this reason, I am considering applying to repeat 11th grade in a reputated BS. This would give me more credibility and also more time to take AP/adv. courses. This would also fix the problem of cost, since the boarding schools I am considering have good FA and I don’t think my parents can afford almost any of the APs I want to take. Keep in mind, I haven’t taken these courses yet, so I still don’t have APs in my pocket. Also, in terms of losing an entire year, I’ve skipped a grade so it would balance out. Do you guys think it’s worth it to apply to boarding school? Do you think it’s possible? I fear 11th grade admissions is even more competitive, and that I might also have a better chance being valedictorian for example in my average school as opposed to a a regular/good student in a highly competive BS.