There’s a chance we go abroad for DC25’s senior year. We have a zoom on Monday with a school and family about to arrive for S24’s graduation so I’d love help getting all my questions together in case I am missing anything.
Little bit of background, sought out international schools in London that do not require IB diploma. Child has no love lost for current school, even if we stay we may change. At a pressure cooker and not working for physical or emotional health. Strong test scores without preparation and mid-gpa that is low compared to peers as it is top heavy school with no easy A’s.
I see child at a SLAC or arts school for college, won’t be gunning for T25 etc. so we don’t care about her losing her leadership positions or continuity in extracurriculars. Any things to consider for our meeting beyond the usual considering it is an international move during senior year?
Budget for college? I’d start there.
If your own state U has a program that will work for your D, I’d make sure that she’s going to complete the requirements for that specific U.
Second is the calendar- presuming that you won’t be able to make visits next year, try to squeeze in a few visits NOW before you leave the US. It will be hard for your D to envision a school 4,000 miles away unless she has a basis for comparison, i.e. “Connecticut College is kinda/sorta like Vassar and Skidmore- beautiful campus on the CT coastline”. That only works if she’s already seen a similar school.
Good luck! Sounds like a fantastic adventure…
However, loss of state residency for admission and tuition purposes could be an issue.
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I don’t think there is any state which is going to withdraw residency when the family moves for a clearly temporary year abroad. Presumably the parents aren’t applying for citizenship, serving in the armed forces of a foreign country, selling their home, or not paying their property and income taxes to where they are domiciled!
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Correct, no plans to sell home and own a business operating in the state. Would only be for their school year which I need to check-on to see how much it differs.
Great thought on tours prior.
Check the rules of the state’s public universities. They may require the student and/or parent to physically live in the state for the year before state residency determination is made.
In addition, doing 12th grade out-of-state/country and graduating high school there would lose any possibility of getting state residency through graduating high school in the state after sufficient time living or attending high school in the state, if your state has such provisions.
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A lot of public universities will only consider the student to be an ‘in state resident’ for tuition purposes if the student graduated from a high school in that state. So something to keep in mind.
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Maybe consider anything you might need from current school - letters of rec, help from college counselor if they are good, etc. Will be busy and stressful to start new school even if in same city while doing applications.
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Most of these schools in London (like ASL, etc) are used to a very transient community, so I don’t think you’ll have too many issues applying to college with a recent move. Students come an go regularly as a result of family moves.
You should reach out to them now about anything they recommend you get from your current school (like a rec from a favorite teacher, etc.) as they’ve no doubt seen it all!
Also agree that a round of tours stateside this summer could be helpful in visualizing options.
GL with the move!
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And that you retain instate status for tuition purposes. Living abroad for senior year…your student might not have instate status anywhere in the states.
ETA, I think this is a wonderful opportunity for your daughter!
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I would get teachers who would be writing your kid’s recommendation letters line up now. Review your kid’s GPA calculations and ranking to make sure there is no mistake. It will be the transcript he/she uses for college applications, especially for EA/ED.
My kid moved with me when she was a junior. Recommendation letters and transcript conversion to the new school’s standards were challenging. She had to get recommendation letters from both new old teachers. Your kid’s situation should be easier.
While I was abroad, I kept my state’s residency because my firm was paying for my taxes.
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Thanks everyone! Is anyone aware of a similar type forum for expats that I may be able to read more school reviews on?