Should I transfer straight into Junior Year or repeat Sophomore year(in High school)? I’m 16 and I am transferring to a boarding school in the US. Please help!!!
I spent 2 years at a private school in the US and will be transfering to another private boarding school in chicago(lfa). I just finished 10th grade, and I have a unweighted gpa of 3.8 as of now, and I dont know if i should go into a Junior or a Sophomore. I am an international student. My goal is to go to a top 30 uni. I haven’t done a lot of extracurriculars, SAT(psat got 1430), or clubs and leadership yet. My new school does AP, but I havent done any APs yet because my last school was non AP. The new school is really competitive. I am also worreid about making friends and getting socially accepted if i go in as a junior year, because there arent many new juniors but there is a good number of new sophmores joining every year.
My familys a little tight on budget but they are still letting me choose whether i want to repeat a grade or go into 11th grade. I feel a bit guity to spend another 70k on repeating a year, but I also dont wanna feel left out or let this affect my uni results too much. I also plan on going into the medical field in the future, but im not 100% sure yet. Should i repeat sophmore or go straight to junior year?
I always vote for a reclass over jumping into the deep end of the pool Junior year at a new and more challenging place. You’ve done well so far, and Junior year may be the most critical to get right, so you don’t want to risk underperforming.
But it is a financial investment your family has to be comfortable with. If they say they’re ok with it and its a team decision to move forward, don’t feel guilty and make them proud.
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Enter as a junior. No need to reclass for Lake Forest Academy, which is an excellent school.
Were you admitted as a sophomore or a junior ? Is the school giving you a choice ? I would advise you speak to the school directly and voice your concerns and see what they recommend - they know their programs and students best.
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I was admitted as a junior, but the school is giving me a choice. I will be talking to the counsellor soon
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do you think entering as a junior would hurt my gpa/ get in the way of getting leadership roles? how important would that be for my application to universities? I am glad to graduate earlier, but im also thinking about how important is the ranking of the university I get into, and my chances of getting in
Probably would affect leadership roles during your first year as other students have less time to get to know you.
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Colleges care far less about leadership and far more about engagement. I would not make the decision based on that.
Talk to the school and get their input. Look at the course catalog and figure out what the 2 and 3 year plans look like academically. Also look at ECs and athletics to see if you are genuinely excited about that “menu” for 3 years. Many students are and want the extra year to avail themselves of all of it. At many BS, you’ll be able to get more done prior to college and hence more at college. But dig into this!
It doesn’t automatically make sense to reclass – it’s truly a decision that is based on you, where you’re coming from, and where you’re going. In some situations, those 3 things quickly add up to a yes or no. I would not do it solely for college applications – think instead what the 2 or 3 year experience will be.
Lastly, if your family is going to tap college savings for this, understand that needing FA or merit will change your options and that whatever you gain from an extra year at BS may be offset by that.
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