Transfer back to old school??

Parents Forum
1

Hello all, I wanted to get some parent perspectives on this dilemma I have. I recently transferred from school A to school B as a 9th grader. School B has a better college matriculation, but I feel the courses are too slow paced I am getting quite bored. However, my parents think school B has better ‘resources’ (University counseling, more clubs etc.). What are your thoughts?

The long story (kind of a rant, sorry):

I’ve been at school A since I was 2. I’ve been attending A at 100% scholarship for the past 3 years. School A is very political; if you do not flatter the teachers, they don’t give you top grades despite your ability. The teachers don’t really teach either, but their curriculum is quite good.

Since 7th grade, I’ve been dying to go to school B. I have heard that their academics are very rigorous, and their college matriculation is extremely impressive. So I, an academically inclined student, decided to apply. I got in, albeit without a scholarship (they do not offer it) and signed up for a ton of honors courses. At first, I was extremely excited because school B offered APs-- school A only offered the IB diploma, which is used for UK Unis more than US unis. The cost for B is considerably more expensive than A, but I thought it might be worth it.

However I am now 2 months in school B and I feel the school places emphasis on the wrong things. We have ‘Seminar’ every 2 days which is basically a 80min session where they tell you to discover your personality, think about your career etc. which I have done since a long time ago. The school schedule also has humanities every day, and STEM subjects only once every 2 days. Our PE classes also require us to do a set amount of exercise a week, which I think is unnecessary. I’d rather focus on science and math subjects. And although I’ve signed up for honors classes, I’ve been breezing through them with straight As (and sometimes even full marks on assessments). I feel as though our classes are too easy and there is too little homework. Despite the lack of homework, the people at our school keep complaining about the homework load. They seem quite spoilt and often do not do their homework! The teachers here do not give any penalty for late submissions, and are quite ok with postponing test dates ‘if there is another test on the same day/week’. At school A, we could have up to 7 tests a week and we still pulled through!

I don’t think school B lives up to its name. However, it does have a very good reputation among universities (still confused why). School A is less well known, but honestly its much better. But by going back to school A, I think I would have missed a lot of stuff; I realized that grade 10 math at school B is taught at grade 8 in school A.

What are your thoughts?

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Do you even have a choice? School A won’t give you back a scholarship.

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  1. The above post is correct – it is highly unlikely that you will get your scholarship to School A back.
  2. It sounds like you are two months into a 4 year HS career – give it time.
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Thanks for your input!! I will reconsider

5

Also, you sound like a top tier student who likely will find any HS easy. It is good for you to have required physical activity. You do not know as much about yourself as you think you do- you should go from the basic level to a new level. My, oh my, required humanities. Again excellent for the student who excels at STEM subjects. HS is a time to broaden your perspectives, not just forge ahead in subjects you like. Math/science people have many other dimensions. As an Honors chemistry major in undergrad I took many diverse nonscience classes and am glad I did. Likewise Honors math (added CS) son took many other classes in college. He was a HS runner and orchestra member along with his heavy math/science emphasis. Big time reader as well. He later told us about his boredom- online classes not available like they are now.

This new school sounds like a great change for you. Forced out of your comfort zone. Good switch. Since classes are easy for you and therefore you spend less time on homework you have the time to do more STEM discovery on your own if you wish. The emphasis on humanities is good for honing your critical reading skills and writing skills- both valuable for STEM people. Find time to join various clubs, activities. Play an instrument, take a foreign language. Expand your horizons. You are not the same person you were one year ago, you will not be the same by HS graduation. btw- as a HS freshman I vehemently stated I would only take the required science- as a senior I definitely wanted to major in Chemistry. You are not limited to your current passions either.