I’m currently a sophomore, and I go to a pretty competitive and highly ranked public highschool. However, I feel that the academic environment is not suitable for me, so I plan on transferring to a considerably worse highschool next year. The problem is that the two schools are basically in the exact same district, the only difference is that the school I’m transferring to is a lot worse. Would this hurt my admission chances and would admission officers look at this badly?
What could you possibly mean by a “worse” high school?
Worse academically, as in the school is ranked lower, has lower average ACT/SAT scores, worse college admissions.
We need more data.
What state do you live in?
How much lower are the SAT/ACT scores?
Do they offer a similar amount of classes?
What do you mean by “not suitable for me?” Where I live, I got one choice for where to go to for public high school (meaning I had to deal with any problems I had), so is the school really that bad?
What colleges are you considering? T50 Uni/LAC? T30 Uni/LAC? T20 Uni/LAC?
You’re from a competitive high school, so it follows that most schools from your district outside of your high school will be “worse” academically. That doesn’t mean they’re “worse” high schools, and rankings don’t matter in college admissions as far as I can tell. A college won’t compare your current high school to your new high school and go “well, we would have admitted them, but because they transferred to a school ranked lower than their previous one, we’re going to deny them”. You get what I mean? As long as you do well on your tests and keep your grades up, participate in extracurriculars etc. I think you will be fine.
By “a lot worse” (referring to the language in your original post) do you mean like 36 ACT to 30 ACT drop or 36 ACT to 12 ACT drop? I would be worried if the difference is more like the latter. I thought you meant the area was unsafe, or there are less extracurriculars or something. Are there major differences in resources and course offerings?
I live in California
The average ACT score is 3 points lower
They offer the exact same classes.
Not suitable for me as in I have to spend too much time on school and there is not enough time for me to focus on extracurriculars and other activities. Also yeah, the school is really really competitive.
I’m mostly considering the top UC’s and T20.
I guess its not “a lot worse” , but it’s definitely a tier below the school I currently attend. There aren’t any differences in terms of course offerings, in fact I think they offer the exact same classes. I’m mostly worried that colleges will look at this negatively because it is very rare for students to switch schools in the same district, especially from a good school to a worse one, since it’s not due to family relocation or moving.
Then you shouldn’t be looking at T20 schools. The reason top high schools do so well at top colleges is that students have shown the ability to do the work. You are basically saying the opposite.
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I think you are fixating too much on arbitrary rankings that don’t matter. I would think that a difference in ranking and test scores are irrelevant if the schools are functionally the same but have different environments. However this is just my opinion.
It’s uncommon to transfer within school districts but not rare. I think plenty of people transfer for mental health reasons, finance etc. Colleges won’t look at it negatively because the rankings of high school doesn’t matter unless you bomb your academics for some reason.
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True, but do you think colleges will look at my decision to switch to a worse school negatively? Or maybe they won’t assume anything and it won’t be a factor when considering me? Main thing is I want to know if it is going to hurt my admission chances.
If the classes actually are the “exact same”, then the workload and time commitment will be the same. In this case, unless changing schools significantly reduces commute time, it is unlikely to give you more time for your ECs. Note that in this case, the new school would not be “worse” in terms of actual academics, even though it may not have as strong other students.
On the other hand, if the “exact same” classes cover less material or at a lesser depth at the new school, then you will be getting a lesser education, although it may reduce the time spent and allow for more EC time.
It is certainly true that highly ranked public high schools can be insanely competitive. I have for example heard stories from both daughters of students freaking out because they only got a 97 on a test. We also see posts here about students who are stressed out about AP classes, ECs, and many other things. The number of high school students in the US being treated for stress related illnesses is very high and to me seems quite unfortunate.
One thing that concerns me: The top ranked universities are also very stressful. I do not think that MIT or Caltech are any less stressful than the most stressful high school in the US. You really need to want to do it for a school at this level to be appropriate. I think that this concern applies to any “top 20” university.
There are a lot of very good universities in the US. You can get a very good education at a wide range of universities and colleges. Of course the pubic university system in California has a lot of very good schools (and not just the top 2 of them).
It is hard to give a definite answer without knowing a lot more. However, I am thinking that you are best off attending a high school that is a good fit for you, and where you can be comfortable and where you can do well without being stressed out. Then you are best off looking for a university that is a good fit for you. You will be a few years older when you are applying to and then attending university. However, I would not expect UCLA or UC Berkeley to be any less stressful than your current high school.
I am also guessing that the word “worse” is not really quite right. Perhaps “less exclusive” or “lower ranked” might be a better wording.
I do have some experience at attending highly ranked universities. When I was an undergraduate student this was not a good fit for me. When I was a graduate student I was older, more mature, and loved it. The same person can be more ready or less ready to take on the stress at different points in their life.
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Some college applications will ask why you switched. A reasonable explanation such as a shorter commute, moving to a new house, being able to participate in Z sport/activity that’s only offered at the new school will not penalize you. "It was too hard " or things along these lines won’t reflect positively on you. So, what explanations could you give?
Ultimately you’ll be compared to the students in the school you’re graduating from. If the other (less competitive)school is a better fit, offers as many courses, and has an environment conducive to doing well, it sounds like it’d benefit you and as a result would lead to a better experience and college outcomes.
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