Okay, so I currently go to a private high school and I am in my junior year (I’ve been there since 9th grade). My family recently moved houses, so now we live twice as far from my school (I now would have to take 3 buses to get to school). The thing is, my family is not rich (I’m on financial aid) and we only have one car that my dad uses for work. I am an extremely bad driver, so my dad has to drive me to school every day. I’m thinking about switching to a different private school that has a really good reputation (bill gates’ high school and its only 2 minutes away). Here are the pros and cons:
Pros for lakeside-
better education
2 minutes away from home (you could walk)
transportation is not an issue
higher standards
better teachers
diversity
bigger school
motivated kids
more of a chance to get into college with full ride
more variety in classes
have to write application essays and go to an interview (I’m busy)
probably don’t have an opening for senior year- (so it might not be worth it)
Cons-
you don’t know anyone at that school
no one knows you
make new friends
-the people that I do know, I don’t like/ HATE me
is not familiar (new schedule, new teachers)
will take some time to adjust
will not feel comfortable
will be much harder to do well/ get good grades
super competitive (like you can’t trust anyone with telling them your good grades because they could resent you)
Pros for staying:
same school
same friends
same schedule (easy to adjust)
everyone knows you
you’ll feel like a senior- like you own the place
graduate with everyone you know
same teachers (they’re great)
opportunities to work with the college counselors (they’re really nice)
What does your dad think about driving you? He may not mind.
How do you get home? How long does it take?
Why do you think that you will have more of a chance to get into school with a full ride?
Merit scholarships are all about: SAT/ACT scores and GPA a
What are your SAT scores?
You may be able to get a higher GPA in your current school. But really, your SAT/GPA is not going to change much.
You may also want to look at colleges where your scores are much higher than the average to get merit scholarships.
Also, you may get need based scholarships.
Choose a couple of colleges of interest and look for Net Price Calculator on their websites and fill them out with your parents. See how much your Effective Family Contribution is.
Also
+Try to get as much college credit while in HS…then it is usually free or very low cost. For example, AP Classes (and doing well on AP tests), Dual Enrollment at your local Community College. Make sure the colleges you are interested will take that credit.
+Some states let students in the upper 20% go to 2 years of Community College for free…then go to an in-state public college for the other 2 years - they usually
For Merit scholarship opportunities check: “I’m interested in schools where I would be well above average, to increase my financial aid opportunities”. This will allow you to find school where you might get merit scholarships opportunies.
Another con for switching is your guidance counselor doesn’t know you at all and it will be more difficult for them to write a recommendation and will be harder for you to get teacher recommoendations.
You may have more opportunities at the new school but HSs evaluate in the context of your HS. SO if they only have 2 AP classes and you have taken them, then you have taken the most challenging curriculum available.
My recommendation: Talk to your parents about the cost of the school and the transportation issues…with respect to a new school and applying to college, I don’t think it will help you any.