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High School Transition

High School Transition

Old May 30th 2015, 10:38 pm
  #16  
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Default Re: High School Transition

We are in Westchester, our eldest is going to college in MD as a freshman in August.
Although we moved here when she was younger she was undecided over uni in the UK or US up until very recently.
She narrowed down her choices to three UK universities all would have required her to take a foundation year first if she wanted to do a BSc. They didn't seem to rate a US high school diploma very highly, they wanted a "good" SAT score (whatever that is!) and a minimum 5AP courses with grades 4 or 5. I'm sure one uni would only accept AP' s with a grade 5.

As with many things in the US standards vary from town to town, county to county and state to state especially in education. A HS diploma from one school is not the same as a HS diploma from a similar school in a different county or state as standards vary so much.
Colleges here know and look at the depth of schools curriculum. The bigger the high school the more courses and AP classes they tend to offer however a smaller school/district might offer a more rigorous curriculum (the college's know this) Try and access to the Naviance website for the high schools you are interested in, you can see how many kids apply, get offers and attend any college for that HS.

One of my daughter's friends is going to University Edinburgh, and two are going to McGill (in Canada) all 3 are US citizens and have been in this school district since kindergarten. We have found certain colleges here in the US have different relationships with different schools, could be based on alumni, teaching, guidance councilors we have been told certain colleges like kids from certain schools!

Good luck it's a difficult position to be in but I'm sure with plenty of research you will be in a good position to make the best decision.
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Old May 30th 2015, 11:54 pm
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Default Re: High School Transition

It's good to hear many of you know of US people being admitted into UK Unis, that certainly sounds hopeful if my daughter decides to return to the UK.

As for the visa issue, I was not aware my daughter couldn't work on the L2 Visa. I was told I could work and therefore assumed my daughter would also be able to. I will have to discuss this with my husband as I agree, it's not ideal for a growing teenager to be denied the chance to work.

Also, we plan on staying in the US only temporarily; the official contract deal is a 3-year term. I believe my husband has found a loophole for paying home fees to a UK Uni instead of international fees. There seems to be a law recently passed that says as we are only temporarily based in US and as my daughter's grand-parents are UK nationals living in the UK, she can be classified as a home resident.

As for where she will go to High School, we'll definitely have to fly over to the States and look around a number of schools. Thanks petitefrancaise for the tip avout GPA credit. I had no idea that could be a problem! Assuming her GCSE's will be translated into US High School qualifications by the World Education Service, I will also ask them about GPA credit.

It's interesting to hear a discommendation about the EF Academy - it's a school we're considering as it's both international and offers the IB. May I ask why it's not recommended?
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Old May 31st 2015, 12:08 am
  #18  
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Default Re: High School Transition

Originally Posted by girl_that_travels
It's good to hear many of you know of US people being admitted into UK Unis, that certainly sounds hopeful if my daughter decides to return to the UK.

As for the visa issue, I was not aware my daughter couldn't work on the L2 Visa. I was told I could work and therefore assumed my daughter would also be able to. I will have to discuss this with my husband as I agree, it's not ideal for a growing teenager to be denied the chance to work.

Also, we plan on staying in the US only temporarily; the official contract deal is a 3-year term. I believe my husband has found a loophole for paying home fees to a UK Uni instead of international fees. There seems to be a law recently passed that says as we are only temporarily based in US and as my daughter's grand-parents are UK nationals living in the UK, she can be classified as a home resident.

As for where she will go to High School, we'll definitely have to fly over to the States and look around a number of schools. Thanks petitefrancaise for the tip avout GPA credit. I had no idea that could be a problem! Assuming her GCSE's will be translated into US High School qualifications by the World Education Service, I will also ask them about GPA credit.

It's interesting to hear a discommendation about the EF Academy - it's a school we're considering as it's both international and offers the IB. May I ask why it's not recommended?

If you wish to return to the UK and want to keep your family together I would definitely send your daughter to a UK uni.
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Old May 31st 2015, 12:12 am
  #19  
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Default Re: High School Transition

SAT's and ACTs - all US colleges want to see at least one of these.
The "best" Unis will want a perfect score. 2400 or within a couple of points
Some will want you to do the physics SAT as well.

It isn't unusual for kids to take them up to 3 times and submit their best scores to the unis. However, the ones that get into the top Unis take them once and get perfect scores (from our personal experience)

Almost everyone we know (including us) took extra private tuition for the SATs - it's not so much teaching you the subject but teaching you the tips/tricks to pass well. Apart from the physics which is very much based on AP physics and less so on the IB.

The SATs are due to change in the Spring of 2016 - to an online version which is meant to eliminate this issue of the rich, well prepared kids doing better. Khan academy has tuition for this which is free and meant to be good.

IIRC my daughter had to take US History and Health in her own time to graduate, they were the only subjects she hadn't studied before.
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Old May 31st 2015, 12:16 am
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Default Re: High School Transition

Originally Posted by Jerseygirl
If you wish to return to the UK and want to keep your family together I would definitely send your daughter to a UK uni.
If the family leaves to go back to the UK, CAN the daughter remain here on an L2??

Domestic fees for the UK doesn't have anything to do with grandparents. It is because you are abroad temporarily (L2) and you maintain the UK as your ordinary residence. So keep your bank accounts etc.
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Old May 31st 2015, 12:23 am
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Default Re: High School Transition

Originally Posted by petitefrancaise
If the family leaves to go back to the UK, CAN the daughter remain here on an L2??

Domestic fees for the UK doesn't have anything to do with grandparents. It is because you are abroad temporarily (L2) and you maintain the UK as your ordinary residence. So keep your bank accounts etc.
The family must leave the U.S. If the daughter is a college student she could probably get a student visa.

Last edited by Jerseygirl; May 31st 2015 at 12:27 am.
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Old May 31st 2015, 2:19 am
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Default Re: High School Transition

Originally Posted by rpjs
..... Edit to add: my wife says UK unis will accept an American high school diploma as qualifying for a UK undergraduate course. ....
See #16, above, students who have come through the US school system are usually (always?) required to take a foundation year by English universities, meaning it takes four years to complete a degree. From what I recall that is not the case in Scotland where degrees typically take four years like in the US.

Also bear in mind that a student with a strong AP performance at high school can enter a US college/ uni with sufficent credits to start out as a sophomore ("second year" student) and, contrary to the common belief, graduate with a "four year degree" after only three years.
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Old May 31st 2015, 3:18 am
  #23  
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Default Re: High School Transition

Not always Pulaski. If they've done IB then they go straight to first year - that's why this is such a great course if you think you might want the kids to go to the UK or any EU university. IB is a really demanding course, I've been very impressed with what my kids are doing and from my kids school they've gone on to some of the most prestigious unis in the USA, often on full merit scholarships. The attitude at their school is that if you're doing IB then you might as well sit the AP exams because you'll do really well. In the US, IB is worth 24 college hour credits which is 2 semesters, so yes, one year off. However, the credits don't count towards the major subjects.

At the college fairs we went to in Austin the UK unis were quite well represented - hunting for well paying international students - I don't recall anyone saying the kids would have to do a foundation year though - this might depend on the subject being studied.
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Old May 31st 2015, 3:52 am
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Default Re: High School Transition

Originally Posted by petitefrancaise
Not always Pulaski. If they've done IB then they go straight to first year - .....
Sorry, slightly ambiguous wording on my part. I meant the every-day, run-of-the-mill US school system, not an IB program which is clearly more challenging.
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Old May 31st 2015, 12:25 pm
  #25  
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Default Re: High School Transition

Originally Posted by Pulaski
See #16, above, students who have come through the US school system are usually (always?) required to take a foundation year by English universities, meaning it takes four years to complete a degree. From what I recall that is not the case in Scotland where degrees typically take four years like in the US.

Also bear in mind that a student with a strong AP performance at high school can enter a US college/ uni with sufficent credits to start out as a sophomore ("second year" student) and, contrary to the common belief, graduate with a "four year degree" after only three years.
Probably depends on the uni and course. I could see a STEM course requiring a foundation course but the humanities/social sciences courses my wife was involved in admissions for (at two UK unis, one Russell Group, one former poly) would take a straight HS diploma apparently.
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Old May 31st 2015, 4:22 pm
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Default Re: High School Transition

Our daughter applied to 9 US colleges got accepted into 7 and wait listed for two. She got into her first choice so the wait listed ones didn't bother her. What we found while doing the whole college search process and visiting over 20+ schools is that not all colleges now give college credit for AP courses. Even if you get a score of 5 some colleges insist on you taking the course again if you need it for your core credits, one college told us "unofficially" that they loose money if kids come in with too many credits and graduate early!

I have a close friend who works at an "OK" local college and they don't give credit for any AP classes, this changed in the last 3 or 4 years due to the college having financial issues!
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Old Jun 1st 2015, 3:30 am
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Default Re: High School Transition

Originally Posted by petitefrancaise
SAT's and ACTs - all US colleges want to see at least one of these.
Not necessarily. There are now quite a few "test optional" colleges in the US.

FairTest | The National Center for Fair and Open Testing

There's a growing acceptance that SAT/ACT scores may not be the best predictor of college success.

Last edited by MarylandNed; Jun 1st 2015 at 3:34 am.
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Old Jun 1st 2015, 7:20 pm
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Default Re: High School Transition

Originally Posted by MarylandNed
Not necessarily. There are now quite a few "test optional" colleges in the US.

FairTest | The National Center for Fair and Open Testing

There's a growing acceptance that SAT/ACT scores may not be the best predictor of college success.
Advice we were given by our private college counsellor (and I think this is relevant to the OP). As a new arrival and with GPA "issues" (not given any weighted credit for previous studies), ie. GPA and class rank do not match the academic profile of my daughter we were advised to get her to take every exam she thought she could pass well - to reinforce to the colleges that she was indeed a very bright girl.

Competition for some of the colleges is really, really tough, I'm not sure that not doing SATs would help. I suppose it depends on the course.
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Old Jun 2nd 2015, 1:55 pm
  #29  
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Default Re: High School Transition

I haven't posted in a long time, but read your post and thought I'd give you my experience.

When we moved over in February 2010, my kids were 16, 12 and 10. You can look back my old posts about schooling etc. My 16 year old was very anxious about entering a new school, she was not keen on moving here, and it was a lot for her to,deal with at that time. When we went to the High School, they sent her exam results away to see what they meant over here, and when the results of that came back, it stated that she had the equivalent of a High School Diploma here and it was up to her if she wanted to attend for another two years, or not. She decided that she didn't want to go to High School but wanted to attend the local cosmetology school. In hindsight, from the point of view of her making friends, I should have made her attend High School for those extra two years..... but I'm not perfect and allowed her to go to cosmetology school.

We had to pay the full fees for her to attend there, there was no financial help or payment plan etc, and it was pretty expensive.

I guess my only worry is the transition. My kids, more so the two older ones, have had a really hard time since they moved here. The younger one, not so much. It is a hard time for them, and looking back, I have sometimes questioned if we did the right thing, but we always had the intention of making this a permanent move, so we have weathered the storm.

If you are not intending on making this permanent, I would probably sway on the notion of allowing her to remain in the UK and attend college or university there, where she is settled and has a circle of friends who she is comfortable with. On the other hand, if she is an outgoing kid who is excited about coming over here and meeting new people, learning new things, then maybe she would enjoy her time here. Not an easy decision for you and I sympathise, but I'm sure you will decide what's best for your daughter and your family, and have plenty of advice and ideas from the guys on here.

Good luck with the move, my husband works in Westchester amd Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow are two of my most favorite places to visit.
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Old Jun 2nd 2015, 2:03 pm
  #30  
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Default Re: High School Transition

Hi sorry to hijack. In similar situation but Son wants to study in US, and perhaps Texas Uni.

Trying to summarise this thread...

1) He will have (fingers crossed) at least 5 GCSE's, probably 8 or 9. Most will be B and above (he's predicted to get a few A*). That therefore means, subject to a lack of US history, he has enough for his High School Diploma? (one GSCE will be Spanish).

2) He will then have two years to do APs which are A/S equivalents? And he will have to do 4 per year to get into a good position for a Uni? (as well as catch up on US History).

3) We need to find out how our IS district converts his GCSEs? Already been told this can be a nightmare in Texas and have emailed the local ISD (no response as of yet).

4) He's doing NCS, not in this thread, but I understand it looks good to US universities that you've done voluntary stuff.

I guess the only specific question I have, and its Texas based, is the whole "Texas residency qualification" thing. Its confusing. Its said to be three years, but when you read it it could be two... then there is the fact after three years of residency, one year in uni, will he then qualify? (BTW getting my head round the driving licence rules for him was just as bad...)

He's planning on doing Astro-Physics and Texas has some excellent Uni's. Its part of the attraction of taking the job (company transfer) in Dallas for me.
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