007fair

Hi I live in Glasgow, Scotland and I have an offer to move to Orlando with my work. I have three kids but the older two are Uni here and will complete their courses in the UK. My Son is in 5th year and so sitting highers in 2016. There is, of course, the whole emotional side of emigrating at this age and we will talk about this with him (at the moment he wants to go) but I am really keen to get a low down on what to expect from the schools system over there and what to look out for. He is fairly average academically but I expect him to kick on in the next year of so like many teenage boys. Other than that he is pretty self confident and loves sport .. which may help over there?

Our move would be during the UK 2015 /16 school year not after

Any advice would be welcome;
What year would he slot into in the US
How to find a good school - do we need to look at a fee paying school ?
How do Standard Grades / Highers equate to US system.
How easy is it to get into College over there and how much etc

Thanks!

team6

Hi came across your post...i cant give you advice but am going to be in same situation in a few years...so would be interesting seeing advice you are given...i also come from Glasgow and waiting on my green card (familybased) I have 4 kids older will be roughly 14,then 12,10,8. They want to move but they say that now...probably be hell at the time lol

007fair

Daunting thought eh?

team6

Yeah I cant wait but it will be scary 😞

jjmb

having brought over a 11,13,15 yr old over, I personally wouldn't recommend bringing a 16 yr over unless they really want to come and are outgoing enough to cope with all the changes they will face. Schooling is nothing like Scottish education system. As I am not in Florida and my kids are no longer in the school system, I will leave specific advice to people who live there and are experiencing the system at the moment. A lot has changed over the 15 yrs we have been here.

On the other hand, all of my 3 have survived the trauma that we inflicted on them and are probably stronger for it, even my son who was most difficult one. At 16 they are almost adult and able to make decisions that are life changing, much better than say my son who was 12½ when we came over.

So if you know your child can cope and you get enough advice plus help from your employer, I would say it worth considering.

petitefrancaise

your son is sitting his highers in 2016? ie next May/June? Then he's done with school? I'd leave him in Scotland with relatives and fly him out for half terms and christmas etc.

you realise that the school has already started in orange county? (google tells me this, I am in Austin, Tx)

How much does uni/college cost? Anything from a couple of grand at the community college to $50k-$60K. A lot more than the free education he will get in Scotland. Which US kids are happy to pay international fees for because it's good and cheaper than the equivalent here for the average kids.

Seriously, I moved my eldest at the same age but we had been planning it for a long time. We knew what we were in for both emotionally and financially.

civilservant

What visa will the employer be petitioning you for? L1?

The older 2 will have problems, their visa/status will age out at 21 and unless they can get a visa in their own right (which will be difficult if not impossible) they will have to leave the US - unless of course you're employer is offering to sponsor Green Cards for you all.

NatashaB

I would let your son finish up his exams before moving. It would be a huge upheaval to slot him into a US high school at this point.You will also most likely be looking at international student fees for college.

Once he's done with school you will need to get his results evaluated so that they can be 'translated' to US scores for college applications. Colleges will usually have a section for international students on their website explaining what is required and which agency to use for transcript evaluation.

Redwing

When we came here, my son was a few weeks short of his 16th birthday. They tested him, and when school time arrived, I thought they would put him in junior year, but instead he went straight in to senior year. So, he was 16 when he graduated high school the following June. He did fine. Mind you, that was 37 years ago.

petitefrancaise

When we came here, my daughter had one more year of french bac. But she wanted to go to Uni either here in the US or in the UK and definitely not France.

She received no GPA credit for her previous schoolwork due to school district policy, she had to test for her level in various subjects and she had some compulsory courses to take in her own time as well as all the work for IB junior year. She did fine. But she is a very hard worker and for that year she did nothing but work.

We had L visas and we had time to satisfy residency requirements for the in-state university and halls of residence by the time she applied to the uni she had a green card and as such was eligible for help with funding.

As others have said, you may/may not be classed as domestic US student and that makes a huge difference to the costs of college. If your son knows what he wants to study and has some idea of colleges he wants to go to then you are going to have to get on the phone to the international admissions at each college or to the "abnormal admissions" if you think you will be classed as domestic US.

MarylandNed

But will he actually be done with the equivalent of US high school? Even if he does his "highers" in Scotland (and I have no idea what those are equivalent to), it appears that he'll be 17 at most by then. Most US high school graduates are at least 18. So he might have to do a year at a US high school anyway. That's a bit pointless because senior year is a bit of a joke - junior year is the most important in terms of college applications, SAT, ACT, etc. So he might be better off skipping the highers and moving to the US to start at junior year and be in the loop in terms of US college applications.

NatashaB

Or maybe he could be homeschooled and make a start on some college credits - maybe via doing CLEP/DSST tests which are much cheaper than taking the equivalent classes in college, especially when you factor in international student fees. You are right that he'd probably be at a disadvantage for college applications without the help of a school though.

007fair

Thanks for your input We don't really have a choice on timing so if we don't go in next 6 months we don't go at all. I agree its unfortunate in some ways .. but do we let go this opportunity because of it. My son see's it this way to and is pretty up for it

Yes he is sitting Highers in May 2016. I agree there will be a cost and the emotional side is a factor. UK Uni's are good and Scotland even better because they are free! However ... its still an opportunity that i am reluctant to let go But thanks for your reply I do want to do this with eyes wide open to the risks etc

I will go on a L1 Visa Wife and kids on a L2


I spoke to Seminole County education office. They said they would slot him in in the year he is in in the UK That would be junior I sort of hoped he would go into Sophomore to give him a chance to adjust .. but it seems there is n't an option

Thats a point If he goes into Junior year then I'm not sure where that leaves him with regards to College costs He would qualify for state colleges etc after 2 years ? If thats the case then Sophomore year would be ideal (and that is the age he is being 15 now as that would give him nearly 2.5 years at school rather than 1.5

Does anyone know how long you have to be in the US before you are not an international student ?

petitefrancaise

Residency requirements will be on each college/university website.
Your issue is going to be ensuring that he meets all the criteria for high school graduation since he won't have finished high school in Scotland (no highers).
I advise the following actions.
Contact the school district that you will be sending your son to and ask about their policy for GPA credits (weighted and unweighted) for an out-of-district/international student. Ask about how they will credit his previous academic work towards high school graduation criteria. Find out what compulsory courses he will have to take that he won't have already done (Health and USHistory for my daughter) and how he can do them.
Your son's entry into college will be dependant upon his GPA level and completing his high school diploma.
Advice that we were given was that my daughter should take all the exams she thinks she will do well in to demonstrate her abilities to the colleges in her application.
SAT ACT exams can all be studied/prepped for right now and I would advise that you do this. A lot of your son's future classmates will be taking their SAT exams in October and re-sitting in the spring if they think they will get a better mark then. Bear in mind that the SAT is changing in the spring (Khan Academy has a fab online prep course for this one)

kins

We looked into moving to Orlando. There were very few public schools I was willing to send my children to so I looked mainly at private. The three I considered were Lake Highland (my favourite but also most expensive), Windemere Prep and Lake Mary Prep. Lake Highland is central, the other two are not. Give at least one a call and see what they say about transferring from abroad?