Re: US High School education system - help!
 

One other thing, you need to look into what documents your daughter will need in order to attend the local community college. Often you need at least the equivalent of a high school diploma. I'm not familiar with what "Highers" are, but the local community college may require you to get them evaluated to make sure they are equal to a diploma. Also, it's highly likely your daughter will have to sit an entrance exam in order to be accepted to the comm. college. She may not have any issues passing it, but keep in mind different terminologies that are used here, as well as a difference in spelling/grammar/punctuation and (I think?) different units of measure (i.e. imperial vs. SI units) that could cause issues.

Oh, and one other thing, if she goes directly to community college, she will be, by far, the youngest person there. Typically kids attend high school here until they are between 17-18, unless they are on some kind of expedited route (which is not usual).

Re: US High School education system - help!
 

Oh my God! My family are in such a similar situation, but a year behind in age to your child. We are due to go over to New York with my husbands job in February and my daughter will be 16, nearly finishing 5th year, but has no intention of going to University. The guilt and worry that the decisions we make now could affect my daughter in the future is horrendous and again, our timing has been outwith our control.

I hadn't even considered a Community College so that is maybe something else to think about as my daughter is very quiet and doesn't make friends easily in an unfamiliar surrounding.

I'm sure you and your daughter will make the right decision. Don't stress too much as I'm sure she'll find the experience of a different country and culture exciting once she is settled. (That's what I'm telling myself anyhow!!!!!!!) :thumbsup::thumbsup:

Re: US High School education system - help!
 

One thing to remember is while high schools students, by their senior year, have sort of settled into a routine (in some cases the kids have known each other since age 5 so they are sort of tight-knit by this point) your kids will have one really unique attribute that will make them 'interesting' to their new classmates. Their accent. It goes a long way :) It will break down a few barriers that might exist for other transfer students.

Community colleges in the US are somewhat transitional in a few different ways. For years it was considered 'for those not ready for university'. A way for some students who might be marginally academically or just not ready / interested in attending university to get a few years of school down and either figure out what they want to do or grab an associate degree in something that might help them (i.e. a vocational trade or something). With the economy as it is, and the cost of university on a neverending quest upwards, this has changed a bit and many folks in community colleges are there to save some money on the first few years of university and then transferring over to a more established 4-year school.

US university degrees are 4 years, and generally there are 1 or 2 years worth of required courses and then 1-2 years of elective course in a students major (it's really broken down by course hours not years but this is a general discussion). So if you wanted to be an engineer, you would spend about 30-60 classroom hours (1-2 years) studying English, Social Science, Philosophy, Psych, etc. These basic introductory course (often known as 101s because the class catalog has numbers and the first course is always something like English 101 or Geography 101) can easily be replicated at a community college, thus allowing folks there to get a few of the required courses over in a less intense / less costly environment.

Senior year in the US system is not really that tough academically. The applications for university have already been sent out and acceptances are usually made without regard to the grades obtained senior year (just so long as the student graduates). As a result things are at a slower pace and social activities usually dominate.

My biggest concern about jumping to a community college from the UK system is the long term value: will the coursework at these schools be of any value to a UK university? I honestly don't know. If not, you then have to consider is it worth attending or is this maybe the gap year?

Re: US High School education system - help!
 

Something else for you to think about. More than likely you will have to pay out-of-state tuition for your daughter to attend community college. For example at my local community college it's $50 per credit hour for in-state tuition, and $241.30 per credit hour for out-of-state tuition. It's just something you may want to consider as well as the other great advice and suggestions that have been shared.

Re: US High School education system - help!
 

Just my two cents - having been at a public high school in the US...

I think your daughter would be fine going to a US high school because she'd be considered somewhat exotic (along the lines of the quote above). Community college in the US is a very different experience and certainly won't be any easier socially, because many CC students are working or older. Also, many people in the US attend CC because they didn't get high enough scores to attend a four-year university. If your daughter is a good student that might not be an equivalent social group. Personally, I wouldn't want my 16-17yr old attending a community college because of the very mixed age groups (too many 20+ yr old men in my opinion).

While senior year things have pretty much been sorted out, seniors are also less likely to be so insecure as to exclude new people from their crowd. Texas high school would be a fun cultural experience in particular because you'd have the football games and the prom etc. that are VERY American pasttimes. If she doesn't really have to take many classes to pass, I think highschool would be an easier social system to integrate into than community college. She may actually be ahead of her peers in scholastics in either place, which should make it easier anyway.

In my highschool, we had a foreign student exchange group that was made up of the students from other countries and any American students that were interested in getting to know them. I made great friends with a girl that came over from France this way.

Good luck!

Re: US High School education system - help!
 

I have mixed feelings about the OP's situation...it's not one I would like to make. When we left the UK it was supposed to be for 1 or 2 years...we discussed this with our daughter's future headmistress. She said in her opinion living and going to school in the US would be a valuable and unique experience that most children will never have. Admittedly our daughter was 11 and not 1 year away from uni.

On the other hand unless she had the relevant qualifications now to enter uni in the UK it would be a gamble to move her. I think this would depend on her personality, how flexible she is, how easily does she make friends, confidence, intelligence etc.

Re: US High School education system - help!
 

High school can be quite brutal in the U.S. apparently.

Re: US High School education system - help!
 

One other thing, which I am not sure has been highlighted - If your daughter were to consider taking a year out whilst here she would be unable to work under the L2 visa. I'm talking about even a part time job. You may need to think about how your daughter will fill her time/meet people. I *think* she can volunteer.. Maybe someone can confirm that.

* I am only mentioning this if you were still considering the 'year out' option.

Very best of luck with your move :)

Re: US High School education system - help!
 

It can be really tough, especially on the girls.

Re: US High School education system - help!
 

I moved with my daughter to US in 2005 when she was 17 (both had green cards). She had completed her GCSE's in the UK at 16. We moved to a small town in central California and I don't think someone from the UK had attended that school before. I supplied all transcripts from her UK school and also used a credentialling service, WES, (interestingly her 12 GCSEs were equivalent to a US high school diploma) so the school were able to evaluate and able to give the amount of credits needed for her to graduate on time. She joined the junior year, made loads of friends, completed senior year and graduated at 18, went onto to do a year at junior college in Santa Monica but then decided to return to UK to go to Uni, she graduates from Uni next year.

As far as moving back to the UK and attending University, we emailed several Uni's giving them her qualifications from the UK and her 1 year of junior college in the US and she had several offers for courses she was interested in. I think if she is outgoing, flexible and confident she will be fine. :)

Re: US High School education system - help!
 

well thank you all! My daughter is sitting her Highers as I mentioned previously next May-June. These are the critical exams for application to Uni. If she was in Scotland for 6th year, she would just (I think the terminology is 'doss about'). Certainly, this is what my 18 year old son did last year. He is at Uni at the moment.

Anyway, I will investigate both options.

Re the previous post about our L1A and L2 visas, my husband's company is paying for our green card application for all of us as soon as possible.

As far as her going back to Scotland for Uni, since she has spent most of her life in Scotland, she should get full tuition paid, just like a normal student from Scotland. It's not automatic but you can apply. If not, then we'll just have to pay for her.

She is a vivacious, confident young lady, very mature and friendly. So, I'm sure she'll take it in her stride. At least I hope so!

Re: US High School education system - help!
 

That's good to know, I know a woman here who brought her daughter over at 15 and apparently had an awful time trying to get any credit for work she had done in the British system, which was what made me think they might have a problem with transcripts.

Re: US High School education system - help!
 

It's a tough call isn't it? My husband's ob is more or less defunct in the UK, so it's not really an option for us to move, although we don't feel like we are being forced. We really do want to go. I just wish it has maybe been a year earlier or a year later maybe.

If we do go out and my daugher HATES it, then she can come back. We have family who are more than happy to look after her. But I want her to experience this. I think education is more than sitting in classrooms and sitting exams. These things are important, yes but so is knowldge and understanding of new places and new people.

I went straight from school, to Uni for 5 years, trained for 2 years and have worked full time ever since. If someone had offered me to take a 'year out', I would have snapped their hand off!!!!!

Anyway, good luck. I'll keep you posted. Maybe our daughters should discuss??

Re: US High School education system - help!
 

Wouldn't it be the same in the UK though? Teenage years can be tough regardless.

Re: US High School education system - help!
 

Hello

Just a note from personal experience.

I spent one year as a Senior at a US high school when I was 17. I had taken A levels at UK school and already had a place at Uni but was recommended to take a year out since I had skipped a year and was a little young. Yes, the kids in the US had all been together for a while but I was definitely a 'novelty' student due to being from the UK.

Academically there were few challenges; I managed to exempt a few classes since I was ahead of my fellow students plus I confused them all by calculating answers in metric.
The US curriculum is much broader than A levels (sorry, don't know anything about Highers) so I took the opportunity to take classes that weren't even an option in the UK since I had been focused on just three subjects for 2 years. I took things like Russian, Anthropology, American Literature, and Ceramics. I wasn't great at many of the classes but it didn't matter since I already had the place at Uni. I had a fabulous time.

I had a fleeting conversation with my family (who remained in the UK) about studying at Uni in the US but they weren't even going to entertain the idea since it involved out of state fees and my place in the UK was essentially free. I returned to the UK and attended Uni for 3 years followed by working in London for years.

Yonks later, I'm married to an American and living in California. Should have spared all the London effort and just stayed in the US after all!
By the sounds of things, your daughter will be fine in High School.