Should I transfer high schools?

Answered

If you're asking this question mainly focused on college admissions, the answer is that colleges will look at your profile in context with what's offered at your school. So taking the maximum number of APs available to you at your new school would be viewed the same as taking the maximum number of APs at your old one if you were to stay there (even if those numbers are, say, 8, and 12).

Some colleges also have specific relationships with regional high schools where they'll take more students from those schools than from others that are further away (for example, UPenn admits a significant percentage of its class every year from Philadelphia-area high schools, and it's a little easier to get in if you're coming from those high schools than from elsewhere in the country). So if your new school is close to a college you'd be interested in, that could be a bonus.

But more broadly, if you're so unhappy as a freshman that you're looking to transfer schools, it might be a good idea no matter what. In any case, your performance is the most important part of the equation, and it's harder to do well in a place where you don't feel good.