As a freshman last year, I started to try to put myself out at my school, for instance creating my school’s first Asian Student Union. This year (my Sophomore year) I am considering to apply for the IB Program— but it is at a different school, where I would need to transfer.
Is it worth transferring? My top schools I want to apply to are Columbia, UPenn, UCLA.
If I end up going, how will I start over with extracurriculars again?
Lastly, when I apply, can I mention the extracurriculars I have done from my past school?
I go to an IB school and really wish I had just gone to a HS with AP classes instead. You won’t get most of your IB scores until after your senior year and the credits are not as widely accepted as AP credits. I also think that AP offers more scholarship/recognition. If IB is the only reason you want to go to the new school, I wouldn’t. Most colleges do not consider IB to be a bigger admission factor than AP and doing the diploma only really benefits you if you want to go to school internationally. I know everyone else on this post has said to do it, but if your current school has options for rigorous courses/college credit, STAY THERE. IB is not at all worth it if you stay in America
Transferring to a better school can be a great move, especially if the new school's rating is higher. While you might lose some of the connections you made during your freshman year and have to start over, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing as long as you present it well in your application.
If you can’t start a new chapter in the new school, don't worry. You can still include your freshman year experience, though it will appear as if you participated for only one year instead of multiple years. You’ll be fine if you fill that gap with other initiatives and activities.
If you are interested in starting another impactful club at your school next year, please feel free to contact me, Mahi Junnare, at Impactclubinfo@gmail.com.
Yes you totally can transfer extra circulars! Almost every collage has access to your files of what you did throughout high school weather you transferred or not. So you won't have to start over your extra circulars either, and if you decide to continue them you can just add on to the year you already did your Freshman year.
An IB program also sounds awesome and I'm sure that it would look great on your collage resume so I definitally recommend transfering. I know for a fact that UPenn tends to award students who have taken IB classes as well as AP classes, if I were you I would look for a school that offers both IB and AP classes because they are both important things to UPenn, that way you don't have to transfer schools again the next year.
I really hope that was helpful, I'm sorry if it wasn't! Have a nice day!
P.S
It's really cool how you started an Asian Student Union! I'm rooting for you and I hope you get into the collages you want to :)
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Thanks for your answer, I am trying to get as many opinions and voices on this. Does IB affect your chances into getting into a more prestigious school? I’m worried about it because there’s a safety school I would go to if I didn’t get into (for example) Columbia, Dartmouth or UCLA, that doesn’t accept IB credits. Thank you for all your help!