Anonymous
08/20/2025 07:10
Subject: High school options as an expat--will it screw up my DC's college chances?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
I'm curious if anyone has experience with educating their kids abroad...
Basically, any one have experiences with this?
Yes. People have done this for decades. It can work well.
If targeting DC at a US university, try to find an American School - and verify that they are setup to support sitting SAT/ACT exams and/or sitting AP exams. Those need not be at the school campus, but the school should be able to inform parents when/how to register for those exam sitting options in that country.
would attending a private school make it more difficult to get into a US college? is it very binary, or, as long as we can get them into SAT/ACT exams, is it likely to not make a difference?
For what college? You need to be more specific. Some colleges may prefer private students, and some may like some privates over others, but that is unique to the college. Some schools and programs also may like students with a more unique or international perspective, but again that would be unique to the program/college and even then, the differences would be small.
For the most part, assuming the kid is taking classes comparable to IB/AP here and the curriculum and rigor are similar, they should be treated similarly.
I’m trying to figure out if educating your kids on the British system translates well into American university. There are different academic requirements.
Again, for which colleges?
Some US colleges, particularly those with more UK applicants, will understand A-levels and the UK system, while other colleges will be unfamiliar.
Anonymous
08/20/2025 07:05
Subject: High school options as an expat--will it screw up my DC's college chances?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
I'm curious if anyone has experience with educating their kids abroad...
Basically, any one have experiences with this?
Yes. People have done this for decades. It can work well.
If targeting DC at a US university, try to find an American School - and verify that they are setup to support sitting SAT/ACT exams and/or sitting AP exams. Those need not be at the school campus, but the school should be able to inform parents when/how to register for those exam sitting options in that country.
would attending a private school make it more difficult to get into a US college? is it very binary, or, as long as we can get them into SAT/ACT exams, is it likely to not make a difference?
There are thousands of colleges in the US. Very difficult to have a single answer.
For many colleges, private or not would make no difference either way.
Anonymous
08/20/2025 03:07
Subject: High school options as an expat--will it screw up my DC's college chances?
Howuch of an advantage is a US/American school over and IB school? US colleges are plenty familiar with both, so I don't see the benefit in paying a large amount extra for the former over the latter
Anonymous
08/19/2025 14:51
Subject: Re:High school options as an expat--will it screw up my DC's college chances?
I did this last year- we found a school that has an IB curriculum but there are schools that offer AP/american high school diplomas. look carefully to make sure that your child's extracurriculars will be supported- that has been the difficulty for us since extracurriculars aren't as big of a deal over here.
definitely do a visit first to get a feel for the student body- kids are not as steeped in blue bubble kindness studies. Americans are very polite and brits can come off as abrasive and not as kind.
definitely do a visit first to get a feel for the student body- kids are not as steeped in blue bubble kindness studies. Americans are very polite and brits can come off as abrasive and not as kind.
Anonymous
08/19/2025 13:20
Subject: High school options as an expat--will it screw up my DC's college chances?
PP here. Should say *few, not a couple. I went to a college that recruited a decent number of people from the UK for a specific sport.
Anonymous
08/19/2025 13:20
Subject: High school options as an expat--will it screw up my DC's college chances?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
I'm curious if anyone has experience with educating their kids abroad...
Basically, any one have experiences with this?
Yes. People have done this for decades. It can work well.
If targeting DC at a US university, try to find an American School - and verify that they are setup to support sitting SAT/ACT exams and/or sitting AP exams. Those need not be at the school campus, but the school should be able to inform parents when/how to register for those exam sitting options in that country.
would attending a private school make it more difficult to get into a US college? is it very binary, or, as long as we can get them into SAT/ACT exams, is it likely to not make a difference?
For what college? You need to be more specific. Some colleges may prefer private students, and some may like some privates over others, but that is unique to the college. Some schools and programs also may like students with a more unique or international perspective, but again that would be unique to the program/college and even then, the differences would be small.
For the most part, assuming the kid is taking classes comparable to IB/AP here and the curriculum and rigor are similar, they should be treated similarly.
I’m trying to figure out if educating your kids on the British system translates well into American university. There are different academic requirements. I know one family whose daughter did it but she had a higher degree of athletic interest and got a scholarship to a d1.
I know a couple people who did this, but they all were initially planning on going to college in the UK until they got recruited by a US university for a sport.
Anonymous
08/19/2025 13:18
Subject: High school options as an expat--will it screw up my DC's college chances?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
I'm curious if anyone has experience with educating their kids abroad...
Basically, any one have experiences with this?
Yes. People have done this for decades. It can work well.
If targeting DC at a US university, try to find an American School - and verify that they are setup to support sitting SAT/ACT exams and/or sitting AP exams. Those need not be at the school campus, but the school should be able to inform parents when/how to register for those exam sitting options in that country.
would attending a private school make it more difficult to get into a US college? is it very binary, or, as long as we can get them into SAT/ACT exams, is it likely to not make a difference?
For what college? You need to be more specific. Some colleges may prefer private students, and some may like some privates over others, but that is unique to the college. Some schools and programs also may like students with a more unique or international perspective, but again that would be unique to the program/college and even then, the differences would be small.
For the most part, assuming the kid is taking classes comparable to IB/AP here and the curriculum and rigor are similar, they should be treated similarly.
I’m trying to figure out if educating your kids on the British system translates well into American university. There are different academic requirements. I know one family whose daughter did it but she had a higher degree of athletic interest and got a scholarship to a d1.
It's going to be a really small sample size, since the ones who want to come to the US to study generally select into American-style schools and IB schools.
Anonymous
08/19/2025 13:03
Subject: High school options as an expat--will it screw up my DC's college chances?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
I'm curious if anyone has experience with educating their kids abroad...
Basically, any one have experiences with this?
Yes. People have done this for decades. It can work well.
If targeting DC at a US university, try to find an American School - and verify that they are setup to support sitting SAT/ACT exams and/or sitting AP exams. Those need not be at the school campus, but the school should be able to inform parents when/how to register for those exam sitting options in that country.
would attending a private school make it more difficult to get into a US college? is it very binary, or, as long as we can get them into SAT/ACT exams, is it likely to not make a difference?
For what college? You need to be more specific. Some colleges may prefer private students, and some may like some privates over others, but that is unique to the college. Some schools and programs also may like students with a more unique or international perspective, but again that would be unique to the program/college and even then, the differences would be small.
For the most part, assuming the kid is taking classes comparable to IB/AP here and the curriculum and rigor are similar, they should be treated similarly.
I’m trying to figure out if educating your kids on the British system translates well into American university. There are different academic requirements. I know one family whose daughter did it but she had a higher degree of athletic interest and got a scholarship to a d1.
Anonymous
08/19/2025 12:56
Subject: Re:High school options as an expat--will it screw up my DC's college chances?
Anonymous wrote:FWIW, I was an expat graduate of a mishmash of private American high schools, DOD schools, etc., and found that if anything, this background was a big leg up in college admissions. This was a while ago when perhaps things were less competitive and I was a very good student--but that said, I didn't really have anything otherwise special about me (certainly not in extracurriculars) and got in everywhere I applied from Harvard on down. I joked that my "third culture kid" status basically was my only hook.
Being an overseas military kid probably gives you a bump similar to being a kid who grows up in a rural state with low numbers at top schools. Probably not a massive hook the way something like recruited athlete is, but it still gives you some edge in terms of geographic diversity and background diversity for these schools.
Anonymous
08/19/2025 12:49
Subject: High school options as an expat--will it screw up my DC's college chances?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
I'm curious if anyone has experience with educating their kids abroad...
Basically, any one have experiences with this?
Yes. People have done this for decades. It can work well.
If targeting DC at a US university, try to find an American School - and verify that they are setup to support sitting SAT/ACT exams and/or sitting AP exams. Those need not be at the school campus, but the school should be able to inform parents when/how to register for those exam sitting options in that country.
would attending a private school make it more difficult to get into a US college? is it very binary, or, as long as we can get them into SAT/ACT exams, is it likely to not make a difference?
For what college? You need to be more specific. Some colleges may prefer private students, and some may like some privates over others, but that is unique to the college. Some schools and programs also may like students with a more unique or international perspective, but again that would be unique to the program/college and even then, the differences would be small.
For the most part, assuming the kid is taking classes comparable to IB/AP here and the curriculum and rigor are similar, they should be treated similarly.
Anonymous
08/19/2025 12:48
Subject: Re:High school options as an expat--will it screw up my DC's college chances?
FWIW, I was an expat graduate of a mishmash of private American high schools, DOD schools, etc., and found that if anything, this background was a big leg up in college admissions. This was a while ago when perhaps things were less competitive and I was a very good student--but that said, I didn't really have anything otherwise special about me (certainly not in extracurriculars) and got in everywhere I applied from Harvard on down. I joked that my "third culture kid" status basically was my only hook.
Anonymous
08/19/2025 12:45
Subject: High school options as an expat--will it screw up my DC's college chances?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:My DH works for a large German company and they regularly have people move to Germany to work for the headquarters for a few years and they have always had good experiences with international schools.
Even at high school?
Yes, at all ages. They move and attend high school there with the expectation they will apply to colleges here in the USA. I don't pry into kids' numbers, etc. but I think most end up with good college results. Obviously, in some cases they lose residency for instate options, but that would happen with any out of state move.