I did a 13th year of high school abroad, which I think is an excellent option. I also studied abroad in college, but college study abroad and high school study abroad are completely different experiences. College students don't acquire the linguistic or cultural competence that high school exchange students do. It's fun for them, but not nearly as formative. My son will graduate high school when he's 16 and will spend a 13th year abroad as well.

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Anonymous wrote:DS experience: last summer (between 5th and 6th grade), a three week academic program in London. Certainly not a semester but DS loved it and we talked about doing something similar again this summer but then, Corona. It was a really great experience and he made friends who live in different countries that he still has contact with.

What program was this?

Sorry, five months later!!

TASIS, London campus.

Happy to answer any questions you have if you see this after all this time

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Anonymous wrote:Not in high school OP. Don't do this.

Why not in high school?

the GPA etc - not a parallel learning experience unless you attend the "American school" in London / Paris / etc

Who cares. Why are people so stuck on GPA? I would prefer that my kid have life experiences than a 4.0 GPA.

They can look forward to plenty of life experiences while stacking shelves in Walmart after getting a 2.0 GPA. That is some long lasting experience, I'm sure.

Well I had less than a 2.0 GPA and am pretty stinking wealthy.

Good for you. Means nothing to be wealthy. You own dump trucks that you hire out to the trash collectors and be wealthy. Like I say, it means zero.

Well I am pretty smart also.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not in high school OP. Don't do this.

Why not in high school?

the GPA etc - not a parallel learning experience unless you attend the "American school" in London / Paris / etc

Who cares. Why are people so stuck on GPA? I would prefer that my kid have life experiences than a 4.0 GPA.

They can look forward to plenty of life experiences while stacking shelves in Walmart after getting a 2.0 GPA. That is some long lasting experience, I'm sure.

Oh, please. The kids who are mature enough for this kind of thing and can learn how to balance this experience with academics don't end up stocking shelves at Walmart. I did TWO years abroad in HS and my GPA did take a bit of a hit, which is maybe why I ended up at Georgetown instead of Harvard. Oh well. Haven't set foot in a Walmart in my life.

But you're missing the point. You were focused on your GPA. Obviously. That is essential.

I had a 3.7 or something like that from sophomore year and essentially 2 years with no grades. GPA was not pulling the weight of my applications, that was a strong essay and SATs.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not in high school OP. Don't do this.

Why not in high school?

the GPA etc - not a parallel learning experience unless you attend the "American school" in London / Paris / etc

Who cares. Why are people so stuck on GPA? I would prefer that my kid have life experiences than a 4.0 GPA.

They can look forward to plenty of life experiences while stacking shelves in Walmart after getting a 2.0 GPA. That is some long lasting experience, I'm sure.

Well I had less than a 2.0 GPA and am pretty stinking wealthy.

Good for you. Means nothing to be wealthy. You own dump trucks that you hire out to the trash collectors and be wealthy. Like I say, it means zero.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not in high school OP. Don't do this.

Why not in high school?

the GPA etc - not a parallel learning experience unless you attend the "American school" in London / Paris / etc

Who cares. Why are people so stuck on GPA? I would prefer that my kid have life experiences than a 4.0 GPA.

They can look forward to plenty of life experiences while stacking shelves in Walmart after getting a 2.0 GPA. That is some long lasting experience, I'm sure.

Well I had less than a 2.0 GPA and am pretty stinking wealthy.