Some advice on which school to pick?

[h3rm3s]

Hello everyone!

 

I have a difficult choice to make, and I'd love some advice.

I'm 16 years old, and I live in Belgium. I have only 2 years left to complete before I finish high school. In Belgium we call the 2 last years of high school the "3d grade".

(first 2 years = "1st grade", 3d and 4th year = "2nd grade").

You're not allowed to change school after starting the 3d grade, so when you make your choice, it will be that way for 2 years.

 

I completed the first 4 years of high school (1st & 2nd grade) in a Waldorf School. This is some kind of private school where they really support independent thinking, and they really try to give every person the chance to develop in their own way. As you might have assumed, this school was a very small school, everyone knows everyone, and contact with teachers is not very formal, it's all very relaxed and personal.

At the end of my 4th year, I was tired of the Waldorf School, I wanted a "real school", where I would have to work hard, I wanted this to prepare myself for higher education. So I chose to finish my last 2 years of high school in a school called "Pius X".

This is the largest school of Antwerp (the city where I live), and as a result is a very different environment compared to the relaxed and small Waldorf School.

I always thought this wouldn't really matter that much to me, since I'd come there to learn, not to talk to the teachers about irrelevant things, or something like that.

But now that I completed a few days in my new school, I wish I'd stayed with the Waldorf School. Not because of the extra work I get at "Pius X", that's what I wanted, but because the environment is really not the kind of thing I enjoy. I feel pretty unhappy at this new school, but I feel like it's really the only good way to prepare myself for higher education.

 

Luckily the teachers at the Waldorf School wanted me to stay, so if I wanted to return, I could just ask, and they would make an exception for me. (I know, it's not fair, and they wouldn't do this for other people, but I've heard some teachers even cried in the teacher's room when they were told I was going to leave. They seem to care about me, for some reason.)

I still have the choice to go back to my old school, where I'm happy, but I might not be as ready for higher education as I would be if I stayed at "Pius X". So basically, my heart say Waldorf School, but my brain says Pius X.

What do I do???

Who knows within half a year I'll be so unhappy at Pius X I stop caring, I stop getting good grades, and my future is destroyed any ways. So what do I do??? any help is welcome.

[minecraftyeet1]

On 9/2/2016 at 6:36 AM, h3rm3s said:

Hello everyone!

 

I have a difficult choice to make, and I'd love some advice.

I'm 16 years old, and I live in Belgium. I have only 2 years left to complete before I finish high school. In Belgium we call the 2 last years of high school the "3d grade".

(first 2 years = "1st grade", 3d and 4th year = "2nd grade").

You're not allowed to change school after starting the 3d grade, so when you make your choice, it will be that way for 2 years.

 

I completed the first 4 years of high school (1st & 2nd grade) in a Waldorf School. This is some kind of private school where they really support independent thinking, and they really try to give every person the chance to develop in their own way. As you might have assumed, this school was a very small school, everyone knows everyone, and contact with teachers is not very formal, it's all very relaxed and personal.

At the end of my 4th year, I was tired of the Waldorf School, I wanted a "real school", where I would have to work hard, I wanted this to prepare myself for higher education. So I chose to finish my last 2 years of high school in a school called "Pius X".

This is the largest school of Antwerp (the city where I live), and as a result is a very different environment compared to the relaxed and small Waldorf School.

I always thought this wouldn't really matter that much to me, since I'd come there to learn, not to talk to the teachers about irrelevant things, or something like that.

But now that I completed a few days in my new school, I wish I'd stayed with the Waldorf School. Not because of the extra work I get at "Pius X", that's what I wanted, but because the environment is really not the kind of thing I enjoy. I feel pretty unhappy at this new school, but I feel like it's really the only good way to prepare myself for higher education.

 

Luckily the teachers at the Waldorf School wanted me to stay, so if I wanted to return, I could just ask, and they would make an exception for me. (I know, it's not fair, and they wouldn't do this for other people, but I've heard some teachers even cried in the teacher's room when they were told I was going to leave. They seem to care about me, for some reason.)

I still have the choice to go back to my old school, where I'm happy, but I might not be as ready for higher education as I would be if I stayed at "Pius X". So basically, my heart say Waldorf School, but my brain says Pius X.

What do I do???

Who knows within half a year I'll be so unhappy at Pius X I stop caring, I stop getting good grades, and my future is destroyed any ways. So what do I do??? any help is welcome.

I Didn't read all of it, but judging on the title...

Ask someone you know pls 

[dalekphalm]

On 2016-09-01 at 4:36 PM, h3rm3s said:

Hello everyone!

 

I have a difficult choice to make, and I'd love some advice.

I'm 16 years old, and I live in Belgium. I have only 2 years left to complete before I finish high school. In Belgium we call the 2 last years of high school the "3d grade".

(first 2 years = "1st grade", 3d and 4th year = "2nd grade").

You're not allowed to change school after starting the 3d grade, so when you make your choice, it will be that way for 2 years.

 

I completed the first 4 years of high school (1st & 2nd grade) in a Waldorf School. This is some kind of private school where they really support independent thinking, and they really try to give every person the chance to develop in their own way. As you might have assumed, this school was a very small school, everyone knows everyone, and contact with teachers is not very formal, it's all very relaxed and personal.

At the end of my 4th year, I was tired of the Waldorf School, I wanted a "real school", where I would have to work hard, I wanted this to prepare myself for higher education. So I chose to finish my last 2 years of high school in a school called "Pius X".

This is the largest school of Antwerp (the city where I live), and as a result is a very different environment compared to the relaxed and small Waldorf School.

I always thought this wouldn't really matter that much to me, since I'd come there to learn, not to talk to the teachers about irrelevant things, or something like that.

But now that I completed a few days in my new school, I wish I'd stayed with the Waldorf School. Not because of the extra work I get at "Pius X", that's what I wanted, but because the environment is really not the kind of thing I enjoy. I feel pretty unhappy at this new school, but I feel like it's really the only good way to prepare myself for higher education.

 

Luckily the teachers at the Waldorf School wanted me to stay, so if I wanted to return, I could just ask, and they would make an exception for me. (I know, it's not fair, and they wouldn't do this for other people, but I've heard some teachers even cried in the teacher's room when they were told I was going to leave. They seem to care about me, for some reason.)

I still have the choice to go back to my old school, where I'm happy, but I might not be as ready for higher education as I would be if I stayed at "Pius X". So basically, my heart say Waldorf School, but my brain says Pius X.

What do I do???

Who knows within half a year I'll be so unhappy at Pius X I stop caring, I stop getting good grades, and my future is destroyed any ways. So what do I do??? any help is welcome.

Obviously we can't really give you objective advice here. We don't know anything about either of those schools, besides the little you've told us.

 

But franky, just go back to your old school. If you were happy there, and the interaction with teachers was really good, I'd say that's a positive.

 

As for higher education and preparation? Depends on which University you go to. There are big universities, with 500+ people in a giant lecture hall, where the professor has no idea what your name is. And there are small universities, with class sizes of 20 people, and the professor knows everyone personally.

 

If that "close knitted environment" is important to you, then you can surely find a University that matches as well. Of course, you may have to look "out of province/state/county/even country" possibly.

[h3rm3s]

On 3/9/2016 at 6:20 PM, dalekphalm said:

Obviously we can't really give you objective advice here. We don't know anything about either of those schools, besides the little you've told us.

 

But franky, just go back to your old school. If you were happy there, and the interaction with teachers was really good, I'd say that's a positive.

 

As for higher education and preparation? Depends on which University you go to. There are big universities, with 500+ people in a giant lecture hall, where the professor has no idea what your name is. And there are small universities, with class sizes of 20 people, and the professor knows everyone personally.

 

If that "close knitted environment" is important to you, then you can surely find a University that matches as well. Of course, you may have to look "out of province/state/county/even country" possibly.

Yes, you're right, you can't give objective advice with the little info I gave. But thanks for the help! Yes, higher education in another country isn't a problem for me, Belgium is small, so I'm close to a lot of neighbouring countries and large cities. But thanks! I'm actually planning to have a conversation with my teachers of my old school, to tell them about my situation. Maybe they can arrange more challenging mathematics for me, or maybe they're able to help me with self-study on topics I would learn in Pius X, but which I'd try to study on my own if I'd go back to my old school.

[looper543]

LMU is great in my opinion man

[Canada EH]

My advice is to pick the cheapest school.
If price is not a factor, then there are lists that rank schools. Look at those.
Another factor is where is the school located, other side of the country = increased living costs = increased loan amounts = make new friends

[h3rm3s]

On 5/9/2016 at 10:01 PM, Canada EH said:

My advice is to pick the cheapest school.
If price is not a factor, then there are lists that rank schools. Look at those.
Another factor is where is the school located, other side of the country = increased living costs = increased loan amounts = make new friends

Are you talking about high school or university? I assume university, since no one moves to go to another high school as far as I know. Well, I live in Belgium, so university is very cheap (heavily subsidized), and the country is small, so I wouldn't have to move, since we have the densest train network in the world, and one of the most heavily subsidized passenger train services on earth I can commute to anywhere in the country at a low cost.

I do however have to take into account that 40% of my country speaks French, and not Dutch, so I'd probably want to go to a Dutch speaking university, because my French is terrible. But price probably isn't a factor, since most schools in Belgium are priced so you don't have to be an upper-middle class citizen to go there. So yeah, I(ll look for a list of top Belgian universities and colleges.

On 5/9/2016 at 8:43 PM, looper543 said:

LMU is great in my opinion man

Well, I live in Belgium, so a university in California might be a bit too far for me. Neighbouring countries are fine, but the US is a bit far, and a bit expensive.

[Canada EH]

Yes people scam and move to get into the right highschool.