Transferring high school to the US
 

Hello, I'm a student from Cambodia. Could anyone tell me how can I transfer high school to the US? I'm looking forward for all your advices and suggestion. Thank you!

OK -- why all of a sudden do teenagers think Fodors is where to ask about going to high school in the States? In the last month we have had 4 or 5 different people register here to ask this very question.

This is a travel website. If you want to know the requirements you should contact the school district in the area where you will be moving.

You show up at the school in the district in which you are living. It is that simple.

Hi Brathna,

As janis & gretchen stated, once you reside in the US legally you will just need to go to the local school where you live & they will enroll you. In the US, public school (free) through high school /12th grade is all administered at the local level, and the school office will tell you what information they need (for example proof of residency, medical/immunization records, school records from your existing school, etc).

The first question to be asking yourself is do you have the proper immigration approval to live in the US?

If not, that's the place to start. If you are simply looking to study in the US for a year, there are many student foreign exchange programs, where students from outside the US can live with a host family for a school year. These are coordinated by various private agencies - I do not have knowledge of any details other than that they do exist.

Good luck!

this is odd that this is a popular question, but if you are a high school student, you have to be living with some adult and family in the US, you can't just show up on your own.

So they should know, actually, if they don't, something is wrong.

You issue is not going to school - it's being admitted to the US on a long-term visa. You have to figure that out - and what family you would like with here. (A minor will not be admitted to the US on a long-term visa without a family willing to be responsible for them.)

If you want an exchange program just for one school year with a host family then you need to enquire in your current school about organizations that run that program from your country.

So we've suddenly become high school guidance counselors here?

To any future (and all past) inquiries:
CONSULT THE LOCAL PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT
for their requirements.

You must prove that your parents (or guardians) are living in the school district.

If your parents do not live in the US, there are agencies that charge money to place you with a family (who is paid to look after you), and arrange a high school, often a paid Catholic school, or other private school, for you to go to.

Other than that advice, this is NOT the place to post for information on going to high school in the US.

In the US public high school is free.

If your parents or guardians live here and you joint them you ar entitled to go to school in that district. There is no application process. Youjust need to turn up to register. To do that you will need:

Proof that your parents/family live in the school district (rent checks or mortgage payments)

Records of courses and grades from your previous school so they know where to place you and what courses you will have to take

Your health records (in many places there is a list of routine vaccinations that all students must have to attend school - and many of them you usually get as a small child so getting records might be tricky)

You could do a student exchange for a year like my DD did way back in 1998/99. However you have to go through a program we used STS. You live with a host family.

I think these requests are very odd to find on a travel forum. They are basically from children seeking advice from adults who post about travel.

Personally I have no problem with these questions. We are a country who welcomes visitors, and if someone, including a foreign high school student, can find some help to their questions here on Fodors then there's some good in that.

I only open and read threads that I am interested in, and everyone else is free to do the same.

With few exceptions, most of these are one shot posters who never return to comment on suggestions or thank people.

>>With few exceptions, most of these are one shot posters<<

I actually think several of them are the same person under different screen names.

To be fair -- one did come back and respond a few times but most just find Fodors, register, post, and go away.