Bilingual, International.. Home School?

[ThatOneLittleBunni]

Alright..
After about I'd say around a month.. of tearing down internet on my own and being ready to tear my hair out..
I'd like to say that I need help. xD
I'm currently 17 years old, turning 18 in the upcoming September.
I moved to Buenos Aires about a month ago, with just about 2 months left of my Junior year in high school, which is 11th grade for everyone who's not used to the USA curriculum.
The thing is, this wasn't my first move, I mean I've had at most a complete year of freshmen year, (9th grade), and with missing more than half of my sophomore year, (10th grade), my guidance counselor in my previous high school was pulling strings as it was to help me graduate on time, in the summer on 2014 which is next year.
I had taken English 10 Honors at Bergen Community College last summer to fulfill my graduation requirements of 4 years of English to get into my English 11 class this year along with Latin tutor, etc.
For college, I am aiming high, not going to lie, my dream school is LSE, London School of Economics and I have several more down the line, mostly in the UK.
I do know that I officially want to major in law.
I am Korean, born and bred since I was 7 when my parents moved me to USA and I grew up mostly in New Jersey until my parents got divorced after the economic fall of USA in 2008 or so.
Now, I have read countless threads about schools here, although most expat parents here come to Argentina with younger kids, which I mean is so much easier I think because I have two younger sisters who have no trouble getting into schools here as Americans for Elementary.
I followed the American curriculum, so I was supposed to be putting in college applications beginning this upcoming October.
I know it might be kind of pointless to ask, but is there anyone out there who knows a school that might be willing to accept me as a student and let me graduate on time?
I know the obvious answers, Lincoln but the iffy thing about Lincoln is the fact that given that price, my parents would rather ship me off to boarding school, you know?
Like it says about 20K a year I believe, but according to the parents who have kids there that we know, they apparently spend about 40K a year to the school counting trips and other fees.
And I mean for the best boarding school I know, Philip's Exeter Academy in USA costs about 47K a year for international boarding students.
I've emailed St.George's, St. Andrews, and a long list of IB diploma schools and bilingual schools but the conclusion that I've come to is this:
The schools' main objective is money. And I understand that, I know the Korean lifestyle enough to get used to different cultures and lifestyles.
However, for someone who's gotten so much out of the public school system in Ridgewood, New Jersey, I really can't comprehend people willing to make decisions on education based on wealth.
I have emailed several institutions that make different programs for people based on their situations and I'm currently waiting a reply.
But honestly, if anyone knows places where schools will make adjustments and try to help as much as they can, anything and everything would be appreciated.
Thank you so much!

 

[sinagua980]

It's a Christian school, but I'm pretty sure you could graduate on time if you went to BAICA (www.baica.com). My wife is a teacher there. They are on the American system.

 

[Farenheit]

sinagua, what are the fees like at Baica? thnx!

 

[Risu]

Hello,
You might want to just get your GED. Perhaps take the SAT locally at the schools you have already mentioned or privately ( I can tell you where) and then start taking some on-line courses with which-ever University that you desire. I believe even Harvard is offering on-line classes. Know for sure Stanford & Yale are. Don't despair, dream big and be fearless in thinking ( I hate this over-used term but it works) "outside the box." Remember the story about Steven Jobs, quitting school because he couldn't afford the tuition and then sitting in classes at Reed College. You can accomplish your goals. Make your own rules and follow your own path. Be tenacious and don't give up. Oh yes, and do something good in this world. Best of luck.

 

[sinagua980]

sinagua, what are the fees like at Baica? thnx!

Sorry, I missed this. I really have no idea. Sorry.

 

[MorganF]

Dear Vixi74,

Oh, to educate--to lead--'tis redundant! To find the time and funds to attend an institution worthy of the name "school", worthy of the rights and obligations that implies--to teach the students the trivium, then the quadrivium, the noble pursuit of continuing the tradition of learning the greatest our civilizations (containing multitudes!) have to offer us, this intellectual inheritance that has been passed down for centuries, from the works of the pre-Socratic thinkers and epic poetry of Attica, to the discipline of Rome (with the bonus of Ovid's sexy poetry!) continuing this line through the rebirth of the renaissance and then this funny thing called modernity, while simultaneously ensuring you have a deep understanding of the necessary geometry and calculus (and newer disciplines like statistics) and physics and biology, topped off with the bonus of practical skills we need to survive in this cruel, cruel world (sales or "rhetoric" as they called it in the ancient curriculum)--to find such a school, worthy of that name--in Buenos Aires!--oh, we wish you the best of luck on this endeavor. Does such a school exist anywhere these days? Oh, such were the days of old. The preponderance of evidence, to this humble outside observer (who is woefully uneducated as compared to these smart men and women of BAexpats, with their sophisticated understanding of seemingly every topic mentioned here!) suggests to me that, at any pricepoint, it will be difficult (not - facil) to find a school worthy enough for your intelligence.

But enough talking about the question--what, then, to do?

Here is some advice that is completely and utterly unsolicited. Please value this advice to be worth what you're paying for it: which is $0. So:

Ask yourself, WHY is it you want an "education"? Reading your post, your motives in seeking this education are unclear. If you understand truly your motivation, it will help you figure out a great strategy to achieve what you want to achieve.

For example, if your goal is to be able to get a middle class job in the USA, then the best strategy is probably to study for the GED exam and then take it.

Or if your goal is to meet the children of very important people or even future-important-people, then the best strategy is to figure out the best school that you could get into with your track record, and find a source for a loan to pay for it. This strategy is very hard, but probably do-able if you focus.

Or if your goal is to integrate into Argentine society, then look for a large but not-too-shabby middle class chool. Note that this would exclude Lincoln, since their graduates seem to be very international and not tied to Argentina so much but more the international American school network. Note that local, middle class schools are SUBSTANTIALLY more affordable than American schools like Lincoln or formerly-Scottish schools like San Andres.

Or perhaps you are among the few who has this very odd and curious goal: truly deeply caring about "learning". If this is so, then the next question is: what is it you want to learn? If the answer is, "A particular skill so I can get a great job"--then, teach yourself software development or the prerequisite skills to prepare you for whatever path you dream of! Or follow the ancient strategy and become an apprentice to one of the skilled masters!

But if your goal is to learn the broad, well-rounded education of the sort that has sustained the great men and women of civilization since time immemorial, then I have *GREAT* news for you: Google has launched an initiative called Google Books in which they have scanned and put online the greatest works of every sort, and millions more. Here, you can find EVERYTHING you need for the type of education that Thomas Jefferson or John Stuart Mill or Erasmus (said to be the last man who read every book!) or any of the eduated men or women for thousands of years! Oh, you can spend your nights reading the plays of Aristophanes! The biographies of Polybius! The histories of Thucydides! The epistles of Seneca! The meditations of Marcus Aurelius! The witticisms of Nietzsche! The machinations of Machiavelli! You can have it all, it all--and nothing is stopping you--you need only an Internet connection, and an understanding of the English language--and the entire universe is at your fingertips!

Sadly, there are some aspects to a great education that Google Books can not complete. Agathon -- one of the stars of the Symposium, the lovely feast recorded by Plato -- if I remember correctly, his poetry has been lost but they say his poetry moved the hearts of all of Attica. Oh, Google the All Knowing God of Modernity, canst thou not use your brilliance to recreate long lost works or find them somehow? You can do everything else, it seems!

So, Dearest Vixi74, you are free -- set forth upon this wild and painful world -- seize it with passion and enthusiasm and the zest of life, and define your goals and run, run with all your might towards them!

Oh, and drink a lot of coffee. I'm now on my 18th cup of coffee today. If you couldn't tell.

-morgan

 

[syngirl]

Oh Morgan, how I wish that you would bless us with your presence on this forum with higher frequency.

 

[Iznogud]

Young lady, your post at first glance has so many "I"s that it's painful to even try to read. This been said, you've a smart lady. Congrats.

 

[arlean]

I am impressed by such a thinker at 17. Good for you!

(1) I do agree with what is written here. It is unclear to me what you want in the end and that's important.
(2) Next it is possible to get a university degree online now. (But with some technical subjects may be exceptions.)
(3) Next, the best education is what you get for yourself, not what someone teaches you (except as you apprentice in a business that you want to do, etc.) For example I had such an interest in English that I had read so much about putting words together, had already been published, and when I decided to go to college I spent an afternoon and klepped the entire English program. Got all the credits in a single afternoon. Just because I had pursued an interest on my own free time. Something similar happened to me in personal finance because of being interested and following that interest.

So as others have mentioned here, there are several routes for you. If you want to be an M.D., then you have a specific path you have to follow (for example). If you want to be an entrepreneur, there is only one way to do that--start a business. Well, maybe there are two. Apprentice first to someone in the business you want. THEN start a business!

I wish I had known this when my kids were young. We were hyped that you have to have a degree. I wonder who was doing that. The PR experts hired by the universities is my guess. For both of my kids it was a waste. They did fine but they didn't need college to do what they did. My son who did not finish high school (over my protests, trust me) worked for a mechanic, became a hydraulics expert and has done very well. See what I mean? Unless you are doing something technical (medical, engineering, etc.) don't bother and don't spend the money and the years. But read extensively and take part in your areas of interest or work where you can learn it.

And good luck. I hope we hear back from you. You sound pretty special to me!

 

[Yogur griego]

That just has to be one of the weirdest posts I have ever read here.