Correct. School A is not only elite academically, but athletically as well. We are factoring that in this decision. My intention is not to simply select the best academic school, but gather thoughts from this community on how different these schools are academically and potential impacts for my child.
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No high school closes doors. I believe that strongly. It was true for myself and both of my kids.
Itâs about the kid, not the school. Outside a couple of schools in NY and one or two boarding schools there are no admissions advantages in attending a âpowerâ high school, at least if one is focused on the SCEA/REA schools. There may be some advantages at individual ED schools here and there, but I wouldnât pick a high school based on those variances.
Harvard Westlakeâs parent handbook used to be online and the school showed college results after stripping out factors like legacy and recruited athletes to make it clear that attending the school does not confer a boost.
Agree with prior posters that high school should be about high school anyway and not about aiming for a particular college outcome. I advised both kids to pick a high school without worrying about college outcome.
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call the schools admission office and they should provide this information to you. if not, that would be a red flag to me.
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I agree that there are options from any high school. That said, the advantages of excellent academic preparation in hs can not be overstated.
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One hidden benefit of the pandemic was that for the Class of 2020 whom had their graduations cancelled, kids got creative with how to celebrate their classmates and their college selections and majors. Thus the âclassofâ pages on instagram were born and theyâve hung around every year since. I follow all of the pages for schools in my area and enjoy seeing the outcomes posted every year. You could use this as a backdoor into finding out where kids are headed from options B & C.
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I think there is a significant difference between a âknown high schoolâ vs an âunknown high schoolâ. And for a known high school, the door is already open.
I define a known high school as one that routinely has a large fraction of students applying to highly selective colleges and has some students regularly admitted. It doesnât have to be a feeder high school like Lexington.
For a known high school, there is someone on the admissions committee that is used to reviewing applicants from that high school and understanding how to evaluate those students. And the regular admissions means that the students from the high school have a record of good performance at the college.
For example, Harvard and MIT have accepted at least one student (and usually more) from our high school each year, and thatâs going back for about 15 years now. Thatâs nowhere near Lexingtonâs results, but itâs enough that the college admission results are pretty predictable for the strongest students.
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Iâm not sure where you live â Iâm guessing on the East Coast â I do know of a handful of private schools on the East Coast (NY, Boston) where this is the case. But that is definitely not the case in the West Coast city where I live. And I doubt it is the case for the vast majority of cities scattered throughout the rest of the country.
I have seen too many kids pressed unnecessarily by this belief that a particular school âgetsâ kids into a particular college. I find that unfortunate and unnecessary and not necessarily the right answer even for a gifted child.
My first child attended such a school and did extremely well. Iâm sure parents see her dot on the scattergram and think the school somehow transported her to that collegeâs gates, but we know that is not the case.
I attended a school with scores so low it would make posters here blanch. My daughter attended a fancy private, my son attended a lesser known private. We got the same college result, but we would also all agree he had the best experience of the lot.
High schools that are strong in both academics and athletics are prime areas for athletic departments from elite academic schools to find players. This can dramatically increase the number of students who attend the âeliteâ colleges from a high school. At my DSâs HS, a football powerhouse, the top players go to âPower 5â teams. The next level down are highly recruited by the Ivy+ schools. The school will also have some academic admissions to the top schools.
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Agree that high school students do not need to go beyond calculus BC (or equivalent), but some advanced-in-math students may want to go beyond calculus BC while in high school out of interest. Such a reason is not necessarily the same as trying to optimize oneâs college admission resume for the most selective colleges.
It does look like schools B and C would be more limiting in terms of student options in this respect, although the availability and accessibility of courses at local colleges can make a significant difference here.
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Itâs usually under academics and often from there, under college counseling. Guessing you have been there already, but offering that just in case!
Some high schools do close doors, such as those with poor quality instruction that leaves students unprepared for college or any other further education and training that is more necessary in todayâs job market (e.g. poor reading, writing, and math skills).
But it is unlikely that the schools in this thread are in that category. However, since the OP has the luxury of choice, it makes sense to consider whether any is a better academic and otherwise fit for the student.
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My kids attended the local public high school. There are âknownâ open-admission public high schools throughout the country. Examples include high schools in Palo Alto and Palos Verdes Estates in CA, Cherry Creek HS in Colorado, Shawnee Mission in Kansas, and Plano in Texas.
Itâs not that attending any of these high schools guarantees admission to any specific college. Itâs that admission officers have no concerns whether the top students at those high schools will be capable of handling the academics of a rigorous college, because prior admitted students already have a history of success.
Our local public school may only have one or two admitted to Harvard and MIT each year, but itâs closer to 25 each year between colleges like Vanderbilt, Cornell, WashU and Hopkins. Thatâs also what I mean by college admissions being rather predictable. The students who aimed for Harvard and MIT, but arenât at the very top of the class, often end up just a tier down.
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I know some of those schools as well from my daughterâs activity. Kids compete tenaciously for national recognition to gain entry into some of these schools. The fact they attended very difficult schools may help - and Palo Alto in particular is known for the impact it is had on kids - but I would argue it is those steps they took above and beyond that makes the difference, steps that can be undertaken from any school.
Probably just have to agree to disagree. Moving on
Of course, most public schools are only open admission to those living in the attendance zones⊠and sometimes housing in the attendance zones of desired public schools can be very expensive relative to other nearby areas.
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Got it for Option C. In the last four years, Purdue and Georgia Tech were the most selective.
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I go to a competitive public high school, and it sucks here. Colleges want to be equitable across both competitive and noncompetitive high schools, so they compare you to your classmatesâ academic and extracurricular achievement, and see what opportunities you had. This means that if you want to have the same chance at college as someone from a noncompetitive high school, you have to go the extra mile and take many AP classes, grind the SAT (1500+ is kinda essential), do amazing ECs. And then you have to compete with your classmates for club officer positions, rec letters, etc. My classmates that went to college say that the social life at my school is horrible compared to their peers from noncompetitive colleges.
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Is there a way for your son to take advanced math (post Calculus BC Sophomore year) at a college? Unless heâs not interested in math and just happened to get so advanced, typically this kind of advance means passion for math - thinking/breathing math, and loving it.
So if you can find a way for him to keep going at his pace for math, you can then focus on other elements of the schools, such as social fit, vibe, sportsâŠ
(As long as heâs okay with the rest of their curriculum)
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Not scientific, but some schools have an instagram page where seniors announce their intended college in the spring and you can get a sense of which colleges are admitting students.
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Iâm a big believer in peer group especially at this age. We pulled my son out of public into private after one year of middle school because of it. The private school was rigorous and nurturing at the same time. No problem with social strataâkids pretty much ran the gamut but most were on the high end of financially well off parentsâbut never could tell who was who unless you went to their homes. The main thing was expectations of behaviorâit was a great experience. And his friends were intellectual peers which forced him to step up his game which turned out to be the most important factor.
The school had a ton of AP classes which I believe were very important. Of course all of this is dependent on individual teachers. He graduated with high GPA, many friends, good study habits and good college acceptances. He didnât attend MIT (not his fit) but his friends did go to MIT, Princeton, Emory, Stanford, Brown, Cornell and engineering schools on scholarshipâwhich of course made the price to the private school well worth the steep initial price(although the school had scholarships available also). Part of the getting the best HS education is it makes college that much easierâa student can start with credits from AP (if allowed), is used to college work, has the study habits and time management in place.
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Just a point of clarification: of the schools listed here, only Emory gives merit scholarships. The rest of the list would be based on financial need only.
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