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</p>
<p>In today’s job environment, that would be yet more college. ;)</p>
<p>OP - It might make sense to spend more for the better school district. But don’t do so based on Ivy aspirations. You D might not even have test scores in high enough range. And if she does, regardless of GPA her odds of Ivy admittance are likely under 10% anyway.</p>
<p>Thank you all for the comments and advice. I really did read all of them carefully, and to be honest, it appears that the opinions are split evenly regarding this issue.</p>
<p>I will just jot down a few take-away messages.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I must do my research on each school district. That means, It would be a good idea to get school profiles especially to see where some of their top students end up going to college.</p></li>
<li><p>I must also consider which school would be a better fit for my child. Personally, I am an introvert who went to a large public high school. I did not do well over there socially which affected me academically. However, I am not even sure how I would have really done if I had attended a smaller high school because I never attended one. I just know that I went to a large high school, and I didn’t like it.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Strangely enough, I attended a large public college and overall did not feel overwhelmed.</p>
<ol>
<li>I can always move. It’s not in our plans to move when we buy a home, but if the housing prices go up and if my child is really having a hard time adjusting to the town, then we would certainly consider it. This is really the last resort because the last thing I want to do is move whenever we have challenges. However, I would do it if it means we live a happier life.</li>
</ol>
<p>“Many high schools look worse than they are because of significant populations of immigrants.”</p>
<p>If our magnet school, the best students are children of immigrants, mainly Asian. Somehow, Asian ESL students may get even better scores than native speakers, especially in math and science.</p>
<p>LoremIpsum , thanks for your post. Agree, 200%</p>
<p>Quick feedback…know you have received a lot of responses.
If the “good school” is known for being hyper-competitive with 30+ kids in the 4.0 upwards gpa and 10% or more merit scholars (I have seen easily 30-40+ national merit students in a class of 400+)…I would say choose the mediocre schools. Else your child will be under too much pressure…again…I would base it on what kind of environment suits your child. If the other “mediocre” school is at the bottom of the pool with too many below average student, that is a negative too. Ideally a middle of the road high school is best. And no, it just isn’t easy to switch mid high school…so make your choice wisely. Check out reviews in greatschools.org website, talk to parents…sometimes you can even talk to principal before you buy in the district.</p>
<p>Please remember that reputation and test scores can be related to parental SES. I have seen many many schools in my area where the reputations far exceeded the actual quality of teaching. Even good/great schools can have bad teachers. It is just that the parents are able to pay for tutoring for their kids so poor quality is smoothed over!!! Look beyond aggregated scores. Check out parental involvement. Also, changes at the top (principal/head of school) can make a difference in the functioning of the school both good and bad.</p>
<p>As to HYPS? Probably the best bet is to go to DD’s alma mater: An inner city public HS, have a challenging immigrant background, engage in community service, and do reasonably well but not necessarily val or sal.</p>
<p>Op,
For item #3, instead of moving, you can ask it they do an inter district transfer where you live in one school district but attend school in another.</p>
<p>Data10, I don’t think you can use private schools like Boston Latin as illustrative of the rest of the high school population. Private schools tend to have a higher acceptance rate to top colleges especially private colleges. The reason is that the admission people know that grads from place like Boston Latin probably won’t need financial aid!</p>
<p>Tax Guy- Boston Latin is a public school founded in 1635 making it the oldest public school in the US. And dozens of kids from Boston Latin indeed need significant aid to attend which has not hurt its admissions results.</p>
<p>I wholeheartedly disagree that you should “always” pick the best schools. Often, picking the best school means picking the affluent neighborhood (I realize not always, but most of the time that’s true.)</p>
<p>We did NOT want our kids growing up in a more affluent neighborhood. We did not want them on a trajectory to that. There’s a lot to be gained, but there’s a lot lost–contact and familiarity with the “rest” of the world. Even magnets presuppose a similar aspirational trajectory.</p>
<p>As long as there is a cohort of students who share your aspirations, and classes at a level that prepares them for rigorous education (which I think exist in most schools), then I think a motivated student will do fine–and that motivation comes from home.</p>
<p>We stayed in the “mediocre” school district even when our income rose to a point we could have afforded “better.” Our kids did very well, without feeling like they were in a competitive rat race. Coming from this mediocre school, they went to a top ten LAC and an Ivy. I think, actually, that their zip code probably helped them out in that respect.And they grew up knowing kids from families in all social/economic situations.</p>
<p>@garland. Thanks for your comment. I have one question. You mentioned that you think your zip code probably helped your kids get into the top colleges.</p>
<p>Are you implying that colleges like to see students excelling at poorer neighborhoods (not saying you are from a poor neighborhood) because it indicates that they have risen above their surroundings? That is, unlike their wealthy counterparts at the more expensive zip codes who are given much more opportunities to succeed, those that excel in lesser conditions are looked upon more favorably because it indicates resilience, determination, and diligence?</p>
<p>Don’t want to put words in your mouth, but that is the first idea that came to my head after reading your comment.</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>While I agree with Garland on the reasons why the top rated schools may limit the range of kids a kid is exposed to, I don’t put quite as much stock into the zip code theory. Yes, my town has an average household income that is at least half of the two neighboring towns, within our single zipcode there are both million dollar homes and public housing. My kids are not disadvantaged in anyway, and I would hope that they don’t get too many brownie points for rubbing shoulders with kids who are both more disadvantaged than they are.</p>
<p>A top boarding school with a fat endownent means u don’t have to move to a different neighborhood, and the students will be socio-economically & culturally diverse.</p>
<p>
Boston Latin is a public school, not private, and many of its students do not come from wealthy families. As stated in my earlier post, Boston Latin is expected to have a high acceptance rate at selective colleges because it is a selective magnet with a low acceptance rate (only high GPA + high test score students may attend), not because the colleges assume Boston Latin grads won’t need financial aid and favor wealthy students over those who may need financial aid. Among equally qualified apps, I’d expect the highly selective colleges we have been discussing to favor the lower income student over the higher income because it’s more of a noteworthy feat to achieve at stellar level while overcoming difficult circumstances than to achieve when your life and school are full of opportunities, SAT tutors, etc. </p>
<p>Of course all of this is irrelevant to my earlier post. As stated in my earlier post, I used Boston Latin as an example of GPA and SAT not trumping everything for Brown admissions, due to Boston Latin students’ low acceptance rate to Brown (compared to other selective colleges). In my earlier post, I explained why I believed the Brown acceptance rate was low, in spite of expected high-stat, top students applying and how that fits with Brown’s CDS info.</p>
<p>U Mich is using zipcode as a proxy for race. When race-based admission was outlawed on referendum, UMich openly bragged about using zipcodes to admit more black students.</p>
<p>Dvader–to clarify, I think they might think that kids coming from outside the usual suspect areas add something to the mix, and plus yes, they might be seen as not having the same advantages.</p>
<p>As to mathmom’s caveat, I don’t want to be implying that mine, or hers, got into their schools on the basis of zipcode. Just that it might be a factor in some cases. Mine were more than qualified, by scores, grades, and activities (I know hers were, too). (which speaks to that you can come from a poorer town, and still learn what you need and have the experiences that help.) </p>
<p>Also, living here, we could afford the more expensive colleges. :)</p>
<p>I did not read the whole thread.</p>
<p>IMHO, I would choose the town which has better school system. My reasons:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Your kid will be what she/he will be, better school system will educate him/her better and the college adcom do know the differences in the rigor of school systems and some time they will not admit even the top students from a lessor school district. </p></li>
<li><p>Even the houses are more expensive, you have a better living environment, less crime better neighborhood. I am selling one of my investment house because it is situated in a crime ridden neighborhood. Murders and armed robberies are frequent over there, I would not consider live there even my kids could graduate from that high school with high honor. This is only an example, does not imply that you have the same situation.</p></li>
<li><p>Better school district has higher return on real estate.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Ok, I am wrong. I thought they were private.</p>
<p>OP - Ideally you will find a house you can easily afford in a decent school district. It does not have to be the very highest ranking one… just a place that your friends and/or coworkers feel has provided a good education for their kids. </p>
<p>My advise it to not fret over college prestige at this point. There are just too many other factors involved.</p>