My son currently attends one of the top private highschools in the Los Angeles County.
Last year (his freshman year) he got a GPA of 3.4 Unweighted and 3.7 weighted. This year he is taking as many advanced courses as his school offers, he says that he believes he can get a good gpa (he said 3.7+) this year but he said that he might want to switch over to a public school next year so that he can have more flexibility in terms of what classes he takes because of how restrictive his private school curriculum is. He says that he wants to switch over to a public high school because his schools integrated learning style takes up too much of his free time. He really wants to go to a good college and become a doctor. So far this year I’ve seen his dedication to learning skyrocket. I want to help him be as successful as possible.
Should I consider allowing him to switch? He has a ton of friends at his current school and is a leader in his Model U.N. program, and runs two clubs.
Your son is a HS sophomore? Lots could change in the next year or two…before he is actually
applying to colleges. He needs to get a great GPA, and take a rigorous course load.
In my opinion, he can do that at a good public HS.
Well my son’s school had a grading scale where all As were 4s and Bs were 3s and so on. He took one honors course and got an A in it and got a lot of Bs the first semester but he improved towards the end of the year. His cumulative GPA suffered because of his performance in the beginning of the year.This year they changed it to the general scale (3.0 3.3 3.7, so on) and I think my son has much better teachers this year because he is doing way better this year than he was last year.
What may be more indicative is his class rank. If he is near the top of his class with a 3.4, then he’s doing fine. It also will depend on which LA county public school he’d go to.
Personally, I’d have him stay where he is. Public school is a whole different world.
His school doesn’t provide class rank to colleges because his school is incredibly small and selective. He is in the smallest graduating class that will probably ever go to his school. Most grades at the school have approximately 100-120 students but his has only 70 somehow.
Do you recommend that he switches to a public school next semester or next year? Hes currently taking AP computer science, which is a course that isnt offered for sophomores by any nearby highschools
It depends on what the public school offers, in terms of courses suitable for him.
Also, you may want to check whether a significant percentage of students go on to colleges, and which colleges. A high school where half of the students go to four year colleges (including the most selective UCs and privates) and most of the rest go to community colleges with transfer plans would be far different from one where a few students aspire to the local low-impaction CSU and a few more go to community colleges.
At a top private school, a 3.4 goa in 9th grade is a solid one. GPA trajectory is important and colleges do note that. Don’t worry about class rank at a small school. Most small high schools do not rank, and even if your son is in the bottom half, if the school is as good as you say it is, I bet lots of kids in the bottom half are going to very selective schools. Overall rigor, quality of the transcript and reputation of the high school trump gpa
Looking at it from just the perspective of college admissions… my D attended a small rural high school where 1/3 of the students are on free / reduced lunch. She had good test scores (a little below average for top 20 in selectivity schools), took the most rigorous courses offered and was in the top 5% of her class. However what I think really helped her in admissions was her outstanding leadership & excellence through her ECs. Class president, varsity sport captain two years, many awards in theatre & chorus, etc. I really don’t think she would have been able to do all of these at a school where there would be many, many students just like her. She was able to stand out because of the general population she went to school with. In addition she used the theme of feeling lucky to have grown up in a school with such economic diversity in one of her college essays. Just a different perspective to those who always are worried that their children are not attending the “best” schools.
“because his schools integrated learning style takes up too much of his free time”
If he is switching over to a public high school because he thinks it’s going to take up less of his time, he could be making a big mistake. The distribution of how much time kids spend on homework may be wider at a public school, but the kids at the top of the class work their tails off if the school is a good one. And he will be far more anonymous to the admin, so fewer allowances made for his personal needs.
You private school fees also include a degree of college prep and counseling that public schools don’t offer, so be prepared to either pay for a private counselor, or for the sweat equity that you will need to put into the process.
My kids went to public high schools and were well served by the system, but our friends’ kids at reputable private schools in the area had more free time than they did.
I think you need to look specifically at the particular public school he would attend. Talk to the best students, or to their parents to find out about the typical load, instructional quality, EC offerings, etc. Check the school profile they send to colleges to get more info on test scores. Keep in mind that at a large and reasonably good public school, it can be very competitive to join many of the ECs–space available on many activities does not scale with the size of the school. I’d also look at the specifics of the school schedule. I think there’s a big difference between taking 6 classes and taking 8 classes, which is often not appreciated by students who tend to focus on “how many APs I am taking” without regard for how many other classes they are taking.
If your son has a day off, he may be able to visit at the public school and get a better idea of what it’s like.
If you are in the LAUSD school district, I’m sure you are aware of their many problems from media coverage. If you are in LA County but not in LAUSD, the local public school may be much better. I agree with others that you need to understand the opportunities and limitations of your local public HS before making a decision to more there.
If his GPA is lower because of grade deflation at the private school, that GPA will likely follow him and hurt his class rank. The UCs don’t include 9th grade in their calculated GPA and count an A- as a 4.0, not the 3.7 that your private may use. So, his public school GPA may also count A- as 4.0, but B+ as 3.0. So, his GPA could change dramatically when the grades are moved over.
“Hes currently taking AP computer science, which is a course that isnt offered for sophomores by any nearby highschools”. I wouldn’t read too much into this. Public schools vary a lot, and one thing that varies is the extent to which rules are rules or just guidelines. My kids have taken a total of 5 AP classes that are listed for upperclassmen as freshmen or sophomores, and they are not the only ones to do so. AP computer science is listed for juniors and seniors at our high school, as are most of the other APs. It wasn’t the one my kids took so early but I know of two freshmen who took it in recent years, and there were probably some sophomores as well. Some schools are indeed inflexible with these rules but since your son will be an upperclassman, I doubt they would restrict his coursework. Certainly something to look into though.
