Wanted to know which school (middle school and high school) is better in Chicago - The Latin School of Chicaho or University of Chicago Lab school and why? Which offers a better all round education and which one has better college placements? Thanks!
Lab has better placements. You will have to evaluate and see which is best for the individual student.
I went through the matriculation data for the three highly considered Chicago area prep schools, Chicago Lab, Latin School and Frances Parker, and calculated their HYPSM index, or how many kids attended HYPSM in the past four admission cycles. The results are as follows:
*********LabLatinParker
Harvard672
Yale171110
Princeton7*72
Stanford1136
MIT****920
Total5030*20
UC Lab has a graduating class of 129, Latin has 108, and Parker has 80. With that information, over a four year period, 9.7 percent of UC Lab students go to HYPSM while the ratios for Latin and Parker are 7.0% and 6.3% respectively. Note that in addition to HYPSM, Lab School sends about 13 to 14 kids each year to UChicago. However, these numbers are skewed because a great many professors and other employees at UChicago send their kids to the Lab school (60 percent of the students have some affiliation with the University).
One can argue whether HYPSM placement is a good measure for a high school, but given the expense of these schools and the demographic of the typical full pay parent, it likely is for them.
@Zinhead I’d STRONGLY recommend you read the posts by students and parents who go to leading private schools and what they have to say about admission to the Ivies. If your goal is getting into an Ivy or first tier university, you might not want to go to a leading private or BS. The competition is very intense and you will be competing against your peers. And every Ivy League school will be looking for a reason NOT to admit you as they are under pressure to diversity their student bodies.
By way of reference, only 25% of Andover and Exeter students going to Ivy League or first tier universities. There is no such thing as HYPSM “placement”. You need outstanding grades and at Lab, you will be competing against some brilliant students.
@Brexit99 - The OP asked:
I would think that “HYPSM index” is a pretty good proxy for overall placement. After all, if the top 10 percent of the class got into a HYPSM, it would mean that the rest of the class would have less competition for remaining slots at the Rice/Emory/Case Western/flagship levels. A “rising tide lifts a boats” kinda thing.
In any case, we looked at sending our kids these particular schools years ago, and came to a quick conclusion that attending a top notch suburban district was a much better option, at least for us.
Currently a freshman at Lab and my dad just lost his job at U of C- so I won’t be coming back in the fall. I have friends at Latin too but without hesitation I can assure you that Lab is a better school, in terms of providing a more rigorous curriculum and an atmosphere in which every student has individual attention from teachers and has the chance to stand out in an area which they choose. That’s not to say that some subjects can be ignored; Most Lab kids are extremely well rounded and have a ton of EC’s, such as journalism, MUN, literary magazine, history journal, science journal, and other academic teams. You would be giving your kid a huge leg up…Also, because of the opportunities available for upperclassmen for internships through the connection with the University. I would do anything to stay at Lab.
Where could you go next year?
Lab is a tad more respected. My children went to highly competitive high schools and yes, there was a lot of sweating it out even though they were miles ahead in terms of what they would have studied and done at other high schools. But it is worth it. A middle of the class person at their schools could easily go to Tulane. People I know who went to lab found college to be easy. So competitive pays off in both preparation and placement.
To the other poster, I hope you can find a way to stay at Lab.
Latin is more socially elite , Lab is much more academic