CPS is changing to Schoolinks this year. I am not familiar with it, not sure it has all the same functionality as Naviance. Assume it is similar, but who knows how the transition will go and if historical admissions data will be transferred into Schoolinks and when.
I would not uproot my family to attend Payton. Naperville schools are excellent and your kid can achieve all their goals from there.
Please help your student realize college is about fit, not some arbitrary ranking or sports league.
For the OP â by the way, this is very rich data.
You can lookup these kids on Linkedin and see what else they did in high school to get a sense of what got them where they went.
This should give you comfort in terms of what is the âbarâ to reach even if your daughter is applying from Naperville
It shouldnât ne a matter of which school is âbetterâ or has more impressed college matriculations. Pick the one that will allow your kid to become the best possible version of themselves.
If you go to the boarding school forum here, youâll see that decisions are based on which classes are offered, teaching style and academic calendar, access to sports and ECs, vibe of community, degree of structure, support, and nurture, diversity of student body, etcâŠ
Getting those as right as possible for your kid lets them grow and thrive. At that point, they can think about what college would be best for the person they are and aspire to be.
You may also want to evaluate what your kid can get at the magnet that they cannot at the LPS and assess whether the money you will save by staying can be put into enrichment to close the gap.
When we lived there a few years ago, Naperville 203 was full of high-performing, super-competitive kids. I couldnât imagine moving for a more competitive school would have any benefit. Naperville 204 was slightly less high-flying, but still had an extremely good reputation and consistently impressive outcomes for graduates.
If you are in 204 and wanted to make a change, possibly moving into 203 would be a small(er) change and have some (small) benefit. (I mean, I wouldnât do it. But maybe it could be argued it was worthwhile.)
Iâm in CA and am always surprised when families suddenly pack up and move immediately after HS graduation. I know several families that moved here when their children started HS. Was it for the HS education or the chance to be in-state for a UC or CSU? Iâm assuming it was the latter. Others, who are homeowners, sell after HS and move to an area with a lower cost of living. They use the sale of their home to pay for college. Not what I would do, but not unheard of either.
Paging @knowsstuff
This is super helpful. Really appreciate you taking the efforts to find and share this data. Thanks!
Yes was def. considering this too- whether the money saved by staying put can be used for closing any gaps. Thanks for the inputs.
I will answer this question as I leave my office in Naperville and drive to my house by Wrigley⊠Lol. But how did she get into Payton and live in Naperville is my first question?
As was mentioned by DadOfJerseyGirl, please change your name. Using your real name and hometown makes it too easy to identify exactly who you are.
Have already put in a request to the CC Admin. Thanks.
Anyone can apply to the selective enrollment test actually. Itâs only when you accept and want to join, you need to be in Chicago
This is true. There is a reason why I asked and still stuck in traffic but will answer fully when I get home.
Sure! Look forward to your insights. Thank you
Hello,
I have been in the western suburbs working for 34 years but live in Chicago. I talk to families and students in Naperville daily since I have been there next to Edwardâs Hospital for around 14 of those years.
I am sorry to ask the question I did but many, many suburban families actually lie and cheat by sending their kids by using someone elseâs address or they will actually buy a condo in a Tier 1 vs Tier4 area to get in
Every year families are kicked out and or lawyers are involved.
For those that donât know Chicago Selective enrollment schools and usually the top 5 high schools in Illinois and the first two are highly nationally ranked.
https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/illinois
Unless something has changed they take kids from all over the city, which is great. Out of a score of 900 the first two schools both Walter Payton and Northside college prep you have to score something like 99.6/7 % to even be considered. These are the cream of the crop Chicago students that can actually get in. Many of those that didnât go to some of the best private schools in the city and lots of them went private in elementary and middle school. Not all but a good chunk.
My son went to Northside College prep after turning down the opportunity to go to Walter Payton. Their Chess team was better and he was a competitive chess player prior to high school.
I have known families at these top 5 schools for years. I used to know several of the principles. There is a difference between suburban and city kids. There just is. Chicago is a blue city and Naperville is red to purple to kinda blue⊠Lol. OK, politics out of the way. Lol.
City kids tend to be more self supportive and confident. This is just the nature of taking the âLâ train to a bus to school. Both of my kids time to school was about 35-40 minutes each way. They donât drive usually. Donât take this out of context. I see this daily. Not better or worse,but just a simple example.
The teachers at these schools are more like professors. They are brilliant. They want to be there. Many are Nationally Board certified. Many are Google teacher trained (there is a cool factor there).
The more important this is the students âwantâ to be there. To get into these schools is like getting into the Ivyâs. Many say itâs harder. Think 3,000 students out of 20,000 applicants.
These students think differently. They go deeper since they are taught to. They are all at that level and they push each other in a good way. Itâs very, very competitive and stressful for the wrong type of students. I will use the word again but lots of these kids are brilliant.
So like Naperville Central as an example takes 21 credits to graduate. Selective enrollment is 28. Taking 4 years is math, science and language is the standard. At Northside if you played a sport you could bypass gym class and add an additional academic class. 99% of the kids did that. Think that was 7 academic classes plus something like cello. His math ended at Multivariate Calc 3 but they have added discrete and something else now.
If they still do it Wed was like a half day of academic but you could use the rest to do your research, getting peer to peer help (which is available daily), meet with teachers etc etc etc.
Many of these students are in national competition for something.
They also have to write math the first two years. So itâs like learning how to do scientific paper writing and not just doing the problem. Going deeper in layers. Deeper understanding of like everything. Itâs also a Physics first school
My sonâs school was 25% white. We never really noticed this but that is the figure (I am white). My kids love diversity. Picking colleges this was important to them.
Some AOs and people at college fairs lol love these kids. They know what they are getting. A âBâ at these schools is like getting an A elsewhere is what we were told. Also they do value the rigor differently. These are purely honor /AP schools. No regular classes. Taking a ton of Aps is not a thing. Taking the correct Aps is.
The Junior year college talks are given by University of Chicago with Northwestern. Many kids get accepted to these two. Many that means a free ride.
Sorta like everyone gets accepted to UIUC and that becomes a quick back up. Also IIT gives out free rides like candy and many get them from UIC also.
Both schools flip flop to be ranked like 5-25 Nationally
I am sure I am leaving out somethings but saying all that⊠Naperville has some of the best schools in Illinois. Not as highly ranked but excellent schools.
Illinois kids donât do great at the Ivyâs in general but T20 they usually do well.
So I love living in the City and would not move to Naperville for the schools if the reverse was true and wouldnât expect you to move to the city just for the school system. But saying that there are families that do. Maybe they were planning on it anyway. Donât know. These schools but like any good school system will get your kids ready for college. They run more like private schools.
Please ask away or PM anytime.
The school itself sounds amazing. Whatâs concerning is that the OPâs focus is on elite college admissions, not on the desire for the actual educational experience the school provides.
A rising high school freshman is well aware of the context and subtext of family decisions. Imagine spending four years in a demanding high school, knowing that the whole reason your family uprooted their lives was the outcome of the looming college admissions process. And knowing that Harvard et. al. are not going to accept the entire class, so theyâre competing for T20 spots with all of those âbrilliantâ kids described above. Yes, the school places more kids at top schools. But for a given kid, the odds of edging out exceptional peers to get one of those spots could easily be worse.
A friend-of-friend moved their kid to live with relatives in the midwest, to increase their chances of getting into Stanford. Kid still didnât get into Stanford. These âstrategicâ decisions often donât pay off in the desired way.
If you choose Chicago and Payton, do it because you want Chicago and Payton. Be 100% certain that you wonât regret this decision even if your kid ends up at UIUC (which is an excellent university btw) or any other T100 but not T20 school. It could easily be argued, based on @Knowsstuffâs description, that Payton kids have learned how to learn, at an exceptional level, to an extent that will cause them to get more out of any college they go to. If thatâs the rationale, great! But if itâs just about scoring a trophy school, donât do it.
You are correct. These kids excel in college. College becomes easier per se. Getting into the Ivyâs seems to be more regional and that puts Illinois and the Midwest at a disadvantage.
I will say there is a bit of a bragg. But I agree about going to a trophy school. You have to be able to excel and self advocate at some level right out of the gate.
Again, I wouldnât leave Naperville for it unless there was another reason to be in Chicago.
I know kids who would soar at the kind of school @Knowsstuff described. But I also know kids who could find it soul-crushing. (Mine might have been one of them.) OP, you and your kid need to figure out where you are on this spectrum.
This is why I tried to be descriptive. Itâs very collaborative but these kids excel at most things including the arts. Performances, Art, Theater, writings etc are all next level. Itâs more like going to a college then high school. But⊠For the right kid it can be magical.