We are looking at private high school options for our kid in Chicagoland area.
The place where we live has good but really large public high schools. Does not seem like these schools here send a good %age of kids to T20 Colleges.
So exploring private school options, any recommendations?
Specific feedback around St Ignatius, Latin School, UC Lab would be great
U Michigan is ranked at #21 by US News while Illinois & Wisconsin are tied at #35. Many Chicago area students prefer to stay in the Midwest.
I believe the OP is looking for high school suggestions.
4 Likes
My DIL went to Benet Academy. I can ask about it if you would like.
Will reply after dinner- later. Lol…
What is important to you and where would you live?
Not in Chicago.
1 Like
I understand; just sharing an explanation for why not many matriculate at T-20 colleges & universities.
We live in Chicago but our son attends a boarding school out east. His friends from his private primary school and swim team attend many of the top private schools. Here are my impressions from them. Francis Parker is great if you have an artsy humanities based kid. Latin is living off its historic laurels but lots of upheaval in the administration. It’s a good school but kind of stuck in the mud as it were. Lab is a meat grind but the kids come out well prepared for college. SICP is the top Catholic school. Many of S24’s swim team attends. It’s solid. They send kids to good schools. I think this covers the top schools.
1 Like
We have several friends whose children went to St. Ignatius (both within the city and from the suburbs). Every family had nothing but good things to say about the school and specifically praised the college admission counselors for really helping each kid with select the right schools to apply to and with the application process itself.
There’s also British, which is a traditional British school that follows the British curriculum. GEMS Academy not sure what’s going on there. A friend’s daughter attended elementary and middle school there a few years back.
It (Bendet Academy) is in the “chicagoland” suburbs. My s’s went to a private school that was 30 miles from our house. Traffic was no fun but they attended for many years. This seems the same. Looks like Bendet Academy is 27 mi from Chicago.
My D went to a private schools 35 miles from home but it was usually only a 40 minute drive. In Chicago, 27 miles could easily be 90 minutes one way during rush hour.
3 Likes
In Atlanta its that for sure!! Traffic here is terrible!! But still…. we persisted 
People travelled long distances to get there. From all over the metro area.
1 Like
Ignatius is fabulous. We have loved it through 4 kids - academics, community, sports, how they develop amazing kids…… My nephews are at Latin and that seems to be a huge mess. My sister thinks academically it is fairly weak despite the reputation. People seem happy at parker if you like progressive, and Lab is admittedly an amazing education but maybe high stress/low fun.
1 Like
Although it is a public school, IMSA is a great school that sends a good number of kids to T20 universities.
I went to Parker; father and sisters went to Lab. If you have more specific questions, I’m happy to respond.
2 Likes
That’s in Aurora, which is so far from Chicago.
The OP is looking for schools in Chicagoland. Depending on where they live, Aurora would be closer than some of the others listed.
ETA: IMSA is a boarding school so daily commute isn’t an issue.
1 Like