I’m a freshman at a smaller specialized high school. I have decent grades, mostly low 90’s, a couple 80’s, and whener I bring up the fact that I’ll be competing with students with much higher grades than I have, everyone instantly says “Well you’re going to a specialized high school, and colleges like that”. So, my question is, is having okay grades at a specialized school really better than having all 100’s at a less prestigious and or rigorous school? I know it’s early for me to be thinking about this, but I’m curious.
What does “specialized” even mean? Specialized as in a magnet, a private, a parochial, a school for those w/ disabilities, an arts school, etc.?
Yes, attending a NYC specialized HS will be taken into consideration. Although Stuyvesant, Bronx Science, and Brooklyn Tech are the ones that are more known.
Yes it does because it will give you an outstanding education. You will be more prepared for college than peers from typical schools. They are known to be high competitive to enter but, more importantly they give you a much more rigorous education-especially in STEM (although others may focus on performing arts and Hunter College is outstanding across the board as are many others). The 3 mentioned above are known to be among the best schools in the world.
ref1ections, people in the know understand what the term “specialized high schools” in NYC means. There is no ambiguity.
I can’t say for sure, but the common sense answer would be that, to the extent an adcom is familiar with your school and how it compares to other schools, that becomes a factor in the decision process. This would be true for all schools, public and private. A 95 at Stuy is much more impressive than a 95 at Bayside High. Is an 85 at Stuy as good or better than a 95 at Bayside? Who knows? Are all the adcoms going to flip with glee just because you’re at a NYC specialized high school? Probably not.
Do your best in the most rigorous classes you can handle well. Talk to your guidance counselor about appropriate reaches, matches and safeties based on YOUR class rigor, grades and scores. Smile and nod and don’t take too seriously the admissions advice and wisdom of assorted family members, family friends and well meaning acquaintances (that’s who we’re talking about, right?) who aren’t deeply familiar with the current state of college admissions and the stats from your school.
Yes. I’m a teacher in the Bronx and the staff regularly encourages the top students to transfer out to a specialized school if they can. Your education will be better, your college readiness preparation, your guidance office and teachers will guide you better… it’ll help.
Any high school with a highly competitive admissions (based on test scores, not legacy) is beneficial on several fronts. (1) The level of education received will be stellar as the teachers will be able to teach at a higher level since the gap between the number 1 student and the number 20 student in the class will be minimal; (2) adcoms will know about the school and how previous students from the school have done well at their college; and (3) guidance counselors, with little to no disciplinary issues, have one focus in mind…college preparedness.