<p>This is my first time here. My son will be going to 9th grade this fall. We have a dilemma on which high school to go to. Our home school (greatschools.net ranking 7) does not offer AP classes as the other school in the neighboring city. The other elite public school (Rank 9) offers APs and lots of science clubs and it is extremely competitive. My son wants to get into game development probably Computer Science Engineering. I heard that if he wants to get into CS in prestigious colleges, he must have demonstrated interest in that field. I am kind of lost. Which high school should I enroll him in? The not so competitive local high school (not so good in Technology) or the competitive high school which offers AP computer Science and lots of clubs which is 15 miles away from my place. Please share your valuable opinion.</p>
<p>My son’s high school only offered AP Comp Sci, which my son took as a freshman. He took a class in computer graphics at Columbia Summer School the summer after his sophomore year, taught himself Linux on his own, and by junior year had learned enough useful programming to work full time in the summer and part time during the year programming. His school offers 24 APs, he took 8 of them I think, but if it has any ranking that would be news to me. A neighboring district, much higher regarded than ours, doesn’t offer any APs because they consider their curriculum to be better than APs. If he’d enjoy the clubs and APs the further away school might be a better choice, but I’ll be honest with you - I don’t think we’d have done it. 15 miles around here is more than an hour commute. I’d never have considered it, even if it had been possible. </p>
<p>AP computer science for a kid talented at computer programming is not difficult at all. My son said in retrospect, he should have just taken the exam and skipped the course. He’d already taught himself all the material in middle school.</p>
<p>Academics aside, how does your S feel about it? Would he be starting off h.s. 15 miles away in a community where he knows no one? Would he be happier attending his local h.s. w/ friends from the area? Or is that inconsequential? The jump fr. middle school to high school is a big one. Academics are important but having friends and feeling comfortable is a big thing too.</p>
<p>One of my S’s went to a small charter sch. in our town for grades 5-8 rather than the reg. middle sch. When he entered the local high sch, it was hard for him to find his “people” since he wasn’t part of the group fr. the regular mid. sch. He played on the football team all four years and told us later that if not for football, starting out h.s w/ no friend group would have pretty tough.
He made tons of friends as time went by but if not for football, his freshman year would have been dismal.</p>
<p>Also would the distance be an issue for your S in regards to transportation, staying after school for clubs, sports,events that took place at night,etc. ?</p>
<p>We just finished making the decision about which high school to send our son next year.
I got lots of good advice here on CC.
If you forget about the AP’s and the rank of the school for minute, ask yourself some questions:
Where will your child feel most “at home” - it is important that they be comfortable in their surroundings. Will he be challenged? Is there enrichment outside of school that can address his desires to learn about computer science? Does he have friends that will attend any of the schools you are considering? What other interests does he have and which schools might have programs that address those? What effect will a commute have on your entire family? Will you be spending countless hours travelling to school and extra-curricular activities? What about dual-enrollment or on-line AP courses - are either of those options available?
Find the school that has the best fit for your total child - not just one class or subject. You can try to supplement outside of school to address those interests.
This is such a big decision and having just gone through it, I know how you are struggling.
I wish you the best of luck. You will make the right decision! :)</p>
<p>“My3” gave excellent advice. I would only add, contact the local HS and see if they may offer long distance learning courses or have a bridge program with a local college. There may also be summer courses that he would be able to take at a local college.</p>
<p>ditto to My3’s advice. Also, a student is reviewed by Admissions within the context of the school he/she attends. The feeling “Most a Home” is critical.</p>
<p>I wrote a long post, and my computer ate it. </p>
<p>Basically, I think my3 gives good advice about weighing the factors that go into the decision. I would just say that IMHO you should be equally wary of the tendency to be afraid to strike out into new territory, and the tendency to think that the magical new school will take care of everything for you and your son.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t worry about college admissions in grade 9 - it could place undue stress on him and limit his ability to enjoy what he’s learning. I would let him choose his own extracurriculars, and let him stay with them or quit them as he sees fit. </p>
<p>I would send him to the school where he can get the education that seems best for him, but be careful to make sure that he, not you, is driving himself to be successful. (You can certainly drive him to school, LOL). I think that would be the more competitive school where he will have like minded peers and more advanced options available to him to grow intellectually.</p>
<p>You may have a bit of travelling to do but it can be worth it. I drove a lot further than that to take son to a certain school. Glad I did. Eventually they can drive themselves. Also check into carpooling possibilities for the present.
Since most schools give more grade weight to AP/honors classes, the lack of those offerings may impact his GPA negatively for college admission. Also AP classes (depending on score) are accepted by many colleges for course credit which can be a huge time/money saver in the future.
As for computer programming specifically–check into other community offerings, CC, on-line, self-study. My D taught herself programming and web design in HS and did very well on her own. I wouldn’t go to the other school if AP CS was the only reason.</p>
<p>15 miles is not a “10-minute drive,” as Seahorserock suggests.</p>
<p>My son’s charter school was about that far away and, in morning traffic, it took us at least 45 minutes to get there. (I could usually get to evening parent meetings in about 30 minutes.) That’s a lot of commute time for a kid. It’s also no joke for a teenager who actually needs his sleep - he’ll have to get up early in the morning to get to that school!</p>
<p>Also, where will his classmates live? It’s no fun to do all your group projects over the internet because everyone lives too far away from each other to actually meet up at someone’s house. My son would have been thrilled to have any friends who actually lived near us . . . but no such luck.</p>
<p>Yes, the OP’s son might have access to a really exciting curriculum at that school . . . but the impact on his quality of life for the next four years could be significant.</p>
<p>I would send him to the school where he could get the best education possible, and I don’t mean CS. Four years is long time to waste at a not so good high school. He will be behind in college if he doesn’t have good foundation in math/reading, a lot of basic foundation. It is why so many college students from not so good school system spend the first year catching up. </p>
<p>Traveling 15 miles really isn’t that far to go for high school. Both of my kids went to a school 20 miles away. It was harder to get together with friends, but we were able to drive them.</p>
<p>I did the hour drive with my son. And it was no fun. I did it 3 years starting 8th grade until he got his license and I trusted him for the drive. It can become a part time job. But I still think it was worth it. I really did not trust our HS to give him the education I thought he needed to succeed in college. True, his friends were further away but that translated into spending weekends with friends (and them with us) fairly often.
And I have to admit, being trapped in the car together for a couple hours a day really led to a great relationship with son. And that time isn’t wasted–a lot of studying and homework was done. And a bit of sleep sometimes too (him, not me!). And I listened to a LOT of audio books!</p>
<p>dodgermom–a really exciting curriculum at a school has much more impact on quality of life and has a longer lasting effect than the extra hour of sleep. But it is hard, no doubt about that. I’d do it in a minute if it translated into only 30 min.
But I don’t know the real differences in the OPs schools. Academics, offerings, and peer groups etc. There was a huge difference between our schools when we took the plunge and decided to switch.</p>
<p>My son did it also - for three years - and hated it. He had a wonderfully challenging curriculum . . . but spent a lot of time alone. Up at 5:30 in the morning, off to school, home again, homework until bedtime, and repeat. His situation was particularly difficult because it was a charter school that offered no sports or P.E. at all, and by the time he got back home to our local district, after-school sports were already over for the day.</p>
<p>We did it, as did all the other families in the school, because the academics were leaps and bounds better than what our kids would have had locally, but the kids paid a significant price for that advantage.</p>
<p>Thank you so much everyone. I really appreciate your responses. My husband and I talked about all factors and we decided to stay put. Moreover, my son wants to go to the local school too. But some of his friends are moving to the new school. We have decided to supplement extra courses if needs them from our nearby college. Thanks again!</p>
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