<p>Around here, parents think that the semi-selective Catholic HS provides a better education than the public HS. That’s not how ad coms see it (based on college admission results) except for the Catholic colleges (and even there YMMV). What I do see is that the Catholic HS has a much greater emphasis on sports and broader participation, which is probably a matter of self-selection. But the strongest of the athletes (like the strongest academically) end up either at the public HS or elsewhere to distinguish themselves in the larger pool.</p>