<p>Mathone - Yes, he wants to go to a “Magnet” school. I am not sending him to boarding schools. That part I am very sure. </p>
<p>I am looking at “Public” magnet/prep schools where they have a test to accept a student.<br>
So my question was, just in case if the kids gets through the test for those magnet schools, is it important to send him/her there or keep him/her in the local public school where the rating is 6 ?</p>
<p>I am not against “Boarding” schools at all. It is just that I can’t live without the kids at home. I am sure that the private boarding schools are great. </p>
<p>Thank you all for the responses so far. I can’t thank you enough. I am so happy to read all your perspective. Thanks a bunch !</p>
<p>Oh then never mind. I thought you were considering schools “in the northeast”… Regarding better chances of Ivies for students in NE, part of the reason is that these colleges are in this region so there are naturally more applicants from here although I know the competition for a spot in these colleges can be very intense in certain areas of Texas as well… Anyway, good luck! I am sure your child will do well anywhere they attend school. As they often say, it’s not the school but what you make out of it.</p>
<p>"Look at the “school profile” of the public high school you are considering. That will summarize stats about the school, list advanced coursework offered, and college acceptance or attendance info. Also, talk to parents of top students at the high school. "</p>
<p>Be careful about the college acceptance / attendance info, though. You could have a perfectly good high school in a social milieu where going off to fancy-schmancy east coast colleges isn’t on most people’s radar screens. Doesn’t mean a kid couldn’t get to a fancy-schmancy east coast college from there – just means that it’s not the usual path. </p>
<p>What are you talking about in the post pasted below? Honestly, as oer usual, it makes NO sense.</p>
<p>MiamiDAP
Posts: 12,847
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8:16AM
The fact is that no matter where kid goes, there is NO k - 12 school in the USA that “offer a breathtakingly rich academic experience”. NONE, not any close to many avergae schools abroad in many countries, including some in Africa.
Something to keep in mind…
Flag Like Helpful </p>
<p>Thumper, I was going to post that Miami’s assertion was simply ludicrous.</p>
<p>OP, I don’t know where in the midwest you live, but if you are looking at the magnet schools in Chicago, for example, look carefully at the scores required of students who live in neighborhoods judged to be of varying SES levels. Makes a very significant difference.</p>
<p>Regarding the percentage of private school students on scholarship, be aware that at some places the vast majority of scholarship students are the children of teachers and staff. That is certainly the case at the school my S used to attend.</p>
<p>We still have to decide about NE . I am looking at the public prep schools like Stuyvesant High School. Just in case if we get to live in NYC, we might give it a shot provided the kid has the interest and potential to get through the exams. </p>
<p>So, the question was whether we need to put him in such a magnet school or put him in a not-so-popular school where he will not have so much competition and still has a chance at any one of the Ivies ?</p>
<p>Due to husband’s work, we might have to move. And hence the question. I am gathering as much information as I could. Thanks for the encouragement. </p>
<p>I think a magnet school could be a good thing. Just make sure you and your child consider the whole picture: the commute time, the EC’s available, whether the school is hyper-competitive and students are stressed and unhappy versus the better academics and presumably more intellectual student body. I would really just consider what you think will be best for your child’s education and happiness and not worry too much about what colleges will think.</p>
<p>Mantras, if your child is younger than 12, you don’t need to worry about the Ivy League (or not) yet. </p>
<p>If you are researching future moves, be aware that many magnet schools have their own admissions procedures. Many admit on the basis of tests administered the year prior to the first year. So, if the first year is 9th grade, the students take a test in 8th grade to qualify. There are also often residency requirements, which might include length of residency–for example, I would not assume it would be possible to move into town the day before the test’s administered.</p>
<p>“him in a not-so-popular school where he will not have so much competition and still has a chance at any one of the Ivies ?”</p>
<p>When you say “the Ivies,” do you mean “those specific 8 schools” or are you using the term to mean “any elite school”? The first is a meaningless goal, as the Ivies are merely 8 of the nation’s top schools. The second is a very good goal to have. </p>
<p>This seems very unusual since all of these elite schools say the reason that acceptance rate has plummeted is because of the increased applications from all over the globe. If there are no students from the Southeast than would mean that either no one accepted or all chose to attend other schools? </p>
<p>If you are referring to the Crimson quote I posted, either they made a mistake, or maybe they left it out because of insufficient response rate/sample size? Not really relevant to the point which is that plenty of Ivy students come out of public schools.</p>
<p>No. It’s more important that a kid go to a school that is a good fit for them and their family. Prep schools are great for some kids but not for others. Same with magnets, charters, traditional public schools and homeschooling. </p>
<p>We know a lot of prep school kids and sure, there are a few whose families set their sights set on the Ivy League early but most are just looking for a good fit for their kid like everyone else. Personally, we never found a private prep school that could offer the curriculum flexibility my own kids have needed. We’ve had the best luck with alternative public options and it didn’t seem to hurt D in her admissions.</p>
<p>@mamalion, no I am not jealous that I did not go to a prep school. I went to the top open enrollment school in my state which sent over 35 kids to Ivys and Caltech, and at least 50 other kids to places like Northwestern, Chicago, MIT, Duke, Caltech, Johns Hopkins, WashU, Vanderbilt, etc. I am about to graduate from an Ivy and go to one of the top three PhD programs in my field. Actually, I’ve met two professors in my field who went to my high school. It has a Wikipedia list of famous alums and much of the elitist attitude of a prep school but I think this is remedied by the fact that in the end it is an incredibly large public school which definitely does not have the fancy facilities of a prep school.
At Penn, the Greek scene is dominated by people who went to prep schools in NYC, LA, and Miami (and others). These are some of the wealthiest students at Penn and the conspicuous consumption in those circles is often astounding. I also notice that a lot of the most preprofessional students come from prep schools which I feel like is because they have always been surrounded by money.</p>
<p>Oh please, can we not be silly here? Clearly H has students from the southeast; they just didn’t skew differently than the total overall with respect to private vs public school so they weren’t called out. </p>
<p>“Forgive my ignorance here. Yeah, I get that a large % of the kids at these elite prep schools are on FA. But they had to have had highly involved parents in the first place in order to even have an elite prep school on their radar screens as something to aspire to and seek out.”</p>
<p>Well, no. Frankly, I was raised by wolves. I ended up at an elite prep school (metro Boston, children of world leaders and the ultra-wealthy) because I discovered the best way to skip eighth grade social studies was to hang out in my middle school guidance office. The guidance counselor, in trying to figure out what to do with me (read: get me out of his office) started putting me up for scholarships. Eventually, he unloaded me onto another school’s office staff. ;o)</p>
<p>Seriously, my parents had nothing to do with the process, other than to drive me to a total of three interviews. I’m pretty sure I forged my mom’s signature several times, to be honest.</p>
<p>To address the original question though, I don’t think any specific school is the golden ticket. The best you can do is know your kid, know his/her needs and strong points, and get them into a high school which meshes with those. (Which, one hopes, you’d be doing anyway.)</p>
<p>It’s a little hard for me to swallow that these schools are all that “diverse” from a socioeconomic standpoint. Not that they need to be - they can structure their classes as they see fit, and don’t need to answer to anyone."</p>
<p>My graduating class of 96 had four ABC kids, a couple of faculty offspring (teachers generally not known for their seven figure salaries), some other random scholarship kids, and-- on the other end-- grandchildren of a couple of robber barons and a few with family names from the news and entertainment pages. I’d wager that’s a wider SES range than our local suburban IB program has. </p>
<p>Ofcourse, not just those 8 schools but the other elite schools too. </p>
<p>Thank you all for the responses so far.</p>
<p>See if you can arrange for your child to visit both the local public and the magnet. </p>
<p>Poeme- that was not my son’s experience at Penn (just a few years ago). There was definitely a lot of wealth and also some conspicuous consumption- in his social circle, to be honest. However, several of these kids were internationals, most were from public schools in affluent areas, and a few (including my son) were from prep schools. My son was probably the least affluent in his crowd, and I consider our family to be pretty well off. The majors were not at all concentrated in Wharton or pre-med. The wealth was spread around! :-* </p>