Eiholi. I’m in the Midwest. I live in a town that sends kids to two different high schools. School A is the New Trier-like high school - tops in the state/nation, lots of educated parents, more 1:1 GC, etc. School B is still a perfectly fine suburban school district, still very good by any measure but more diverse socioeconomically and a lot of the wealth there is driven by success in areas that don’t require a fancy college degree (owning car dealerships, selling real estate, etc.) Fewer kids go to elite colleges and there’s more of a culture of CC for 2 years and the transfer to U of Illinois due to the lesser affluence.
My husband grew up in this town and went to School A. Our kids were in School B. In hindsight, it was really the best move. They didn’t have the social pressure from peers to go to an elite school, or all the inevitable gossip and comparison, and when their applications were read, they weren’t one out of a couple dozen applying. Remember, elite schools get bored with the thirteenth applicant from a high school. Why do you want to be that?
If some of the kids go to top 20 schools, then you have what you need. You’re fine.
@Pizzagirl My town is more likely between A and B, but without the riches (and without the poor). We are not near a big city like Chicago so we don’t have a competitive culture. A good thing. But some of the kids are capable. My thinking is that for a comparable education a higher ranked college is cheaper and hence better. The ideal outcome is the student picks where he wants to go.
The relationship between “rank” and financial aid and merit scholarship offers is tenuous.
When you get to the point of building a college list and running NPCs, you will find all sorts of surprises.
My son went to private schools from Kindergarten. Yes, it cost a lot of money. Had I invested that money instead, he would have a 7 figure trust fund by the time he graduated from college. So why did I not do that?
It’s actually quite simple, I liked the intensely competitive and accomplished peer group and the academic pressure from the teachers that the best private schools in our area bring to the table. My son got a top notch education, something which the best public schools in our area do not even come close to, even though their levels are also very high. This may not help with college admission, but that is OK. There are many colleges in the USA.