<p>It totally depends on the particular private school you're interested in and the particular public school you'd otherwise attend. I went to private school, and frankly, I would have been better off academically at the local public school, which was first rate and had a lot more to offer. Socially, I was better off at the smaller private school. My children attend a first rate public school and I've never considered putting them into private school. I have friends who have put their kids into private schools in the area for other than academic reasons, though. This is a matter where you can't generalize. And number of AP courses is not necessarily determinative of which school is better. You can always take an AP test without taking the AP course, and you can get AP courses on line. In our area, private school kids come to the public school to take AP courses their schools don't offer. Look very hard at the two schools involved, and also at the reasons each might be better for you.</p>
<p>It depends on the rigor of the public school. There are some public schools out there that are more impressive than some privates. However, there are also some publics out there at the level of a middle school.</p>
<p>See what the rep is of the public and if it's good then deffinitly choose the public.</p>
<p>Hmm, on second thought apparently I come from one of the top 30 prep schools in the nation, so I suppose that my local day school isn't exactly the norm. Maybe some public schools actually are better than some private schools then? Who knows. It all depends on the reputation of the school you're thinking about going to.</p>
<p>"If a good private school, which it probably is, there is no question that it will help prepare you for college better, and will help you get into a good college better. APs are not everything, many of the top private schools are straying away from offering AP classes because they think that their non-AP classes are actually both harder and better. Also, the ECs will always be better at private schools, you will always have a better college guidance counselor than at the public school, and your education in general will be much better.
.... (and yes, unless it is a religious school it is always better). "</p>
<p>Not true at all. In fact, many private schools can't offer the caliber or amount of ECs that public schools can. Private school guidance counselors aren't necessarily better just because they have less kids to manage. The ratio helps, certainly.. but it isn't everything.
I'd like to add that (at least in my state), a LOT of public schools are smaller than the private schools.. so the ratios are actually better as well.
"Your education in general will be much better."
--> What a load of crap! First of all, education depends on the effort you put into it. That's why I told the OP to pick the school that will challenge him or her the most. In some areas, that will be a public school; at others, it will be a private. Second of all, by making that blanket statement, you're saying that the kids at the private school are more intelligent than those at the public school because their school isn't state-funded. You can't judge a kid's intelligence by the school he or she goes to. </p>
<p>To the OP: Choose the school that, based on your interests, will challenge you more. AP classes are one [very small] part of it. And, to other posters... don't judge the OP's choices about social life, etc. because you know absolutely nothing about his or her life. Quite frankly, it's not your business. He or she just wants to know which school would be more rigorous, which none of us can judge accurately since we are not familiar with the OP's area.</p>
<p>OP asked for people's opinion, and that is what he got. It is quite rude of you to tell people "it's not your business." You become open game when you decide to post on this forum. Many private schools require entrance examins, both subjects and IQ (you should see the writeup they did on my kids, there were things I didn't know about them). Those private schools get their reputation by their ability of placing students in top tier schools, therefore their GCs spend a lot of time making friends with adcoms. As I have said before, not all private schools are equal.</p>