My daughter was accepted to all the top private high schools in Atlanta, but her dad wouldn’t pay for them (we’re divorced), and I couldn’t afford them. She wound up at a public magnet school, that was also a place she had to apply to for admission. It was a perfect fit for her!
She was very eager to challenge herself and take the most difficult courses possible. She especially wanted to take all of the science AP courses, which is something she could not do at the private schools. They all restricted the number of AP courses to six max, and she would’ve only been able to choose one of the science APs at each of the private schools. At her public school – a science magnet – she took them all, and completed 15 AP courses in total. No restrictions!
She also won international and national awards, plus numerous school awards, and was admitted to an Ivy with a research scholarship only offered to the top 1% of admitted students, plus she got full ride and near full ride offers elsewhere. She went with big scholarships at University of Minnesota – again for financial reasons – but she is confident that going the public route is no disadvantage whatsoever.
So to answer your question… I think it depends on your child and your situation. If your child is eager to take a lot of AP courses, then a top high school will be just fine. If they are reluctant to take on that heavy load, then a private school that limits AP courses might be better. (Colleges will look at whether your child took the most difficult curriculum available at their particular high school.) Likewise, if you both are eager to socialize with the top tier socioeconomic group in your community, a private school might be best. But if you are content with meeting some of those top tier families at a public school, along with many middle class and poor families and students, then a public school will work just fine.
Keep in mind that to be ranked at the top of the class at a good public school usually requires taking enormous amounts of AP courses since they are usually weighted in the GPA, whereas being at the top of a private school can be easier since they usually limit AP courses. Also, my daughter’s public school required 7 classes at a time, whereas all of the private high schools only required 5 or 6 classes at a time. In other words, private would have actually been easier, but my daughter was eager to take lots of AP courses, and we could actually afford the public school.
She started college with 60 credit hours from her AP courses – essentially a junior. Unfortunately, I will share that it will still take her four years to complete a degree because of the tiering of classes in her major. A class might require three prerequisites, for example, and based on when the classes are offered, that winds up meaning she can only take a particular class after three years. This is not uncommon. So the AP classes and credits are not really going to shorten her time in college, but what they do for her is allow her to take more advanced classes, and start on classes in her major freshman year instead of later after completing a core, plus have a wide choice of minors or a double major.
These are some of the things to consider. I will add that the private schools tended to have more after school options – places students could hang out until parents were done with work – whereas her public school did not have this option. If both parents work, this can be another consideration for private versus public. One more thing to consider is the extracurriculars. Private high schools often have very obscure sports and clubs that are just the thing that top universities are looking for, and while public high schools can have the same ones, not all of them do (for example, lacrosse, crew and glee club).
Evaluate everything when considering your choices. Some people choose private schools for religious reasons, but that is a different matter. Again, go with what works for your child and your family.