<p>Hi, Can somebody help me regarding recommendation for high school?</p>
<p>My sister asked me for this information. She is looking for a good (TOP rated) high school for her son. It can be either private (boarding or day school) or public. The preferred States she is looking for are: MA, IL, CA, TX, but not limited to these states. She is looking for a list for about 20 high schools, then she will reduce it further to about 10. Her son is strong in math and science. As of now, he is interested in aerospace engineering in the future. He will be a high school freshman nexst Fall. Since I don't know that many high schools, I figure the knowledgable parents here are the authorities in this subject.</p>
<p>Since you mentioned you’d consider other areas, look at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Northern Virginia. It’s a public magnet school and requires testing and a strong application, but is one of the top rated schools in the country (maybe THE top??) for math, science and technology. Sounds exactly like what you’re looking for. The only catch may be residency. I don’t know whether you have to be in-state.</p>
<p>If she has good local schools there can be benefits to staying at home and getting both th academics and further parental daily guidance. But it sounds like she wants to send her son away. Perhaps she doesn’t realize that a top education, ie one that prepares a student for getting into a top college, can be had at many thousands of local high schools across the nation. One has to consider the overall education- including the value of having one’s mother and father close to impart family culture and values. It sounds like she is an immigrant who doesn’t understand the US educational system. Kids from blue collar towns’ high schools get into Harvard.</p>
<p>Thank you for the suggestions. Yes, she will be new immigrant. She can stay at any state. She wants to find a top high school for the son, then she will stay in the same city.</p>
<p>She needs to be careful then, because magnet schools will require residency and are not guaranteed admission. So she could move for a high school then her child not get in. Private is probably best. Is he fluent in English?</p>
<p>I agree with post 4. It’s admirable that she wants a good education for her son, but she needs to think about what city / state / environment suits the family best. Job prospects? Local community with members of her ethnic background (religion, food)? Transportation? Cost of living? Ease of being non English speaking if that is relevant? As a sibling, you should coach her that looking for “the very best” may not be strictly necessary, and she is wrong if she thinks that such a school district is the only way to success. She should pick her locale first and then others can advise on schools / school districts Good luck to her.</p>
<p>OP’s sister is coming to the US to be with her son while he goes to high school. It is a very common thing for many wealthy Asians to do. They could afford to keep multiple household. Father/major breadwinner would come visit from time to time. I would imagine money is not a concern here or she would be living with OP. </p>
<p>Where one goes to high school has an impact on the kind of education one could get, and in turn also has an impact on the kind of college one could get into. By going to a boarding school would give the mom a bit more flexibility of where to live, or maybe less of a need to live in the US (cheaper and better for the family). The nephew will need to apply this Sep to private schools in order to matriculated in 2012. It is too late for 2011. </p>
<p>I would suggest for you to do some research online. Many top high schools have their profile on their website. It will shoe SAT scores, number of APS offered, scores for AP, and where their students end up going to colleges.</p>
<p>Another idea is to look for the public High Schools around where the good colleges are located, especially if there is a large teaching hospital associated with the school. I know the public around Princeton is highly ranked, someone else mentioned P Alto. Smart students translate to high rankings.</p>
<p>If money is no object, then honestly most affluent suburban school districts will be fine. One thing to note is that a student applying to elite colleges from a school that routinely sends dozens of kids there is competing against them in a way that the student who is from a less well represented school is not. Elite colleges don’t simply want New Trier and New Canaan and the like.</p>
<p>The Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy is a three-year, competitive selective enrollment, public residential high school that admits students from throughout Illinois. Kids are admitted after their freshman year of HS (a few are admitted straight from eighth grade). Fees are about $2600/year (less if you’re low income). The student body is about 40% Asian. The program is extremely rigorous, but because they neither rank nor compute GPAs, it is a collaborative and noncompetive learning community. </p>
<p>Check out the Athenian School in Danville Ca, outside San Francisco, a private school with both a day and boarding option. They have a number of Asian kids like your nephew as students.</p>
<p>If you’re open to living in the NYC area and your nephew’s interest is in math and science, he can also consider Stuyvesant High School* and Bronx Science. </p>
<p>Of course, whether your nephew thrives here or not depends on his personality/inclinations. Is he independent/intrinsically driven to learn without much parental/teacher supervision, learn how to seek out resources/information by himself, either give up sleep or social/family time outside of high school ECs/volunteer/afterschool work, and thrive on what can be cutthroat competition in an environment where teachers teach to the top 1/3 of the class…and expect everyone else to try keeping up or sink? </p>
<p>Both of these schools will provide excellent foundation/preparation for excelling at the elite colleges/universities and beyond if your nephew is so inclined. On the other hand, the environment is not for everyone and thus, private schools may be a better option for those who want a more collaborative nurturing environment or with more of an arts/humanities focus as was the case with some cousins. </p>
<p>In addition, Midwood High school and Forest Hills High School are two NYC public high schools I know of with near-comparable academics to the two magnet high schools I mentioned above without the pressure cooker atmosphere. </p>
<p>There are a lot of private boarding schools in Southern California that cater to wealthy Asians. If the sons English is not really, really good, his is going to have a harder time doing well at any magnet school or top public HS, like those in PA[ next to Stanford U], which are full of high scoring, smart US born students.</p>
<p>menloparkmom, I hear Los Altos High School, a public, is amazing. Academically on par with some of the hottest privates. Is that your impression as well?</p>
<p>If money is not an issue I would suggest the OP go private. Nephew is probably not eligible for any magnets or charters due to residency requirements. In most public HS, regardless of quality, the kids have been together since 6th or 7th grade. It is hard to enter a new HS for anyone, particularly as a sophomore and as an international. In contrast, many private HS start in 9th grade, and many, particularly boarding, have lots of new sophomores. Everyone is in a new school from somewhere else. Nephew would not be “the new kid” and probably not the only international. HS is more than academics. It is about joining the team, the club, the ensemble and the social scene. In this case it would probably be easier at a private.</p>
<p>Is cost an issue? I have a few in mind, but they cost more than the most expensive private colleges (i.e. Deerfield Academy- $77,000; Suffield Academy about $50,000).</p>