School X vs. School Y

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

Hey guys,

So I have a semi-hypothetical that may become an actual situation of mine (it’s complicated). Could you guys tell me which school, X or Y, you would pick and why? Thanks so much.

School X:
Bigger by like 20 kids.
Best in a city school district.
Rated 5 in state by USNWR.
Really nice campus, dilapidated interior, “bad for asthmatics (which I am)”
Basically in the center of downtown.
2 minutes from the local state university.
I feel like it’s a little pre-professional.
It’s an IB school. I’ve done some reading, and I’ve gotten the message that most top universities and colleges in the US somewhat discriminate against kids that take IB, and prefer AP.
IB is a hell of a lot of work.
There’s a little more diversity in terms of the types of academic classes available- they have Mandarin!
THEY CHARGE YOU FEES FOR EVERYTHING like seriously, $25 for taking a science class! $500 for participating in sports! $100 for joining Choir OR Orchestra, and $100 more for both.
I can’t really get a read for the school environment through YouTube, and I can’t exactly visit it.
Cool special programs to participate in, like “International Studies”.

School Y:
Smaller by a little.
2nd in the school district.
Rated 8th in state by USNWR.
An nice campus- they have a pool though, which is cool!
The inside is a little nicer.
In the quieter, less exciting, more suburban and tree-ish part of the city.
10 minutes from the local state university.
A little more warm and welcoming, from what I can see from YouTube.
It’s an AP school, which may be > than IB.
AP is less work than trying to get an IB diploma. They also have APID here.
There’s less academic diversity- only two languages, French and Spanish.
A little less fees, but not “little” by any means
I feel like it’s a warm, cuddly, kind of place.
No special programs, really.

Basically, it comes down to:
Cool little yuppie, pre-professional, hardworking place that’s a little less warm and all that, or
“Quaint”, semi-suburban typical place with AP instead of IB, so a little less work.

It’s kinda like Harvard (School X) vs. Yale (School Y)!

Thanks in advance for all y’all’s replies! (No, I’m not Southern, lol.)

2

If the schools are ranked that high your parents are probably paying more than $5,000 a year for you to go there- I’m guessing they’re private schools. Every school charges for sports. Anyway, choose a campus and school with an atmosphere that pleases you, not only your parents. Honestly, Spanish isn’t that bad, it’s just boring af. I wouldn’t let languages available make the difference unless your parents really want you to learn a language for some reason (you’re Chinese maybe idk).

3

@‌Anish14 Actually, they’re both public haha. And my current public school doesn’t… lucky me haha. My parents could honestly care less. They have the mentality that “you can succeed anywhere”, which IMO is only partially true. And Spanish is boring IMO. I’ve been going to Saturday Chinese school for 5 years now, so I mean I could probably place in a higher class. And I am Chinese (part) so I mean it’d be utilitarian because I’d be able to fluently speak to my relatives. My parents don’t care about the language either XD

4

@Anish14 ^^^^^

5

Dang, are these colleges or high schools?? I agree, Spanish is the most boring class I’ve ever taken.

6

IMO, I’d choose school Y because the added “benefits” of school X come with a lot of cons. In terms of applying to college and just overall happiness, it is better to be a big fish in a small pond than a small fish in a big pond. I’ve been there- my high school is consistently ranked among the top 5 high schools in the country (used to be #1). I was midpack there and not very happy; it took a toll on me emotionally. Now in college, I actually went to my “second choice” school, even though I got into my top choice that had better academics, because I like the atmosphere better (I got full-tuition at both). Im doing well in my classes and my professors are noticing me, which wouldn’t have happened at the “better” school.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved my high school and the opportunities it brought, but you really need to see what fits you. I loved the extra classes but the rigor was insane and very stressful.

7

@guineagirl96 Thanks so much for your input. I can totally see what you mean. However, I have a question. Do you think the AP gives a little more of an advantage over the IB curriculum at School X? Thanks again. And you go girl! I’m happy that you like your school now XD I suspect that it’s U of Richmond? Haha.

8

@JustinDaMan1141‌ I wouldn’t say AP definitely gives an advantage over IB because they are both rigorous programs, but I can tell you that I have lots of friends who have gone to IB schools who have experienced major “burn out”. I’m just not sure that added rigor is really respected more by colleges, so if you cant do well in it, I don’t think its worth it. Its also harder to get college credit for IB exams, since most colleges only offer credit for HL exams, which you are limited on in the IB program, and it is also much harder to get a qualifying score on an IB HL exam over an AP exam. Yes, I go to U of R :slight_smile:

9

I was actually in a very similar situation before high school, though the IB high school is ranked 1st in the state and had a lottery system to get accepted (which is why I didn’t go). My brother actually went to the other school. The IB program is competitive and I don’t think there was really a disadvantage when applying to colleges. He told me that whatever school I went to I would be fine and that he would recommend the public high school because its more flexible (less required classes, more choice)

10

I would go with school Y. You want to be comfortable in the place you spend the next four years in. Plus having a pool at your school is awesome. Take it from a swim team member who has to drive thirty minutes each way to get to our pool.

11

I definitely prefer the second school

12

Why? How many languages were you planning on taking?

I’d choose school Y. Colleges will evaluate your performance based upon your school. If the school does not offer IB (or AP for that matter) colleges will not hold it against the applicant. If top colleges preferred IB over AP, then Harvard/Yale would be fully populated by applicants with an IB diploma, which is clearly not the case.

13

@skieurope‌ I think the OP means more the variety they have to pick from rather than the amount he’s going to take. For example a school that has french,spanish,chinese, and german would be better than a school that has french and spanish because they have more opportunities.
Back to the OP I think Y would fit better and plus the bonus of the university being local means you may be able to dual enroll without going out of your way.

14

Go to Y.
It’s more practical. For example, AP classes are more manageable than IB in general. Do you really want to pay such monstrous money for HIGH SCHOOL? I would never do that.(Or any parents/students with right minds who don’t have gazillions dollars)

Also, you can teach yourself language. Go to FSI language website.

http://fsi-languages.yojik.eu/
It has full audio files, text for students and teachers, for FREE. I am teaching myself French with this, and it is very effective, albeit quite boring from time to time.

Lastly, benefits in school X aren’t really useful, in my opinion. Particularly, since you are concerned with colleges at the same time, it is even less worth.

15

@guineagirl96 That makes sense. I want to have a life too! :stuckouttongueclosedeyes: Thanks a bunch.

@17Angel Yeah, now that I’ve read everything that people’ve posted, I totally agree with your brother. Thanks!

@as9934 Yeah, I’m leaning towards school Y now. Thanks so much for your input, it really helps! Though I’m not a swimmer myself, I do like to jump in the pool every now and then. :slight_smile:

@djyoungqueef LOL your username, and why is that, in your opinion?

@skieurope What I meant by that was that I’d rather take Mandarin, a language that’s only available at school X. They also have IB Philosophy there, which I think is really cool. At the other school, I feel like it’s kind of academically restricted and homogenous. At school X, they also have a USH Ethnic Studies class that you can take instead of regular USH, which I would probably enjoy more. And yeah, I see your point. Thanks!! :smiley:

@Gatortristan Yeah, that’s what I meant haha. Thanks. And yeah, I’m probably going to go with Y now, should the situation be presented to me.

@Paul2752 Alright haha, and thanks for that website!!! That’s awesome, I didn’t know that something like that existed! I understand your points. Thanks again :disappointed_relieved:

EVERYBODY: So basically, you guys think Y>X because of the environment? Thanks!

16

YUp.

Also, it may not be Spanish that is boring, it could be your instructor. My Spanish teacher was a native speaker from Puerto Rico and she was very hilarious

17

For me, it would not tip the scales to school X. There are places outside of HS to learn Mandarin, or you could wait and take it in college.

18

@skieurope True, however, I’ve been taking Saturday classes for quite a few years now. With my current knowledge, I could skip a year or even two, and end up taking IB Mandarin B SL in Sophomore and Junior year, leaving one spot in Senior year blank. I could take an extra SL class or something like even participating in some early scholar program at the local (really great) LAC. With the other school, I would have to take Spanish, and not even get a chance to take AP Spanish because I wouldn’t have been advanced enough for Spanish. However, the environment seems great. I feel like its a matter of lesser environment for better academics, or lesser academic possibility for better environment.

19

Go with School Y.