<p>Having just been through the high school process in San Francisco I can give some information about SF:</p>
<p>Among the private schools, the academically strongest kids often end up at University, Lick-Wilmerding, or Urban. University also gets some students from Marin (it’s on the north side of the city) and L-W gets students from the East Bay and the Peninsula because it’s accessible by transit from those areas.</p>
<p>St. Ignatius is probably the top Catholic school in SF. It’s substantially bigger than the independent schools, and is considered stronger in athletics. It’s easier to be admitted there if you’re Catholic (student body is around 80% Catholic).</p>
<p>Lowell is a selective public high school (like Stuyvesant in New York). You have to test in so the student body is very strong. It’s hard to compare Lowell to a top suburban public high school like Gunn since those schools are not selective. </p>
<p>As for one of the private schools vs. Lowell, I think the difference comes down to size. We looked at Lowell and we discovered that class sizes are well over 30 kids, which of course means that the classes need to be taught in an entirely different way than one with 12 kids sitting around a table with the teacher. Kids don’t use their cell phones when walking through the halls because if they drop their phone it will be trampled by the hordes! My DD’s friend there has been disappointed by the lack of feedback on her work - she writes a paper and gets a grade, without any constructive commentary.</p>
<p>As for the private schools, they’re terrific schools and a student will get an excellent education at any of them. When it came down to it though, we felt like if DD chose one of the private day schools in SF over east coast boarding school she would be missing out on a great opportunity. (She didn’t apply to any CA boarding schools so I can’t make any comparisons there).</p>