<p>As of now, I'm enrolled at a magnet school that focuses on math, science, and technology. The program is very selective. Every year approx. 600 - 800 8th graders apply and only ~100 are selected. However, the school I'm zoned for is not as competitive and if I go there next year I will have a high chance to make it into the top 5, while at the school I go to now it's nearly impossible. Should I go to the school I'm zoned for to have a higher class rank or stay in magnet? Thanks.</p>
<p>So I was the valedictorian at my home school, spending time there in grade 9 &10. After getting full of myself, I wasn’t contented when I realized I would not be competitive enough when it comes time for college admission. Look here, you may be the school valedictorian, but so what? If your goal is going to a selective college, it won’t help as much. Surely enough, there are valedictorians from those inner city schools that make it into top colleges, but why would you bypass the various opportunities of getting into competitive colleges from your magnet school (Colleges tend to accept students from schools that previously had sent students to their alma maters)? I transferred in the eleventh grade into the top magnet school in my city ( top 15 in national ranking) , making 4 Bs, and my rank is not even in top 10% ( We only have around 80 people in our grade), but my counselor was so helpful that she sent emails about scholarships and summer programs out to us. I eventually got awards to travel to Western Europe, the Middle East, and two top selective summer programs. My SAT and ACT are also helped by the competitive environment of my school, too.
Plus: Look at it this way too: if you spend time at your neighborhood school, and even if you’re the val, there is no guarantee that you will succeed in college. You may be making bad grades, and eventually lose your scholarship money if that happens</p>
<p>Thanks, anyone else?</p>
<p>How bad is the local school? If not too bad, go there. Don’t risk it, there’s really not much point unless you love that magnet school/hate the local school. In the magnet school, you could be a straight A student and still be in the top 20 hence reduce your chances at top schools. What’s your reasoning for going to a magnet school? Extra curricular opportunities? Academic environment?</p>
<p>The above person is right, those things could happen. But, if your arrogance (don’t mean it in a negative way, it’s cool to be arrogant as long as its justified) is justified and you’ve been a straight-A student your whole life, you will probably make it to the top 5 at your local school and succeed in college.</p>
<p>In the college admissions game, being a Valedictorian doesn’t mean much. In fact, pretty low percentage of them actually get into ivies. going to a competitive magnet school would provide you more opportunities and would be recognized by top schools. Unless your local school is good, the magnet option is better.</p>
<p>Check out where Thomas Jefferson Magnet School kids went (#1 school in nation):</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.tjhsst.edu/curriculum/dss/docs/tjprofile_2010.pdf[/url]”>http://www.tjhsst.edu/curriculum/dss/docs/tjprofile_2010.pdf</a></p>
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<p>Second that.</p>
<p>By the way, if anyone wants to know the Andover matriculation for the class of 2011, it’s at: [The</a> College List](<a href=“http://andover11.com/college/]The”>http://andover11.com/college/)</p>
<p>My reason for being in magnet are the academic opportunities. All seniors take internships and we have a lot of post - AP classes (including a Ga Tech calculus class). For the magnet class of 2011 which was ~ 100 students, we had acceptances into every ivy, Stanford, WUSTL, Ga Tech, Cal Tech, Duke, Emory, etc. It prepares you pretty well. My local school is not that bad, it’s pretty average. They focus heavily on sports though. I want to go to either Tufts or Wesleyan.</p>
<p>Just to give some balance to this argument, I’d like to say that you CAN succeed if you go to a public school. </p>
<p>I graduated from a public school (in Idaho, which doesn’t help either) and am going to attend Georgia Tech. I have friends going to Stanford, university of Washington, WUSTL, etc. In fact, my school was so bad that the district has fired 3 principals over the past four years, and they almost closed it down because of the school’s dropout rate and extremely low performance on standardized tests.</p>
<p>The point is that you can do well wherever you go, it just depends on what you do!</p>
<p>But, if I had the choice, I’d definitely choose the private school to get the most opportunities.</p>
<p>Hey guys, sorry to bring an old thread back, but I thought I should add the following note because I’ve noticed some site traffic coming from this link. </p>
<p>That list that 082349 posted is not an official list. Official statistics can be found here:
[Phillips</a> Academy - College Matriculations & School Profile](<a href=“http://www.andover.edu/Academics/CollegeCounseling/Pages/SchoolProfileCollegeMatriculations.aspx]Phillips”>http://www.andover.edu/Academics/CollegeCounseling/Pages/SchoolProfileCollegeMatriculations.aspx)</p>
<p>The list at Andover11.com is self-reported, not inclusive, designed for the Andover Class of 2011, not outside viewers, and I did not calculate school statistics on purpose.</p>