Saw this in another thread:
Other than applying to college or first job after high school graduation, or things like high school reunions, where/when/how does your high school matter?
I am a parent of a high schooler applying to college.
High school probably will have an impact on your college application, but other than that, i doubt it has any weightage at all.
I feel its kind of the same way with colleges too. Going to Ivys/T20s certainly do help out with the first job for sure - the network you gather at these college is very valuable. However, after the first job, I feel you really don’t have a whole lot of advantage going to College A vs College B. Its your contribution and achievements at the work that speaks after that.
I have interviewed and recruited many college students. The overall productivity from students graduating from the top ranked schools (T20) are marginally better, but I cant say there is a strong correlate between top schools and stellar performance at work. At the end of the day, it boils down to the students work ethics, sincerity and hard work.
In Baltimore, when people ask where you went to school, they mean where did you go to HIGH SCHOOL, not college. It’s a very HS driven town, with lots of private schools. There’s a reason it’s called “Smalltimore”
Imo, if it’s a general question, high school is what prepares you for college and beyond. That’s in terms of drives, learning to satisfy goals, persist and endure, etc. Experiencing more choices and, we hope, some mastery. Life skills.
It means close to nothing once you start college/get a college degree. The only exception I can think of would be if you attended an elite prep school, but those students tend to go to college at higher rates than the nation as a whole I’d assume.
In Baltimore…
How much of the high school age population attends private schools, and are any particular kinds of private schools (e.g. Catholic versus other religious versus non-religious) most heavily attended?
Also, what is the importance (socially or otherwise) if you attended one high school versus another? (other than applying to college or first job at high school graduation, or high school reunions)
I live in Memphis. Where you went to high school here matters even in hiring decisions for professional jobs. Granted, Memphis is a small river town (with a metro population of over 1M+). But, as a native Memphian, were I applying to a job locally, I would totally put my high school on my resume. It establishes that I am local and establishes what my background is as a Memphian.
The context from the post in the other thread was about how the name of your high school affects social or other interaction among people long past high school graduation, as opposed to how high school (both the specific high school which was mostly determined by your parents and what you do while there) affects going to college.
Some high schools have an old boys’ network (of course, more properly called and old alums network today). I would imagine this happens more (only?) at selective private schools.
Agree with @PikachuRocks15 that graduation from an elite prep school helps well beyond one’s first job.
In Texas when there is a high school fixation, it’s all about sports (especially football). I mean- they make movies about Texas high school sports.
@ucbalumnus this article will help explain (I’m not a native so I still don’t understand! )
https://www.baltimoremagazine.com/section/educationfamily/power-schools/
Seems like high school attended is mostly used as a marker for family or parental social standing and stereotyping. But where (in terms of social standing) does that leave those who attended a typical local public school, rather than one of the specialty or elite ones?
Very interesting. It can matter if you went to some category of private school or a very well known Public like Stuy, Boston Latin, etc. and someone else thinks that is important. Usually, it isn’t. But if it’s a certain type of school, like an elite BS, it might have impact with some people. I think it would matter only if there is some connection with the hiring person or company.
Check Linked In. You’re unlikely to see Normal High School in Normal Town, but you will see listings for schools that are well known. How long do people write it down? Who knows. I guess as long as it makes sense to them.
Well it seems like attending private school is more common in Baltimore than other cities/suburbs. My DH is from Baltimore and I know his family made certain assumptions about me coming from a public school and our choice to send our children to public schools. Where I grew up the only people who went to private school were very Catholic/religious, or high profile wealthy people.
https://www.towncharts.com/Maryland/Education/Baltimore-city-MD-Education-data.html (Figure 17) indicates that 14% of high school students in Baltimore attend private schools. This is probably higher than the national average (about 10% for K-12). But that still means that most (86% of) Baltimore high school students are in public schools.
However, it looks like some of the prestige-name high schools in Baltimore named in the article linked in reply #11 are public schools (presumably specialty ones as opposed to ordinary ones in the neighborhood).
RE: Baltimore – there are 5 public schools on the “Power Schools” list: Poly, City, and Western are in the city as well as BSA, while Dulaney is in the county.
State Championship Sports, State Championship DECA teams, State Championship Band. Our high school matters everyday, shaping young adults in a positive manner.
Social connections - which I was too clueless to take advantage of at the time! These connections can happen if you have a kid who has a high social IQ, and attends a high school that wealthy and powerful families send their children to. Sometimes these are exclusive prep schools, but they can also be private schools that go from K-12.
When I worked in Baltimore, I met several guys who went to Gilman (private boys school), Princeton, Yale Law. It was more than just a coincidence that this was their path and they all ended up at the same office. Tells me there was some networking going on.
Kavanaugh and Gorsuch both went to Georgetown Prep and now are on the supreme court. High schools matter more than you’d think in Baltimore and the surrounding suburbs. My brother only went to one of the Catholic hs for one year but he’s still very connected to his friends and still gets birthday cards from the school - he’s 59.