<p>Hello! In my city there is a new college prep school opening. My parents are trying to decide if I should go to that school, or the local public school. At the college prep school I can take more AP courses, and have a definite math class my senior year, however the public school has more extra curricular activities, which school would look better to college admissions officers, or would it really matter?</p>
<p>are you really in 8th grade? Wow you're pretty articulate. Um I would say for you to go to the more academically rigorous school and find the ECs elsewhere if you can't find them there. I say the prep school because it will probably motivate you to stand out amongst your peers, and you'll look better overall as an applicant</p>
<p>Thank you for your advice, and yes I really am in 8th grade. :)</p>
<p>Just go where you want to go...if you work hard, it won't make a difference.</p>
<p>I, on the other hand, would go to the local public school, unless the education is horrible and they have bomb threats everyday. I think having the chance to try different extra curriculars is good, because it gives you the opportunity to find out a lot about yourself and your interests. For me, for example, I discovered that while I loved journalism classes, I would hate a career in journalism. The more you have the choose from, the more you can try, and the easier it will be to find something you like. This is important, since a lot of schools place emphasis on activities.</p>
<p>Also, a school that has been around for a while already has some sort of reputation with colleges, while the new one will take a few years to build a reputation.</p>
<p>Both have their draws and adcoms will look at both differently. They know that public schools and private schools are different and each have different strengths. Coming from a public school I definitely had more extracurricular opportunities (sports, business clubs, school newspaper) than if I would have gone to a charter school in my area. It's really more about making the most of what you are given wherever you may be.</p>
<p>Actually, I'd think the prep school would have more opportunities for you to take initiative with ECs. After all, adcoms would rather see you start an EC then become a mere member. Plus, I've found that out-of-school ECs tend to be better, more organized, and offer you more opportunities to explore. (Not to offend anyone, that's just my personal opinion and experience.) So it may be better that the prep school forces you to look outside your school for ECs.</p>
<p>In my opinion (i.e., not confirmed by anyone who would decide on your application) you can only start a maximum of one organization before it starts to look like application padding.</p>
<p>Everything looks like application padding (a problem I know I'm going to be facing). It's up to her to prove that it's not. And I think if she's genuinely dedicated, it'll show. In any case, that's why I'm so thankful for the supplemental materials section of applications.</p>
<p>I don't think everything looks like application padding. I think if a person has a few activities that they're really involved in, that does not look like padding. It looks like padding when people have so many activities that they don't all fit on the application and they have to send in an extra sheet with them. I, for example, only listed 4 activities on my application. I had more that I did for a year or two, but I only let them know about the ones I really cared about. In three of them, I had one awards and was president of the organization. For the fourth, that was teaching Sunday school.</p>
<p>I'd go for the public school. You'll be able to get more involved in your activities, cause you won't have a billion ivy-hopefuls competing for leadership positions in every club. You'll also have more time to focus on ECs and finding out what you like to do, and you'll still get a fine education. I think the public school kids tend to be valued as the "underdogs" sometimes, while private school kids are assumed to be overprivileged and can be held to higher expectations.</p>
<p>I think private school kids get really pretentious sometimes. I spent half my life in private schools and couldn't take it anymore and demanded my parents let me go to public school for high school. It was still competitive, but people were not as spoiled and not as condescending.</p>
<p>I say go to the private school and then find a way to get extracurricular activities from another source. It is much easier to get extracurriculars out of school than to get a very good education outside of your school.</p>
<p>Private school does not = best education.</p>
<p>True, however, </p>
<p>Private school does generally = best rich preps. </p>
<p>come on now, which would you rather have?</p>
<p>well i thought we were assuming that the prep school had better educational opportunities. The thing about being lost in the crowd is ********. Having kids around you that are smart only pushes you to do better, and having the opportunity to learn more is invaluable. Go to the school where you'll be better educated.</p>
<p>I agree with MichaelJ's post.</p>
<p>It's really a matter of your own personal preference.</p>