Hi! I am going to be a freshman next year, and I am forced to make a very difficult decision of whether I attend a private or public high school. I have seen and heard that elite colleges are mostly accepting public school students now and I don’t want to take that risk. If I go to my local public high school, I will take one honors class my freshman year. But if I go to the private school, I will take two or three honors courses, and I truly want to challenge myself. Could someone please help me out? Thanks!
Will going to private school effect my chances of attending an Ivy League or other elite University?
No, IMO. As I’ve stated many times on this site, a private school may give a student the tools with which to develop him/herself into a viable candidate, but the local public school may as well. Colleges admit students, not high schools.
Which school is better depends both on the specific schools and how well they fit to your specific academic goals.
The private school offers more computer courses while the public school offers none. And I want to study computer science in college.
What computer courses does each offer?
Does each offer the usual courses in the college-prep curriculum? See http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/high-school-life/2055289-faq-high-school-college-prep-base-curriculum.html .
If you expect to take advanced level courses (e.g. AP, IB HL, or college) while in high school, how do the offerings compare at each school?
For students who take external standardized tests (e.g. SAT subject tests, AP tests) associated with specific high school courses, do the students earning A grades score in the upper range of those external standardized tests?
Would paying private school tuition require you to be more financially limited in your college choice? If your parents spending money on private school tuition prevents them from being able to pay for the “Ivy League or other elite university” for you, then attending the private school will reduce your chances of attending such a university.
If money is not a factor in your situation, go to the private school. There are many benefits of going to public school, which having done myself, I can verify. But I personally feel as though private schools have an advantage. While it is true that Ivies and other elite colleges admit more public school applicants than private school ones, this is because the sheer volume of public school kids applying far, far outweighs their private school counterparts. Private schools have the resources to streamline your applications and increase your knowledge of the ins and outs of the application process, whereas a public school doesn’t.
However, this does not mean that I think you should attend one of those extremely elite private schools, like Andover or Harvard-Westlake. The competition at these schools is high to the point where it is actually a disadvantage to be an average student at these schools rather than a top student at another school. Since admissions officers look at your achievements relative to those of your peers (to accurately gauge the height of your success), it is important that you go to a school where you can stand out–and if that is at public school, so be it.
Go to a high school that you can afford, where you can be comfortable, and where you can do well. If you can achieve all of this, I think that public or private is fine. However, I definitely would not want to use up my college fund for high school.
It offers AP Computer Science, Intro to Programming, and Engineering Honors
The students do very well on those tests however, money could be an issue.
Which school offers these (and which AP CS – A or principles?), and what does the other school offer in these areas?
How do they compare in the other aspects listed in reply #4?
You need to talk to your parents about money for college, and how much paying private high school tuition would limit your college choices. The net price calculators on college web sites may give you and they an idea of what their costs may be after financial aid.
I tutor chemistry and math and have had students at a variety of public and private high schools. in general, in our area, the honors classes in science and math are working at a higher level in our local public schools than the private schools, while the regular classes are a bit behind.
in other words the peer group at the top of the public schools is more.capable and competitive but the midrange kids are, on average, working at a higher level in the private.
The teaching seems better at the public. Again this is only in Science and Math. At my kids public about 60 kids take comp sci A every year and last year onky one kid dis not get a 3 or higher and over half got 5’s.
Not all private hs are automatically better. Just saying they offer CS, programming, and engineering says nothing about quality, rigor, etc.
If you want CS in college, lots of ways to prep for that without spending 4 years on tuition.
It depends on the school, you, and finances. But if you are the kind of student who is likely to be “exposed” as less than stellar at the private school, you may not really be a candidate for a tippy top college anyway.
Pick the one that is going to let you be the best version of yourself for the next 4 years and provide the best experience in and out of the classroom. These are important years of your life, not a protracted admissions test.
How could I prep?
Lots of online resources. E.g. http://cs10.org .
Online, yes. And sometimes community opportunities to study, practice, compete. A large number of kids are also able to learn a lot through self study. We see that often on CC.
But the issue is, right now, your scope is limited. You’re focused on private vs public, the maybe major, before any experiences, before learning what opportunities exist.
Well, I know for a fact that the Salutatorian from my Catholic high school will be attending Yale next year; not sure who else will also be attending an Ivy from this year’s class.
But why is “Ivy” the focus of a 15 year old… as opposed to “the school we can best afford that I can get into that will give me the best education possible”?
The question is not what will get you into the best college, but what will give you the best experience between now and college … without squandering your college fund. “Best” isn’t always “most challenging” by the way. Your high school (and college) years involve a lot of developmental and social changes. At each stage, choose the place you can afford where you’re most likely to thrive.
Look at which colleges the kids from the different schools are attending. This information is generally available in te school’s profiles. We switched our kids from the expensive private schools to their neighborhood public schools and the results have been great. Our public school routinely sends kids to some Ivies and top 30 colleges, plus state flagships.
It really doesn’t matter. Your chances are going to be lousy either way. Putting your self-worth on a school with a 95% rejection rate is not healthy, especially when you have 3,000 colleges to choose from. In fact, statistically you’re better off taking a scholarship and graduating debt free.