US new vs niche vs Great schools rankings for public schools only

[Globetrotter]

I agree about the difficulty getting into AP Classes in competitive schools. Here they put a limit and you have to justify taking more, which is also done to address the stress issue, whereas in neighboring schools that are not so competitive they can take unlimited APs because they have trouble filling up the classes, whereas we don’t have enough slots.

[daisyd]

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I think it's more meaningful to talk to students/parents who share your needs and educational philosophy and ask them about their experience. I try not to ask tiger parents because they will have a different perspective and only look at numbers.

Another thing nobody mentioned is that it will be harder to get into a good college from a highly competitive school, as they will be competing with their peers. I have seen this play out.

Thanks for taking the time to respond in depth.

I see the wisdom of talking to parents with the same education philosophy. We consciously steered away from buying a home in a top neighboring school district after seeing how uber competitive even the youngest kids were. We didn't want that for our DC as DH and I did not enjoy our school experience in a similar school setting. Our more laidback but well rated elementary/middle school seems like a better fit.

Why is ranking within the school so important? Do universities accept only x number of applicants from a particular high school?

[JBaxter]

Thanks for taking the time to respond in depth.

I see the wisdom of talking to parents with the same education philosophy. We consciously steered away from buying a home in a top neighboring school district after seeing how uber competitive even the youngest kids were. We didn't want that for our DC as DH and I did not enjoy our school experience in a similar school setting. Our more laidback but well rated elementary/middle school seems like a better fit.

Why is ranking within the school so iimportant? Do universities accept only x number of applicants from a particular high school?

Our State Universities do look at certain schools here and weight them differently. The high school DS3 attends only offers Honors & AP level classes. Yes its super crazy competitive to get into ( county funded ) and ranks #1 in our state. I don't know about all Universities.

[Globetrotter]

Thanks for taking the time to respond in depth.

I see the wisdom of talking to parents with the same education philosophy. We consciously steered away from buying a home in a top neighboring school district after seeing how uber competitive even the youngest kids were. We didn't want that for our DC as DH and I did not enjoy our school experience in a similar school setting. Our more laidback but well rated elementary/middle school seems like a better fit.

Why is ranking within the school so iimportant? Do universities accept only x number of applicants from a particular high school?

When the colleges look at applicants, they compare them to others within their own schools. For the UC‘s, literally the top 9% is guaranteed a spot in a UC. It may not be one of the top ranked UCs.. It would be harder to get into the system if you were not in the top 9% of your school. For highly selective private schools, I’m sure there is some limit on how many they will take from a certain high school.

I don’t know how it is in other states, but here in California the UC‘s do actually give more points to kids from competitive schools. That does help a bit, but not enough to outweigh the difficulty of getting in when there is a lot of competition.

http://admission.universityofcalifor...wed/index.html

[daisyd]

Our State Universities do look at certain schools here and weight them differently. The high school DS3 attends only offers Honors & AP level classes. Yes its super crazy competitive to get into ( county funded ) and ranks #1 in our state. I don't know about all Universities.

When the colleges look at applicants, they compare them to others within their own schools. For the UC‘s, literally the top 9% is guaranteed a spot in a UC. It may not be one of the top ranked UCs.. It would be harder to get into the system if you were not in the top 9% of your school. For highly selective private schools, I’m sure there is some limit on how many they will take from a certain high school.

I don’t know how it is in other states, but here in California the UC‘s do actually give more points to kids from competitive schools. That does help a bit, but not enough to outweigh the difficulty of getting in when there is a lot of competition.

http://admission.universityofcalifor...wed/index.html

Thanks for posting Jeanna and Globetrotter. I hadn't realized this before.

Thanks also for the helpful link Globetrotter

[daisyd]

So, how is rank within high school determined? SAT scores and school grade? Any weight for extra projects etc?

[NCGrandma]

So, how is rank within high school determined? SAT scores and school grade? Any weight for extra projects etc?

This thread makes me realize that DGD1 is in her last year of middle school (8th grade), and issues such as these will start to become more relevant.

The class rank discussion makes me wonder how this works in small schools. Any experience? DGD1 is in an independent school and I think last year's graduating class had maybe 30 students. I’m not sure what AP classes etc are offered, but I guess I’ll find out.


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[Globetrotter]

[QUOTE=daisyd;4310140]So, how is rank within high school determined? SAT scores and school grade? Any weight

It’s decided by grades only. They get an extra point for taking advanced classes, so an a in an AP class is the same as a B in a regular class. In our district, they only get the extra point for AP classes, not honors. However, it doesn’t matter because colleges will get the information and recalculate it their own way to standardize it.

[Globetrotter]

This thread makes me realize that DGD1 is in her last year of middle school (8th grade), and issues such as these will start to become more relevant.

The class rank discussion makes me wonder how this works in small schools. Any experience? DGD1 is in an independent school and I think last year's graduating class had maybe 30 students. I’m not sure what AP classes etc are offered, but I guess I’ll find out.


Sent from my iPad using Baby Bargains

I honestly wouldn’t worry too much about ranking in such a small school. The Colleges will have the school profile and realize the situation.

[daisyd]

It’s decided by grades only. They get an extra point for taking advanced classes, so an a in an AP class is the same as a B in a regular class. In our district, they only get the extra point for AP classes, not honors. However, it doesn’t matter because colleges will get the information and recalculate it their own way to standardize it.

Okay, now I understand the pressure to do more AP classes