Choosing The Right High School For Your Honor Student
By: Arthur Hall
Submitted: 2010-11-03 19:56:00 | Word Count: 677
The parents of American teenagers have been bombarded in recent years with images of students with spectacular academic qualifications who have been refused admission to the colleges of their first choice. The question resounds across the American landscape: "How can this happen to my child?" The answer, of course, is quite simple.
A High Stakes Moment
Acceptance to our nation's most prestigious institutions of higher learning is awarded to those students who possess a wide range of academic skills in concert with a staggering set of extracurricular talents and phenomenal athletic ability. Given this scenario, the selection of a high school that prepares students for this overwhelming competition and allows them to create portfolios that distinguish them as attractive commodities on college campuses has become a crucial decision for would-be high school freshmen and their families. What are the most vital aspects to consider when making this pivotal choice?
What Will Happen in Four Years?
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Students who are gifted academically will always have options when it comes to their destination for four years of secondary education. Private prep schools, parochial high schools with religious affiliations, and public high schools compete for the very best students. Parents must weight the benefits of private education against the financial sacrifice that comes in the form of tuition.
Can a public school be the best option? With the specter of college applications looming in the not too distant future, the most important factor to consider deals with opportunities that will be present for the student at the completion of the high school education. What types of schools are accepting the graduates of a particular high school?
Acceptances are far more important than actual matriculations, since many factors lead to the eventual decision as to where each individual will attend. Do students at the high school under consideration have access to the best liberal arts schools in the country, or are they merely attending state institutions? How many students in any given senior class are accepted to the school of their first choice, and how many have to settle for schools further down on their lists?
The answers to these questions provide parents and students with an idea of where high schools are "tiered" by colleges and universities. Some high schools may be able to place students in the second or third decile of rank into these high quality colleges. Other schools may not be able to find acceptances for their valedictorians and salutatorians at these schools.
Schools That Can Earn Money for Your Children
The answers to these questions often lead to the salient facts that should influence the decisions of the parents of future high achievers. What is the average SAT score of the most recent graduating classes? Some schools may produce honor rolls that fill pages of newspaper print, but those same honor students cannot break 1000 combined in their Math and Critical Reading SAT. This is a sign of grade inflation that is easily spotted by college admissions offices.
How many Advanced Placement courses are offered by the high school in question? These college-level courses are an indication of a rigorous course of studies that allows students to prepare themselves for the taxing curricula awaiting them at the next level. Finally, how much merit-based scholarship is awarded to graduating students on average? Colleges and universities do not merely throw money around. Those funds are used to attract the best students. High schools with significant per-student scholarship numbers have obviously proven their merits to admissions offices throughout the country.
Ask the Tough Questions
Generally speaking, excellent junior high school students will have access to public, private, and parochial high schools that will trumpet their achievements in the classroom, on the athletic fields, and in the community. Still, parents of the best students must consider that the college application process, along with acceptances and rejections, are only four short years away. Which high school can provide the broadest and most impressive set of opportunities for the graduating honor student? This is the question that must be researched and answered.
