Question: My daughter is starting ninth grade next year and is going to a diverse public high school with a strong academic program. She was accepted into a very good private college prep school ,too, but decided to go to the public school for the diversity and size. She is a strong and serious student. How do you think her chances of getting into various universities will be affected by her decision to go a public high school instead of a private school?
In addition, is it true that the United States' graduating class of 2011 will be the largest pool applying for college in recent history?
Answer: I was a public school teacher, and for a variety of reasons, I believe in the value of a public education. Academics aside, students at diverse public schools (though diverse and public are not always synonymous) learn about the cultures of their fellow students. Students who are recent immigrants will benefit from exposure to their more assimilated fellow students and will learn American culture and language more quickly than if they were in a school with only other immigrants. Obviously, that will benefit everyone.
Economic diversity should be factored in, too. Private high schools are often less economically diverse, and though many grant scholarships to students with financial need, most private schools are filled with students whose parents can afford to pay high tuition, creating an artificially wealthy culture.
The decision to attend a private school should not be based on your daughter's chances of getting into college. Though I was teaching in a public school at the time, I sent my own son to a private middle and high school because I felt they better met his academic and social needs. Though we live in a community with excellent (though not diverse) public schools, my husband and I felt my son needed a smaller environment than the public school could offer. Some students thrive in a larger atmosphere; others need smaller classes and a smaller school. It was a very personal decision, based on the best learning environment for him. College admission was not a factor at all. As it turned out, his private high school was more culturally, though not necessarily economically, diverse than the public high school he would have attended.
It's hard to predict the number of college applicants for 2011. Nationwide, the number of enrolled high school seniors appears to have leveled off, but that does not mean that the number of college applicants is leveling off. In fact, every year more students apply to college, and that can create a lower acceptance rate at some colleges. That may not be good for admission, but in the end, it makes for a more educated populace.
The school she attends should not affect your daughter's chances of admission to college. College admissions counselors have told me that they do not value private school applicants any more than public school applicants. College admissions personnel are always interested in talented and interesting kids with diverse backgrounds, despite the high school they attended.
However, colleges often have regional admissions personnel who make it their business to be familiar with the academic climate at most high schools. They know, for example, that certain schools, public or private, are more rigorous, offer more AP courses or have higher grading standards than others, and they will factor that in to their admissions decisions.
Your daughter sounds as though she will thrive wherever she attends high school. If she does well academically, gets involved on campus and in your community, she'll receive attention from colleges, regardless of her high school.
Joanne Levy-Prewitt is an independent college admissions adviser who works with students in the San Francisco area. E-mail her at jklprewitt@gmail.com.
© Joanne Levy-Prewitt
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