High School Guide: Admissions, reviews, and advice

Susan James said:Life is stressful, isn't it? That's just how it goes.
Standardized testing is definitely necessary, though.
In my opinion, it's actually the fairest way to do things. If you ask the people who complain about it, I’d argue it's much less stressful to take one test every year rather than facing one massive, high-stakes exam every four years.
For me, sitting for an exam where a student gets to see what they actually know (and what they don't) feels way less nerve-wracking than trying to peer into a crystal ball to guess which group of peers will be their competition for a specific school.

But I can't even wrap my head around which subjects they had in mind for this. Is it the holy trinity—Math, English, and maybe some other core subject? I assume it doesn't cover everything, so I really can't visualize how this works.

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Michelle Nelson4 said:Honestly, I don't get all this talk about end-of-year stress.
I also can't wrap my head around these different levels of graduation exams—like A, B, or C tiers. It feels totally unnecessary. Success should be measured by points or percentages, and finishing high school shouldn't be strictly tied to one specific exam; it should act more like a universal entrance standard for high schools.
In my opinion, a fair way to do it would be splitting the weight: 50% based on grades (not an average, obviously, just the last two years) and 50% based on the "graduation exam," or whatever they decide to call that final test. If a specialized vocational school needs a minimum threshold—say, at least 70% in math to get into a technical program—then they should just set that requirement.

Every school could easily set their entry bar low enough that you wouldn't even need a single point from the exam, relying solely on your GPA.

And if I’m being really picky, I don't see why a high school would need to come up with anything particularly special for their own entrance exams. The curriculum is standardized, so the questions should naturally stay within those bounds. 🙂

I'm totally with you on this. My only tweak would be that on the final exam, I'd want to test reading comprehension, math skills, and scientific literacy. Those are core life skills that actually develop over time. You can't just cram them into two months of studying, which would prevent people from just paying for overpriced, last-minute prep courses to game the system.

hiddendriver34 said:I'm totally with you on this. My only tweak would be that on the final exam, I'd want to test reading comprehension, math skills, and scientific literacy. Those are core life skills that actually develop over time. You can't just cram them into two months of studying, which would prevent people from just paying for overpriced, last-minute prep courses to game the system.

There will always be prep, including paid tutoring. For whatever reason—but mostly because some teachers in schools just aren't great—students will always seek extra help.

I agree with your suggestion on what should be tested, but I have to point out that most of you seem to think the goal is for every kid to finish middle school with straight A's and head straight into a prep school, which is why you want a universal standardized test.
Just stop it.
Middle school is mandatory for everyone in the US, and every student should be finishing it by age 15. Not everyone is going to go to a high school, and if we actually want to encourage higher enrollment and completion rates, we shouldn't be introducing even a tiny elective exam, let alone making one mandatory for everyone.
That said, having a test that honestly filters out the surplus of candidates for specific schools is definitely necessary, especially if certain knowledge and skills are required before entering high school.
Looking at the comments from guidance counselors, it seems some teachers (who are googling school names) are actually asking for the entrance exam weight to be even higher than what is currently proposed.
🙏

It totally caught me off guard how the draft for the new regulations left out criteria for language academies 🤦, and it's also clear how they handle criteria for vocational schools. You can really tell when these rules are being written by bureaucrats in an office instead of actual classroom teachers.
Because of that, I really think every school should be given the choice to set their own criteria based on the type of students they want to attract.

If I could do it all over again, I’d probably go into tailoring, floral design, or cosmetology.
Something where you can actually open your own shop one day.

bluejackal said:If I could do it all over again, I’d probably go into tailoring, floral design, or cosmetology.
Something where you can actually open your own shop one day.

You can actually build your own business out of almost any field. The real secret is becoming an absolute expert at what you do; once you have those skills, clients will come to you, and since you're the boss, you're really just relying on your own talent.

For example, I know plenty of people who run incredibly successful hair salons, even though cosmetology wasn't their first choice or their primary degree. They might have started in something else entirely, then took specialized certification courses, invested heavily in ongoing training, and eventually passed their professional licensing exams.
In many cases, they end up being much more successful than someone who just stuck strictly to a standard vocational program.
And honestly, that applies to pretty much every career path out there.

So, regardless of which school you're heading to now (or which one your parents picked for you), you can always pivot toward what truly excites you later on.
It's never too late to make that move.

That’s a fair point—my former hairstylist actually studied at Harvard University, though I won't get into her specific major since I'm not entirely sure if she ever actually finished the program. The thing is, being a stylist was always her true calling, but her parents were pretty insistent on pushing her toward a different high school and then onto a more academic college path. Eventually, though, she decided to follow her own lead, went back to retrain, and finally opened up her own salon.

Admissions this year at 7 School Quote

Up until now, entrance exams were really only used by the four most sought-after high schools in Chicago—Lincoln High School, Central High School, Stuyvesant High School, and Bronx Science High School. However, due to massive student interest this July, several more Chicago schools are introducing entrance exams. The Department of Education confirmed to us that this includes Lucijan Vranjanin High School (STEM focused), Lincoln High School (STEM focused), and Phillips Academy (STEM focused).

It’s kind of interesting that only the math-heavy schools decided to add an exam this year (though, technically, you still have until tomorrow to sign up).
I’m really curious to see how many students end up shifting toward general or language-focused programs instead.
(And I wonder if there's going to be a huge rush for schools 3 and 13, since they don't require an exam 🤔)

Has that new regulation been released yet? You know—the updated version from the Department of Education.

mellowskipper said:Has that new regulation been released yet? You know—the updated version from the Department of Education.

It is.
The wording is just a total mess—classic legalese where they keep deleting and adding things without any clear structure (they really should have included the old version for comparison).
Based on this news summary, I’d say they didn't really take much of our feedback from the discussions into account.

Well, look at me, finally jumping into this thread. I honestly have zero clue what’s actually going on here, so I’m just gonna sit back, scribble some notes, and try to digest everything you guys have already dumped here so I can somehow find my way into this endless cycle of decision-making 😬

Peter Rogers said:Well, look at me, finally jumping into this thread. I honestly have zero clue what’s actually going on here, so I’m just gonna sit back, scribble some notes, and try to digest everything you guys have already dumped here so I can somehow find my way into this endless cycle of decision-making 😬

Man, we’re looking at a long road ahead next year.
It might help if they actually knew what they *don't* want first, and then maybe—just maybe—we could slowly work our way toward what they actually *do* want. Plus, they'll be heading into professional career counseling anyway.
But do they even have a rough idea of what they're interested in, or not?

Nope.
Not even a hint of it.
The guy would probably need three different college degrees just to cover all his bases and interests at once.
Right now there are 22 different directions to choose from. Talk about overkill, right? haha.
How many can I actually sign up for? Like, 3?

He’ll probably just head straight into two tracks because he wants to run them in parallel and wrap up his music studies too; honestly, high school didn't give him nearly enough of it to satisfy the itch.
The local prep schools offer that advanced curriculum, sure, but they barely touch on any science or math, so it’s really not even a viable option for him.

Peter Rogers said:Nope.
Not even a hint of it.
The guy would probably need three different college degrees just to cover all his bases and interests at once.
Right now there are 22 different directions to choose from. Talk about overkill, right? haha.
How many can I actually sign up for? Like, 3?

I think you can submit up to six applications.

Peter Rogers said:Nope.
Not even a hint of it.
The guy would probably need three different college degrees just to cover all his bases and interests at once.
Right now there are 22 different directions to choose from. Talk about overkill, right? haha.
How many can I actually sign up for? Like, 3?

22 😲
You can "only" apply to 6.🤣
When I think back to my day, before entrance exams were even a thing, you could only pick two schools—literally just two.
I don't recall anyone ever failing to get placed.🤷

Regarding the whole debate about how to make it to all those entrance exams, in a big city like Chicago, there are usually about seven of them (though I think the deadline to request an exam might have passed), and since you can apply to six schools, I think it's totally doable to take all six tests.
Plus, it's not a bad idea to take them more than once; you can keep going until the very last exam until you've mastered all the problems.😂

I actually think the real issue is that students who don't pass the exams end up flooding into the standard public high schools. It seems like some people specifically pick schools that don't require an entrance test, which causes a huge surge at schools that haven't been crowded before.🤣

But then again, listening to everyone around me asking about private academies (I'm actually one of them!), it feels like we might eventually see some schools practically begging kids to enroll.🤷

By the way, I caught an interview on TV last night with the superintendent from Springfield 🙏

Honestly, he’s turned that school into such a mess, so it isn't surprising that they had six applicants all vying for the top spot.
The school definitely needs a formal entrance exam. Once you see how things are actually running there, it feels unfair to let kids enroll based solely on their GPA—even if those exam scores don't carry as much weight as they should right now. It would at least be a start.

I looked into some private options too, but honestly, the rates were absolutely astronomical. I think we’re better off sticking with the public ones.
Anyway, I'm genuinely curious about that whole intake effect.

We’ve got a thread for choosing elementary schools, but nothing for high schools yet. 😁
I noticed there hasn't been much talk about this on the forum lately, so I wanted to start a discussion. My little one actually had a bit of a meltdown recently because she's torn about which high school to pick, so here we go.

I don't know much about high schools myself—I'm not really sure what makes one "good" versus "bad." Since her grades shouldn't be an issue*, I'd love for her to just go to a standard high school where she can still get into college without having to swallow endless amounts of homework or study 23 hours a day. 😬
She's currently torn between a STEM-focused track or a liberal arts track. She’s more interested in languages, but since she's great at math, she thinks a school focused on sciences might actually be "easier" in terms of workload. 😁
What’s the deal with general academic high schools? Is that the best move for a kid who hasn't decided if they want to study architecture, philosophy, or pharmacy? 😵
And most importantly, which local high schools have a "normal" crowd rather than just being full of elitists or kids acting like they own the place? 😂
To be honest, that social vibe will probably be her biggest deciding factor. 😬

*I'm not entirely sure if she'll aim for the STEM or liberal arts track, but it's unlikely her GPA will fall below a 3.8.

Wait, what even is a "gaser"???? 😲

feraleagle55 said:Wait, what even is a "gaser"???? 😲

Looks like you've got a little one there 😂
Here 😂