High School Guide: Admissions, reviews, and advice

Rachel Jones8 said:Did you take an entrance exam here in the States? For freshman year?
What was even on that test?

I took my high school entrance exams back in San Diego. It was for medical school prep, and if I remember right, it was biology, chemistry, and then just... nothing else sticks. I mostly just remember the frustration. That would have been around 1989, if my math is right. Wasn't it like that everywhere back then? Everyone having to deal with entrance exams for high school?

hiddenjackal17 said:I took my high school entrance exams back in San Diego. It was for medical school prep, and if I remember right, it was biology, chemistry, and then just... nothing else sticks. I mostly just remember the frustration. That would have been around 1989, if my math is right. Wasn't it like that everywhere back then? Everyone having to deal with entrance exams for high school?

It was happening all over the country. Come on, if you don't mind me asking, tell me more about that frustration. What does it do to an eighth grader when they face an exam that feels like it carries the weight of their entire future? Especially for those just trying to pass their middle school finals with a single shot at it?

I honestly used to think that kind of thing only happened back in my small hometown, 😉 but "frustration" is pretty much the only word I have left for it now. Looking back at being fourteen, it was just this cocktail of fear, nerves, and pure adrenaline. Back then, there weren't many paths to choose from—you picked a school, you took the entrance exam, and that was it. You either made it or you didn't. But the frustration? That came from the lack of transparency. It was all about who knew whom, whose kid was whose, or who had the right connections. Not that it was just about nepotism, though. You’d head into those exams alongside several people you went to Elementary School with, maybe even kids from your own class. There was this constant, underlying rivalry—wondering if they’d get in while you wouldn't, or if someone else would basically steal your spot.
And those few days spent waiting for the results? Pure torture. You just sit there, obsessively looping the exam questions through your head, recalculating your grades and averages over and over...
But at the end of the day, besides your elementary school GPA, that test was the one real metric of what you actually knew. It was evaluated by someone who wasn't your teacher—someone neutral.

hiddenjackal17 said:I took my high school entrance exams back in San Diego. It was for medical school prep, and if I remember right, it was biology, chemistry, and then just... nothing else sticks. I mostly just remember the frustration. That would have been around 1989, if my math is right. Wasn't it like that everywhere back then? Everyone having to deal with entrance exams for high school?

Oh yeah, absolutely. I sat through mine in '88.
I was going for a math-focused academy—pretty sure the only subjects they hammered us with were math and physics.
Despite all the soul-crushing stress, I actually think it’s the most honest way to do things. Honestly, I wish they’d bring that kind of standard back.
It’s just like college admissions, too. I saw so many people heading into university who had perfect GPAs but couldn't pass the actual entrance exam to save their lives!

High school entrance exams were scrapped back in '91

I’m with you on this one.

Honestly, when did they start handing out points for "good behavior"? It seems like a new development!
Back when I was applying for high school, 60 points was pretty much the ceiling. If you were actually exceptional—I mean, if you placed in the top three at a national competition—you might get a little extra credit, but there weren't 748 kids hitting those marks. Even in my old prep school, people were getting in with 58 points easy.
Fast forward ten years to last year, and my cousin is applying to that very same school. She looks at her application and says, "Ugh, I only have 64 points, I don't know if I'll even make the cut." 😕
At this rate, we might as well start awarding points for height, how neat your notebooks are, or whether or not your books have "dog-eared" pages.

Rachel Jones8 said:Did you take those entrance exams in America? For freshman year?
What kind of stuff was on them?

Not sure I totally follow...
So teacher salaries would depend on how well the kids did on the exit exams?
What do you mean by the bolded part? Does that mean people who went above and beyond, or does it include everyone teaching that subject?

If the junior high exit exams are too expensive, then external evaluations (state testing, but both oral and written) that include checks on functional skills and abilities (anytime and unannounced) would be a great way to monitor teacher performance and grading objectivity from first grade all the way through eighth.

How would that actually look in real life? When would these tests happen, how much stuff would there be... and who handles the oral exams to make sure they stay completely objective?

My thought was that all teachers working in standard classrooms with students should be paid based on the results of their graduating classes. If I taught English to a group from 5th through 8th grade, I am responsible for their proficiency. If one single generation performs poorly, I could argue that my fault was minimal because the class composition was just poor, but if two generations fail to meet standards, then the issue clearly lies with me. If three generations fail, there ought to be serious consequences.
Of course, such a system could only be implemented once it’s fully developed—for instance, one would have to account for the success of the 5th graders on their initial placement tests, and then consider the number of years a teacher has worked with the children, since it makes a massive difference whether I took over a class when they were in 5th grade or when they were already in 8th.

I emphasized intentionally that a written exam alone wouldn't be a valid indicator of success, especially if we are only testing academic achievement. That would essentially be a step backward, because the purpose of education in an Elementary School cannot merely be the acquisition of facts, but rather the development of skills and functional abilities, which are far more important than mere data points that are easily memorized and forgotten.
Just as there are baseline and final measurements in PE to track physical development, the same logic could be applied to other subjects.

An oral exam can also, and indeed must be, objective if the tasks are thoughtfully designed and if there is a panel of examiners. For example, in an English class, a 5th grader is expected to have developed the skill of subjective description—say, describing an interior setting. If each examiner independently evaluates specific criteria (task completion, content, composition, basic adherence to linguistic norms, sentence structure, lexicon, creativity in detail and expressive tools, verbal values, and the expression of personal perspective and experience), then the cumulative score from five different examiners would be objective.
The same applies to testing listening comprehension. The parameters there are even clearer. Examiners wouldn't be improvising; they would simply have a set list of questions that the student is required to answer after listening to a passage.

Technically speaking, this solution is flawless—if it were actually in effect right now, my daughter definitely wouldn't be enrolling in a prep school.
Personally, I was fine with it, but the sheer stupidity at play here is staggering.
We aren't going to see a situation where top-tier students who miss their first-choice school "fail out" during freshman year and get stuck in some mediocre institution, while those who fought tooth and nail somehow get in.

The idea that you can only apply to one single school... I mean, whose brilliant idea was that?🤦
And the potential for abuse is massive.

As for looking at grades starting from 5th grade—I’m all for it.
Pressure is always going to exist; it's part of life. It's up to the teachers to actually do their jobs properly.

If you aren't exactly thrilled about the new proposed criteria for high school admissions, now is actually your chance to speak up. You just need to fill out the form, attach it to an email, and send it over to the address listed by December 4th.Send it to this address:

Here’s why I think these new requirements are a total mess:

- By factoring in grades from every single subject from 5th through 8th grade, we’re basically inviting a massive wave of GPA inflation. It’s going to put an absurd amount of unnecessary pressure on both the kids and the teachers trying to keep up with the curve.
- Think about the kid who is a literal math prodigy but happens to struggle with PE or Art. Under this system, they might get shut out of specialized programs like MIOC entirely just because their GPA took a hit in subjects that have nothing to do with their actual talent.
- There’s zero consistency here; schools don't have unified standards, and there isn't even any kind of external, standardized testing to balance things out.
- Elective courses become a trap; students will only bother taking them if they’re certain they can pull an A, otherwise, it’s just a calculated risk to tank their overall average.
- The proposal creates this weird, blatant inequality between student-athletes and kids who attended music or dance academies. Right now, winners of sports competitions get extra points that apply to enrollment in ANY high school, whereas musicians only get those perks when applying to an arts academy—and let’s be honest, those kids are already passing their entrance exams with ease because they’re specialists in their field. They wouldn't be state champions if they weren't already elite.

Christian Lee13 said:If you aren't exactly thrilled about the new proposed criteria for high school admissions, now is actually your chance to speak up. You just need to fill out the form, attach it to an email, and send it over to the address listed by December 4th.Send it to this address:

Here’s why I think these new requirements are a total mess:

- By factoring in grades from every single subject from 5th through 8th grade, we’re basically inviting a massive wave of GPA inflation. It’s going to put an absurd amount of unnecessary pressure on both the kids and the teachers trying to keep up with the curve.
- Think about the kid who is a literal math prodigy but happens to struggle with PE or Art. Under this system, they might get shut out of specialized programs like MIOC entirely just because their GPA took a hit in subjects that have nothing to do with their actual talent.
- There’s zero consistency here; schools don't have unified standards, and there isn't even any kind of external, standardized testing to balance things out.
- Elective courses become a trap; students will only bother taking them if they’re certain they can pull an A, otherwise, it’s just a calculated risk to tank their overall average.
- The proposal creates this weird, blatant inequality between student-athletes and kids who attended music or dance academies. Right now, winners of sports competitions get extra points that apply to enrollment in ANY high school, whereas musicians only get those perks when applying to an arts academy—and let’s be honest, those kids are already passing their entrance exams with ease because they’re specialists in their field. They wouldn't be state champions if they weren't already elite.

That line of reasoning reminds me of that old joke—you know the one—where a blonde walks down the street, sees a banana peel on the sidewalk, and thinks, "Oh my god, I'm gonna slip again!"

The only thing that actually causes honor roll inflation is teachers failing to do their jobs properly.

The new grading and enrollment system seems fine on paper, I guess, except for one glaring issue regarding those extra credit points.
Isn't it a little ridiculous that a kid finishing music school gets just one point while athletes get three?
It also makes zero sense to weigh electives, religious studies, and math all the same way when they carry equal weight in the general GPA.

Nicholas King said:That line of reasoning reminds me of that old joke—you know the one—where a blonde walks down the street, sees a banana peel on the sidewalk, and thinks, "Oh my god, I'm gonna slip again!"

The only thing that actually causes honor roll inflation is teachers failing to do their jobs properly.

But someone has to set the stage for all that to happen, right? You really have to dig deep into the history of the system if you want to find where things actually started going off the rails.

It feels like nothing would actually work unless we had a real reception desk set up. That’s just the most straightforward way to handle it.

Christian Lee13 said:But someone has to set the stage for all that to happen, right? You really have to dig deep into the history of the system if you want to find where things actually started going off the rails.

It’s that classic, feudalistic "someone must provide us with this and that" attitude—the typical enlightened persona where everything begins and ends with the current employees being indispensable.

Who exactly is supposed to "set the conditions" (and what kind of conditions are we even talking about here?) so that a teacher can actually do their job properly? 😕

We aren't out here discussing building intergalactic spacecraft; we are talking about the absolute basics of grading based on whether a student actually knows the material or doesn't.

Until grading standards are actually standardized across every school district, I’m all for bringing back entrance exams alongside GPA.

Take a high-pressure school like SS Kranjcevic in Chicago, for example. Kids there are practically bleeding for a B, sweating through Greek and Latin just to stay afloat.
Then you look at a school in a Small Town, USA—somewhere that mostly feeds into those big Chicago schools. The bar for a decent grade is miles lower there. You’ve got parents and teachers all being buddies, which is typical for smaller communities, and it ends up resulting in a mountain of straight A's by the end of the year.

So you end up with some kid from Small Town, USA getting into MIOC because they have a perfect transcript, while the kids from SS Kranjcevic get pushed toward some random alternative school just because they picked up a couple of B's—even though their actual knowledge is five times higher than the small-town kids.☕

P.S. These schools are just examples; I'm not trying to shade anyone specifically.

Nicholas King said:It’s that classic, feudalistic "someone must provide us with this and that" attitude—the typical enlightened persona where everything begins and ends with the current employees being indispensable.

Who exactly is supposed to "set the conditions" (and what kind of conditions are we even talking about here?) so that a teacher can actually do their job properly? 😕

We aren't out here discussing building intergalactic spacecraft; we are talking about the absolute basics of grading based on whether a student actually knows the material or doesn't.

Well, for starters, there needs to be a solid way to filter people during the entrance exams for teaching programs, you know? And before that, the whole profession needs to actually be respected enough to attract decent candidates, and before that... yeah, the list goes on forever.
The issue isn't nearly as one-dimensional as you're making it out to be; good teachers don't just drop out of the sky like manna from heaven.

Edit: I actually agree with you regarding this whole "indispensable" thing. In the American education system, it is incredibly difficult to actually get fired, especially if the only reason is that you're simply a mediocre teacher (and that's not even counting things like showing up late or other more obvious stuff).

Christian Lee13 said:Well, for starters, there needs to be a solid way to filter people during the entrance exams for teaching programs, you know? And before that, the whole profession needs to actually be respected enough to attract decent candidates, and before that... yeah, the list goes on forever.
The issue isn't nearly as one-dimensional as you're making it out to be; good teachers don't just drop out of the sky like manna from heaven.

Edit: I actually agree with you regarding this whole "indispensable" thing. In the American education system, it is incredibly difficult to actually get fired, especially if the only reason is that you're simply a mediocre teacher (and that's not even counting things like showing up late or other more obvious stuff).

I would happily sign off on all of those suggestions as a blueprint for fixing our broken education system—but, I simply refuse to accept the notion that these things are necessary prerequisites to stop the current staff from handing out grades like they're candy at a parade.

Christian Lee13 said:If you aren't exactly thrilled about the new proposed criteria for high school admissions, now is actually your chance to speak up. You just need to fill out the form, attach it to an email, and send it over to the address listed by December 4th.Send it to this address:

Here’s why I think these new requirements are a total mess:

- By factoring in grades from every single subject from 5th through 8th grade, we’re basically inviting a massive wave of GPA inflation. It’s going to put an absurd amount of unnecessary pressure on both the kids and the teachers trying to keep up with the curve.
- Think about the kid who is a literal math prodigy but happens to struggle with PE or Art. Under this system, they might get shut out of specialized programs like MIOC entirely just because their GPA took a hit in subjects that have nothing to do with their actual talent.
- There’s zero consistency here; schools don't have unified standards, and there isn't even any kind of external, standardized testing to balance things out.
- Elective courses become a trap; students will only bother taking them if they’re certain they can pull an A, otherwise, it’s just a calculated risk to tank their overall average.
- The proposal creates this weird, blatant inequality between student-athletes and kids who attended music or dance academies. Right now, winners of sports competitions get extra points that apply to enrollment in ANY high school, whereas musicians only get those perks when applying to an arts academy—and let’s be honest, those kids are already passing their entrance exams with ease because they’re specialists in their field. They wouldn't be state champions if they weren't already elite.

And honestly, there are already way too many honor students... if we really "must" have this kind of pressure regarding grades, then let it start in 5th grade. We shouldn't have a situation where Pero wakes up from a long winter nap in 7th grade and tries to cram three years of missed material into three months just because he realizes he needs those points for high school admissions.
(I want to believe that there are still some teachers out there—the ones who aren't easily swayed—who will step in during 8th grade and give a fair grade, though I doubt they'll be handing out A's all year long...)

Maybe I’m being too optimistic, but I truly believe that if a student starts focusing on building their academic profile in 5th grade, they'll actually learn how to read critically, master study habits, memorize multiplication tables, and nail all those fundamentals. Instead, they'll end up relying on intense tutoring sessions by the time they hit 7th grade.🥳

Christian Lee13 said:If you aren't exactly thrilled about the new proposed criteria for high school admissions, now is actually your chance to speak up. You just need to fill out the form, attach it to an email, and send it over to the address listed by December 4th.Send it to this address:

Here’s why I think these new requirements are a total mess:

- By factoring in grades from every single subject from 5th through 8th grade, we’re basically inviting a massive wave of GPA inflation. It’s going to put an absurd amount of unnecessary pressure on both the kids and the teachers trying to keep up with the curve.
- Think about the kid who is a literal math prodigy but happens to struggle with PE or Art. Under this system, they might get shut out of specialized programs like MIOC entirely just because their GPA took a hit in subjects that have nothing to do with their actual talent.
- There’s zero consistency here; schools don't have unified standards, and there isn't even any kind of external, standardized testing to balance things out.
- Elective courses become a trap; students will only bother taking them if they’re certain they can pull an A, otherwise, it’s just a calculated risk to tank their overall average.
- The proposal creates this weird, blatant inequality between student-athletes and kids who attended music or dance academies. Right now, winners of sports competitions get extra points that apply to enrollment in ANY high school, whereas musicians only get those perks when applying to an arts academy—and let’s be honest, those kids are already passing their entrance exams with ease because they’re specialists in their field. They wouldn't be state champions if they weren't already elite.

It wouldn't work even under the current system.🤷
From what I've seen over the last few years, places like MIOC were mostly filled by kids who participated in competitions or kids from "broken homes" (meaning families with higher social status who could leverage extra points).

Christian Lee13 said:If you aren't exactly thrilled about the new proposed criteria for high school admissions, now is actually your chance to speak up. You just need to fill out the form, attach it to an email, and send it over to the address listed by December 4th.Send it to this address:

Here’s why I think these new requirements are a total mess:

- By factoring in grades from every single subject from 5th through 8th grade, we’re basically inviting a massive wave of GPA inflation. It’s going to put an absurd amount of unnecessary pressure on both the kids and the teachers trying to keep up with the curve.
- Think about the kid who is a literal math prodigy but happens to struggle with PE or Art. Under this system, they might get shut out of specialized programs like MIOC entirely just because their GPA took a hit in subjects that have nothing to do with their actual talent.
- There’s zero consistency here; schools don't have unified standards, and there isn't even any kind of external, standardized testing to balance things out.
- Elective courses become a trap; students will only bother taking them if they’re certain they can pull an A, otherwise, it’s just a calculated risk to tank their overall average.
- The proposal creates this weird, blatant inequality between student-athletes and kids who attended music or dance academies. Right now, winners of sports competitions get extra points that apply to enrollment in ANY high school, whereas musicians only get those perks when applying to an arts academy—and let’s be honest, those kids are already passing their entrance exams with ease because they’re specialists in their field. They wouldn't be state champions if they weren't already elite.

This isn't just about high school admissions; it's a systemic issue within our entire K-12 education system.
It's also about parents who are perfectly happy with an A (or a D) without ever bothering to check if their child actually understands the material or not...

I’d go as far as to say that you can tell which schools a kid comes from based on the gaps in their knowledge. Some teachers leave such huge holes in certain subjects that it's hard to take the grading seriously at all.

Christian Lee13
- elective courses should only be taken if you're expecting an A; otherwise, there's really no point in letting them drag down your GPA.

That’s actually how things work right now.
The only exception is religion class, which basically gets added automatically.
And honestly, it's just plain silly to think you can even grade someone's "faith."

Christian Lee13 said:If you aren't exactly thrilled about the new proposed criteria for high school admissions, now is actually your chance to speak up. You just need to fill out the form, attach it to an email, and send it over to the address listed by December 4th.Send it to this address:

Here’s why I think these new requirements are a total mess:

- By factoring in grades from every single subject from 5th through 8th grade, we’re basically inviting a massive wave of GPA inflation. It’s going to put an absurd amount of unnecessary pressure on both the kids and the teachers trying to keep up with the curve.
- Think about the kid who is a literal math prodigy but happens to struggle with PE or Art. Under this system, they might get shut out of specialized programs like MIOC entirely just because their GPA took a hit in subjects that have nothing to do with their actual talent.
- There’s zero consistency here; schools don't have unified standards, and there isn't even any kind of external, standardized testing to balance things out.
- Elective courses become a trap; students will only bother taking them if they’re certain they can pull an A, otherwise, it’s just a calculated risk to tank their overall average.
- The proposal creates this weird, blatant inequality between student-athletes and kids who attended music or dance academies. Right now, winners of sports competitions get extra points that apply to enrollment in ANY high school, whereas musicians only get those perks when applying to an arts academy—and let’s be honest, those kids are already passing their entrance exams with ease because they’re specialists in their field. They wouldn't be state champions if they weren't already elite.

Yeah, this is a huge injustice.
At the same time, I feel like giving points for any extra school, sport, or activity is also unfair. No matter how much time and effort it takes, or how much it shows a kid is motivated and hardworking, it always comes down to having the money to afford it. It puts all the focus on the final "achievement" rather than the actual journey. I know some parents just can't afford to enroll their kids in fancy dance academies or prestigious music conservatories. Some kids are incredibly creative and independent—they teach themselves to code, build amazing things, or start their own bands—but they won't get any credit because they don't have a certificate from some big-name instructor.

Good grief, a national competition worth zero points 😲

This is genuinely tragic. We lose the high school graduation requirements, we lose the entrance exams, and now, apparently, we’re losing the competitions too. It means everything is left entirely up to school board politics and the whims of individual teachers. Honestly, it just opens the door wide for favoritism and corruption.

People claim that graduation exams or entrance tests are "too stressful"? Then what exactly do they think this current mess is? There is no room for compromise here, and there is no way to actually distinguish yourself through merit. If someone happens to be one of the top five math students in the entire country, yet they have to deal with tears and frustration because some gym teacher decided to be "strict" and block their path to the specialized academy where they actually belong, then you truly know the system is broken.

Forget about actual knowledge; forget about personalized learning. Instead, we're teaching kids from day one how to play the game and suck up to authority just to scrape by with decent grades. And then we act surprised when they show up to college and completely fall apart. Honestly, I’d be struggling too if I had to fake my way through grades in college, especially when you've been conditioned since childhood to resent the very idea of learning.

goldenjackal43 said:Good grief, a national competition worth zero points 😲

This is genuinely tragic. We lose the high school graduation requirements, we lose the entrance exams, and now, apparently, we’re losing the competitions too. It means everything is left entirely up to school board politics and the whims of individual teachers. Honestly, it just opens the door wide for favoritism and corruption.

People claim that graduation exams or entrance tests are "too stressful"? Then what exactly do they think this current mess is? There is no room for compromise here, and there is no way to actually distinguish yourself through merit. If someone happens to be one of the top five math students in the entire country, yet they have to deal with tears and frustration because some gym teacher decided to be "strict" and block their path to the specialized academy where they actually belong, then you truly know the system is broken.

Forget about actual knowledge; forget about personalized learning. Instead, we're teaching kids from day one how to play the game and suck up to authority just to scrape by with decent grades. And then we act surprised when they show up to college and completely fall apart. Honestly, I’d be struggling too if I had to fake my way through grades in college, especially when you've been conditioned since childhood to resent the very idea of learning.

Yeah—it’s a disgrace. Zero credit for competing at the state level.🙄

And just so I’m not just venting here, I actually filled out a public comment form and sent it over to the Department of Education. Even though I don't have any skin in the game regarding high school admissions anymore, this still needs to be addressed.