High School Guide: Admissions, reviews, and advice

silentmason4 said:Does anyone know which high schools in the Chicago area only have classes in the morning?

I'm not quite sure—but shouldn't we just encourage them to get into MIT at all costs?

Olivia Smith2 said:I'm not quite sure—but shouldn't we just encourage them to get into MIT at all costs?

Honestly, I saw this coming a mile away.

😬

If they haven't listened to reason by next year, I might have to resort to some old-school discipline and maybe even a little bit of "tough love" therapy.

hiddendriver34 said:Honestly, I saw this coming a mile away.

😬

If they haven't listened to reason by next year, I might have to resort to some old-school discipline and maybe even a little bit of "tough love" therapy.

And carrots!

Man, one single shift... if only that were an option here. 😢 Joe's right about New York City being great because the transit is so solid—I honestly have no clue how my guy would manage getting to morning practice and then making it to high school in the afternoon without wasting half his life just commuting.

In my old High School class—general studies track—we had this group of four athletes. They were stuck in the opposite shift for training every single day, and then obviously there were competitions all through the weekends. To be honest, they were the worst students in the room when it came to grades, but I don't think it was because they were lazy... it was more just that they physically couldn't handle everything at once. They were constantly running makeup exams, but somehow, against all odds, they managed to pull off a 3.5 or 3.6 GPA. I imagine it must have been incredibly stressful for them. In the end, though, everyone made it through college—one girl even landed a scholarship in the USA.
That’s why I’d much rather have that first shift. It would be a total Jack pot if there were a dedicated sports track, but since she hasn't been able to compete in her sport for two years, the others will end up with higher points, which—naturally—doesn't work in her favor.

I can't say much about the afternoon shift, but once kids start staying up until 1 or 2 AM during those teenage years, having school in the afternoon feels like a blessing. 😂
I was only ever functional during the afternoon session; mornings always felt like such a blur for me. 😵

Jokes aside, practices often run late, especially for the older kids.
When she used to get home around 10:30 PM, waking up the next morning was a real struggle.
Honestly, I wouldn't enroll my child in competitive sports unless they were incredibly serious about it, showing real results and total commitment.
What if they just quit after two months?
Would you have to switch schools?

At my club, we don't really do those late-night sessions—the evening slot is from 7:00 to 9:00 PM for the older group, which is the one I’m in. There are morning slots too, like 9:00 to 11:00 AM, but honestly, that's just a non-starter because if she has to head out for High School around 1:00 PM, when is she supposed to actually get her studying done?
Back when I was in high school, I was never awake past 11:00 PM on weekdays—not even when my classes were in the afternoon. I was always exhausted and just needed sleep. It's kind of the same with my daughter; she’d love to stay up watching movies and all that, but if I turn everything off, she’s out like a light within three minutes .
Regarding those specialized sports programs, if she signs up with the intention of joining one, there’s no backing out—it’s a commitment.
I mean, look at how many kids enroll in MIT and then barely survive the workload. Some people end up dropping out, switching to something else, and they actually thrive. She’s been training for two years and she’s quite good—she's a real competitor. She probably won't make the Olympic team , but a dedicated sports track for student-athletes does have its advantages. Still, I agree, it's definitely something to weigh carefully.

hiddendriver34 said:I’m really pushing my oldest toward a math-heavy path—ideally aiming for MIOC, which is basically the gold standard around here. The problem is, he’s totally undecided and hasn't got a clue what he wants to do yet. I'm nudging him because the kid is a natural; math and physics just click for him instantly. There are some incredibly high-level careers in physics, and since he hasn't even seen a "B" on his report card—he's consistently at the top of his class—it feels like a waste not to go for it.

To be honest, people with mathematical minds are like exotic, fascinating plants to me. I’m definitely not one of them (and neither is my husband; our son likely inherited those genes too).

He actually shares a similar philosophy to Summer—he’s hesitant about MIOC because he’s terrified of being buried under a mountain of work and losing his free time. He’s also worried about getting in since he doesn't have a perfect 4.0 GPA. But like I mentioned in a previous post, if you aren't obsessed with maintaining a perfect average and your ambitions are more balanced, you don't necessarily have to kill yourself working once you get there.

Don't get me wrong, I’m not a helicopter parent. I give my kids plenty of room to make their own choices, but I am being pretty persistent about this one. I’ve got one more year to try and win him over. 🐔

It is actually quite difficult to define what constitutes "too much work" versus having enough free time.
Those "exotic plants" with mathematical minds tend to breeze through the advanced math curriculum, which usually covers about 6 or 7 hours of math per week during the last two years of High School (or the computer science track, which is 5 or 6 hours of core classes plus 3 hours of CS).
Their other subjects take up about as much time as they would in any other school, depending on the specific curriculum they encounter.
What typically makes a school feel overwhelming or like a massive time-sink is:

- Students who lack the natural aptitude for STEM subjects. You can teach them, sure, but since they don't have those basic predispositions, they have to practice and spend much more time studying than a child who has that natural knack. When you add in all the other required subjects, the total school load becomes huge.

- Students who are exceptionally bright and cruised through Middle School easily, but never actually developed solid study habits. Because of that, freshman year can be a bit of a shock as they realize they actually need to put in the work. To parents, this might look like a disaster or a "hard" school, but honestly, it's usually just a transition period in the first year.

- Students coming into the STEM program with less foundational knowledge than they should have from Middle School. Even though there's a standardized national curriculum that everyone is supposed to follow, that isn't always the reality for every student for various reasons I won't bore you with here. That’s why entrance exams are so necessary.

Over the last few years, I've heard people say that MIT puts impossible questions on their entrance exams, but knowing the students who actually pass and find those problems easy to solve, I'd say that for the kids who *belong* in that school, those tasks aren't actually that hard. And yes, these are typically the kids who have taken extra math tutoring for four years straight and participated in numerous math and computer science competitions, performing well even at the local level.
It’s a shame the entrance exam doesn't include physics and computer science too—I really mean that.

- Students who are competitive achievers (and MIT has spent decades building that reputation). They spend more time studying and tackling extra problems, and it's good that they have the chance to get support at school and encouragement for competitions. Sure, they have less free time than others because they are prepping for meets, but that doesn't mean the school is forcing extra work on them; it means the students are choosing to do more so they can compete.

The entrance exam problems are available on their website. Most of the material should have been covered in Middle School anyway, so just let him try solving them.
Maybe ask the mail carrier to help him out if he gets stuck!😉

If they decide to major in something like linguistics or even general studies with a math-oriented brain, school should be a breeze. As long as they—and their teachers—don't skip too many classes, they'll probably breeze through math and physics during lecture time. That leaves them with way more free time to focus on other stuff. 🤷

Well, if you ask me, the real sweet spot is enrolling in the advanced track at MIT. You end up with a much stronger foundation from those math and science courses than the general curriculum offers—plus, you get that second language in the mix.
And honestly, the convenience factor alone is a massive win; you aren't wasting half your day just commuting back and forth to campus. I actually finished my studies at MIT myself—though, mind you, that was back in the last century 😬 long before it became the powerhouse it is today. Back then, you didn't need to hit those insane 60-point entrance scores just to get into the advanced track. It was also the closest school to my house, and if memory serves, I never felt like I had to pull more all-nighters than the kids in the general track (even though my math was solid, while physics... well, let's just say it wasn't my calling). But again, that was ages ago, so maybe it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison anymore. After graduation, I ended up heading toward a liberal arts degree. However, a huge chunk of my classmates went straight to MIT for engineering, even though we were technically just following the "general" path within that STEM-focused high school track.

Anthony Gray said:Well, if you ask me, the real sweet spot is enrolling in the advanced track at MIT. You end up with a much stronger foundation from those math and science courses than the general curriculum offers—plus, you get that second language in the mix.
And honestly, the convenience factor alone is a massive win; you aren't wasting half your day just commuting back and forth to campus. I actually finished my studies at MIT myself—though, mind you, that was back in the last century 😬 long before it became the powerhouse it is today. Back then, you didn't need to hit those insane 60-point entrance scores just to get into the advanced track. It was also the closest school to my house, and if memory serves, I never felt like I had to pull more all-nighters than the kids in the general track (even though my math was solid, while physics... well, let's just say it wasn't my calling). But again, that was ages ago, so maybe it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison anymore. After graduation, I ended up heading toward a liberal arts degree. However, a huge chunk of my classmates went straight to MIT for engineering, even though we were technically just following the "general" path within that STEM-focused high school track.

A lot of things aren't comparable to how they were in the last century (man, that sounds dramatic, doesn't it? 😂)
We used to apply to two different schools—one with our original documents and one with copies—and you just went wherever you got accepted. If you got into the one where you sent copies, you'd spend the whole day running around trying to find your originals to hand them in to the school that actually took you.
You could actually get in without hitting the maximum possible score; there was no oversight from the IRS or anything like that. I remember us standing OURSELVES in line outside the school building just to turn in our paperwork. Nowadays, I see parents heading off to college campuses with their kids during enrollment 🤦
(And they watch the high school admissions happen in real-time online, watching the little cursor move during the digital enrollment process, all while dealing with everyone's opinions on which school the kid should attend. For instance, back in middle school, my teachers basically told me exactly where I should go, even though by my freshman year, I realized how much they had steered us wrong. By the time I got to college, I was certain they hadn't been very accurate. Still, I wouldn't be who I am today if they hadn't made those mistakes 🤣)

rowdypanther12 said:I can't say much about the afternoon shift, but once kids start staying up until 1 or 2 AM during those teenage years, having school in the afternoon feels like a blessing. 😂
I was only ever functional during the afternoon session; mornings always felt like such a blur for me. 😵

Jokes aside, practices often run late, especially for the older kids.
When she used to get home around 10:30 PM, waking up the next morning was a real struggle.
Honestly, I wouldn't enroll my child in competitive sports unless they were incredibly serious about it, showing real results and total commitment.
What if they just quit after two months?
Would you have to switch schools?

In reality, parents are the ones who actually want the single-shift schedule.
Very, very few kids feel that way.

Student athletes and musicians usually opt for single shifts because the schedule seems more flexible, but let's be real—if practices run late at night (which they often do, especially since some kids are coming from dual-shift schools), those kids are absolutely wiped out by morning.
And then there's everything else: concerts, hanging out at the park, binge-watching series late into the night, just being a teenager and living life. 😍

northerntiger9 said:Man, one single shift... if only that were an option here. 😢 Joe's right about New York City being great because the transit is so solid—I honestly have no clue how my guy would manage getting to morning practice and then making it to high school in the afternoon without wasting half his life just commuting.

From what I’ve gathered, even in a place like New York City, you don't really see kids heading back home to hang out between school and their sports practices.
Unless you’re looking at a schedule where training runs from, say, 7:00 to 9:00 in the morning and school doesn't kick off until 2:00 in the afternoon.

Do you think they don't head home after practice? Like, they just go straight to school soaked in sweat? 😵

Showering?
On mornings when she has training, it runs from 8:30 to 10:30, so she’s usually back home by 11:15 at the latest.
We’re actually dealing with a similar situation right now, though we've managed to make it work somehow—she works from home twice a week, so either Grandma gives her a lift, or she just heads home on her own. Nowadays, since the weather is getting nicer, she might just hop on an electric scooter, or head over to her evening practice (which is much easier now that they've lifted those group restrictions from the pandemic era). And if all else fails, we can always just call an Uber, which is $8.25.

Looking ahead to the 16th, I'm really hoping we'll see something like this 😁

rowdypanther12 said:Do you think they don't head home after practice? Like, they just go straight to school soaked in sweat? 😵

Honestly, who cares about showering if they're short on time? I guess they could just relax a bit—grab some wet wipes, throw on some deodorant, and just get going.

I’m positive she takes a shower and dries her hair before heading out—that usually takes at least 15 minutes, though obviously, she skips the blow-drying during the summer months.
Besides, if they wrap things up between 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM, they have a solid three-hour window. That is more than enough time to get home, grab some lunch, and pick up their school backpack.

rowdypanther12 said:Do you think they don't head home after practice? Like, they just go straight to school soaked in sweat? 😵

The whole shower situation
take swimmers, for example—I’m not sure if this applies to every other athlete, but if they have early morning training, then head to school, and then hit the pool again in the afternoon,
when exactly would they have the chance to get home between that first session and their classes?

They don't exactly walk around smelling like sweat after a workout, but they definitely carry that distinct scent of chlorine. 😁

silentmason4 said:Does anyone know which high schools in the Chicago area only have classes in the morning?

Josip Broz Marshall used to have one, but honestly, who knows what the deal is nowadays...

wearybison8 said:The whole shower situation
take swimmers, for example—I’m not sure if this applies to every other athlete, but if they have early morning training, then head to school, and then hit the pool again in the afternoon,
when exactly would they have the chance to get home between that first session and their classes?

They don't exactly walk around smelling like sweat after a workout, but they definitely carry that distinct scent of chlorine. 😁

Exactly. A huge number of kids aren't even making it through the door between practice and school. If they do, they basically just grab a quick snack and grab their bags before rushing out again.

Jacob Sullivan91 said:Josip Broz Marshall used to have one, but honestly, who knows what the deal is nowadays...

Right now, they’re sharing space with the local high school, and both are running split shifts.
Once Titus gets renovated, they should both be back to a single shift schedule.

It's the same situation over at Lincoln High and the prep school down the road.

I'm actually not sure if any other high schools stayed on a single shift after the earthquake hit.

Maybe that all-girls Catholic academy downtown is still on the old schedule? 🤔