High School Guide: Admissions, reviews, and advice

Last year, quite a few schools hosted open house events. I’m hoping we see even more this year. 🙂

Just look at how smoothly everything used to run before the pandemic... 😉😲
https://www.nytimes.com/open-house-events-us/...

Did everything just grind to a halt during COVID? Maybe. But this year, there really isn't any excuse for things staying closed—not anymore. I’m personally hoping we finally see those open campus days or maybe even some kind of local high school fair.
Just keep an eye on the local news outlets or the district portals... I don't know what else you'd check, honestly.

mellowskipper said:Did everything just grind to a halt during COVID? Maybe. But this year, there really isn't any excuse for things staying closed—not anymore. I’m personally hoping we finally see those open campus days or maybe even some kind of local high school fair.
Just keep an eye on the local news outlets or the district portals... I don't know what else you'd check, honestly.

Starting May 1st, just monitor the websites of the schools you're interested in.👍

Kate Jackson4 said:Starting May 1st, just monitor the websites of the schools you're interested in.👍

Thanks. I'll be in touch.

Last year, there was a high school fair held in San Francisco. My daughter had just finished seventh grade at the time, so she definitely went, and she found the whole experience quite engaging.
This year, they’ve swapped out those six schools entirely; they keep shuffling the list, moving things around, adding new ones... It would be wonderful if these institutions hosted their own open house days so she could visit them more directly.

Anyway, it looks like we’re all in the same boat as you guys once June rolls around. 😁

Take a quick look at the digital database over at the SEC and you'll see there are actually way more vocational schools than traditional high schools. In fact, about 3/5 of students in the US opt for vocational training—so much for that idea that everyone heads straight for a four-year college prep track while anyone else is considered a failure.

Since when did technical high schools get such a bad reputation? I was just reading the other day that you need about 70 points to get into a computer technician program in Chicago, while for something like an automotive tech track, you’re looking at 77 or something along those lines—which is actually higher than what some of the local prep schools require.

For those complete idiots, anything that isn't a prep school—and even some of the "non-elite" ones—is just a school for losers. Luckily, people like that are rare.
The slightly more realistic crowd? To them, any three-year vocational program is basically a dead end.

nimblelynx7 said:For those complete idiots, anything that isn't a prep school—and even some of the "non-elite" ones—is just a school for losers. Luckily, people like that are rare.
The slightly more realistic crowd? To them, any three-year vocational program is basically a dead end.

Losers?

It's pretty easy to slap a label like that on a 14 or 15-year-old kid who just wants to pursue a career that doesn't fit some narrow, middle-class definition of a "respectable" job.

A talented chef, a skilled carpenter, or a great barber... these aren't just hardworking people. They’re intelligent, creative, and honestly, they often possess qualities that set them far above the average American.

My bad, I didn't explain myself very well. I meant technical trade schools. You know, like those vocational programs near the industrial districts or the ones out in the outskirts—what people locally call the sticks. Generally speaking, trade schools still carry that same old stigma among folks. It’s almost like there's this weird shame attached if a kid decides to pick up a specific craft and just get to work.

Even at places like West High, nobody ever really looked down on them or questioned how good the training was.

Scott Booth said:Losers?

It's pretty easy to slap a label like that on a 14 or 15-year-old kid who just wants to pursue a career that doesn't fit some narrow, middle-class definition of a "respectable" job.

A talented chef, a skilled carpenter, or a great barber... these aren't just hardworking people. They’re intelligent, creative, and honestly, they often possess qualities that set them far above the average American.

I agree with what you wrote. I also didn't say in my first post that I agreed with those snobs I was describing.

Michelle Nelson4 said:Since when did technical high schools get such a bad reputation? I was just reading the other day that you need about 70 points to get into a computer technician program in Chicago, while for something like an automotive tech track, you’re looking at 77 or something along those lines—which is actually higher than what some of the local prep schools require.

My daughter originally wanted to go into graphic design for web work, but her school basically brainwashed her into thinking it was for losers—telling her everyone there was just out to cause trouble.
Now she’s insisting on going to an academic high school because, apparently, that's where all the "smart" kids go. I suppose she's just terrified of looking unintelligent.
It's a mess.

mellowskipper said:My daughter originally wanted to go into graphic design for web work, but her school basically brainwashed her into thinking it was for losers—telling her everyone there was just out to cause trouble.
Now she’s insisting on going to an academic high school because, apparently, that's where all the "smart" kids go. I suppose she's just terrified of looking unintelligent.
It's a mess.

Back in St. Louis, we have an arts academy—it’s technically a school for applied arts. I’ve had to swing by there a few times for work, and honestly, the scenes are pretty wild. We walked past dozens of students, and man, they are inspired by everything under the sun. Hair colors that look like a botched paint job from an auto shop, hairstyles that look like a failed experiment at a salon, and clothing styles that scream "natural disaster meets zero cares given"...
And yeah, every single one of them was smoking right out front of the building.

mellowskipper said:My daughter originally wanted to go into graphic design for web work, but her school basically brainwashed her into thinking it was for losers—telling her everyone there was just out to cause trouble.
Now she’s insisting on going to an academic high school because, apparently, that's where all the "smart" kids go. I suppose she's just terrified of looking unintelligent.
It's a mess.

The only saving grace here is that you haven't been the one feeding her this nonsense—most parents are actually the ones who mess these things up in the first place.

mellowskipper said:My daughter originally wanted to go into graphic design for web work, but her school basically brainwashed her into thinking it was for losers—telling her everyone there was just out to cause trouble.
Now she’s insisting on going to an academic high school because, apparently, that's where all the "smart" kids go. I suppose she's just terrified of looking unintelligent.
It's a mess.

You should probably show her this article right away
cnn.com/success-stories/how-designing-school-newsletters-saved-my-career

I mean, you look at someone who studied hospitality, taught themselves coding and web design, and then actually built a successful IT business out of nothing... I guess a vocational track focused on design could be a pretty solid choice, really.

nimblelynx7 said:Back in St. Louis, we have an arts academy—it’s technically a school for applied arts. I’ve had to swing by there a few times for work, and honestly, the scenes are pretty wild. We walked past dozens of students, and man, they are inspired by everything under the sun. Hair colors that look like a botched paint job from an auto shop, hairstyles that look like a failed experiment at a salon, and clothing styles that scream "natural disaster meets zero cares given"...
And yeah, every single one of them was smoking right out front of the building.

All applied arts students are just the absolute best, aren't they? 😍

Sounds like a description of a graphic designer based in Washington, D.C. 😬

What percentage of kids actually enroll in high school prep programs after middle school, and what’s the breakdown of how many graduates actually head off to college each year?
And does anyone know the actual percentage of highly educated people in America?
So, I came across this data: In secondary schools managed by the federal government, local municipalities, or regional authorities, they’ve planned out enrollment spots for a total of 43,793 students across 1,988 classrooms for the upcoming freshman year:

1) academic high school tracks for 10,710 students in 447 classrooms, which is about 24.46%;

2) four-year vocational training programs for 18,438 students in 808 classrooms, or 42.1%;

3) three-year vocational qualification programs for 6,242 students in 284 classrooms, roughly 14.25%;

4) three-year apprenticeship-style programs for 4,858 students in 218 classrooms, at 11.09%;

5) five-year specialized medical assistant or nursing technician programs for 1,214 students in 50 classrooms, which is 2.77%;

6) lower-level technical certification programs for 124 students in 7 classrooms, or 0.28%;

7) adaptive and special education programs for 838 students in 97 classrooms, representing 1.91%;

8) performing arts and music academies for 1,369 students in 77 classrooms, at 3.13%.

Of course, I assume there are plenty of private schools out there too, right?

mellowskipper said:My daughter originally wanted to go into graphic design for web work, but her school basically brainwashed her into thinking it was for losers—telling her everyone there was just out to cause trouble.
Now she’s insisting on going to an academic high school because, apparently, that's where all the "smart" kids go. I suppose she's just terrified of looking unintelligent.
It's a mess.

Around here, you actually needed a GPA similar to what you'd need for a top-tier prep school just to get into the tech programs. Though, I think they only had one class per grade level, so maybe that's why.

Scott Booth said:Losers?

It's pretty easy to slap a label like that on a 14 or 15-year-old kid who just wants to pursue a career that doesn't fit some narrow, middle-class definition of a "respectable" job.

A talented chef, a skilled carpenter, or a great barber... these aren't just hardworking people. They’re intelligent, creative, and honestly, they often possess qualities that set them far above the average American.

Adam Diaz67 said:My bad, I didn't explain myself very well. I meant technical trade schools. You know, like those vocational programs near the industrial districts or the ones out in the outskirts—what people locally call the sticks. Generally speaking, trade schools still carry that same old stigma among folks. It’s almost like there's this weird shame attached if a kid decides to pick up a specific craft and just get to work.

Even at places like West High, nobody ever really looked down on them or questioned how good the training was.

Look, I’m not trying to put labels on anyone's career path or anything like that—that's really not my point at all. It's more about the actual makeup of the student body—you know, how kids are actually funneling into certain schools and specific majors based on the way things are structured.
Usually, you’re looking at three-year programs, but then there are those four-year vocational tracks that people swear are a breeze to finish—though they aren't exactly "high demand" or anything, so you don't see massive crowds signing up. They just tend to attract a very specific crowd of students... you know, the ones who were barely scraping by in their regular classes (or, honestly, the ones who...) I’m just sitting here thinking about everything—it’s one of those days where my brain feels like it’s running ten different tabs at once—and I kept coming back to how much stuff just stays the same, even when we think things are shifting under our feet. It’s funny, really. You spend so much time worrying about the big, loud changes, but then you realize the quiet, steady parts of life are what actually hold everything together. Anyway, I don't know... just a random thought drifting through my head while I've been staring at my coffee. Just felt like putting it out there. Some kids barely even scrape by through middle school—they just don't have much of a connection to books or anything academic. Honestly, some of them can't even be bothered to read a single sentence, but they’re all too familiar with things like cigarettes, drinking, getting into fights, and that kind of antisocial behavior that you just don't want to see in a kid...
Just imagine—you take about twenty kids like that and shove them into one classroom, then take twenty more classrooms just like it and cram them all into the same school building... honestly, you’re basically setting up a high-stakes competition to see who can be the most obnoxious, rude, and just plain uncivilized. It’s bound to happen.
And once a school finally earns its reputation—you know, after all that hard work to actually get people to respect the name—it changes everything. It’s like when a small-town diner finally becomes that one spot everyone in town talks about; you can't just go back to being the underdog once you've made it. I don't even know how to put this—it’s just one of those things, you know? Like, some things are just... like that. There isn't really a better way to say it, I guess. Just kind of sitting here thinking about it all. Schools today... man, it’s just so incredibly hard to recover once you're stuck in that system and try to become anything else. It feels like a cycle—the kind of students who actually want to learn, you know? The ones looking for real knowledge instead of just looking for trouble or causing chaos—they aren't exactly the ones gravitating toward these specific programs. It's a tough spot to be in.