High School Guide: Admissions, reviews, and advice

Well, I suppose I welcome the decision. Though, if you read how the article wraps up, it makes it sound like there’s going to be some massive nationwide invasion of high schools in cities like Chicago or Austin—as if students from every corner of the country are suddenly descending on them all at once.

What's the vibe like in smaller towns where there aren't many kids around? If there are spots left over, can someone with lower test scores still get into a local high school?

Mark Walker4 said:What's the vibe like in smaller towns where there aren't many kids around? If there are spots left over, can someone with lower test scores still get into a local high school?

Of course they can! There's no reason why they couldn't.
They could commute, find a place to stay with relatives... or even look for a transfer to a different school before the end of the first semester.

Just keep in mind that every high school sets its own admission standards; it's not a one-size-fits-all thing.

Honestly, it’s not even about that—about ten years ago, they were firing principals left and right because once those kinds of practices came to light, a whole bunch of them were just kicked out of their positions. But now, with this whole digital enrollment system, I can't even fly under the radar if I wanted to.

edit: The school sets its own minimum point threshold, but there's no way to go below it. And honestly, I have no clue if there are specific limits based on the type of school—like, if prep schools have one floor and vocational schools have another?

Haha, you guys actually gave me two different answers to the exact same question...
So, if a school has 20 spots available and the cutoff is 60 points, but only 15 kids actually hit that mark, does that mean there will be fewer students enrolled in that grade level?

Exactly. They’ll have a class of 15 students—honestly, that’s nothing to write home about. Real drama happens when they try to open two separate sections for 20 kids each, but only 27 students actually qualify with enough points. In those cases, you usually just end up with one single class of 27, because the rule of thumb is that you typically need at least 29 kids before it even makes sense to split them into two groups.

Sarah Hall53 said:Honestly, it’s not even about that—about ten years ago, they were firing principals left and right because once those kinds of practices came to light, a whole bunch of them were just kicked out of their positions. But now, with this whole digital enrollment system, I can't even fly under the radar if I wanted to.

edit: The school sets its own minimum point threshold, but there's no way to go below it. And honestly, I have no clue if there are specific limits based on the type of school—like, if prep schools have one floor and vocational schools have another?

I honestly don't think there's an actual cap in place. If there were, private schools and religious academies wouldn't be accepting students with scores as low as 45 or 50 points. 🥳

Do you think schools can just set whatever threshold they want?

Sarah Hall53 said:Exactly. They’ll have a class of 15 students—honestly, that’s nothing to write home about. Real drama happens when they try to open two separate sections for 20 kids each, but only 27 students actually qualify with enough points. In those cases, you usually just end up with one single class of 27, because the rule of thumb is that you typically need at least 29 kids before it even makes sense to split them into two groups.

So basically, you're missing like two points to get into a high school out in the middle of nowhere, there are still five spots left, but whatever—you don't meet the requirements, so just go work at a bakery instead...

Mark Walker4 said:So basically, you're missing like two points to get into a high school out in the middle of nowhere, there are still five spots left, but whatever—you don't meet the requirements, so just go work at a bakery instead...

Poor kids from the rural areas who can't get into a decent high school because they only scored 60 points. I suppose the professors on this forum would say—well, at least for our Washington, D.C. kids—that if you aren't a straight-A student, you simply aren't cut out for academic life.
Personally, I’d suggest they look into becoming an electrician or a plumber—at least those guys actually make money.

mellowskipper said:Poor kids from the rural areas who can't get into a decent high school because they only scored 60 points. I suppose the professors on this forum would say—well, at least for our Washington, D.C. kids—that if you aren't a straight-A student, you simply aren't cut out for academic life.
Personally, I’d suggest they look into becoming an electrician or a plumber—at least those guys actually make money.

Look, I'm speaking from experience regarding island life. My old man is from Mackinac Island and I've got family there, so I know how it works. You've basically got the choice between a general high school diploma or a three-year vocational track for cooking, serving, or pastry making. With a 3.5 GPA, you're looking at a career in food service and that's about it...

My score for MIT is 56, but I think the last person who got in last year had a 62

Mark Walker4 said:Look, I'm speaking from experience regarding island life. My old man is from Mackinac Island and I've got family there, so I know how it works. You've basically got the choice between a general high school diploma or a three-year vocational track for cooking, serving, or pastry making. With a 3.5 GPA, you're looking at a career in food service and that's about it...

stormymarlin22 said:My score for MIT is 56, but I think the last person who got in last year had a 62

Well, there it is—the threshold has been lowered. I suppose he’ll be enrolling now.
With a score of 56, you probably couldn't even land a job as a line cook in Washington, D.C.—if that's even possible. It’s a truly insane situation, I guess.
Maybe I should just enroll in high school over on Mackinac Island—just a thought—and then, if things don't pan out, look into transferring to Washington, D.C. around the mid-year break. Or maybe not. I guess we'll see.
Is that stunt even physically possible? I mean—I guess you could try, but whether it actually works is a different story entirely. Maybe.

mellowskipper said:Well, there it is—the threshold has been lowered. I suppose he’ll be enrolling now.
With a score of 56, you probably couldn't even land a job as a line cook in Washington, D.C.—if that's even possible. It’s a truly insane situation, I guess.
Maybe I should just enroll in high school over on Mackinac Island—just a thought—and then, if things don't pan out, look into transferring to Washington, D.C. around the mid-year break. Or maybe not. I guess we'll see.
Is that stunt even physically possible? I mean—I guess you could try, but whether it actually works is a different story entirely. Maybe.

I’m still stuck thinking in terms of that old system where the max was 60 points. Is it actually 70 now?

80

mellowskipper said:Well, there it is—the threshold has been lowered. I suppose he’ll be enrolling now.
With a score of 56, you probably couldn't even land a job as a line cook in Washington, D.C.—if that's even possible. It’s a truly insane situation, I guess.
Maybe I should just enroll in high school over on Mackinac Island—just a thought—and then, if things don't pan out, look into transferring to Washington, D.C. around the mid-year break. Or maybe not. I guess we'll see.
Is that stunt even physically possible? I mean—I guess you could try, but whether it actually works is a different story entirely. Maybe.

You can always give it a shot 😉, but honestly, I doubt any of them would take you. If you're trying to transfer during freshman year, they look at whether your middle school scores are equal to or higher than the lowest score of someone already enrolled there.

If you're looking to transfer during sophomore year, they stop caring about those old middle school grades. Instead, they look at the grades you finished with in ninth grade, plus your attendance record and whatever other hoops that specific school decides to jump through to see if you're a good fit. On top of that, if the school is packed to the rafters, getting in will be an uphill battle. If a few kids happen to drop out, they might be a little more open to transfers.

hiddendriver34 said:You can always give it a shot 😉, but honestly, I doubt any of them would take you. If you're trying to transfer during freshman year, they look at whether your middle school scores are equal to or higher than the lowest score of someone already enrolled there.

If you're looking to transfer during sophomore year, they stop caring about those old middle school grades. Instead, they look at the grades you finished with in ninth grade, plus your attendance record and whatever other hoops that specific school decides to jump through to see if you're a good fit. On top of that, if the school is packed to the rafters, getting in will be an uphill battle. If a few kids happen to drop out, they might be a little more open to transfers.

Well, that was pure irony. In some small town, you could scrape together enough points to hit the threshold for a high-tier prep school, but in Washington, D.C., those same points might only get you into a vocational trade school. I suppose you really need a perfect 4.0 to even be considered for a serious academy.
And yet, everyone ends up right back where they started.
Obviously, not everyone goes off to MIT or a top research university, but a fair amount of them do.

mellowskipper said:Well, that was pure irony. In some small town, you could scrape together enough points to hit the threshold for a high-tier prep school, but in Washington, D.C., those same points might only get you into a vocational trade school. I suppose you really need a perfect 4.0 to even be considered for a serious academy.
And yet, everyone ends up right back where they started.
Obviously, not everyone goes off to MIT or a top research university, but a fair amount of them do.

A friend's daughter actually pulled this off. It wasn't even at a major prep school, but it counts.
She couldn't get into her first choice in Washington, D.C., so she ended up enrolling in the exact same program at a school outside the city. She spent a year living in a dorm, and after that, she finally transferred back to the school in Washington, D.C. that her middle school grades wouldn't have allowed her to enter initially.
From there, she went on to finish a specialized college degree—did everything by the book—and landed a solid job in her field without any issues.

Mark Walker4 said:So basically, you're missing like two points to get into a high school out in the middle of nowhere, there are still five spots left, but whatever—you don't meet the requirements, so just go work at a bakery instead...

About ten years ago, there was this whole massive controversy that kicked off in a Small Town, USA:
Principal Johnson expelled 42 students from the school: "The principal is at fault for enrolling them despite them not having the required 36 points"
Kaštel Štafilić Photography: Students who didn't meet the point threshold showed up for class anyway. Even the Secretary from the Department of Defense made an appearance at the school
The principal and the school board enrolled students in grades against US Federal Law—something the department refused to authorize

Tldr; in some tiny town, they wanted to enroll kids who had fewer than 36 points into a four-year agricultural program—kids who would actually likely go into farming. The issue was that without those students under the 36-point mark, they couldn't even form full classes, so they had to ask the department for special permission.

The department turned them down, and then they sent inspectors to every school. Every principal who tried it ended up getting fired (though some had enough students, they just filled empty seats with people under the 36-point limit).

Back then, the principal of the XV High School in Washington, D.C. was actually removed because she was essentially hand-picking students by her own decree (ignoring the official ranking). Every year, there would be the standard ranking list, and then a separate list for those enrolled by the principal's decision (basically through connections).

Later, those regulations went before the Supreme Court. At first, it was problematic because the rules hadn't been officially published in the federal register, so technically the court couldn't even rule on it. But because it was such a significant social issue, they did step in with some kind of ruling (though back then, a source from the Department of Defense claimed that failing to publish it in the register was just a minor oversight 😵). Around that time, if I recall correctly, they ruled that extra points for things like music school or a second foreign language were unconstitutional since those opportunities aren't available to everyone in America:

Regarding this minimum point threshold thing, I think it was determined to be constitutional, but don't quote me on that. You should probably look up the current enrollment regulations (and any amendments, though finding a clean, updated version might be tricky).

Betty Wood54 said:About ten years ago, there was this whole massive controversy that kicked off in a Small Town, USA:
Principal Johnson expelled 42 students from the school: "The principal is at fault for enrolling them despite them not having the required 36 points"
Kaštel Štafilić Photography: Students who didn't meet the point threshold showed up for class anyway. Even the Secretary from the Department of Defense made an appearance at the school
The principal and the school board enrolled students in grades against US Federal Law—something the department refused to authorize

Tldr; in some tiny town, they wanted to enroll kids who had fewer than 36 points into a four-year agricultural program—kids who would actually likely go into farming. The issue was that without those students under the 36-point mark, they couldn't even form full classes, so they had to ask the department for special permission.

The department turned them down, and then they sent inspectors to every school. Every principal who tried it ended up getting fired (though some had enough students, they just filled empty seats with people under the 36-point limit).

Back then, the principal of the XV High School in Washington, D.C. was actually removed because she was essentially hand-picking students by her own decree (ignoring the official ranking). Every year, there would be the standard ranking list, and then a separate list for those enrolled by the principal's decision (basically through connections).

Later, those regulations went before the Supreme Court. At first, it was problematic because the rules hadn't been officially published in the federal register, so technically the court couldn't even rule on it. But because it was such a significant social issue, they did step in with some kind of ruling (though back then, a source from the Department of Defense claimed that failing to publish it in the register was just a minor oversight 😵). Around that time, if I recall correctly, they ruled that extra points for things like music school or a second foreign language were unconstitutional since those opportunities aren't available to everyone in America:

Regarding this minimum point threshold thing, I think it was determined to be constitutional, but don't quote me on that. You should probably look up the current enrollment regulations (and any amendments, though finding a clean, updated version might be tricky).

According to this, the minimum score for a high school is 46.
So, it's really up to each individual school to set their own threshold, like 76.

It’s interesting that nobody challenged the constitutionality of how certain competitions aren't accessible to all kids, since it often depends on whether a teacher is willing to sign them up and mentor them enough to get results.
A couple of points for music school is definitely less discriminatory than the gap between schools with highly motivated teachers for competitions and those without (though, a colleague whose grandson lost those two crucial music points that year explained it was also discriminatory; parents rebelled because their kids went to various private music academies but weren't entitled to those points, so eventually, they just scrapped the bonus for everyone).

hiddendriver34 said:You can always give it a shot 😉, but honestly, I doubt any of them would take you. If you're trying to transfer during freshman year, they look at whether your middle school scores are equal to or higher than the lowest score of someone already enrolled there.

If you're looking to transfer during sophomore year, they stop caring about those old middle school grades. Instead, they look at the grades you finished with in ninth grade, plus your attendance record and whatever other hoops that specific school decides to jump through to see if you're a good fit. On top of that, if the school is packed to the rafters, getting in will be an uphill battle. If a few kids happen to drop out, they might be a little more open to transfers.

When a student moves from one city to another, they have to enroll in the same school or one very similar to their current one. Even if they look at grades and absences, those aren't quite as critical (especially the enrollment points). A school has the right to turn someone away if they're at capacity, but the Department of Education actually has the power to order them to accept a student even if they're over the limit.
But you really need to have your address set up—say, in a place like a small town in California—and then show your move to Washington, D.C. by the second application period. That way, you can officially list relocation as the reason for the transfer.

Families returning from overseas can enroll directly, regardless of their preferences (even if they're over the quota).
Personally, I’d say it might be worth moving to Ireland during 8th grade and coming back during freshman year of high school. It helps you dodge all that stress of chasing a perfect GPA, and you can pretty much choose whatever program you want. 🧐