Helen Zelon

How to rank your high school choices

Small school or large? Close to home or far away? A well-rounded academic program or a school with a theme? Tens of thousands of 8th graders are grappling with these questions as they fill out high school applications, due December 1. Our advice: Be very careful drawing up your list of high school choices. You will be assigned to a high school based on how you rank the schools — and how the schools rank you. You may list up to 12 choices, but you will receive only one offer. (Unless you have taken the exam for the specialized high schools or auditioned for LaGuardia High School of Music and Art and the Performing Arts. In that case, you may have a choice — between one of those schools, should you be accepted, and your list of 12. There are also a few charter schools to consider which have a separate admissions process, done by lottery.) Apply only to schools you are willing to attend. If you get assigned to a school you hate — after you have listed it as a choice — it will be very hard to appeal.

Here are some questions to consider:

Small school or large? Small schools usually offer more personal attention and a sense of community. Teachers are more likely to get to know you, and fewer kids get lost. Small schools tend to be safer. However, large schools tend to have more sports teams, more foreign language offerings, and more Advanced Placement courses. Large schools may also have more diversity — not only economic and racial diversity, but also a range of kids of different abilities (and classes designed to accommodate them.)

Fast-track or laid-back? Some schools pile on the homework, and the kids are very serious, hard-working and a bit competitive. Other schools are more laid back and encourage kids to relax a bit. There’s no right answer here. Think about what’s best for you. Do you want to have the most rigorous academic experience possible? Or do you want to have a chance to excel in a less-demanding school?

New school or well-established? It’s nice to go to a school with a proven track record. And most of the new small schools don’t have well established guidance offices for college admissions or relationships with college admissions officers. However, when faced with the choice of an overcrowded, failing neighborhood school, and a new untested small school, in general, our advice is go with the small one, if you feel comfortable with the theme and the leadership. You‘ll get much more personalized attention and a chance to shine. (See our article on how to judge a new school.)

Theme school or well-rounded curriculum? This may sound obvious, but don’t go to a theme school if you’re not interested in the theme. If you’re not passionate about the arts, don’t try for LaGuardia. Also: some of the themes are gimmicks — and exist in name only. Be sure the academics are solid, whatever the theme.

How long is the commute? Be sure to take a subway (or bus) ride to the school before you submit your application to see if the commute is doable. Think about what it will be like in the rain and snow. Way too many students find after a few days of school that a school is too far away.

What is the quality of teaching? Look for teachers who seem to like their work and the school. Look for a balance of experience and youthful enthusiasm on a faculty, and a sense of collegiality among the staff.

What is the school culture? Is there a lot of pressure to conform, fashion snobbery, or social pressure to drink or take drugs? Parents have to realize that sex and drugs are in every high school in the city, if not in the country. But if you find a school where kids are interested in learning, you’re more likely to steer clear of trouble. More tips: Talk to older students. Kids will tell you if a school has a lot of drugs, if kids cut class, if being a good student is cool or shunned. Kids will know whether teachers care, and if counselors know their names.
Now for the rankings…

Your favorite should come first. You don’t need to play guessing games or set up an elaborate strategy. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by ranking your top choice number one on your list because schools won’t see how you ranked them.

However if you are applying to a school for which you do not qualify - say you want to apply to a school that accepts only Manhattan residents and you live in Queens - you are wasting a spot on your list if you put it down. Likewise, if a school looks for students with an 85 average or above and your GPA is 70, your chances of getting accepted are slim.

What about the schools that tell you, you must put them first, or they won’t consider you? According to the Department of Education, that policy was done away with two years ago. Schools no longer see who lists them first, and they have to come up with their own ranking of students from 1st to last.

More tips

Don’t be talked into applying to a school that you do not want to attend. Make sure your parent signs off on your list and don’t allow the guidance counselor to add other choices without consulting your parent.

Don’t list 12 schools if there are not 12 schools or programs that you want to apply to. However, the more choices, the better your chances of making a match.
Many large schools have several programs. If you really want to attend a certain school, say, Cardozo or Francis Lewis, both in Queens, apply to more than one program.

If you have a zoned school (Manhattan does not, Staten Island does, as do parts of the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens) you are not guaranteed acceptance there unless you list it as one of your 12 choices. If it’s your first choice, put it first and you’ll be matched. If it’s your last choice, put it last, and you will go there if you are not matched to a school that is higher on your list.

What if you and your parents disagree? We think parents should get involved in the selection but in the end it’s the kid who has to go to the school. Try to talk it through until parent and kid both come to the same conclusion.

–Pamela Wheaton and Helen Zelon, November 15, 2006

From InsideSchools.org.

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