My kid just got accepted to both Lowell and S.I.

They both have downsides. Lowell seems to have gotten really crowded and rundown in recent years, and S.I. charges 12k per year tuition.

Which do you think has the bigger upside academically?

-- Hortense (greatsatan@iraqmail.com), March 16, 2004

Answers

If you can afford it, then S.I. would be the better school. Lowell is nothing but a bunch of smart kids put in the same school. That doesn't mean that Lowell has better teachers. Lowell is still a public school and that means at least 40 people per class. Large class sizes can hinder quality teaching.

In the long run however, it all boils down to how the student applies himself and how AGGRESSIVE he is in his studies and in his pursuit of good grades.

It's a sad fact today that if a student wants to go to a major college, he or she has to be absolutely perfect in all his classes which means a 4.0 average. Often times, even 4.0 average students are not accepted unless they stand out in some other extra-curricular activity.

High school is also a great time to pursue fun extra curricular activities such as sports or music and that's something that might be important in the choice of school as well.

Many years ago, I visited a family in L.A. whose kids were taking band class and who were learning guitar. They became very proficient with their instruments and had enough imagination and sense of good taste in music to create some of their own fantastic songs. How they ever co-ordinated those sounds so well at such a young age at 15 and 16 years old when I saw them still amazes me today. They called themselves the Pendletons and later changed their names to the Beach Boys.

-- Harry Murphy (harrymurphy*@bigmailbox.net), March 20, 2004.

If you have to ask this question then you should send your kid to Lowell. There is no comparison! SI is superior for traditional education and values...you get what you pay for.

-- PJ Povey (pjspt@aol.com), April 08, 2004.

Lowell. The numbers speak for themselves:

LOWELL. Admitted to UC:396, Enrolled:251, Passed UC SubA test:97 S.I. Admitted to UC:225, Enrolled: 97, Passed UC SubA test:20

http://pathinfo.ucop.edu/cgi-bin/subjecta/county_detail.pl?countyid=038&year=2002&sort=exampct

Save your money for college - you'll need it!

-- JL Wong (jlwong233@yahoo.com), April 13, 2004.

The numbers do speak for themselves, that is true, but you completely misread the data.

In fact:

85 percent of St. Ignatius grads at Cal met the Subject A Requirement

80 percent of Lowell grads at Cal met the Subject A Requirement

Thanks for the link, though...

And thanks for the responses. The letter from Lowell in today's mail, informing me that Lowell is losing 6 teaching positions, will probably tip the balance to St. Ignatius.

If I invest the 10k/yr now, maybe it will pay off in a college scholarship.

Hortense

-- Hortense (greatsatan@iraqmail.com), April 13, 2004.