We looked at Stanford OHS. Overall, my impression at the time (two years ago) was that they were pretty disorganized in the admissions office (e.g. they rarely answered their phones and we had to bug the dean for a decision letter after the date when they said they'd be sent out). They rejected DS. We applied a bit late by their standards (as you will be), which was presumably an important factor in the rejection (the website mentions that their "priority deadline" is Feb. 1; we applied in March). My son's grades were very good, and I suspect (without evidence) that his age was also factor (12-year-old entering freshman). I'd call them and ask about age and the chances of getting in at this point, because the application is NOT trivial. My impression is that there's a lot of homework.
DS also took an EPGY course as a 9th grader (not an open enrollment one), and there was a lot of disorganization there, too. The program coordinator didn't answer emails, the entry requirements weren't clear, etc. etc. Plus EPGY isn't accredited, and he lost credit for the course at the public high school when he enrolled this year. The OHS is accredited, though.
He did a few CTY courses (CTY is accredited). The homemade ones were fantastic. Not so much the canned ones they licensed in (e.g. the physics courses, all the AP courses). IMO, the canned courses at CTY are NOT worth the high expense. You can enroll in the same courses elsewhere for much less, anyway.
DS is going to the local high school this year. It's okay but not much better than that. He's going to have to spend an extra year in school because of the lost credits (a math and French course also didn't count). This isn't a bad thing in some ways, because I'm not sure he'll be emotionally ready to leave for college at 16. But he may be able to attend a program called Middle College, which is a free dual-enrollment program. The kids spend all of their time at a local community college. They take a few core HS classes and are free to take college classes the rest of the time. Some get Associate degrees at the end of it. Do you have a middle college program where you live? They don't advertise them.
Expensive private high school: it depends. There's an expensive prep school around here. It has amazing course opportunities and amazing facilities. Just superb. The homework load is enormous and every parent I've met with a child in that school says the same thing: "Your child's life is [school name]. There is nothing else, starting in middle school." I'd ask about that. I'd ask students or their parents, BTW, not the faculty or administrators.
Small private schools tend to be more flexible. Big mainstream schools tend to pile on homework, using the rigor = more homework principle.
As for the one-hour drive, I'd think very, very carefully about that. It means that your son will lose 2 hours a day, every day, to commuting. Two of my kids have been commuting 20 miles for 2 years, and it gets old quickly. If your son can't do his homework in the car, he'll be up very late at home and won't have time for anything else.
We looked at Davidson, but it's 200 miles from here. I was impressed.
Last edited by Val; 03/11/14 09:56 AM.
