Insideschools is full of kids right now

[conuly]

doing two things. The first is asking basic questions like "I got in here! Is there a uniform? Can you leave for lunch? When does it start?" to which I say "Shouldn't you have figured this out before you put it on your application?" I say that in my head, I mean, not to them. Too late there!

The second is going "I got into THIS specialized science high school and THAT really good non-specialized school! Which should I pick!?"

Thus far, none of them has appreciated my excellent advice, which is "meh, they're both academically rigorous. If you don't know which you prefer, subtract commute time from start time and pick the one that lets you sleep in". They don't believe me at all when I say that sleep is possibly the most important factor in a happy adolescence. But at least arguing the point with me has helped some of them make up their minds, which is all they wanted to do in the first place.

Comments

[alatefeline]

>> Thus far, none of them has appreciated my excellent advice, which is "meh, they're both academically rigorous. If you don't know which you prefer, subtract commute time from start time and pick the one that lets you sleep in". They don't believe me at all when I say that sleep is possibly the most important factor in a happy adolescence. But at least arguing the point with me has helped some of them make up their minds, which is all they wanted to do in the first place. <<

Good advice, entirely understandable response, and good outcome!

[conuly]

MTE. I'm trying not to pull the "I'm an adult, I know better" line, because I know I don't know better than they do about their choices - and even if I do, what I know is they'll be happier at the school they chose.

[monanotlisa]

"sleep is possibly the most important factor in a happy adolescence."

Or, frankly, a happy LIFE. :)

[conuly]

Yup.

[mme-n-b.livejournal.com]

The kids who took your advice would be the ones asking about lunch now. They put in their application based on academic rigor and commute time, researching lunch was completely unnecessary until the application was approved.

[conuly]

LOL, no. I went to easily 25 open houses - which is an essential part of "doing the research". At every one, two questions were asked: "Do you have uniforms?" and "Do you have outside lunch?"

Also, as an adult who attended a specialized science high school, I have a different idea of the value of academic rigor than a lot of people, namely: you can always supplement academics online, and take online APs and whatever, but you cannot, cannot, cannot make up for a bad social or emotional environment.

Which is why my sole question was: "Seriously, though, is this school run like a prison?"

[mme-n-b.livejournal.com]

:DDD

[conuly]

That was Ana's response too! She thought it was hilarious the way I always made sure to find a reason to check out the water fountains and bathrooms at every school, but I thought it was a good proxy for "do you run this place like a prison y/n?" (And it turns out that her number one question, about outside lunch, correlates strongly with NO.)