Barring legitimate safety issues, I don't think rankings really matter. I went to a HS that is now a 4 (and probably would have been about that back when I was there, had GS existed) and did very well in college and professionally. And some of my former classmates and family members still send their kids to that school, and they're all normal, educated, middle to upper-middle class people whose kids are doing just fine there and going to great colleges. But then again, this is in the Midwest where most people feel no need to pour over the Greatschools scores or percentage of FARMs kids.

Anonymous wrote:it kind of blew my mind. Obviously, I have no idea what it would have been when I went there, but now it's a 3. A 3. I would never let my kid go to a 3 high school (perhaps for elementary school depending on various things, but not likely). And yet, I turned out ok. I went to a top 5 law school anyway and am gainfully employed. Maybe it doesn't matter after all?

I think this.

Isn't "great schools" as reliable as Yelp in any case?

I don't think my HS has a GS score. They don't give those to parochial schools, right?

I think people have gotten way too hung up on this stuff. Is the neighborhood/community nice and safe? Are the teachers and administration kind and inviting? There is so much more to schools than just these numbers.

Anonymous wrote:Also, if you were/are a high performer at a low ranked high school sometimes colleges take that into account.

I was ticked when I realized higher ranking state schools might have "taken pity" on me if I had gone to my public high school instead of the harder private I went to. Public is a 4--which amazes me, they have gun incidents all the time. 2 high schools have closed in the city, since people are fleeing the public schools there.

Where the hell is that?

Also, if you were/are a high performer at a low ranked high school sometimes colleges take that into account.

I was ticked when I realized higher ranking state schools might have "taken pity" on me if I had gone to my public high school instead of the harder private I went to. Public is a 4--which amazes me, they have gun incidents all the time. 2 high schools have closed in the city, since people are fleeing the public schools there.

My old HS in the Midwest is a 3. However, I've heard its gone downhill since I was there 25+ years ago. Now apparently a lot of families live in the next town over where the high school is better. Too bad.

Sorry if I sound like a jerk, OP, but is it really news to you that you don't have to go to a top-rated high school to be successful in life??? There are people who find success from all sorts of different backgrounds and where you went to high school is certainly not a determining factor. I'm sure going to a top high school helps and doesn't hurt re success but that's about it.

My elementary, middle, and high schools were all 9's or 10's (I only lived in that town for high school though but my sister did middle and part of elementary there). It was because the town was pretty much uniformly middle-class and white. Little poverty, basically no challenge of educating kids who didn't speak English at home. It was a boring, small-town place without a ton of economic opportunity and the majority of my classmates never left the area. I'd rather live here.

My husband went to a HS that was probably about a 5 when he went there (if GS had existed then) and is now a 3 and it really put him off public schools for a long time.

Mine is a 1 (!!!!). And yet I went to an Ivy League college and now have a job I love that pays well. People in my classes ended up going to Ivies/MIT/UVa etc for college so I am not a freak exception.

I do think it appears to have gone downhill somewhat since I graduated but it can't explain it all. Though from what I remember, I took all AP/honors classes except for PE so have no idea what people outside that 'track' were like or how their classes were.

Your high school could of been a 9 when you went there...stats and neighborhoods change.

Mine was a 6. I kicked ass in school and the SAT, got a big scholarship to GW and have been relatively successful. My daughter's school is a 10.

Like giving chefs different ingredients and seeing what each one can make out it. Talent and drive go a long way for some.

Mine is a 9, but I am only moderately successful...

Maybe not. Or maybe your old HS went downhill after you graduated.

it kind of blew my mind. Obviously, I have no idea what it would have been when I went there, but now it's a 3. A 3. I would never let my kid go to a 3 high school (perhaps for elementary school depending on various things, but not likely). And yet, I turned out ok. I went to a top 5 law school anyway and am gainfully employed. Maybe it doesn't matter after all?