Irvine High School vs. University High School

U

ucfhieu

New member
Hello,
My son currently is in 8th grade and has a decent academic performance (straight A, qualified for American Invitational Mathematics Examination (AIME)) but not really good at social skills. He is supposed to go to Irvine High School based on our residence location. He heard from friends that University High is better in terms of academic, so he asked me to apply for University High. Maybe, just by luck, he got approved it. I am leaning on keeping him at Irvine High School because he has friends, near home, and probably less stress for him. However, he is leaning on wanting to go to University High but not much (60% for UNI vs 40% for IRVINE), mostly because of the better reputation and more clubs. Please let me know about thoughts about UNI vs. IRIVINE. Thanks.
 
Unless your child is highly motivated and performs really, and I mean REALLY, well academically, sending your child to a more competitive high school would hurt him/her more than help. Your child will just end up in a lower tier, which will hurt his/her chance in getting into a top UC school like UCLA or Berkeley. Or even UCSD or Irvine.
 
What about putting them into the broiling pit so they will be tempered by the competitiveness of the school?
Why send your kid to a retard high school where they can get top 5 easily when you can send them to a pressure cooker like uni...or troy?

Trial by fire.....let them fight the other overachievers.
 
I don't know what you consider to be a retard high school. My theory is that by sending your child to a pressure cooker high school like uni, chances are greater that it will hurt his/her chance in getting into a top UC school like UCLA or Berkeley. Or even UCSD or Irvine.

By your child being ranked in the top 5% in a retard high school will give your child a huge advantage over Uni High student who is ranked in top 20% in the class for admission to the top tier UC schools.
zubs said:
What about putting them into the broiling pit so they will be tempered by the competitiveness of the school?
Why send your kid to a retard high school where they can get top 5 easily when you can send them to a pressure cooker like uni...or troy?

Trial by fire.....let them fight the other overachievers.
Click to expand...
 
Retard high school are schools ranked 5 or lower.
I agree with you panda...but there is something to be said for putting your kid in a pressure cooker.

If the end goal is to go to a awesome college then getting top 5 at a retard HS is great.
But if you want your kid to really get stronger...I'd say pressure cooker all the way.
 
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Zubs, I don't know if you have kids of your own and what grade they are in. I don't have any issue with pressure cooker colleges. When I was undergrad business student at Umich, that is where I learned how to work hard and be disciplined. I spent my Friday & Sat nights at the library studying as the course work was very rigorous and didn't have time to mess around with girls, drinking, or partying.

My point that I am trying to make is that many parents who think that their child will be attending a top Ivy and a top UC school by attending pressure cooker school like Uni will be very disappointed when their child are graduating with a 4.4 GPA are not getting accepted to these schools.


zubs said:
Retard high school are schools ranked 5 or lower.
I agree with you panda...but there is something to be said for putting your kid in a pressure cooker.

If the end goal is to go to a awesome college then getting top 5 at a retard HS is great.
But if you want your kid to really get stronger...I'd say pressure cooker all the way.
Click to expand...
 
I agree with you.
Going to a low pressure HS and getting valedictorian so you can get into a better university is a smarter way to live the life you've been given.
I'm just trying to help justify the people who bought over priced houses in turtle rock. Uni HS is awesome. Your kids get to be ultra stressed out. There must be a benefit?

They get stronger for being ultra stressed out!
 
zubs said:
Going to a low pressure HS and getting valedictorian so you can get into a better university is a smarter way to live the life you've been given.
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That's me right there. :ROFLMAO:

I went to a low pressure high school in Pasadena, became valedictorian, got into Berkeley in EECS.

I mean pressure cooker high school is nice and all, but it really depends on your child. Does your child become stronger in such an environment or does your child break down and become miserable? And then, there's also a difference between pressure cooker and ultra pressure cooker. We don't really need that extreme unless you're dead set on sending your child to the Ivies. Me, I'm all good with top UCs. But, again, ultimately, it comes down to your child. You need to know your child.
 
zubs said:
I agree with you.
Going to a low pressure HS and getting valedictorian so you can get into a better university is a smarter way to live the life you've been given.
I'm just trying to help justify the people who bought over priced houses in turtle rock. Uni HS is awesome. Your kids get to be ultra stressed out. There must be a benefit?

They get stronger for being ultra stressed out!
Click to expand...
This is really the paradox of buying in Irvine for the schools, isn't it? You might actually be holding your child back by sending them somewhere where they have no chance of standing out.
 
For the social aspect, which seemed to be a concern for the OP... there is some advantages to keeping kids in their home school as they would be going to school with neighborhood kids etc etc. Until they get to driving age, there is the before/after school time of hanging out because your kids would be local to the high school.

That being said, the cross friendships between kids at Irvine, Uni, Woodbridge, Northwood, Portola still exist regardless of where they live.

As for educational competitiveness... Uni is tough compared to Irvine but that's like comparing an A to an A- (or maybe a B depending on who you ask).

I never really got the whole choose the right high school to go to the right college.... but as I've posted before... I'm more ambivalent when it comes to college education.
 
CalBears96 said:
That's me right there. :ROFLMAO:

I went to a low pressure high school in Pasadena, became valedictorian, got into Berkeley in EECS.

I mean pressure cooker high school is nice and all, but it really depends on your child. Does your child become stronger in such an environment or does your child break down and become miserable? And then, there's also a difference between pressure cooker and ultra pressure cooker. We don't really need that extreme unless you're dead set on sending your child to the Ivies. Me, I'm all good with top UCs. But, again, ultimately, it comes down to your child. You need to know your child.
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The really old one, the one up the street from the Van Halen house, the one that began with a B or the one over near Hastings Ranch? Or a private like Maranantha? I went to the one by HR. My graduating class was 50% black, 30% Mexican and 20% white/other. About the best part were the Friday/Sat house parties and the lessons in diversity though being put in MGM in 4th grade I was segregated by IQ all the way through 10th grade when AP kicked in. I'll never forget a black student fron the Kings Manor projects giving a presentation on the gangs prevalent in Pasadena - the Bloods (wore red) and the Cuzz (wore blue like the Crips, early 80s). That's when I learned the graffit on the 210 underpass that spelled ESP stood for East Side Pasadena.
 
zubs said:
Retard high school are schools ranked 5 or lower.
I agree with you panda...but there is something to be said for putting your kid in a pressure cooker.

If the end goal is to go to a awesome college then getting top 5 at a retard HS is great.
But if you want your kid to really get stronger...I'd say pressure cooker all the way.
Click to expand...
I am not offended by much, but did you really use the word “retard”?
 
I would explain all the pros and cons and let the kid decide where he wants to go.

I ran into similar situation last year when my son picked Beckman HS over Northwood High. His reasoning was that BHS offered 3 AP/Honor classes for freshman vs none for NHS and Vex Robotic program which he loves to do. I wasnt happy at the fact that he didnt want to go to NHS(10 min walking). BHS is further away and is in TUSD. In the end, I let him decide.

Fast forward till now, he has the time of his life in freshman year. He is getting A in all his classes including 2 AP and 1 honor, swim for BHS team, member of robotic and circuit clubs. He is happy where he is at and that’s all it matters.
 
Danimal said:
I would explain all the pros and cons and let the kid decide where he wants to go.

I ran into similar situation last year when my son picked Beckman HS over Northwood High. His reasoning was that BHS offered 3 AP/Honor classes for freshman vs none for NHS and Vex Robotic program which he loves to do. I wasnt happy at the fact that he didnt want to go to NHS(10 min walking). BHS is further away and is in TUSD. In the end, I let him decide.

Fast forward till now, he has the time of his life in freshman year. He is getting A in all his classes including 2 AP and 1 honor, swim for BHS team, member of robotic and circuit clubs. He is happy where he is at and that’s all it matters.
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What are the AP/Honors courses they offer for freshman?
 
Also... I believe Northwood high does have freshman Honors classes... most every Irvine school does. No AP classes because that's usually 10th+.
 
Danimal said:
I would explain all the pros and cons and let the kid decide where he wants to go.

I ran into similar situation last year when my son picked Beckman HS over Northwood High. His reasoning was that BHS offered 3 AP/Honor classes for freshman vs none for NHS and Vex Robotic program which he loves to do. I wasnt happy at the fact that he didnt want to go to NHS(10 min walking). BHS is further away and is in TUSD. In the end, I let him decide.

Fast forward till now, he has the time of his life in freshman year. He is getting A in all his classes including 2 AP and 1 honor, swim for BHS team, member of robotic and circuit clubs. He is happy where he is at and that’s all it matters.
Click to expand...
Beckman has a "healthy limit policy" on the number of AP/H classes a student can take, depending on the students year in highschool.

I think it is 2 courses for Freshman year, unless you request a waiver for 3 courses.

Healthy Limit Waiver for AP/HONORS Courses - Beckman High School 2022

Healthy Limit Waiver for AP/HONORS Courses - Beckman High School 2022
beckman.tustin.k12.ca.us beckman.tustin.k12.ca.us
 
Woodbury said:
Beckman has a "healthy limit policy" on the number of AP/H classes a student can take, depending on the students year in highschool.

I think it is 2 courses for Freshman year, unless you request a waiver for 3 courses.

Healthy Limit Waiver for AP/HONORS Courses - Beckman High School 2022

Healthy Limit Waiver for AP/HONORS Courses - Beckman High School 2022
beckman.tustin.k12.ca.us beckman.tustin.k12.ca.us
Click to expand...
That is correct. We had to sign a waiver warning that he wouldnt have a life. That boy is hardcore. He wanted to do it anyways.
 
It's usually dependent on the sport but a loose ranking would be:

Beckman
Woodbridge
Northwood
Portola
Uni
Irvine

The middle 4 are close to each other but Irvine typically is the worst in sports. This might be old... not too sure now.
 
ucfhieu said:
Hello,
My son currently is in 8th grade and has a decent academic performance (straight A, qualified for American Invitational Mathematics Examination (AIME)) but not really good at social skills. He is supposed to go to Irvine High School based on our residence location. He heard from friends that University High is better in terms of academic, so he asked me to apply for University High. Maybe, just by luck, he got approved it. I am leaning on keeping him at Irvine High School because he has friends, near home, and probably less stress for him. However, he is leaning on wanting to go to University High but not much (60% for UNI vs 40% for IRVINE), mostly because of the better reputation and more clubs. Please let me know about thoughts about UNI vs. IRIVINE. Thanks.
Click to expand...

If your son is not adept at social skills, try sending him to "experience college/university" programs when he is in HS, where he can take 1 or 2 classes at college/university. Study abroad programs in Asia or Europe might also be good.

Back when I was in high school, my teacher sent me to take a computer class at Cerritos College. It was a job skill oriented class with older adults. Suddenly my worldview expanded from high school cliques to office politics at Boeing, IBM mainframe applications and BBS meet-ups.
 
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