Walnut Hills Ohio's best high school, again (Cincinnati, Upper Arlington: student loans, house)

[motorman]

From WLW-T:

* Walnut Hills again named best high school in Ohio

From the Business Journal:

* http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2017/04/25/greater-cincinnati-public-high-schools-climb-state.html

This might be an opportune time for a little self disclosure: I'm a WHHS grad and very proud of this information. No need to ask what year I graduated because I'm not revealing any more than that it was somewhere in the '60s.

[Wilson513]

It always needs to be said, however, that WHHS is a fine school for a certain type of student. One who loves learning, has goals, is self reliant, not easily led or intimidated by others.

It is a place with no rules, no imposed discipline. A place where snowflakes melt. Where the gullible are led astray.

For the right student, it is certainly the best.

[Misfit Toy]

Sure, it's a good school, but Walnut Hills selects only the best students for admission. The vast majority of public schools are open to all.

[jmecklenborg]

Originally Posted by Misfit Toy

Sure, it's a good school, but Walnut Hills selects only the best students for admission. The vast majority of public schools are open to all.

It has an entrance exam like most of the Catholic and private high schools. A big reason why better schools are "better" is because they can and do kick a lot of people out.


But good grades and high test scores don't really get you anywhere anymore. The cruel lesson for anyone with a brain is that the guys whose parents pay for cars, college, and a first house get way, way out in front of you if you're stuck paying student loans, every car-related expense, and can't do a down payment until you're 35.






Congratulations to Walnut Hills but let's quit worrying about schools so much. An education might clear a path out of poverty, but an inheritance always does.

[Wilson513]

No one gets inheritance anymore. That is because pop lives to 80+. In my zipcode, the mortality from birth is 88. The 88 year old has 55-65 year old children. Pop does not leave his assets during his lifetime. You can think he does, but it is not happening.

[jmecklenborg]

Originally Posted by Wilson513

No one gets inheritance anymore. That is because pop lives to 80+. In my zipcode, the mortality from birth is 88. The 88 year old has 55-65 year old children. Pop does not leave his assets during his lifetime. You can think he does, but it is not happening.

I know many, many people who have received large inheritances and/or trust fund payouts in their 20s and 30s. I know at least 20 people who live in New York City, San Francisco, or other expensive cities and do not have jobs.

[flashes1]

The suburban schools would be a lot higher rated if they could only admit the top 5% of the students district-wide. Walnut Hills is a private school funded by the tax payers. I tip my hat to their exclusivity, but let's not delude ourselves into thinking it's something that it's not.

[motorman]

Originally Posted by jmecklenborg

It has an entrance exam like most of the Catholic and private high schools. A big reason why better schools are "better" is because they can and do kick a lot of people out.

But good grades and high test scores don't really get you anywhere anymore. The cruel lesson for anyone with a brain is that the guys whose parents pay for cars, college, and a first house get way, way out in front of you if you're stuck paying student loans, every car-related expense, and can't do a down payment until you're 35.

Congratulations to Walnut Hills but let's quit worrying about schools so much. An education might clear a path out of poverty, but an inheritance always does.

Although conclusions centered on poverty or inheritance may explain a limited number of cases, they don't account for why WHHS is the formidable institution it's been for decades nor how this school internally functions in ruthlessly propelling its creme de la creme upward and outward.

The fact is that the WHHS entrance exam is the least important method of how Cincinnati's school system first separates the wheat from the chaff (a large number of kids routinely pass the test). Only upon entering WHHS do little neophytes experience first hand the cruel reality of the complete winnowing process. Just like any training camp where only actual results count, this Jeffersonian Monticello complex simply cannot be an egalitarian grouping of attendees where affirmative action means anything. Unabashedly, WHHS makes it absolutely clear that academic achievement is the singly most important Darwinian criteria for selection and honor.

Obviously, there are many renowned big public high schools in Ohio where large proportions of students achieve success, whether academically, in the arts or athletically. For example, just think Mason, Madeira, Dublin Coffman, and Upper Arlington to name but a select few. However, in Cincinnati only two public high schools narrow the winners from the losers so thoroughly and noticeably. One of them is SPCA, the other is WHHS. If ever the old adage about Communism ("a system where within everyone is equal, but some are more equal than others") can be applied to high schools, SPCA and WHHS win the gold.

[cincydave8]

These type of magnet schools being ranked the best isn't unique to Ohio or WH.

DuPont Manual is ranked the top school is Kentucky and is also a magnet set up very similar to WH. My guess is you could search all 50 states and most the top schools are some type of magnet.

[jmecklenborg]

Originally Posted by motorman

Although conclusions centered on poverty or inheritance may explain a limited number of cases, they don't account for why WHHS is the formidable institution it's been for decades nor how this school internally functions in ruthlessly propelling its creme de la creme upward and outward.

The fact is that the WHHS entrance exam is the least important method of how Cincinnati's school system first separates the wheat from the chaff (a large number of kids routinely pass the test). Only upon entering WHHS do little neophytes experience first hand the cruel reality of the complete winnowing process. Just like any training camp where only actual results count, this Jeffersonian Monticello complex simply cannot be an egalitarian grouping of attendees where affirmative action means anything. Unabashedly, WHHS makes it absolutely clear that academic achievement is the singly most important Darwinian criteria for selection and honor.

"Good" schools orient themselves around metrics that can prove their supposed worth. College acceptance rates, standardized test scores, etc. They can never access the information that mostly influences one's economic trajectory -- financial support from parents and other family members.


I know a handful of people from modest backgrounds with advanced degrees from top schools (MIT, Yale, etc.) who don't make great money and who are mired in debt from the privilege of going to those schools instead of taking full scholarships to state programs.


We really need to break out of the mindset that schools = destiny when financial support or the lack thereof is the much stronger indicator.