Fulton Science Academy vs Westminster Middle School (Atlanta, Kennesaw: 2015, chapel)

[Seisenbrei]

My daughter was admitted to FSA for middle school (6th grade). We are waiting to hear from Wesminster but will only have a day to make a decision. Any thoughts on which school is better?

She is currently at Atlanta International school so while she is entering middle school we want to stay through high school. Location wise we can move fairly easily so it isn't a factor we are concerned with. Thanks in advance for any thoughts!

[cparker73]

Westminster by far. It's consistently rated in the top 50 high schools in the entire country and is a feeder to all the highly selective colleges she may consider. Because of that, the competitive atmosphere may not be a good fit, and she may not perform at her highest level. That said, a B average student at Westminster or Fulton Science Academy is a valedictorian at most public schools.

Hopefully you were able to tour both schools and question students and teachers. I know Westminster recently built a new science wing with an innovation lab that along with excellent facilities for the arts and athletics would give it the edge over any other schools you'd consider.

[Seisenbrei]

Thank you. We hear back from Westminster in a couple weeks at which point we may or may not have a decision to make. FSA has broken into the top 50 which is one reason we took note of the school and it is half the cost. But as you said Westminster has a long standing reputation.

[bu2]

Originally Posted by cparker73

Westminster by far. It's consistently rated in the top 50 high schools in the entire country and is a feeder to all the highly selective colleges she may consider. Because of that, the competitive atmosphere may not be a good fit, and she may not perform at her highest level. That said, a B average student at Westminster or Fulton Science Academy is a valedictorian at most public schools.

Hopefully you were able to tour both schools and question students and teachers. I know Westminster recently built a new science wing with an innovation lab that along with excellent facilities for the arts and athletics would give it the edge over any other schools you'd consider.

Are they?

Not saying they aren't, but I know UGA is not particularly fond of Atlanta private school grads.
Don't know what the elite private schools do. I certainly know kids from APS and DCSS who have gone to Ivies.

[cparker73]

Originally Posted by bu2

Are they?

Not saying they aren't, but I know UGA is not particularly fond of Atlanta private school grads.
Don't know what the elite private schools do. I certainly know kids from APS and DCSS who have gone to Ivies.

This is a bit dated, but here's a story from 2018 about a site that ranks all the high schools in the country based on how many students they send to Harvard, Princeton and MIT. Westminster was the only Georgia school that ranked in the top 25 in the nation sending 26 students in that time period. Fulton Science Academy ranked 1,573 that year.

I just tinkered a bit on that PolarisList site and looked at the range from 2015-20, and Westminster (#24 in the U.S.) sent 51 students to those three universities, and Johns Creek High was the next closest with just 14 (#204 in the nation). Fulton Science Academy was #2,673 in the nation with just one student sent to Princeton (and not MIT?) One thing about these rankings I'd like to see is some sort of weighted adjustment based on graduation class size.

Because of the vast difference in resources between the two schools, I'm more impressed with Atlanta Girls School (#1,721) with an average graduation class size of 27 sending 2 students (1.5%) to those schools over a five-year period than Westminster with an average class size of 325 sending 51 students (3.1%).

Of course, with college admissions there are so many factors with legacy being a huge one, and I can imagine there's a lot of self-selection going on among Atlanta's Harvard alumni choosing to send their kids to Westminster. I know from my family's own private school search that they were very interested in what colleges my wife and I attended. If Westminster heavily recruits Harvard alumni, then that will likely produce Harvard acceptances and therefore, rightly or wrongly, perpetuate the perception of Westminster producing Ivy-calibre students when, in fact, there's a huge finger on the scale.

What data do you have about UGA and Atlanta private school grads? Anecdotally, I know that a lot who don't go to UGA or Tech for whatever reason end up going out of state to Auburn University, which would be more socially acceptable in those circles than going to Kennesaw State.

[darajjang]

FSA now ranked as number 1 private school. Their rank came up fast. So you can’t use previous year data. I think I read somewhere they only graduated 7 kids two years ago, and 4 of them went to elite schools (top 30). It’s a new school that’s quickly taking up all the attention.

[Go Blue 99]

Originally Posted by darajjang

FSA now ranked as number 1 private school. Their rank came up fast. So you can’t use previous year data. I think I read somewhere they only graduated 7 kids two years ago, and 4 of them went to elite schools (top 30). It’s a new school that’s quickly taking up all the attention.

Link or source?

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by Go Blue 99

Link or source?

I think it is important to always be chasing the best school based on rankings. It is everything.

[HamBTB21]

Niche ranked FSA as the top private school in Georgia this year.

https://www.niche.com/k12/search/bes...ols/s/georgia/

It's relatively affordable at $18,000 vs. $30,000+ for Buckhead privates.

From FSA's website:

FSAPS Classes of 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 got accepted to institutions such as:

Princeton University, Stanford University, UC Berkeley, Brown
University, University of Chicago, Georgia Institute of
Technology, King’s College London, Purdue University,
University of Georgia, UNC-Chapel Hill, University of Illinois at
Urbana Champaign, Case Western, Augusta University, Virginia
Tech, University of Michigan, Boston College, Georgetown
University, UCLA, USC, Northwestern University, Stanford
University, New York University, John Hopkins University,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology