Just as an FYI, private schools don't have in state or out of state tuition as they are not public schools. Each student is charged the same tuition. A student from MA (where Harvard is) and one from CA will get charged the same amount for Harvard.

Thanks, very helpful specially the point on in state fees and financial aid. So you do agree that universities do not look at which school the applicant come from but their qualifications and grades?

Amir
Here the big factors for college admissions are GPA and college admission test scores, either the SAT or ACT. For the prestigious colleges other factors like public service and extra curricular activities can be important. Most secondary schools public or private are unknowns outside their immediate area. I think too much concern is spent worrying about K thru 12 schools when it all depends on which teacher you have and parent support and encouragement. Especially with the internet it is so easy to augment a child's education with other resources outside the walls of their school. I
made it thru nine years of full time college and all I can remember about my grade school years is recess.

IMO there are certain private schools who are feeder schools to the top universities. Also if you have a close relative who is an alma mater or you have very deep pockets and can give the uni a substantial donation...it opens doors to unis. If your child excels at sport they can more or less walk into any uni...including ivy leagues. A girl in my daughter’s class wasn’t bright...didn’t hand in homework/projects in on time...she got a place at an ivy because she could row. Likewise a friend’s daughter...the girl she roomed with was as thick as a brick...but she excelled at swimming.

At the admissions presentations I went to last week they said quite specifically that what they want to see is the student doing well relative to others in the same school. So it doesn't help to go to a 'good' school particularly, because you will be expected to have higher grades, more APs, etc, than someone from a lower achieving school. Hopefully that answers your question?

In Westchester County, NY STEM is available to elementary students as well. Granddaughter's test scores were so high that she qualified for STEM in grade 2. Her reading level was above senior high school level by that age, as well.

Thank you. Basically hard work, academically and extracurricular, will be the big factors!

Yes, it seems sports and extracurricular activities are really important. Well donation and alma mater doesn't apply to us so our girls should work hard

Thank you. I still need to figure out the differences between each system and find out which of these exist in OC.

Thank you. This "relativity" point was again really important.

Anyone here with experience of pre-school nurseries? Are there any good public ones or one should only go private?

What age? Most places don't have public nurseries. Some areas do starting at age 4. Generally though, if you're asking about education before age 4, then it's private.

Remember, kids don't have to start school till Kindergartem.
https://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/gs/em/kinderinfo.asp

However... there are some government schemes. In the Saddleback district they have am early learning centre and my two little ones went there. It was about $500 a trimester, so is part funded by the state. I would guess Irvine has something similar but I don't know for sure. But these are part time, a couple of mornings a week.
If you want full time then they're in a Montessori etc. They have those everywhere.

Thank you.

Thank you. Now I’m a bit more confused with that link and the post above yours. So at what age compulsory education in US starts? When we say kindergarten is that equivalent to reception here in UK?
So anything before compulsory kindergarten is private more or less. I checked out Montessori which is around $3500 per month
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