Once a bastion of the counterculture and now an epicenter for technological innovation, the city of San Francisco is home to a wide array of secondary school options for academically ambitious high school students. But with a ton of choices comes a ton of responsibility to make the right decision to set your child up for elite college admission down the road. Where should families and parents of soon-to-be high school-age students in San Francisco begin?

Elite College Admission Starts With Strategically Choosing a High School

Here’s the thing about choosing the right high school for your child in the San Francisco area: not all schools are created equal. Yes, even among the so-called “elite” and highly selective high schools of SF, both public and private, there is a huge variation in quality. Sometimes, the schools with the largest endowments, highest tuition rates, or most star-studded alumni rosters actually don’t maintain strong relationships with elite college admissions offices. On the other hand, there are plenty of lower-profile schools in San Francisco that, while perhaps not having as much name recognition, actually have better track records of seeing their graduates sent to the top colleges in the nation. 

Popular San Francisco Public and Private High Schools

As you peruse this (absolutely non-exhaustive) list of popular private and public high schools in San Francisco, take each of these names with a grain of salt. These aren’t necessarily Ivy Coach’s recommendations (we would never share our recommended schools with prospective clients, as we reserve this information exclusively for our clients), but rather the SF high schools with the most name recognition, for better or worse. When choosing a high school for your child, you must take their needs and goals into account, and consult a former elite college admissions officer to give you the scoop on whether the school you’re eyeing actually has a history of sending its students to highly selective colleges (many don’t!). 

Popular San Francisco Private Schools

The Branson School

The International School of San Francisco

Lick-Wilmerding High School

Marin Academy

San Francisco High School of the Arts

San Francisco University High School

Popular San Francisco Public Schools

Lowell High School

Redwood High School

Ruth Asawa High School of the Arts

Let’s zero in on a couple of these schools with some more details.

Lick-Wilmerding High School

Lick-Wilmerding High School is a prestigious private high school in the Ingleside neighborhood of San Francisco. With an acceptance rate estimated at the low teens, akin to that of a highly selective college, Lick-Wilmerding has a reputation for admitting only the best and brightest among its hundreds of applicants each year. Those who do earn admission must complete an unorthodox curriculum consisting of requirements in the technical and performing arts (including an infamous jewelry-making course) and a mandatory first-year course titled “Identity and Belonging.” 

Lowell High School

Lowell High School is the only public high school in the San Francisco area that uses standardized test scores and GPA to determine enrollment, rather than the lottery system used at other local magnet schools. At the start of the Pandemic, Lowell High School was the subject of a huge controversy surrounding allegations of systemic racism inherent in the merit-based exam used to determine admissions. After a ton of pressure to phase this system out, Lowell High School administrators adopted the same lottery system used by other magnet schools in the city, only for the school’s academic reputation to take a major hit, as roughly 24% of the lottery admits received Ds and Fs that year. After a high-profile legal back-and-forth over lawsuits and compromises, Lowell settled on the current system, which has done away with both the lottery system and the preexisting bespoke exam in favor of using student GPA and the STAR standardized entrance exam to determine eligibility.

How Our College Admissions Consultants in San Francisco Help Students Secure Elite College Admission

Earning admission into a well-regarded private or public high school in San Francisco requires a ton of preparation and forethought. Why go it alone? Ivy Coach is happy to assist students in optimizing their odds of admission. We will give you our personalized recommendations based on your child’s specific circumstances, along with the inside scoop on which SF schools we actually recommend.

If you’re interested in getting started with us, fill out our complimentary consultation form, and we’ll be in touch with an outline of our services led by our team of former elite college admissions officers.