UPDATE 01/28: We went to the orientation of the public school and it seemed really good!

no. i only struggled because my parents homeschooled so i had a breakdown about being held back due to my poor previous education.

tbh it doesnt seem like that's present here

@realDonaldTrump you should learn Chinese if it's an option. I'm learning it now and I wish that I had done so much earlier when my brain was younger. It is the second language with the highest earning potential increase for English as a first language speakers.

@BlackCrusade The problem with Chinese is that it's spoken in only one country.

@BlackCrusade It's probably the most useful of the languages they offer (Spanish, French, Chinese) but the problem is that it's the most challenging (and probably most time consuming) and world languages aren't really my focus right now.

@EnopoletusHarding and that one country is arguably one of if not the most important country economically on earth.

@realDonaldTrump I would say it's the most fun of the languages though. If you do something like Hack Chinese alongside an offered course you will likely do very well.

high school is a waste of pre-singularity years and neuroplasticity. you should take the early exit exam and go straight to university (if you care for it) or found a neocluely and do yc

@ookina_inu This is a perfect Rationalist answer, where social & personal development are seen as irrelevant

@ookina_inu Yes, I completely agree that's the best use of my time, but I doubt my parents are of the same mindset.

What do you recommend I focus on during my newfound free time each day, in the same mindset as your previous response?

If your state has an early college program, take it! You get college and high school credit for taking college courses, which saves tons of money in the long run and makes you smarter faster. Then you’ll come out of it being the youngest member of your friend groups, which confers some advantages at the cost of completely warping your social development/maturity. It’s great fun!

CO has these programs, not sure about NY

@realDonaldTrump find ways of getting into academic research. You have the right mind for it I think (assuming you find it interesting)

@KJW_01294 Thanks for the advice!

@ChurlishGambit that's why I recommend all young people do a short stint in juvie too. it's good for their character development

@realDonaldTrump become an influencer. in the future the only real capital will be social capital. or study statistical learning theory and do hft on real money prediction markets with claude

...you're a high schooler? This makes so much sense

@ChurlishGambit technically he is a middle schooler

@ookina_inu Is that...allowed under TOS? lol

@ChurlishGambit erm, actually, if you're 13+ it's allowed

(don't tell anyone, but I joined when I was 12.85)

Additional pros and cons I see, thinking longer term than just these next 4 years:

• Switching schools is always a huge stressor, but it's lessened greatly when you do it in the divide between middle -> high; a lot of people will be new to each other anyway and high school friends are more important than middle school friends in your development, generally speaking

• Intellectual and socioeconomic diversity is important for building soft skills, resiliency, and compassion; leaving your bubble is a strong Pro for your development as a worthwhile human...

• ... but possibly a Con when thinking about longterm financial success

• More time without school is a Con unless you fill it with extracurriculars, but it also means you have more availability for said extracurriculars which is good

• Public school will give you more opportunities to stand out from the herd in academics and extracurriculars, which is good for college applications

• The time and money cost of private school might have negative downstream effects on your wellbeing that hinder your ability to thrive there and therefore set you back longterm

• Private school will usually have better connections to colleges, opportunities for scholarships + interviews, and access to valuable alumni networks

• APs (or IBs) are CRITICAL for thriving in college. That alone strikes me personally as a dealbreaker against the private school

My advice? Always choose the scariest option when the fear is Fear of the Unknown.

@Stralor Thanks, this is reassuring

@Stralor

• More time without school is a Con unless you fill it with extracurriculars, but it also means you have more availability for said extracurriculars which is good

re: extracurriculars, I pretty much do a lot of my extracurriculars (amateur astronomy gear+software, vibecoding, manifold) during class anyway, and I don't plan to change this, but I expect to accomplish a lot this year in terms of goals I've set for myself (including starting a company that relates to one of my interests). also see: /realDonaldTrump/will-the-best-thing-i-have-ever-per

In my experience starting over with no friends is rough for the first couple of years (so resolving in the first semester might predispose towards YES).

On the academic side, private school teachers tend to be more supportive vs public school teachers who a lot of times just don't even care/are burned out (but AP teachers are usually good. If APs are important to you, I'd ask whether the AP teachers at the public school have graded AP exams in the past; it tends to be a good predictor of teaching skill).

If you're concerned about the counseling, it might cost less to go to public school and hire a private counselor (depends on the exact pricing of both).

depends on the area of the city

@strutheo sorry, it's in new york metro area but not city