Despite popular belief, the best high-school education doesn't always come from a private school. In fact, several of America's best public high schools offer top-level academics — without the five-figure tuition cost.
Niche, a company that researches and compiles information on schools, recently released its 2016 ranking of the best public high schools in America, from which it also ranked the schools with the best academics— the smartest public schools in America.
Niche ranked the schools' academics by key factors like graduation rates, performance on SAT/ACT and Advanced Placement tests, and student and parent reviews for 23,861 public high schools across the US. You can read the full methodology here.
Read on for the 50 smartest public high schools in the US.
SEE ALSO: The best public high school in every state
AND: The 25 best school districts in America
50. Monta Vista High School
Location: Cupertino, California
Average SAT score: 2130
AP test pass rate: 87.2%
"Very hard academics in terms of teacher standards, so that inevitably pushes you to become a better student,"said one alum.
"There is a very huge presence of AP/honors classes, and a huge student-preference towards math and science-type classes,"commented another.
49. Carroll Senior High School
Location: Southlake, Texas
Average SAT score: 1940
AP test pass rate: N/A
"Carroll is academically challenging at first but you get used to the workload,"said one Niche user. "There are a lot of different elective options and its pretty common to get all the classes you want."
48. Indian Hill High School
Location: Cincinnati
Average SAT score: 1920
AP test pass rate: 83.2%
Many Indian Hill students complimented the school's educators. "The teachers are amazing. Our counselors are always available to help us whenever a problem arises: teacher conflicts, schedules, or just general problems,"said a senior.
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