Are you wondering if your child would succeed at University Laboratory High School (aka Uni High)?
First of all – what is Uni High? According to its website: “University Laboratory High School is a selective admission, public, laboratory school sanctioned by the State of Illinois and associated with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The school serves academically talented students, residing in Illinois, from the subfreshman level (combined 7th and 8th grades) through high school.” Uni High is located on the U of I campus; there is no tuition charged, but student fees and books can exceed more than $1000 a year.
If you have an academically talented sixth through ninth grader who might be a good fit for University Laboratory High School, plan on attending a parent information meeting. Remaining dates include January 7 and February 4, 2015; meetings start at 7 p.m.
Generally speaking, here’s how the Uni application process works:
- Sixth graders and seventh graders are invited to apply for the subfreshman level, a combined seventh and eighth grade class (here are the admission requirements).
- There are approximately 65 openings in each year’s subfreshman class, for which around 200 students will apply.
- Eighth graders are invited to apply for the ninth grade class. However, there are fewer openings in ninth grade. Applications for admission to grades 9-11 are considered only as a space-available basis.
- Uni High does not charge tuition. There is a $30 fee to apply.
So, how do you know if your student may be a good fit for Uni? As a middle school teacher, I would suggest asking yourself the following questions:
- Does your child feel the pace of school moves too slowly?
- Does he/she consistently get mostly A’s ?
- Is your child (mostly) self-motivated?
- Does your child already manage the balance of school/extra-curricular activities/home life well?
Again, as a teacher, I would suggest that the answer to all four questions should be “yes” if you are encouraging your child to apply. However, there’s no harm in his/her applying anyway if your answer to one of them is “Eh…?” because, who knows? Uni High may prove to be a perfect fit for your child, and vice versa.
Keep in mind, there is a greater likelihood that your child WON’T get in (generally speaking) than that he/she will. A healthy “If it happens, it happens” attitude will be your best friend throughout this process.
Rachael McMillan teaches sixth and seventh grade history at Campus Middle School for Girls. She also tutors at The Reading Group and volunteers for Ten Thousand Villages, a fair trade retailer in downtown Champaign. She is totally in love with her Chambana life, which she shares with husband Scott, fourth grader Jack, third grader Kate, and William the Toddler.