The Nation's Most Elite Public Schools

4. (tie) Hunter College High School, New York (SAT 1395): Another one of the city's greats, with a seventh- through 12th-grade program administered by Hunter College and was an all-girls school until it went coed in 1972. Like Stuyvesant, about half of the students are of Asian descent.

6. Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics, Oklahoma City (SAT 1383): A state-funded boarding school that teaches all courses at the university level.

7. Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, Aurora, Ill. (SAT 1373): "Wayne's World," the Michael Myers "Saturday Night Live" sketch and film, is not the only cool thing associated with Aurora. IMSA is also a state-funded boarding school. It takes 10th- through 12th-graders and has a strong mentoring program.

8. South Carolina Governor's School for Science and Mathematics, Hartsville, S.C. (SAT 1362): Another state boarding school, this one is for 11th- and 12th-graders across the state.

9. North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, Durham, N.C. (SAT 1356): This school, established in 1980 in an abandoned hospital, started the small but interesting trend of state-created boarding schools drawing bright and ambitious high schoolers from all over the state.

10. Bergen County Academies, Hackensack, N.J. (SAT 1355): A collection of seven career-focused academies where students have an extended school day.

11. Whitney High School, Cerritos, Calif. (SAT 1343): Like Jefferson and High Tech High, a suburban version of the New York super-schools, with very competitive admission, but unlike the state boarding schools, the students go home at night. Edward Humes' book "School of Dreams" tells its story.

12. Maggie L. Walker Governor's School for Government and International Studies, Richmond, Va. (SAT:1340): Unlike the science-math orientation of most of the public elites, this school focuses on world cultures and building students' leadership skills.

13. Jefferson County International Baccalaureate, Irondale, Ala. (SAT 1315): In this small school on the edge of Birmingham, students begin taking AP courses in 10th grade and add International Baccalaureate courses to their schedules as juniors and seniors.

14. Union County Magnet High School, Scotch Plains, N.J. (SAT 1314): This selective admission school also focuses on science, math and technology.

15. International Community School, Kirkland, Wash. (SAT 1309): Students are selected through a lottery to attend this school focusing on international awareness. It is one of the few public schools whose average SAT is above 1300 despite not having a selective admissions systems. Instead, as happens sometimes, the lottery participants self-select into a academic powerhouse.

16. University High School, Tucson, Ariz. (SAT 1304): The magnet program accepts students based on grades and an entrance exam.

17. Bronx High School of Science, New York (SAT 1301): One of the most famous schools in America for many years. It has a richly talented, ethnically diverse student body.