ah, its not for me haha but a friend of mine who hasnt started high school yet...what about friends in the local area. Wouldnt going to school so far away sort of, i dunno..ruin your ability to mature? Like well rounded etc? Surely rarely having friends over after school and all that stuff would be hard on the kid
Nah cuz public transport ~usually~ takes longer than having your parents pick you up. The student basically can hitch a ride from friend's parents or vice versa, also western, northern suburbs have trains and apparently it's easier to travel on them. They can meet at a common destination etc. Not all friends come from schools anyways. Your friend would prolly have ECs from local areas and make friends there.
It's not going to ruin your friend's ability to mature, anyone can mature - it's just wasting time i.e travel time, which could be better spent elsewhere.
Selective schools are overated anyways. I go to a top 15 selective school, and although I haven't attended a comprehensive non-selective high school before, I can tell you that in yrs 7-9 no one tries lewl. In year 11, I'm only starting to see an increase in concerned students with marks. That being said, generally as you go up in terms of school rankings, you have more students stressed out about marks. I have a friend who goes to top 5 selective school - the cohort has had people like literally crying over bad marks since year 8/9 ish.
You're better off transferring in year 10 or 11 to save (travel) time. That being said, it's easier to make friends in year 7/8
Ultimately it comes down to learning preference. If your friend thrives in a ~more~ competitive environment, go for it. If he/she prefers (and is confident) about dominating their cohort in a comprehensive school, then don't bother.
