According to U.S. News & World Report's exhaustive study of 24,000 public high schools in the nation, the School for Advanced Studies isn't just the best school in Miami, it's the best in the state of Florida, and fourth-best in the entire country. Spread out over Miami Dade College's five campuses (Homestead, Kendall, North, West, and Wolfson), SAS allows high school juniors and seniors to use their last two years to a head start in college by simultaneously earning their associate's degree. A public institution, SAS is open to any Miami-Dade resident who meets the grade and testing requirements with an impartial lottery deciding who gets in in the event there's an excess of qualified candidates. Merit mixed with luck — it's an admission policy that makes for a student body that matches Miami's diversity.