Parents can expect to pay $17,500 for a year of private junior kindergarten at Vancouver’s top-rated York House School. Their child’s education will cost them more than $250,000 if they continue up to grade 12.

Despite the high cost, the goal for many parents is to get their children into top universities – and York House boasts a 100 per cent university acceptance rate.

But some experts say a private school education doesn’t guarantee a child’s success in university.

CTV News asked the top two B.C. universities if they looked at applications from public and private schools differently. Both said no, and that all students are equally considered.

“If they're qualified students, if they meet our entrance qualifications, we don’t differentiate in that kind of a category at all,” said Nancy Johnston, senior director of student learning and retention at Simon Fraser University.

And Andrew Arida, the University of British Columbia’s director of undergraduate admissions, said that though certain schools afford students different opportunities, what they have learned is that experiences are the most important factors in admission.

When students start university, a public school education may actually boost their success.

UBC professor of mathematics George Bluman has found that public school students generally fare better in first-year math and physics because they’re more independent.

“UBC is more like a public school as a university and you have to stand up on your own two feet and I think the public schools have more self-reliance,” he said.

Bluman said that private school students are given a lot of help because the schools have a vested interest, but when they leave it’s more difficult for them to be independent.

While private education may not promise success, UBC and SFU actively recruit students from the International Baccalaureate (IB) program.

IB, a rigorous interdisciplinary program that promotes critical thinking, is recognized by universities around the world. It’s a non-governmental organization of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization.

IB is offered in at least one public school in Vancouver, and most private schools.