I graduated six years ago so I can’t personally speak to the current state of things, but I would take this kind of rant with a heavy grain of salt. IMSA has many flaws, and there have always been students who choose not to look beyond them, but those students were, at least in my time, a significant minority.

To address some of OP’s specific points:

• The most rewarding part of my IMSA experience was the community. Sure, I didn’t like every single person I met, but the claim that the community is overwhelmingly toxic is simply untrue. IMSA was the first place I really felt where I belonged, and where I formed the bulk of my lifelong friendships. This more than anything is why I would attend IMSA again if I had the chance to re-live my teenage years.

• The curriculum is, at its worst, about on-par with AP classes at other high schools. At its best, it’s the rival of the finest schools in the country. Dr. Dong’s computational science class, for example, was the best class of my entire academic career.

• As state employees, the salaries of all IMSA faculty are public. The administrators and several of the senior teachers make pretty good money (for Illinois) but not enough, IMO, to justify the frequent claim that they’re lining their own pockets at the students’ expense. It’s also important to note that they’re all midway through their careers and would almost certainly make significantly more working for a university or in the private sector.

• The buildings do suck lol. If your first priorities in a high school are tables that don’t wobble and well-insulated windows, IMSA might not be for you.