Top 10 Fictional Schools

Today, we’re headed back to class and schooling you on the top 10 fictional schools. We’ve done our homework and compiled a list of some of the most prestigious prep academies (and borderline lethal) boarding schools that pop culture has to offer.

Grab your planner, your book bag, and maybe some protective gear. It’s time to enroll at the best fictional schools from throughout geek culture!

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10. Hill Valley High

Hill Valley High is the All-American high school of the Back to the Future series, the alma mater of both George and Marty McFly. In 1955, the school was host to the Enchantment Under the Sea dance in the gymnasium, and in 1985 they hosted a Battle of the Bands competition. School functions are nothing without a good theme and Hill Valley High certainly delivers.

The school endures through most of the BTTF timelines, except in the altered 1985 where Biff controls Hill Valley — the school burned down in 1979 in this timeline. Typical Biff. Their mascot is the Bulldogs and if any school on this list has a fighting chance of being the most realistic (and safest), it’s the home of the Hill Valley Bulldogs!

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9. Sunnydale High

A lot of kids think their school is weird – but the students of Sunnydale High from Buffy the Vampire Slayer have good reason! With its library situated on top of a Hellmouth, a supernatural nexus point of some seriously evil energy, Sunnydale High has had its fair share of exceptionally strange occurrences. We’re talking cliques possessed by hyenas, vampire break-ins, an amphibious swim team, and the most pyrotechnics at a graduation ceremony, well, ever. (That is, since Buffy Summers burned down the gym at her last school, Hemery High.)

But it’s also where the Slayer met her best friends Willow and Xander, where Mr. Giles tirelessly studied prophecies and demon tomes, and where Buffy received the Class Protector award from her classmates at the prom. Seriously, if you don’t tear up as her fellow students thank her for keeping them safe from monsters, you might just be one of the living undead.

Even though Buffy and her gang of Scoobies blew up the school in 1999 to save the town from Mayor Wilkins’ Ascension ceremony, Sunnydale High was rebuilt several years later – just in time for Buffy’s younger sister Dawn Summers to enroll. The school was ultimately destroyed for good when all the newly activated Slayers defeated the First Evil and closed the Hellmouth permanently, causing the town to fall into a vampire-free sinkhole. Guess it’s true what they say: School’s out for Summers.

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8. U.A. High School

In a world where most of the population has unique abilities called quirks, it makes sense they would need a school to help hone those skills. U.A. High School from My Hero Academia has the top heroics courses in Japan for training young students to become licensed super heroes. It boasts some of the best alumni as well, with heroes like All Might, Endeavor, and Best Jeanist completing their education here. Students are separated into different classes based on the strength and heroic potential of their abilities, with class 1-A being the top rank. Classes are based on heroics, general education, management, and support roles.

U.A. hosts a massive Sports Festival every year that is widely publicized and features challenges and battles that encourage students to show off the full range of their quirks. Izuku Midoriya and his classmates like Shoto Todoroki and Katsuki Bakugo compete in the games, hoping to be scouted by Pro Heroes and their agencies. The annual festival is Japan’s most popular event, making the students into local celebrities. However, to prevent the press or even super-villains from entering the school grounds on regular days, students use special identification to gain access to the protected campus.

Fun fact: The school’s name is derived from the Japanese word “eiyuu” meaning hero or champion — swapping the sounds into U.A. makes for a stealthy pun!

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7. Midtown High

Also known as the Midtown School of Science and Technology in the Marvel Universe, Midtown High is not only the Alma Mater of Peter Parker, but also of Jessica Jones, Liz Allen, and Cindy Moon!

The school not only exists in Earth-616 within the Marvel comics, but also in the Ultimate Universe (Earth-1610) where Gwen Stacy, Mary Jane Watson, Eddie Brock, and Harry Osborn also attend. This school made the list because of how often it appears in Marvel comics, and it is constantly being used as a setting in the cartoons and movies, especially for Spider-Man. You can’t say no to such an all-star roster of students swinging through those big doors!

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6. Gotham U

In DC’s animated series Harley Quinn, Gotham U undergoes a serious makeover courtesy of The Riddler. Formerly known as Gotham University, the esteemed halls of the Gotham metropolitan area’s premier higher learning institution become a pawn in Riddler’s plot. As the rest of Gotham suffers in No Man’s Land, Riddler U miraculously has running water and electricity. How? Well, that’s the catch.

And, of course, with Riddler, there’s always a catch. He’s kidnapping students to power his oasis of functionality amid the chaos of Gotham. Fortunately, Harley teams up with Gotham U student Barbara Gordon, AKA Batgirl, to take The Riddler down. While Gotham U might be riddled with corruption, it’s also true that this university has supported some of Gotham’s most brilliant minds. After all, nearly every member of Batman’s Rogues Gallery is the proud holder of at least one PhD. The love of Harley’s life, Poison Ivy, holds multiple degrees in botany and other super-villains like Scarecrow, Mr. Freeze, and even Harley herself are accomplished graduates!

Just, uh, don’t respond to any of those medical study flyers with all the question marks.

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5. Umbrella Academy

In this case, the “academy” in Umbrella Academy is mostly in name only. However, the Umbrella Academy heroes do have a physical headquarters, and that place is where higher learning happens.

In Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba’s original comic from 2007, the Umbrella Academy is formed by Sir Reginald Hargreeves, as he teaches miraculously born babies how to use their super powers. After he dies, it’s up to the Academy to save the world from an impending apocalypse — hopefully the team learned enough while Hargreeves was alive!

A live-action adaptation of Umbrella Academy is also on Netflix, spanning three seasons as well as a bonus fourth season episode. For fans of family drama, complicated super powers, and plenty of self-discovery, this series packs a whole lot of punch.

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4. Tokyo Jujutsu High

Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical College is home to the next greatest generation of jujutsu sorcerers. Because both students and teachers live on the sprawling campus, Jujutsu High functions as both training ground and headquarters. Here, young sorcerers learn how to combat cursed spirits — evil spiritual beings created by the negative energy that seeps from humans.

Alumni and well-meaning guests are always welcome. Because of this, Tokyo Jujutsu High — as well as its sister schools — serves as a safe haven to the larger sorcerer community. Tokyo Jujutsu High provides mediation, general support, education, and shelter in times of need. Although it is part of a larger network of sorcerer schools, it is often considered the greatest.

The protagonist of Jujutsu Kaisen, Yuji Itadori, attended Tokyo Jujutsu High before he was promoted to first-rank sorcerer alongside his fellow classmates Nobara Kugisaki and Megumi Fushiguro.

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3. Starfleet Academy

Starfleet Academy is serviced and maintained by the United Federation of Planets. Founded in 2161, Starfleet is located near the Golden Gate Bridge near the Fort Baker area in San Francisco. Most Star Trek main characters are graduates of Starfleet Academy.

There have been other campuses mentioned around the globe. While the location is on Earth, the Academy services all types of alien life. The academy’s motto is “Ex astris, scientia,” which translates to “From the stars, knowledge.” The prestige surrounding this academy, with its intergalactic student body and far-reaching ideals, cannot be understated. Plus, those uniforms? Super spiffy. We love a good badge and that Starfleet pin is nothing short of iconic.

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2. Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters

Located at 1407 Graymalkin Lane in Westchester County, New York, this school for mutants has gone by many names: Xavier’s Academy for Gifted Youngsters, the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning, X-Haven, and later the Xavier Institute for Mutant Education and Outreach.

This school provides a safe place for young mutants to receive education both in traditional schooling and also the control and understanding of their powers. Members of the X-Men have all served, at one point or another, as faculty. Storm and Dani Moonstar are particularly known as beloved teachers. Kitty Pryde was actually promoted to headmistress for a time. Within the halls of this school, all mutants are treated with respect — even Magneto taught the New Mutants here in Professor X’s absence. The school motto is “Mutatis Mutandis” roughly translating to “once the necessary changes have been made.” When it comes to mutantkind, change is always the name of the game.

Fair warning: Study Hall in the Danger Room is not to be taken lightly.

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1. Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry

Whether you’re a casual Harry Potter fan or a diehard Potterhead, it’s nearly impossible to deny the allure of a magical school like Hogwarts.

Hogwarts is the Wizarding school that services the U.K. and neighboring regions. Students receive their letters at age 11 and then attend Hogwarts for the next seven years, taking everything from Potions and Transfiguration to Divination and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Students are sorted into four distinct houses based on personality, ability, and, above all else, their individual desires. The education at Hogwarts is unlike any other on this list, not only because of the magic involved but also the lifelong friendships that are all but guaranteed.

No matter how you enter Hogwarts — via a lantern-lit ride across the lake, on the back of a Thestral, or an enchanted flying car — there’s something eternally heartwarming about the floating candles of the Great Hall. However, if it’s near Halloween, do watch out for wandering trolls. You never know what awaits at Hogwarts Castle.

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HONORABLE MENTION: The Jedi Academy

Listen, don’t even get us started on our feelings about this one. The Jedi Academy™ of Star Wars™ takes this Honorable Mention spot because of its rich history of learning but also its tragic current state. Lookin’ at you, Anakin Skywalker™. Though Luke Skywalker™ attempted to restart the academy, his star student became Kylo Ren™. Enough said.

Hopefully, future generations of Jedi™, like Rey™ and Ahsoka Tano™, will find ways to keep the teachings of the Jedi alive. May the Force be with them. Besides, somebody’s gotta keep younglings like Grogu™ in line.

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Did your favorite esteemed educational institution makes the grade? Where would you most like to attend?

Join the conversation with other prospective students over at Sideshow Social Network or at side.show/geekgroup, and don’t forget to Let Your Geek Sideshow!