Collegiate high's not as hard to get into as the press clippings would lead you to believe, especially if a student has high grades freshman year at their traditional high school. Student body is pretty much the same what you'd find in the honors/AP/IB track at other area high schools- some of them very bright, others are probably pretty average in terms of IQ, but willing to work extremely hard to get good grades.
It's a good school for smart/motivated kids who don't necessarily fit in right in a traditional school. The drawbacks I see are fewer extracurricular opportunities, and if the kid plans on going outstate for college, they may have problems with transfer credits with some colleges because of how the OWC program is structured. (If the kid knows they're going to stay in-state for their BA/BS, college transfer credit will be extremely painless and smooth because of how FL higher ed numbers and classifies courses statewide)
For the traditional high schools, I'd give the nod to Niceville High- strong academics, Okaloosa County in general runs their schools very well, extensive successful extracurriculars, and a motivated student body. It's where a lot of the area rocket scientists (who are in missle development at Eglin AFB) send their kids.
