This paper examines whether evaluations of primary-school characteristics vary across national and social contexts. Using a factorial survey experiment with more than 2500 respondents in the United States, Germany, and Italy, participants evaluated hypothetical schools differing in six attributes. By holding information, cost, and proximity constant, the design isolates stated preferences from several constraints that shape observed school choices. Multilevel models estimate the effects of school attributes on enrolment intention, perceived academic effectiveness, and expected social integration. Two findings stand out. First, respondents with and without university education evaluate school characteristics in remarkably similar ways, providing limited evidence that school preferences are strongly stratified by educational background. Second, although the general pattern of evaluations is broadly similar across countries, the relative effects of particular attributes vary: U.S. respondents are more responsive to school performance levels, Italian respondents to academic growth, and extracurricular activities and parental involvement also differ in salience across contexts. Respondents react significantly to all six school attributes across the three evaluative dimensions, indicating that school preferences are shaped by multiple academic, social, and organizational considerations. Overall, our findings suggest that cross-national and social inequalities in school attendance are unlikely to be explained by preference differences alone.