A survey examined educational aspirations and perceptions of school climate among gifted students at the Maine School of Science and Mathematics, a state-funded rural magnet school serving grades 11 and 12. Students at the magnet school completed the 84-item Grades 6-12 Aspirations Survey, returning 97 usable forms. The instrument has 12 scales: 2 measure student aspirations, 8 measure student perceptions of school climate, and 2 estimate student enjoyment of life and achievement motivation. Results were compared to an archive of survey data from 260 11th- and 12th-grade students of general ability. Compared to the archive data, magnet school students reported higher levels of aspirations, achievement motivation, general enjoyment of life, and perceptions of school climate conditions. Findings suggest that high-ability secondary students attending magnet schools have high aspirations, higher than those of students in a general-ability sample. In addition, magnet school students appear to perceive a school climate that is supportive and fosters achievement and aspirations to a greater extent than do general-ability students attending traditional high schools. Contains 20 references. (SV)