Public School Son Has Far Better College Prospects Than Private School Daughter

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to Wisconsin and am laughing at this thread.

Laughing how?

I can’t imagine anyone would have Wisconsin as a first choice. It is likely a safety that one may be stuck with since the kid didn’t get into any better schools.

#35 isn't a safety.

I just looked it up and it is ranked fairly high. My kid is only a freshman. We have a long way to go. I doubt he will want to go to Wisconsin. I don’t want him to go there either. Ohio State is also ranked fairly high now with Rutgers. My kids are aiming for T10 schools. I know 35 isn’t exactly a safety but it would not be our kid’s top choice and he/we would be disappointed if he went there.

What makes you think a college in the T10 is the best fit for your child? Which ones have you visited and what specifically is your kid looking for? What is the intended major? How much financial aid do you hope to get?

Your T10 or bust mentality is childish and makes me wonder if you went to college yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your daughter is likely far better prepared for college than your son.

Report back once they’ve both navigated freshman year.

Why would you wish that a student would have a worse time?

You are a small person.

?

It’s not a wish, pp.

Rather, it’s an opinion based on life experience.

Private school curriculum is far more challenging, thus students are better equipped to navigate college.

College was a breeze for me after several hours of homework each night thanks to private HS. Plus, teachers don’t tolerate excuses.

I’m 50 and have observed how several dozen close friends and family members have done in college, and those who attended private school consistently have an easier time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to Wisconsin and am laughing at this thread.

Laughing how?

I can’t imagine anyone would have Wisconsin as a first choice. It is likely a safety that one may be stuck with since the kid didn’t get into any better schools.

#35 isn't a safety.

I just looked it up and it is ranked fairly high. My kid is only a freshman. We have a long way to go. I doubt he will want to go to Wisconsin. I don’t want him to go there either. Ohio State is also ranked fairly high now with Rutgers. My kids are aiming for T10 schools. I know 35 isn’t exactly a safety but it would not be our kid’s top choice and he/we would be disappointed if he went there.

Unless your kid is hooked or literally in top 5 students in the grade, most T10 schools are out of reach. For unhooked private school kids who are top academically, UChicago (ED), WashU or Emory kind of schools are where they will probably land or SLACs - only if you apply ED to these schools. Between the legacy, donors, URM and athletes at privates, very few spots are left for kids who excel academically. However, your kid will be well prepared for college and do well. Just cast a wide net and be respectful of all colleges when discussing with your kid because you never know where they will land.

[Anonymous]

Tell your daughter to have more fun in college than in HS, which will probably be fairly easy to do. And then aim high for grad school, which is what 'counts' now anyway. And don't discount your son's achievement. Congratulations to them both--sounds like you have two great kids.

[Anonymous]

People who say college was much easier for private school kids are probably talking about humanities majors. For STEM majors, I think college is very challenging. My kid is from a private school and doing a dual major, STEM and humanities, they are breezing through the humanities major but the STEM major is very rigorous and intensive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to Wisconsin and am laughing at this thread.

Laughing how?

I can’t imagine anyone would have Wisconsin as a first choice. It is likely a safety that one may be stuck with since the kid didn’t get into any better schools.

#35 isn't a safety.

I just looked it up and it is ranked fairly high. My kid is only a freshman. We have a long way to go. I doubt he will want to go to Wisconsin. I don’t want him to go there either. Ohio State is also ranked fairly high now with Rutgers. My kids are aiming for T10 schools. I know 35 isn’t exactly a safety but it would not be our kid’s top choice and he/we would be disappointed if he went there.

What makes you think a college in the T10 is the best fit for your child? Which ones have you visited and what specifically is your kid looking for? What is the intended major? How much financial aid do you hope to get?

Your T10 or bust mentality is childish and makes me wonder if you went to college yourself.

I went to a T30 school and transferred
to a T5 school. Very different experiences.

I know some people would prefer the T30. I definitely preferred the T5, and I hope my kids have the choice of a T5 experience.

[Anonymous]

I think also that people who are paying for private school are trying to make themselves feel better with the mindset of “their kid will be better prepared for college.” At my Ivy, I went to private school and was perhaps more prepared but also more burnt out. The public school kids maybe initially struggled but did fine in the end. My husband went to a terrible public school that wasn’t as challenging as my private school in CT and we ended up graduating with identical GPAs. He’s really successful in his career likely because of the intangibles (ie social emotional) that he learned in public. I don’t think spending private school money to ensure certain outcomes (like my kid will be better than other kids or my kid will get into a better school) is the right mindset. It should be about what is best for your kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think also that people who are paying for private school are trying to make themselves feel better with the mindset of “their kid will be better prepared for college.” At my Ivy, I went to private school and was perhaps more prepared but also more burnt out. The public school kids maybe initially struggled but did fine in the end. My husband went to a terrible public school that wasn’t as challenging as my private school in CT and we ended up graduating with identical GPAs. He’s really successful in his career likely because of the intangibles (ie social emotional) that he learned in public. I don’t think spending private school money to ensure certain outcomes (like my kid will be better than other kids or my kid will get into a better school) is the right mindset. It should be about what is best for your kid.

True, for some.

A girl from my soul-crushingly hard private HS put way too much pressure on herself throughout HS—precisely because Yale was her goal. She would literally pop a pill every time a big new assignment was announced. She was definitely burnt out in HS. She sailed through Yale though…and has a perfectly meh career now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son attends Jackson-Reed and looks like he's going to graduate with a 4.5 GPA. The college matriculation stats at J-R aren't great, but their online platform shows that he has a very good shot at Ivies this upcoming cycle. My daughter goes to NCS and is set to graduate with a B+/A- GPA. She has worked much harder, gained a better education, but students with her college prospects are far more dire. We are hoping just to get her into U Wisconsin.

We hired a top college admissions consultant, and she told us she has a 90% certainty she can get my son into a top 20 college. She said my daughter has virtually no chance because of her grades.

I learned the hard way that universities do not care where your kid attends high school, and they will not receive a "bump" in admissions because of it.

The experience my kids have had at their Big 3 is something we would never trade. Their school offered so much. Would never send my kids to Jackson Reed. Pre-K-12 is the foundation of not just learning but how you interact with the world and present yourself. From what o see at Jackson Reed daily at Tenley Town I would never want my kids at a school with kids who need the police to be present to keeps kids under control.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to Wisconsin and am laughing at this thread.

Laughing how?

I can’t imagine anyone would have Wisconsin as a first choice. It is likely a safety that one may be stuck with since the kid didn’t get into any better schools.

#35 isn't a safety.

I just looked it up and it is ranked fairly high. My kid is only a freshman. We have a long way to go. I doubt he will want to go to Wisconsin. I don’t want him to go there either. Ohio State is also ranked fairly high now with Rutgers. My kids are aiming for T10 schools. I know 35 isn’t exactly a safety but it would not be our kid’s top choice and he/we would be disappointed if he went there.

What makes you think a college in the T10 is the best fit for your child? Which ones have you visited and what specifically is your kid looking for? What is the intended major? How much financial aid do you hope to get?

Your T10 or bust mentality is childish and makes me wonder if you went to college yourself.

There are maybe only 2 colleges in the top 20 we would even look at. Several have severe anti Semitism and are too woke. Friends with kids at those schools hate it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to Wisconsin and am laughing at this thread.

Laughing how?

I can’t imagine anyone would have Wisconsin as a first choice. It is likely a safety that one may be stuck with since the kid didn’t get into any better schools.

#35 isn't a safety.

I just looked it up and it is ranked fairly high. My kid is only a freshman. We have a long way to go. I doubt he will want to go to Wisconsin. I don’t want him to go there either. Ohio State is also ranked fairly high now with Rutgers. My kids are aiming for T10 schools. I know 35 isn’t exactly a safety but it would not be our kid’s top choice and he/we would be disappointed if he went there.

What makes you think a college in the T10 is the best fit for your child? Which ones have you visited and what specifically is your kid looking for? What is the intended major? How much financial aid do you hope to get?

Your T10 or bust mentality is childish and makes me wonder if you went to college yourself.

I went to a T30 school and transferred
to a T5 school. Very different experiences.

I know some people would prefer the T30. I definitely preferred the T5, and I hope my kids have the choice of a T5 experience.

College admissions today is much different from when us parents did it. I want to echo others stating the difficulty of admissions now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think also that people who are paying for private school are trying to make themselves feel better with the mindset of “their kid will be better prepared for college.” At my Ivy, I went to private school and was perhaps more prepared but also more burnt out. The public school kids maybe initially struggled but did fine in the end. My husband went to a terrible public school that wasn’t as challenging as my private school in CT and we ended up graduating with identical GPAs. He’s really successful in his career likely because of the intangibles (ie social emotional) that he learned in public. I don’t think spending private school money to ensure certain outcomes (like my kid will be better than other kids or my kid will get into a better school) is the right mindset. It should be about what is best for your kid.

I agree with this but like anything it's kid dependent and probably far more about who they are than where they go to school.

My daughter is at NCS and is so burnt out it's not funny. She wants to go to a big, fun school for college. She has a few classmates that have loved the pace of NCS (a few, frankly not many) and can't wait to go to the University of Chicago or Swarthmore and jump into 4 more years of pure academic grind.

On your second point, if you are attributing career success to "social emotional skills"---well those are about 99.9% the person and about 0.1% their schooling environment. YES!, "outlying" career success in many if not most disciplines is based on interpersonal qualities that can't be taught in any book. Frankly, you either "have it or you don't" in terms of charisma, leadership qualities, people skills, etc. My kids all started in public and attended either through middle school or high school. I'm talking large, diverse, chaotic publics. I push back against anyone who says this experience is necessary or even valuable for interpersonal development. The private schools don't hand things to kids--if anything the kids are held to a higher standard of self advocacy. You don't need to attend a high school with fist fights in the hallways or teachers who have 35 kids in their classes in order to learn social-emotional skills for the workforce!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to Wisconsin and am laughing at this thread.

Laughing how?

I can’t imagine anyone would have Wisconsin as a first choice. It is likely a safety that one may be stuck with since the kid didn’t get into any better schools.

#35 isn't a safety.

I just looked it up and it is ranked fairly high. My kid is only a freshman. We have a long way to go. I doubt he will want to go to Wisconsin. I don’t want him to go there either. Ohio State is also ranked fairly high now with Rutgers. My kids are aiming for T10 schools. I know 35 isn’t exactly a safety but it would not be our kid’s top choice and he/we would be disappointed if he went there.

What makes you think a college in the T10 is the best fit for your child? Which ones have you visited and what specifically is your kid looking for? What is the intended major? How much financial aid do you hope to get?

Your T10 or bust mentality is childish and makes me wonder if you went to college yourself.

I went to a T30 school and transferred
to a T5 school. Very different experiences.

I know some people would prefer the T30. I definitely preferred the T5, and I hope my kids have the choice of a T5 experience.

The fact that you transferred also suggests the first school wasn’t a good fit, and you were able to find a better fit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to Wisconsin and am laughing at this thread.

Laughing how?

I can’t imagine anyone would have Wisconsin as a first choice. It is likely a safety that one may be stuck with since the kid didn’t get into any better schools.

#35 isn't a safety.

I just looked it up and it is ranked fairly high. My kid is only a freshman. We have a long way to go. I doubt he will want to go to Wisconsin. I don’t want him to go there either. Ohio State is also ranked fairly high now with Rutgers. My kids are aiming for T10 schools. I know 35 isn’t exactly a safety but it would not be our kid’s top choice and he/we would be disappointed if he went there.

Ah, freshman parent. You are in for a rude awakening.

[jsteele]

This is a troll thread.