Is the cost of attending independent schools justified?

[Anonymous]

They cost the same as an Ivy League university and quality in many cases is comparable to a public schools?

Is the cost justified?

In my view its out of whack.

You might end paying 800k to learn at the end the kids get into ivy leagues because of legacy admission.

[Anonymous]

It's it expensive to send your child to an independent private school? Yes, of course it is. For some people, money is no object. For those of us for whom money is something we need to consider, we've made life choices that allow us to send our kids to private. We opted to send them to public school for elementary and private for Middle and High School. We do not go on expensive vacations. We live modestly (old cars, small house). We believe their day-to-day experience is vastly superior to what they would receive at their zoned public and so,yes, it is worth the money for us. If you are only interested in the ROI on the basis of where your kids matriculate for college, you are not a family who should send your child to private.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's it expensive to send your child to an independent private school? Yes, of course it is. For some people, money is no object. For those of us for whom money is something we need to consider, we've made life choices that allow us to send our kids to private. We opted to send them to public school for elementary and private for Middle and High School. We do not go on expensive vacations. We live modestly (old cars, small house). We believe their day-to-day experience is vastly superior to what they would receive at their zoned public and so,yes, it is worth the money for us. If you are only interested in the ROI on the basis of where your kids matriculate for college, you are not a family who should send your child to private.

+1.

It's so family and reason dependent, which is why some variant of this question gets asked here weekly. But the above encapsulates it pretty well. For whatever reason, the experience is better enough for the kids and the family that the cost seems worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They cost the same as an Ivy League university and quality in many cases is comparable to a public schools?

Is the cost justified?

In my view its out of whack.

You might end paying 800k to learn at the end the kids get into ivy leagues because of legacy admission.

Which private schools cost $80-90k to attend??

[Anonymous]

We make $3M+ and it still feels like an insane amount going out the door (we have no family money and both went to public schools growing up). We have one in private and one in public (DCPS) - both elementary aged. I'm keeping the younger one in public for as long as it works/she is ok with it. Ideally until middle school starts but she might want to join her sibling before that.

If I could give anyone advice: hold off on private as long as you can absent an exceptional need for a private that is very kid dependent. In elementary at least, I am seeing very little difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's it expensive to send your child to an independent private school? Yes, of course it is. For some people, money is no object. For those of us for whom money is something we need to consider, we've made life choices that allow us to send our kids to private. We opted to send them to public school for elementary and private for Middle and High School. We do not go on expensive vacations. We live modestly (old cars, small house). We believe their day-to-day experience is vastly superior to what they would receive at their zoned public and so,yes, it is worth the money for us. If you are only interested in the ROI on the basis of where your kids matriculate for college, you are not a family who should send your child to private.

+1.

It's so family and reason dependent, which is why some variant of this question gets asked here weekly. But the above encapsulates it pretty well. For whatever reason, the experience is better enough for the kids and the family that the cost seems worth it.

Agreed, there’s no single calculation because, depending on where you live, the public and private options will be vastly different.

From my POV: you’re not paying tuition so your kid can access some secret hidden curriculum or get in the back door to Stanford - but so their daily experience at school (where they spend a HUGE portion of their childhood) is positive and rewarding. Given how much time kids spend in school and how it can influence other areas of life, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to spend money in order to have choices (and choose not to spend in other areas).

[Anonymous]

As others have said, if you only look at private school as a means to a specific college outcome then it makes no sense. But I don’t think that is how most private school families view it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We make $3M+ and it still feels like an insane amount going out the door

You make $3mm/yr and can't deal with two kids in private? or do you mean 3mm NW?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As others have said, if you only look at private school as a means to a specific college outcome then it makes no sense. But I don’t think that is how most private school families view it.

how naive

[Anonymous]

Something to keep in mind , if someone thinks they may want to sent their kid to private for 9-12, getting them in the door at K means they are in "for life" thru HS graduation

Even if someone is not sure about private at all, it is something of a hedge against public schools in the future, because it is easy to go from private to public.

[Anonymous]

If you can afford it, 100%.

If you can't save for your own retirement, maybe. Depends on how your kid deals with being the poor kid at school.

[Anonymous]

It’s just that I look at the actual quality of teaching and do see any difference with the quality of public school. Have kids in both and private.

[Anonymous]

Do not see any difference

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do not see any difference

That’s because you didn’t select a good private school.

[Anonymous]

We have kids in both. Our DS with learning disabilities goes to McLean and it’s worth every penny for him. I’d sell a kidney to keep him there.

Our older two are in private and public high schools and honestly I have no idea why we’re paying for the private other than inertia. We switched both kids during the pandemic and one moved to our (strong) public in 9th and the other stayed at the private. Both are bright, strong students, good people, and will have many great opportunities in life. ROI for our neurotypical kids doesn’t seem there for us. That said, we are not into status.