Zarna Garg podcast

[Anonymous]

Kids went to HM. She pulled them when the oldest was in 8th grade and sent them to public. Says HM was gatekeeping the top school application support, leadership activities, only for the nepo babies. Thoughts?

Kids went to Stanford and Cornell from public, third kid entering Stuyvesant now

[Anonymous]

This is like the third time you are bringing up this person and her kids' trajectory -- not sure why, but it's all been discussed to death in the other threads. No school is best for everyone, no outcome is guaranteed, choose what works for your kid and your family now and hope for the best in the future.

[Anonymous]

Not OP and have a child in lower school TT. I thought the podcast was very eye opening and merits discussion. What was very notable was that her daughter essentially corroborated everything negative that she said and had essentially nothing negative to say about her transition from HM to Bronx Science. We're not a donor family nor have immense social capital of any kind so we would be in the same boat as her family when they were at HM. So far in lower school we haven't experienced any instances where favoritism was apparent and roles have been doled out based on ability and maturity. However we know this dynamic may change in Middle and High School when things start to matter for college exmissions. The fact that Zarna's daughter 1) tested into Bronx Science in 8th grade after having a 27th percentile ERB in 5th grade and 2) got into Stanford from a place like Bronx Science points to her being a very capable student. If their impression is true that both her high school experience and college outcome would likely have been worse had she stayed in HM then I think that begs the question for the typical dual income family at these schools just what are we getting for our tuition? Would we all in fact be better served to take a humanities track at a SHSAT?

[Anonymous]

I have a senior at HM, and he's not a "nepo baby." I don't have time for her podcast, but what she describes has not been our experience there. And I'll just add that if the only acceptable outcome to you is your child's matriculation at an Ivy or two or three other universities, then the odds of disappointment are in your favor everywhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not OP and have a child in lower school TT. I thought the podcast was very eye opening and merits discussion. What was very notable was that her daughter essentially corroborated everything negative that she said and had essentially nothing negative to say about her transition from HM to Bronx Science. We're not a donor family nor have immense social capital of any kind so we would be in the same boat as her family when they were at HM. So far in lower school we haven't experienced any instances where favoritism was apparent and roles have been doled out based on ability and maturity. However we know this dynamic may change in Middle and High School when things start to matter for college exmissions. The fact that Zarna's daughter 1) tested into Bronx Science in 8th grade after having a 27th percentile ERB in 5th grade and 2) got into Stanford from a place like Bronx Science points to her being a very capable student. If their impression is true that both her high school experience and college outcome would likely have been worse had she stayed in HM then I think that begs the question for the typical dual income family at these schools just what are we getting for our tuition? Would we all in fact be better served to take a humanities track at a SHSAT?

My child is at a private nursery division and I already experience what has been mentioned. From receiving fund raising request prior to attending, which child is highlighted during events, parents who volunteer at school having inside information and preferential treatment, etc…


I question whether we are so devoted to having our life revolve around our child being admitted to Ivy+. The stay at home parent is eager to prove their value to their family, so it is a very different dynamic.

[Anonymous]

It’s even worse when the kids being highlighted are the same kids who bully your kid.

[Anonymous]

So... everyone's experience also corroborate what Zarna was describing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So... everyone's experience also corroborate what Zarna was describing?

No.

[Anonymous]

Can you pls say more?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So... everyone's experience also corroborate what Zarna was describing?

Her experience is more relatable to the transplant and the immigrant experience rather than many who are from the area and are sending their child to an environment they are familiar with for multiple generations.

My child is ahead of her public school peers and enjoys going to school every day. Only if you turn it into a competition and focused on maximizing college outcome does it start to feel in the way she described it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So... everyone's experience also corroborate what Zarna was describing?

Her experience is more relatable to the transplant and the immigrant experience rather than many who are from the area and are sending their child to an environment they are familiar with for multiple generations.

My child is ahead of her public school peers and enjoys going to school every day. Only if you turn it into a competition and focused on maximizing college outcome does it start to feel in the way she described it.

So I'm a bit confused by this. Are you saying in your experience that what she's described in terms of favoritism does happen but it's for minor things that don't materially impact the student's experience (e.g. leadership titles for organizations that aren't that significant as opposed to say who captains debate)? Also, what does this have to do with being a transplant vs multi-generational family? I think the concept of fairness goes way beyond maximizing college outcomes...

[Anonymous]

It's not so uncommon for kids to switch schools for high school, even if they are at a K-12. I've certainly heard of other families leaving for SHSAT or screened publics for high school. I think if you're not rich and are full pay at a private and your kid can get into a good public then it might be worth it to switch. You can save money for college and probably have plenty of money for private college counselors. In high school you also have to be more concerned with who your kid is spending time with and things like partying and drugs. I might prefer to have my kid at a good public and around other smart, hardworking kids of diverse backgrounds. I wouldn't be surprised if there was some gatekeeping at some of these schools. I have heard that it happens at Trinity. Seems to me moving from HM to BS is not such a crazy choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So... everyone's experience also corroborate what Zarna was describing?

Her experience is more relatable to the transplant and the immigrant experience rather than many who are from the area and are sending their child to an environment they are familiar with for multiple generations.

My child is ahead of her public school peers and enjoys going to school every day. Only if you turn it into a competition and focused on maximizing college outcome does it start to feel in the way she described it.

So I'm a bit confused by this. Are you saying in your experience that what she's described in terms of favoritism does happen but it's for minor things that don't materially impact the student's experience (e.g. leadership titles for organizations that aren't that significant as opposed to say who captains debate)? Also, what does this have to do with being a transplant vs multi-generational family? I think the concept of fairness goes way beyond maximizing college outcomes...

I don’t know how much bias there is as a parent. Realistic your child is in a cohort full of motivated children that have highly educated parents that are well resourced. It going to be difficult to differentiate yourself and many are going to have a legacy advantage. It is speculation that it came down to favoritism. In addition, she admitted to not wanting to participate in the community / school by volunteering and having her child attend the same summer camps so they were in the outside looking in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kids went to HM. She pulled them when the oldest was in 8th grade and sent them to public. Says HM was gatekeeping the top school application support, leadership activities, only for the nepo babies. Thoughts?

Kids went to Stanford and Cornell from public, third kid entering Stuyvesant now

That's what Trinity did when I went there 35 years ago but it was Nepo babies and kids of the wealthy donors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's not so uncommon for kids to switch schools for high school, even if they are at a K-12. I've certainly heard of other families leaving for SHSAT or screened publics for high school. I think if you're not rich and are full pay at a private and your kid can get into a good public then it might be worth it to switch. You can save money for college and probably have plenty of money for private college counselors. In high school you also have to be more concerned with who your kid is spending time with and things like partying and drugs. I might prefer to have my kid at a good public and around other smart, hardworking kids of diverse backgrounds. I wouldn't be surprised if there was some gatekeeping at some of these schools. I have heard that it happens at Trinity. Seems to me moving from HM to BS is not such a crazy choice.

I agree with this. I think people are not getting that going to a TT private K-8 helped a lot of these families get in to a SHSAT public school. It also helps they have the funds for tutoring and extra classes, and also helps that the can pay extra for a good college exmissions counselor. So I take the "switch" with a grain of salt. Honestly I bet their children would have gotten in to any school they wanted even if they stayed at HM. And they obviously used money to help get them in to schools from public.