Is the obsession with private schools justified?

[Anonymous]

Yes, I want my kid to attend the best possible school. So far, so good. But my experience in DC has felt a bit off compared to my experience overseas: paying $40,000 for childcare at NCRC partly to get access to top private schools, hiring consultants to prepare children for admissions, dealing with opaque selection processes that seem influenced by connections, and seeing schools treated as symbols of social status.

And then, when you finally get into a top private school, you realize that the college admissions numbers may be distorted by athletes and legacy admissions, and that the actual curriculum is not necessarily stronger than what good public schools offer. So at some point you have to ask: is it really worth obsessing over something that may offer such poor value?

[Anonymous]

All your examples are about preparing students for admissions to the next school, as opposed to the experience there/actually learning something. If that's your definition of "best school," you're going to be disappointed everywhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All your examples are about preparing students for admissions to the next school, as opposed to the experience there/actually learning something. If that's your definition of "best school," you're going to be disappointed everywhere.

I mentioned this : “ the actual curriculum is not necessarily stronger than what good public schools offer.”

And yes, it is disappointing. It feels like I am paying for a lot of things, except high quality education.

[Anonymous]

Here’s the thing….

People who can actually afford these schools and belong there don’t care about prestige, rigor or college admissions.

Your the rube trying to place yourself adjacent to them… which is why people will call you a striver,

The rest don’t care about those sophomoric concerns.

Do they end up with the end goal you sweat and toil over, yes but not why and how you hope it’s happening.

Inside the bubble it’s not opaque… it’s only opaque from the outside looking in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here’s the thing….

People who can actually afford these schools and belong there don’t care about prestige, rigor or college admissions.

Your the rube trying to place yourself adjacent to them… which is why people will call you a striver,

The rest don’t care about those sophomoric concerns.

Do they end up with the end goal you sweat and toil over, yes but not why and how you hope it’s happening.

Inside the bubble it’s not opaque… it’s only opaque from the outside looking in.

You are incoherent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here’s the thing….

People who can actually afford these schools and belong there don’t care about prestige, rigor or college admissions.

Your the rube trying to place yourself adjacent to them… which is why people will call you a striver,

The rest don’t care about those sophomoric concerns.

Do they end up with the end goal you sweat and toil over, yes but not why and how you hope it’s happening.

Inside the bubble it’s not opaque… it’s only opaque from the outside looking in.

You are a good example of what I am describing: people tying a school to their social status (“Inside the bubble, it’s not opaque.”)

My only metric is the quality of the education. And by that metric, the top private school my child attends is failing.

[Anonymous]

No. We use private school but I’ve never felt any pressure for it to be a good value, nor am I trying to climb some kind of grease pole to get my kid into an elite college.

I don’t even think elite private schools are the best bet for getting into an elite college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here’s the thing….

People who can actually afford these schools and belong there don’t care about prestige, rigor or college admissions.

Your the rube trying to place yourself adjacent to them… which is why people will call you a striver,

The rest don’t care about those sophomoric concerns.

Do they end up with the end goal you sweat and toil over, yes but not why and how you hope it’s happening.

Inside the bubble it’s not opaque… it’s only opaque from the outside looking in.

You are a good example of what I am describing: people tying a school to their social status (“Inside the bubble, it’s not opaque.”)

My only metric is the quality of the education. And by that metric, the top private school my child attends is failing.

I agree about Bubble PP.

But why are your kids still at your “top” school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here’s the thing….

People who can actually afford these schools and belong there don’t care about prestige, rigor or college admissions.

Your the rube trying to place yourself adjacent to them… which is why people will call you a striver,

The rest don’t care about those sophomoric concerns.

Do they end up with the end goal you sweat and toil over, yes but not why and how you hope it’s happening.

Inside the bubble it’s not opaque… it’s only opaque from the outside looking in.

You are a good example of what I am describing: people tying a school to their social status (“Inside the bubble, it’s not opaque.”)

My only metric is the quality of the education. And by that metric, the top private school my child attends is failing.

You picked a status school then expected a non status school.

You’re not in the bubble so you judged it from the outside. You didn’t understand the community.

What is your goal? A child who cures cancer?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here’s the thing….

People who can actually afford these schools and belong there don’t care about prestige, rigor or college admissions.

Your the rube trying to place yourself adjacent to them… which is why people will call you a striver,

The rest don’t care about those sophomoric concerns.

Do they end up with the end goal you sweat and toil over, yes but not why and how you hope it’s happening.

Inside the bubble it’s not opaque… it’s only opaque from the outside looking in.

You are a good example of what I am describing: people tying a school to their social status (“Inside the bubble, it’s not opaque.”)

My only metric is the quality of the education. And by that metric, the top private school my child attends is failing.

So why are you there? Serious question! If I were naming the top high school in the area as far as quality of education, by reputation I think it would be TJ. That’s a public school.

I also feel like if you really want to be “elite” in this country, you don’t stay in DC. This is the backwoods.

[Anonymous]

People obsess over private schools for the same reason they obsess over travel sports — they’re trying to compensate for their own failures and projecting on to their kids. And wasting a ton of time and money in the process.

They’d be better off paying for a therapist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here’s the thing….

People who can actually afford these schools and belong there don’t care about prestige, rigor or college admissions.

Your the rube trying to place yourself adjacent to them… which is why people will call you a striver,

The rest don’t care about those sophomoric concerns.

Do they end up with the end goal you sweat and toil over, yes but not why and how you hope it’s happening.

Inside the bubble it’s not opaque… it’s only opaque from the outside looking in.

You are a good example of what I am describing: people tying a school to their social status (“Inside the bubble, it’s not opaque.”)

My only metric is the quality of the education. And by that metric, the top private school my child attends is failing.

So why are you there? Serious question! If I were naming the top high school in the area as far as quality of education, by reputation I think it would be TJ. That’s a public school.

I also feel like if you really want to be “elite” in this country, you don’t stay in DC. This is the backwoods.

They aren’t getting into top NE schools. They have to climb one rung 1st maybe their kids will eventually get into that orbit,

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here’s the thing….

People who can actually afford these schools and belong there don’t care about prestige, rigor or college admissions.

Your the rube trying to place yourself adjacent to them… which is why people will call you a striver,

The rest don’t care about those sophomoric concerns.

Do they end up with the end goal you sweat and toil over, yes but not why and how you hope it’s happening.

Inside the bubble it’s not opaque… it’s only opaque from the outside looking in.

You are a good example of what I am describing: people tying a school to their social status (“Inside the bubble, it’s not opaque.”)

My only metric is the quality of the education. And by that metric, the top private school my child attends is failing.

So why are you there? Serious question! If I were naming the top high school in the area as far as quality of education, by reputation I think it would be TJ. That’s a public school.

I also feel like if you really want to be “elite” in this country, you don’t stay in DC. This is the backwoods.

If TJ is so great, then why do multiple grads end of up JMU or GMU? What happened there? Could have gotten to that same destination with a lot less effort.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here’s the thing….

People who can actually afford these schools and belong there don’t care about prestige, rigor or college admissions.

Your the rube trying to place yourself adjacent to them… which is why people will call you a striver,

The rest don’t care about those sophomoric concerns.

Do they end up with the end goal you sweat and toil over, yes but not why and how you hope it’s happening.

Inside the bubble it’s not opaque… it’s only opaque from the outside looking in.

You are a good example of what I am describing: people tying a school to their social status (“Inside the bubble, it’s not opaque.”)

My only metric is the quality of the education. And by that metric, the top private school my child attends is failing.

So why are you there? Serious question! If I were naming the top high school in the area as far as quality of education, by reputation I think it would be TJ. That’s a public school.

I also feel like if you really want to be “elite” in this country, you don’t stay in DC. This is the backwoods.

If TJ is so great, then why do multiple grads end of up JMU or GMU? What happened there? Could have gotten to that same destination with a lot less effort.

You’re joking, right? TJ is the best STEM education in the DMV, hands down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here’s the thing….

People who can actually afford these schools and belong there don’t care about prestige, rigor or college admissions.

Your the rube trying to place yourself adjacent to them… which is why people will call you a striver,

The rest don’t care about those sophomoric concerns.

Do they end up with the end goal you sweat and toil over, yes but not why and how you hope it’s happening.

Inside the bubble it’s not opaque… it’s only opaque from the outside looking in.

You are a good example of what I am describing: people tying a school to their social status (“Inside the bubble, it’s not opaque.”)

My only metric is the quality of the education. And by that metric, the top private school my child attends is failing.

So why are you there? Serious question! If I were naming the top high school in the area as far as quality of education, by reputation I think it would be TJ. That’s a public school.

I also feel like if you really want to be “elite” in this country, you don’t stay in DC. This is the backwoods.

If TJ is so great, then why do multiple grads end of up JMU or GMU? What happened there? Could have gotten to that same destination with a lot less effort.

Money is one reason and they go to JMU for free.

Many are ecstatic to go to JMU engineering for free.

Mental health is the other. Many at TJ crash and burn mentally because they don’t want an “elite” education but their parents put all their delusions onto their kids.