Would you send 2 kids to elite private schools you could BARELY afford?

[Anonymous]

We are planning ahead for our 2 kids; the cost of sending them to an elite private school (at 20-24K per year per child) is something we can afford, but with very little in savings, and almost no wriggle room for our daily lives, and DH and I would both DEFINITELY have to work. This is assuming our incomes don't significantly increase in the years ahead. Our kids right now are only 2 and 3, but certain pre-schools are feeders and so we have to start thinking about this now.

Would you send your kids to the elite private school? Our alternative are catholic schools which would be around 10K cheaper per child.

(FYI -- we currently live in the South but I used to live in DC and would love to hear people's thoughts).

[Anonymous]

Um, no. But it's such a personal decision. I think the way I would look at it is, what use of your financial resources will bring the most benefit to your family?

[Anonymous]

no. send them to the catholic school that's 10k cheaper.

[Anonymous]

No. "Elite private school" is not meant for every kid, especially when it puts stress and financial drain on the entire family.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't do either of your options. I think public schools can be excellent for many children and have chosen to live in NoVa because of the public schools. If my child had special needs, of course then I can see that a variety of other options might be important, such as locating small class sizes or a more creative curriculum...

Also, if you intention is for your children to go to college, you might re-think the "small savings" plan. College is projected to be quite expensive in 15 years and rather than spending all your money on (for instance) a pre-K or grade school, I'd personally opt to spend money on college. Just my two cents.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't unless there was some special need or other compelling reason to do so. Not all privates are good and some publics are good. It really just depends on all of the factors. We opted to move to a better public school district instead of doing private.

[Anonymous]

We preferred to move to a better public school district rather than put our children in private because in the end it is cheaper and we get more for our money - safer neighborhood, well-bred neighbors, better restaurants and shops nearby, etc...

[Anonymous]

I hate to break it to you, but the elite private schools around here are more like $30K. Shocking, I know!

[Anonymous]

i probably wouldn't for two reasons: quality of life while they are young and paying for college.

will the tuition mean that they can't go the summer camp they want, or that you won't be able to pay for lessons/enrichment? no vacations? saying no to a game or some expensive sneakers or somesuch that they want for their entire childhood? if so, i'd figure out another way besides elite private.

[Anonymous]

No. We do private school, but it's affordable to us. I wouldn't stretch it for an elite one. In my view, an elite might be 100% perfect for my child but the smaller private is 95% perfect. Whereas the local public is about 80% perfect. So it's worth spending money for a better school, but not worth the extra $15,000 to only marginally improve that experience.

[Anonymous]

I was the "poorest" kid at private school growing up. It sucks. No.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't, if it means that you'll have no wiggle room. You never know what will come up. I can't imagine not putting money away, if there are alternatives (i.e. the cheaper school). IN all honesty, if your options are "good" and "better," I think you're okay with the "good" because your children will still learn. Where it becomes an issue is if you have "extraordinarily bad" and "excellent." Then, maybe I'd choose "excellent," however I would also consider moving because I still can't imagine not putting money away.

[Anonymous]

PP has it right. I have yet to hear anyone with common sense on the board, but I am pleasantly shocked and surprised at this one. No way should you be spending your money on private schools you can barely afford (like so many here, trying so very, very desperately -and its so obvious - to keep up with those Joneses). Absolutely save that money for college, no question. Any financial planner worth their weight will tell you that. If only more people realized that here. Nah, it will never happen

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was the "poorest" kid at private school growing up. It sucks. No.

Ditto this 100%. It was very hard for me as a child. The majority of my classmates didn't mean to exclude but we just lived in an entirely different world than they did. I wouldn't do this to my children unless our public or parochial school options were horrible.

[Anonymous]

I think you have to remove descriptives like elite and catholic, and think about which school you think is the best fit for your child and are the additional benefits worth the added cost. My DC attends what is considered an excellent public elementary school in Bethesda, within the Whitman district. We debated sending him to private, not one of the "big 3" but an excellent school which shared our philosophy on educating young children, with a $30k/year price tag. We ultimately opted for public due to the fact that the tuition would have been a real stretch for us, and paying it would have prohibited one of us changing/leaving jobs, buying a bigger house someday, doing all the camps and trips we want our DC to experience. However, now that I've seen the public school in action I am really disappointed and feel like spending the money on what i think would be an amazing educational experience is worth way more than those otherthings. (of course, no guaranty that the private would be that excellent once there, but that's an oft debated subject here.) so, my 2 cents is that I'd gear up for one of the feeder preschools so that at the appropriate time you can decide if it's worth it to you to send your DC there.