Tell me why you chose public for your really smart DS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really want our DS to go to the local public HS after he finishes up at his well-regarded K-8 next year. I feel like he should have a taste of the “real world” with larger classes and community where he will have to practice advocating for himself. He could have a decent shot at getting into a top private US, and finances are not an issue. Should I feel guilty about making him go public? Fwiw he or DH haven’t expressed a preference either way.

Elite universities cap the number they admit from any particular private. With much of the student body at a private HS vying for the same elite

universities, a kid could have more WL and rejections than if they had gone to a public school, where most of their classmates are aiming lower.

Lol no

Can confirm the above is true. TJ is Fairfax county isn’t even a private school, but there are caps now. The school went from having 25 students attend each of the top schools (other than Brown) to 1-3.

That was never true

[Anonymous]

We chose public for the magnet for our smart DS who is now in a magnet.

DC#2 could probably benefit from private with the smaller class sizes, but they are in HS now and love their friends and club there. I don't wanna rock that boat. They are having a good year. They even said as much to me yesterday.

[Anonymous]

I have 2 kids in public school, one is a good student and the other is an outstanding student--she is one of the smartest people I've ever met. She is driven and wants the hardest math and the hardest science classes, she wants to compete in the science fairs, and our public school provides so many opportunities. And it's free. I went to private school for 12 years, but I never had these opportunities.

[Anonymous]

My very smart kid went to public because we could not afford private, and are teachers ourselves. My kid had a rigorous education in the IB program and certainly was challenged. She was admitted to a selective private university with great aid. Because we lived very close to her public schools, there were no issues with her attending extracurricular activities and getting to know neighborhood kids.

[Anonymous]

Both our smart kids (IQs in the 140s) have thrived in a mid-level FCPS high school. Advanced coursework is available and there are plenty of other intelligent kids and lots more extracurricular/elective options than private schools. Good diverse environment helps them seem more aware in the world, but honestly due to advanced tracks their classes are mainly filled with other intelligent, academically-focused students. But they went public all the way through. I don't know if there would be more of a "culture-shock" if they went private first K-8.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really want our DS to go to the local public HS after he finishes up at his well-regarded K-8 next year. I feel like he should have a taste of the “real world” with larger classes and community where he will have to practice advocating for himself. He could have a decent shot at getting into a top private US, and finances are not an issue. Should I feel guilty about making him go public? Fwiw he or DH haven’t expressed a preference either way.

Public school is the real world? Feel guilty for sending him to public? You sound like a troll. Keep your kid in private and save the public school families your attitude.

[Anonymous]

DH and I both spent time in both public and private growing up and we decided we would live in a strong public school district (FCPS) and send our kids there unless and until the public school was not meeting their needs. Both our kids are in AAP (and at AAP centers) and we have been very happy with their education so far, though they are only in 5th and 7th. We fully expect they will go to our public high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really want our DS to go to the local public HS after he finishes up at his well-regarded K-8 next year. I feel like he should have a taste of the “real world” with larger classes and community where he will have to practice advocating for himself. He could have a decent shot at getting into a top private US, and finances are not an issue. Should I feel guilty about making him go public? Fwiw he or DH haven’t expressed a preference either way.

Elite universities cap the number they admit from any particular private. With much of the student body at a private HS vying for the same elite

universities, a kid could have more WL and rejections than if they had gone to a public school, where most of their classmates are aiming lower.

Lol no

"lol no" mom has entered the chat.

[Anonymous]

Because the MCPS math magnets offer far more than any private can.

[Anonymous]

As a parent of two very smart kids in pubic (no choice) I would put them in private if I could. Public honestly sucks but we have no choice if we want to send them to college debt free. The behavioral issues and attitude problems (not my kids but so many others), vaping, drugs, apathy, etc are a real issue. All but one bathroom is locked at all times, and the open one is manned by a teacher to prevent vaping and other bathroom shenanigans. Sometimes DD has to wander around for 10 minutes searching for the open bathroom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids wanted the neighborhood school where friends were local and it was easy to get back and forth for activities.

Did they go private in their younger years? My DS is at a private, though he has neighborhood friends from activities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a parent of two very smart kids in pubic (no choice) I would put them in private if I could. Public honestly sucks but we have no choice if we want to send them to college debt free. The behavioral issues and attitude problems (not my kids but so many others), vaping, drugs, apathy, etc are a real issue. All but one bathroom is locked at all times, and the open one is manned by a teacher to prevent vaping and other bathroom shenanigans. Sometimes DD has to wander around for 10 minutes searching for the open bathroom.

Hmm, you are the sole dissenter on the thread. Would you say your kids’ experience is atypical of most HS? I am sorry they are having to deal with that. Is it primarily behavioral issues that concern you? Ie you like the academics and extracurriculars

[Anonymous]

My belief is that, for the most part, a good public is the best environment for kids who truly excel in math and science. There's just a much wider variety of course offerings, due to the larger student body size. For a kid who is just generally smart and well rounded, I would pick a private due to the smaller, more nurturing environment, though.

[Anonymous]

We chose public for the community, the larger number of extracurriculars, the better clubs and arts, many more class choices in my child’s field of interest and the knowledge that they would be better prepared and more realistic about the world when they got out. We also wanted to make sure they had a little debt as possible out of college and didn’t want debt to be a factor when choosing a college. A lot depends on your income, but had we gone private, we would not have had the ability to contribute much to college. We also wanted to do things like nice vacations while our kids were growing up, again if you have a greater cash flow these things won’t be an issue. Both my kids are in college now. I question my choices sometime because public school can have its problems, but my kids don’t. They know lots of kids who come from different educational backgrounds and they feel like they are much more prepared for real life. They both went to good school and Adjusted to college really well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We chose public for the community, the larger number of extracurriculars, the better clubs and arts, many more class choices in my child’s field of interest and the knowledge that they would be better prepared and more realistic about the world when they got out. We also wanted to make sure they had a little debt as possible out of college and didn’t want debt to be a factor when choosing a college. A lot depends on your income, but had we gone private, we would not have had the ability to contribute much to college. We also wanted to do things like nice vacations while our kids were growing up, again if you have a greater cash flow these things won’t be an issue. Both my kids are in college now. I question my choices sometime because public school can have its problems, but my kids don’t. They know lots of kids who come from different educational backgrounds and they feel like they are much more prepared for real life. They both went to good school and Adjusted to college really well.

If it wasn’t a financial issue, would you have gone private?