Are chances better of getting into private schools better because of the economy?

[Anonymous]

IMO, DC is pretty recession-proof. A lot of it is either "old" or family money and unless you were Madoffed, not a lot has changed for many people. And, btw, Saks was packed today.

[Anonymous]

The waitlist will be moving rolling in this year. Congrats to those that make it on the list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:IMO, DC is pretty recession-proof. A lot of it is either "old" or family money and unless you were Madoffed, not a lot has changed for many people. And, btw, Saks was packed today.

I guess that's why these schools can still get away with raising tuition in these terrible ecoonomic times.

[Anonymous]

Yes, DC is less recession-affected than other cities, but the recession is hitting us too. DC is largely composed of lawyers, which throughout the last two weeks have been laid off from prominent law firms in droves. If the economy does not improve substantially in the next two years, we will have no choice but to consider public school for a few years just so that we can put some money away. I never thought I'd have to make that decision, but neither my company nor my husband's gave raises this year, we don't expect a raise (or bonus next year), my husband's company's stock is in the toilet, so there is simply no way we can afford two high end private schools plus child-care on our current salaries.

And I'm not alone. Our friends (many of whom have family money) are all in the same boat. Much of that family money was in the market. Just the way it goes.

[Anonymous]

From what I here, the private schools are fine, but they are tightening their belts a bit. Haven't heard about whether or not applications decreased, but I don't think ANY are is recession proof. People with "old money" were hit hard too. The people I know had hedge funds, stocks, etc that went way down. I predict there will be more people getting in off the waitlist than before. Also, i think it will be a tiny bit easier to get into private schools after K. If after a year or 2 of a private school parents aren't thrilled it might be harder to write that check and they may opt for another school or public. Just a hypothesis, no evidence to back it up yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:IMO, DC is pretty recession-proof. A lot of it is either "old" or family money and unless you were Madoffed, not a lot has changed for many people. And, btw, Saks was packed today.

What?? DC isn't exactly a city with a long history of either industry or trade (the foundations upon which "old" money gets built). It was a complete backwater until post WWII and even then has only risen in economic importance since the 80s with defense spending and the tech boom. As important as lobbyists and lawyers at DC firms like to believe they are, this is really the mosquitos sucking on the blood of American enterprise. DC is recession proof precisely because it's never been about actually generating anything of real importance. It's all about spending the hard-earned money of others.