The Death of Private School As We Know It

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:50K a year?

How about free and 5K of tutors. You all are idiots.

Why would I send my kid to an inadequate school all day so they can come home and learn again with tutors? WTF sense does that make?

Right?!? Hardly a ringing endorsement - send your kid to public school so they can spend hours with tutors after being at school all day! Yay for you?

Funny, all of my friends with kids in Big 3 privates have tutors for their HS students. In fact, someone recommended a math teacher at Sidwell as a tutor for my public DC and when I reached out, he said his plate was full tutoring Sidwell students.

Anyway, I’m sure many private parents send their kids to private for reasons other than college admissions, but your assumption that your coddled private school students in their sheltered environments will be “so much better prepared” for college is just nonsense. College (and life) are so much more than whether your child has learned to write research essays in high school. We all justify our decisions, but the notion that public school kids taking rigorous courses universally have crappy, uncaring teachers and go to college unprepared is a load of crap.

Signed,
Public school grad, Ivy grad, biglaw partner who agrees with the PP that all biglaw partners want to brag about are there private school kids college admissions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Im sounding the alarm. The end is near.

For any one of you paying full tuition at a Private School for college admissions purposes (hoping you'll get into a better college), you are 100% wasting your money. I have several children in Big 3's and unless you are URM, QuestBridge, Athlete or Legacy - you are completely wasting your money. No one cares that your school is tough. That a 3.7 is really great. No one cares about ACT/SATs anymore.

You are wasting your money. 100%

The college admissions process is now washed of achievement. And there is backlash against wealth and privilege.

Dont do it. Dont waste your time. And your money. And stop perpetuating the dummying down of our system.

I wish someone would have told me 3 years ago before I enrolled my kids. Total waste of money.

K-12 at private school and college at a respected place like UMich, UVA, USC, Wake Forest, or LAC > K-12 at public school with a CHANCE at a top 20 university. I sincerely mean that with every bone in my body. We simply could not care less if our children don't get into an "elite" college; we aren't status obsessed strivers who need that validation. We are confident the prep and polish they receive as private lifers ensures they will be successful wherever they land at college. Honestly, the public strivers I know who scraped and crawled or lucked into an elite college almost always felt like they were the dullest on a campus full of hyper-competitive overachieving sharks.

LOL, the hyper-competitive overachieving sharks that you talk about, they are from the top publics across the country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:50K a year?

How about free and 5K of tutors. You all are idiots.

Why would I send my kid to an inadequate school all day so they can come home and learn again with tutors? WTF sense does that make?

Right?!? Hardly a ringing endorsement - send your kid to public school so they can spend hours with tutors after being at school all day! Yay for you?

Funny, all of my friends with kids in Big 3 privates have tutors for their HS students. In fact, someone recommended a math teacher at Sidwell as a tutor for my public DC and when I reached out, he said his plate was full tutoring Sidwell students.

Anyway, I’m sure many private parents send their kids to private for reasons other than college admissions, but your assumption that your coddled private school students in their sheltered environments will be “so much better prepared” for college is just nonsense. College (and life) are so much more than whether your child has learned to write research essays in high school. We all justify our decisions, but the notion that public school kids taking rigorous courses universally have crappy, uncaring teachers and go to college unprepared is a load of crap.

Signed,
Public school grad, Ivy grad, biglaw partner who agrees with the PP that all biglaw partners want to brag about are there private school kids college admissions

NP. Well, you certainly aren't doing much to dispel stereotypes about how awful biglaw partners are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:50K a year?

How about free and 5K of tutors. You all are idiots.

Why would I send my kid to an inadequate school all day so they can come home and learn again with tutors? WTF sense does that make?

Right?!? Hardly a ringing endorsement - send your kid to public school so they can spend hours with tutors after being at school all day! Yay for you?

Funny, all of my friends with kids in Big 3 privates have tutors for their HS students. In fact, someone recommended a math teacher at Sidwell as a tutor for my public DC and when I reached out, he said his plate was full tutoring Sidwell students.

Anyway, I’m sure many private parents send their kids to private for reasons other than college admissions, but your assumption that your coddled private school students in their sheltered environments will be “so much better prepared” for college is just nonsense. College (and life) are so much more than whether your child has learned to write research essays in high school. We all justify our decisions, but the notion that public school kids taking rigorous courses universally have crappy, uncaring teachers and go to college unprepared is a load of crap.

Signed,
Public school grad, Ivy grad, biglaw partner who agrees with the PP that all biglaw partners want to brag about are there private school kids college admissions

Where I lived, in this area, we had a mix of public and private school with all our neighbors. Many of us ended up in the same colleges, same majors and same careers. Some of the private school kids ended up with big loans as their parents paid for private school and refused to pay for college. That made no sense to me.

There are advantages and disadvantages to both public and private and it really depends on the child and the child's needs/wants.

My husband went to a crappy college, no graduate school and is doing financially better than my sibling who went to ivy's for college and graduate school.

[Anonymous]

This thread is hysterical. So much posturing from both sides. To the OP and the other bitter PPs, tough luck that your K-12 tuition dollars don't guarantee your kids a guaranteed glidepath to a T20 school. It's grotesque to see the casual racism and classism that is unleashed by the possible loss of an iota of privilege.

And to those sanctimommies who are insisting you don't give a fig about college outcomes after shelling out $50k a year for 13 years, puhleez. If it was all about "community and service," there's plenty of opportunity for both in public schools. You paid a premium for the cachet and handholding of private kindergarten; you're really going to cheer when your kids go to a third-tier public university?

[Anonymous]

If you grew up as a plebe in public OP, your low self-esteem will prevent you from allowing your kids to enjoy private. Hold them down + return to public.

[Anonymous]

Actually, the alarm is sounding for public school. Kids are behind, cannot read, cannot do simple math, teachers quitting in droves, schools over crowded, buildings dilapidated, teachers are overworked and miserable.

The chasm between the "haves" and the "have nots" is already larger than at any other time in our history. If we as a nation don't do something about it, schools will cease to be a way out of poverty, ending one of the last great things about America.

[Anonymous]

Only time will tell if the parents saying “we’re here for the experience, not the college placement” are being honest.

[Anonymous]

I have to agree, PP. I have taught in both public and private, and my kids have attended both. I went to public. I think it depends on the public, it depends on the private, and it depends on the child. There are a lot of stereotypes in this thread. I did go to an Ivy League college, and I believe my children would have gotten in (or not) regardless of whether they went to a private HS or a public HS. They did both end up getting into the college I attended from their private, and I think that, assuming their performance had been the same in public, they would have gotten in from there as well. I do think they were better prepared from college coming out of the public school. Legacy of course helps a lot in either setting. But they went to a rigorous private college prep high school that emphasized writing, and they took hard classes when they were there and worked hard and hung out with other similarly academically inclined kids (would have done the same in public I'm sure). I chose private because of my experience working in public, but only for middle and high school. Right now, it's harder to get a challenging education in public because they're trying to meet too many kids' needs with the same broad brush. The pandemic exacerbated inequalities because public schools struggled to open as frequently or as early as most private schools. All that said, I don't think there is one right answer. A motivated student will thrive in either environment. I will challenge the PP who said every private student gets tutoring, though. Some do, mine didn't, but I would have gotten them tutoring if they needed it. Another positive in private schools right now is that teachers are happier, which impacts students. If I couldn't afford it though, I wouldn't worry about it. I would have kept them in public and offered enrichment as needed. Be secure about your choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:50K a year?

How about free and 5K of tutors. You all are idiots.

Why would I send my kid to an inadequate school all day so they can come home and learn again with tutors? WTF sense does that make?

Right?!? Hardly a ringing endorsement - send your kid to public school so they can spend hours with tutors after being at school all day! Yay for you?

Funny, all of my friends with kids in Big 3 privates have tutors for their HS students. In fact, someone recommended a math teacher at Sidwell as a tutor for my public DC and when I reached out, he said his plate was full tutoring Sidwell students.

Anyway, I’m sure many private parents send their kids to private for reasons other than college admissions, but your assumption that your coddled private school students in their sheltered environments will be “so much better prepared” for college is just nonsense. College (and life) are so much more than whether your child has learned to write research essays in high school. We all justify our decisions, but the notion that public school kids taking rigorous courses universally have crappy, uncaring teachers and go to college unprepared is a load of crap.

Signed,
Public school grad, Ivy grad, biglaw partner who agrees with the PP that all biglaw partners want to brag about are there private school kids college admissions

Big law partners usually know the difference between “there” and “their”. You probably did attend public HS though.

NP. Well, you certainly aren't doing much to dispel stereotypes about how awful biglaw partners are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:50K a year?

How about free and 5K of tutors. You all are idiots.

Why would I send my kid to an inadequate school all day so they can come home and learn again with tutors? WTF sense does that make?

Right?!? Hardly a ringing endorsement - send your kid to public school so they can spend hours with tutors after being at school all day! Yay for you?

Funny, all of my friends with kids in Big 3 privates have tutors for their HS students. In fact, someone recommended a math teacher at Sidwell as a tutor for my public DC and when I reached out, he said his plate was full tutoring Sidwell students.

Anyway, I’m sure many private parents send their kids to private for reasons other than college admissions, but your assumption that your coddled private school students in their sheltered environments will be “so much better prepared” for college is just nonsense. College (and life) are so much more than whether your child has learned to write research essays in high school. We all justify our decisions, but the notion that public school kids taking rigorous courses universally have crappy, uncaring teachers and go to college unprepared is a load of crap.

Signed,
Public school grad, Ivy grad, biglaw partner who agrees with the PP that all biglaw partners want to brag about are there private school kids college admissions

ig law partners usually know the difference between “there” and “their”. You probably did attend public HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:50K a year?

How about free and 5K of tutors. You all are idiots.

Why would I send my kid to an inadequate school all day so they can come home and learn again with tutors? WTF sense does that make?

Right?!? Hardly a ringing endorsement - send your kid to public school so they can spend hours with tutors after being at school all day! Yay for you?

Funny, all of my friends with kids in Big 3 privates have tutors for their HS students. In fact, someone recommended a math teacher at Sidwell as a tutor for my public DC and when I reached out, he said his plate was full tutoring Sidwell students.

Anyway, I’m sure many private parents send their kids to private for reasons other than college admissions, but your assumption that your coddled private school students in their sheltered environments will be “so much better prepared” for college is just nonsense. College (and life) are so much more than whether your child has learned to write research essays in high school. We all justify our decisions, but the notion that public school kids taking rigorous courses universally have crappy, uncaring teachers and go to college unprepared is a load of crap.

Signed,
Public school grad, Ivy grad, biglaw partner who agrees with the PP that all biglaw partners want to brag about are there private school kids college admissions

ig law partners usually know the difference between “there” and “their”. You probably did attend public HS.

Big

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:50K a year?

How about free and 5K of tutors. You all are idiots.

Why would I send my kid to an inadequate school all day so they can come home and learn again with tutors? WTF sense does that make?

Right?!? Hardly a ringing endorsement - send your kid to public school so they can spend hours with tutors after being at school all day! Yay for you?

Funny, all of my friends with kids in Big 3 privates have tutors for their HS students. In fact, someone recommended a math teacher at Sidwell as a tutor for my public DC and when I reached out, he said his plate was full tutoring Sidwell students.

Anyway, I’m sure many private parents send their kids to private for reasons other than college admissions, but your assumption that your coddled private school students in their sheltered environments will be “so much better prepared” for college is just nonsense. College (and life) are so much more than whether your child has learned to write research essays in high school. We all justify our decisions, but the notion that public school kids taking rigorous courses universally have crappy, uncaring teachers and go to college unprepared is a load of crap.

Signed,
Public school grad, Ivy grad, biglaw partner who agrees with the PP that all biglaw partners want to brag about are there private school kids college admissions

ig law partners usually know the difference between “there” and “their”. You probably did attend public HS.

Lol, exactly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread is hysterical. So much posturing from both sides. To the OP and the other bitter PPs, tough luck that your K-12 tuition dollars don't guarantee your kids a guaranteed glidepath to a T20 school. It's grotesque to see the casual racism and classism that is unleashed by the possible loss of an iota of privilege.

And to those sanctimommies who are insisting you don't give a fig about college outcomes after shelling out $50k a year for 13 years, puhleez. If it was all about "community and service," there's plenty of opportunity for both in public schools. You paid a premium for the cachet and handholding of private kindergarten; you're really going to cheer when your kids go to a third-tier public university?

It’s so freaking weird how some public school parents refuse to believe that many private school parents are sending their kids to a private school for… the education they will receive. If you say “actually, I care more about the K-12 experience and education than I do about college admissions” they tell you you are lying about what you care about. Bizarre. It’s like there’s just no room in their brain for a world in which anyone isn’t primarily motivated by college acceptance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread is hysterical. So much posturing from both sides. To the OP and the other bitter PPs, tough luck that your K-12 tuition dollars don't guarantee your kids a guaranteed glidepath to a T20 school. It's grotesque to see the casual racism and classism that is unleashed by the possible loss of an iota of privilege.

And to those sanctimommies who are insisting you don't give a fig about college outcomes after shelling out $50k a year for 13 years, puhleez. If it was all about "community and service," there's plenty of opportunity for both in public schools. You paid a premium for the cachet and handholding of private kindergarten; you're really going to cheer when your kids go to a third-tier public university?

I agree with you on the grotesqueness of the casual racism and classism, but it's quite something to watch you then jump gleefully into full-blown sexism, which rather weakens your point.