If you had a crystal ball...

[Anonymous]

And you knew that your child/children would get into a *great* college or university from public school, would you bother with private?
What are we all looking for?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And you knew that your child/children would get into a *great* college or university from public school, would you bother with private?
What are we all looking for?[/quote

DCUM - this sounds suspiciously like the magnet/private troll which I'm fairly certain is the same person as tiger cub troll. I also see their hand in the so sad, switching back to public thread. They are baiting you. Please ignore them. If you don't feed the trolls they will go away, thanks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCUM - this sounds suspiciously like the magnet/private troll which I'm fairly certain is the same person as tiger cub troll. I also see their hand in the so sad, switching back to public thread. They are baiting you. Please ignore them. If you don't feed the trolls they will go away, thanks

I agree there is lots of trolling in the past 48 hours. People should be cautious to avoid wasting time on a pointless exchange with the troll.

[Anonymous]

Well, whatever the cause, I think it's an interesting question and one worth thinking about.

My answer is yes, I'd still send her to private, because I'm equally seeking a good education and trying to avoid some social aspects of big classrooms/big schools (which we've experienced at her current school, a public). That said, I went to public school and received a phenomenal education in a great social environment, but my kid is in a very different situation.

[Anonymous]

Another yes. There's much more to an educationa experience than just the outcome. I want my kids to develop a love of learning, be in a warm and supportive environment that stresses the importance of thinking vs the importance of passing a test. I don't think they would get these things at public.

[Anonymous]

i am actually the PP.. not a troll. I applied to my child to a few private schools this year and found myself caught up in the stress. It made me crazy.. and so now that I've come up for air, I am assessing what I was/am stressed about.
I think you can find a love for learning at public school. I went to public school and didnt. my sister went to public school and did.
It depends on the kid and frankly how well the kid does. Maybe it comes down to self esteem.
In any event: I applied for my child so that my child could be a small class environment.. so my child could do well. be happy. feel good. and be successful. so the question i was asking was, how can we define success? is getting into a great college the ultimate success? and so on.. didnt mean to make people angry..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:i am actually the PP.. not a troll. I applied to my child to a few private schools this year and found myself caught up in the stress. It made me crazy.. and so now that I've come up for air, I am assessing what I was/am stressed about.
I think you can find a love for learning at public school. I went to public school and didnt. my sister went to public school and did.
It depends on the kid and frankly how well the kid does. Maybe it comes down to self esteem.
In any event: I applied for my child so that my child could be a small class environment.. so my child could do well. be happy. feel good. and be successful. so the question i was asking was, how can we define success? is getting into a great college the ultimate success? and so on.. didnt mean to make people angry..

I think we can all agree that good experiences can be had at public or private. A lot depends on your child, what you are looking for in terms of experience, what you can afford, where you live and many other variables. There are many success stories from private schools and public schools. I went to public school because I grew up in an area where private schools didn't exist. My dad was (actually still is) a public school teacher in my hometown. The nearest private school is still 65 miles away in the neighboring state. I live in MoCo and we are blessed with many options. I chose private school for reasons that matter to no one but myself. It works for us but that doesn't mean it works for everyone or that I consider going to public school to be the end of the world. Your child's intrinsic motivation, resiliance and work ethic will determine their outcome far more thean them sitting within the confines of a particular building on a particular campus ever will (IMHO). I would not necessarily define success as the great college but I would define success as my child being a just, ethical, pleasant and thoughtful person that has the capacity to support themselves, maintains a good attitude and is a good citizen of the community. If your child cheated but got into Harvard - is that ultimate success? If your child graduated from MIT but they were a rude, arrogant and unplesant individual - is that ultimate success? Again, IMHO, as I'm sure someone will find something wrong ...

[Anonymous]

that is a beautiful answer. your child is lucky to have you.

[Anonymous]

i am actually the PP.. not a troll. I applied to my child to a few private schools this year and found myself caught up in the stress. It made me crazy.. and so now that I've come up for air, I am assessing what I was/am stressed about.
I think you can find a love for learning at public school. I went to public school and didnt. my sister went to public school and did.
It depends on the kid and frankly how well the kid does. Maybe it comes down to self esteem.
In any event: I applied for my child so that my child could be a small class environment.. so my child could do well. be happy. feel good. and be successful. so the question i was asking was, how can we define success? is getting into a great college the ultimate success? and so on.. didnt mean to make people angry..

Don't worry. Your question is most appreciated. You just ran into the psychopathic illiterate whose only vocabulary is "troll" and "sock puppet". She will strike again, mark my words.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:i am actually the PP.. not a troll. I applied to my child to a few private schools this year and found myself caught up in the stress. It made me crazy.. and so now that I've come up for air, I am assessing what I was/am stressed about.
I think you can find a love for learning at public school. I went to public school and didnt. my sister went to public school and did.
It depends on the kid and frankly how well the kid does. Maybe it comes down to self esteem.
In any event: I applied for my child so that my child could be a small class environment.. so my child could do well. be happy. feel good. and be successful. so the question i was asking was, how can we define success? is getting into a great college the ultimate success? and so on.. didnt mean to make people angry..

I think we can all agree that good experiences can be had at public or private. A lot depends on your child, what you are looking for in terms of experience, what you can afford, where you live and many other variables. There are many success stories from private schools and public schools. I went to public school because I grew up in an area where private schools didn't exist. My dad was (actually still is) a public school teacher in my hometown. The nearest private school is still 65 miles away in the neighboring state. I live in MoCo and we are blessed with many options. I chose private school for reasons that matter to no one but myself. It works for us but that doesn't mean it works for everyone or that I consider going to public school to be the end of the world. Your child's intrinsic motivation, resiliance and work ethic will determine their outcome far more thean them sitting within the confines of a particular building on a particular campus ever will (IMHO). I would not necessarily define success as the great college but I would define success as my child being a just, ethical, pleasant and thoughtful person that has the capacity to support themselves, maintains a good attitude and is a good citizen of the community. If your child cheated but got into Harvard - is that ultimate success? If your child graduated from MIT but they were a rude, arrogant and unplesant individual - is that ultimate success? Again, IMHO, as I'm sure someone will find something wrong ...

I find nothing wrong with your post. It's probably the most decent thing I've read on here in the past few days.

[Anonymous]

ITA with 13:04

[Anonymous]

Yes, but I wouldn't if public got her into a better college than private but of course this would require a crystal ball.

[Anonymous]

Somewhere between 40 and 60 percent of the kids who go to a Sidwell, STA or NCA - the real - highly competitive academic schools may do better staying in public schools. Those are kids who are smart enough to excel in an above average environment but will fall below the top 5 percent in a the more more competitive academic environment. These are kids who score 2100 or above on SATs - have a B+ average but would had a 4.0 -4.5 in public school

[Anonymous]

But dont the private high schools "decide" who will apply where and push for certain kids?
that works if youre the kid they are pushing for .. but not for the other kids..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Somewhere between 40 and 60 percent of the kids who go to a Sidwell, STA or NCA - the real - highly competitive academic schools may do better staying in public schools. Those are kids who are smart enough to excel in an above average environment but will fall below the top 5 percent in a the more more competitive academic environment. These are kids who score 2100 or above on SATs - have a B+ average but would had a 4.0 -4.5 in public school

Not so fast, it absolutely depends on the public school. You assume public schools offer an "average environment" and that a kid who gets Bs in a top private would get A's in a public school. This is not necessarily the case if the public school is Whitman, Wooton, Blair, BCC, Richard Montgomery or others. It might be hard to believe, but there are plenty of smart, hard-working kids at these schools who don't happen to have parents who can plunk down $40K/yr. Sure, public schools have to take kids of all intellectual abilities and tge discipline problems, but at the top of these and other schools is a solid core of smart, motivated kids. Where the difference may be is in the fewer legacy, political appointee, and really wealthy kids your DC would be competing against in a public school.

I've actually heard the opposite, FWIW. That private school is better for kids who wouldn't stand out in public, because of the individual attention and the vastly superior college counseling.