The Death of Private School As We Know It

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Husband and I graduated from our state flagship and the private and Catholic school kids ran circles around everyone in the classroom and socially. I went to "one of the best" public schools in the state and could not keep up. They were on a different level. Anyone pinching pennies when it comes to kindergarten through 12th education for an alleged better roll of the dice with Ivies is frankly an idiot.

They're an idiot because there is no better roll at a DMV public. If you ever review the admits from Whitman, Wilson, Mclean, etc. something like 98% of the Ivy admits are legacy, athletes or URM. THE SAME FREAKING demographics as the private school admits. THERE IS NO MAGIC IVY-BOUND HIGH SCHOOL FOR WHITE OR ASIAN KIDS. Except many some of the NE boarding schools?
But actually I'm sure it's the same story there. More admits but they're probably also legacies, URM, athletes plus some Ivy faculty kids thrown in.

At least in the DC area, there aren't a lot of Asians in private high schools. Mainly public. Same for families from India

Isn't it interesting how public schools are still working for asian and indian kids???

interesting how you never hear asian parents saying public schools are not a good fit for their children the way you hear it from white parents on this forum. LOL!

There may be a lot of reasons that Asian families don’t choose private school. It could be that if college admission are the same they don’t see the value. It may not be culturally acceptable/the norm. It could be they don’t have the money. It could be a host of other reasons. Asian families are not a monolith. BTW, I think you would see in other cities that many Asian kids do attend private (like San Francisco or NY). It could definitely be a factor of the particular communities in the DC area or the public schools here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Husband and I graduated from our state flagship and the private and Catholic school kids ran circles around everyone in the classroom and socially. I went to "one of the best" public schools in the state and could not keep up. They were on a different level. Anyone pinching pennies when it comes to kindergarten through 12th education for an alleged better roll of the dice with Ivies is frankly an idiot.

They're an idiot because there is no better roll at a DMV public. If you ever review the admits from Whitman, Wilson, Mclean, etc. something like 98% of the Ivy admits are legacy, athletes or URM. THE SAME FREAKING demographics as the private school admits. THERE IS NO MAGIC IVY-BOUND HIGH SCHOOL FOR WHITE OR ASIAN KIDS. Except many some of the NE boarding schools?
But actually I'm sure it's the same story there. More admits but they're probably also legacies, URM, athletes plus some Ivy faculty kids thrown in.

At least in the DC area, there aren't a lot of Asians in private high schools. Mainly public. Same for families from India

Isn't it interesting how public schools are still working for asian and indian kids???

interesting how you never hear asian parents saying public schools are not a good fit for their children the way you hear it from white parents on this forum. LOL!

There may be a lot of reasons that Asian families don’t choose private school. It could be that if college admission are the same they don’t see the value. It may not be culturally acceptable/the norm. It could be they don’t have the money. It could be a host of other reasons. Asian families are not a monolith. BTW, I think you would see in other cities that many Asian kids do attend private (like San Francisco or NY). It could definitely be a factor of the particular communities in the DC area or the public schools here.

I feel like I need to “actually” the PPP, but there are a lot of Asian (assuming that this is both East and South Asian?) kids at the elite private schools, particularly the ones with more brand recognition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, have you looked up any actual statistics? 55-61% of kids at Ivies are from public school. I think about 13% tend to be international. Presumably the rest are from private schools (with some minuscule amount of homeschoolers). Only 7% of kids in the US attend private school and I’m sure a large number of those schools are religious and SN schools that likely do not give much of a boost. I went to Penn (from a private school btw) and know that they only give weight to legacy status for early admission applications. So private school does give you an advantage. Being a parent doesn’t mean that you can put in specific inputs and get specific outputs. It’s not that easy.

I also am super uncoordinated and think that if you can play at a D1 level you should get preferential admission status. No one in our society has a problem with people who are smart by virtue of innate ability getting outsized benefits. Why shouldn’t athletes? Both groups also work hard. I hear you on the legacy thing but the universities will never change that $$$

A lot of self-selection involved. The public school intake will be dominated by the same handful of affluent public schools too. And the private school students will also have other hooks such as legacy or prominent/famous/connected parents.

[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

You mean their, dear?

NP. Do you dummies actually believe PP doesn’t know the difference between “ there” abs “ their”? Can you honestly say you’ve never made this mistake when typing? I always laugh at the morons too dumb to know it’s obviously a mistake!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Husband and I graduated from our state flagship and the private and Catholic school kids ran circles around everyone in the classroom and socially. I went to "one of the best" public schools in the state and could not keep up. They were on a different level. Anyone pinching pennies when it comes to kindergarten through 12th education for an alleged better roll of the dice with Ivies is frankly an idiot.

They're an idiot because there is no better roll at a DMV public. If you ever review the admits from Whitman, Wilson, Mclean, etc. something like 98% of the Ivy admits are legacy, athletes or URM. THE SAME FREAKING demographics as the private school admits. THERE IS NO MAGIC IVY-BOUND HIGH SCHOOL FOR WHITE OR ASIAN KIDS. Except many some of the NE boarding schools?
But actually I'm sure it's the same story there. More admits but they're probably also legacies, URM, athletes plus some Ivy faculty kids thrown in.

At least in the DC area, there aren't a lot of Asians in private high schools. Mainly public. Same for families from India

Isn't it interesting how public schools are still working for asian and indian kids???

interesting how you never hear asian parents saying public schools are not a good fit for their children the way you hear it from white parents on this forum. LOL!

There may be a lot of reasons that Asian families don’t choose private school. It could be that if college admission are the same they don’t see the value. It may not be culturally acceptable/the norm. It could be they don’t have the money. It could be a host of other reasons. Asian families are not a monolith. BTW, I think you would see in other cities that many Asian kids do attend private (like San Francisco or NY). It could definitely be a factor of the particular communities in the DC area or the public schools here.

I feel like I need to “actually” the PPP, but there are a lot of Asian (assuming that this is both East and South Asian?) kids at the elite private schools, particularly the ones with more brand recognition.

NCS, Holton, STA and Potomac have tons of Asian kids - both E and S.

[Anonymous]

Yes so there is no need applying or if you get accepted, politely decline. So my kid can get that spot. That’s basically what OP is trying to say.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The quality of education my child receives at his private so far exceeds that my public school nieces and nephews it is startling. We know that he is not likely to get into ivy but he wasn’t likely to get into ivy from public either. He is however so far advanced in his education I feel cheated having gone to public school. In 6th and 7th grades he was using the same textbooks that his high school cousins were using. It was sad.

Ditto. I went to a top public and it simply doesn’t compare to the education my kids are getting. My 8th grader is a solid B student at a Big 3 who won’t be going ivy. His friends and teammates in public school are straight A students who have bragged about their straight A since the pandemic despite being virtual for almost 2 years. My DC has been going to school since 9/21. No one can tell me these straight A students are smarter or better educated than my B student. DC stands out - he sounds intelligent. His friends all sound like idiots despite their straight A’s. It’s actually comical. And yea, those straight A students may get into a “better” college but they still sound like idiots.

It’s sweet how you talk about your child’s friends. Other children. Really. You seem nice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Husband and I graduated from our state flagship and the private and Catholic school kids ran circles around everyone in the classroom and socially. I went to "one of the best" public schools in the state and could not keep up. They were on a different level. Anyone pinching pennies when it comes to kindergarten through 12th education for an alleged better roll of the dice with Ivies is frankly an idiot.

They're an idiot because there is no better roll at a DMV public. If you ever review the admits from Whitman, Wilson, Mclean, etc. something like 98% of the Ivy admits are legacy, athletes or URM. THE SAME FREAKING demographics as the private school admits. THERE IS NO MAGIC IVY-BOUND HIGH SCHOOL FOR WHITE OR ASIAN KIDS. Except many some of the NE boarding schools?
But actually I'm sure it's the same story there. More admits but they're probably also legacies, URM, athletes plus some Ivy faculty kids thrown in.

At least in the DC area, there aren't a lot of Asians in private high schools. Mainly public. Same for families from India

Isn't it interesting how public schools are still working for asian and indian kids???

interesting how you never hear asian parents saying public schools are not a good fit for their children the way you hear it from white parents on this forum. LOL!

There may be a lot of reasons that Asian families don’t choose private school. It could be that if college admission are the same they don’t see the value. It may not be culturally acceptable/the norm. It could be they don’t have the money. It could be a host of other reasons. Asian families are not a monolith. BTW, I think you would see in other cities that many Asian kids do attend private (like San Francisco or NY). It could definitely be a factor of the particular communities in the DC area or the public schools here.

I feel like I need to “actually” the PPP, but there are a lot of Asian (assuming that this is both East and South Asian?) kids at the elite private schools, particularly the ones with more brand recognition.

NCS, Holton, STA and Potomac have tons of Asian kids - both E and S.

Sidwell does too. It’s really interesting the disconnect between perceptions and reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Husband and I graduated from our state flagship and the private and Catholic school kids ran circles around everyone in the classroom and socially. I went to "one of the best" public schools in the state and could not keep up. They were on a different level. Anyone pinching pennies when it comes to kindergarten through 12th education for an alleged better roll of the dice with Ivies is frankly an idiot.

They're an idiot because there is no better roll at a DMV public. If you ever review the admits from Whitman, Wilson, Mclean, etc. something like 98% of the Ivy admits are legacy, athletes or URM. THE SAME FREAKING demographics as the private school admits. THERE IS NO MAGIC IVY-BOUND HIGH SCHOOL FOR WHITE OR ASIAN KIDS. Except many some of the NE boarding schools?
But actually I'm sure it's the same story there. More admits but they're probably also legacies, URM, athletes plus some Ivy faculty kids thrown in.

At least in the DC area, there aren't a lot of Asians in private high schools. Mainly public. Same for families from India

Isn't it interesting how public schools are still working for asian and indian kids???

interesting how you never hear asian parents saying public schools are not a good fit for their children the way you hear it from white parents on this forum. LOL!

Those Asian parents know they can't lose a dime on private school because unless they are truly low income, their kids will not get any aid. They have to be full pay to get in to the best school possible and they can't risk it.

Asians are discriminated against in admissions and it is terrible. I am Black and have experience working as an admissions counselor at a desirable SLAC. It isn't the Black kids taking the spots from the qualified Asian students. The legacies and white athletes are the problem there. The way our system works, the Asians end up hating the Blacks and are still trying to dismantle affirmative action because they think that will help them get in. They don't realize that white supremacy wins every time. Divided minority groups will never triumph. Even if the Asians win and affirmative action goes away, they still wont admit more Asians. They will come up with a new way to gatekeep and block those students and continue to admit more unqualified white students with rich parents. That is how white supremacy works. The goalposts will be moved - and by the way, it is already happening, with this test optional movement. When schools don't have to look at test scores, they will be able to reject as many qualified Asian candidates as they want.

For the bitter white parents who think that URMs are the reason why you kids are not getting in - please spend get some perspective, go to some therapy, go volunteer somewhere, or do something to help you to understand that your child, whom you think is exceptional, is not exceptional. There are so many thousands of remarkably capable and talented young people out there and they are all vying for the exact same spots.

Let's just talk a measurable data point to help you get this. The SAT.
In 2020, 2 MILLION students took the SAT. The top 5% of scores represents 100,000 students.
In 2020, Ivy League schools offered admission (both regular and early) to 23,260 applicants. That means that 75,000 students who had a score in the 95th percentile wouldn't have gotten into an Ivy.
In 2020, Harvard offered admission to only 2,000 students out of 39,000 applicants.
In 2020, Yale offered admission to only 1,976 students out of 31,000 applicants.

Your children will get in to college somewhere if they have applied to a range of schools that includes some safeties. They will be ok. They will graduate and get jobs (you will clear the way for them, as you have thus far. You will get them internships and jobs and send clients to them. You will give them money for a downpayment)I know you all feel that DC is a big pond and that your top students are truly some of the best and brightest in the nation. They are in a very, very, vast and deep ocean. Even if your child scores in the 98th percentile on the SAT, remember that means they have 40,000 other compatriots in that top 2% of test takers. Still more than the available slots at Ivies. I know that test scores are not the only factor, but it helps to put your expectations in perspective.

[Anonymous]

A parent here. I went to a good local private here and back then it was instrumental in getting me into a top of the top college. My son graduated from the same school about 10 years ago, and it was of far less help to him. That’s the trend that has continued. BUT I still find great value in my old school - whether it’s worth the high price tag is certainly debatable. I live in a very nice/expensive neighborhood in a very good Mont Co school district. Most of my neighbors send their kids to the local public schools. My personal belief is that my son got a better education than their’s did, that he is socially and educationally more advanced than their kids, and that he is expecting more of, and willing to work harder for, what he will achieve in life than most of his neighborhood peers. I attribute that to his innate personal qualities, to his home environment, AND to his private school - what he learned there, his teachers, and the quality of his classmates.

[Anonymous]

We wanted our kids to mix with the right people but it seems like our school has the opposite intentions.

[Anonymous]

The OP’s initial observation about colleges carries a lot of truth. If top colleges continue to weighing diversity and social justice ahead of test scores and merit, before long a degree from a “top college” will not carry the value that it did historically.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The OP’s initial observation about colleges carries a lot of truth. If top colleges continue to weighing diversity and social justice ahead of test scores and merit, before long a degree from a “top college” will not carry the value that it did historically.

Exactly! The issue is not the death of private schools, but rather the death of elite colleges. In less than one generation from now, the Ivys and similar schools will become niche schools, and lesser known schools that base admissions purely on merit and lower the D&I drumbeat will emerge as the new elite education.

[Anonymous]

I haven’t read the responses but the OP is hilarious. I’m sorry that you wrath and privilege aren’t going as far and that your little Larlo isn’t as special as you thought. What’s that phrase? When you’re used to privilege, equality feels like discrimination?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The OP’s initial observation about colleges carries a lot of truth. If top colleges continue to weighing diversity and social justice ahead of test scores and merit, before long a degree from a “top college” will not carry the value that it did historically.

Exactly! The issue is not the death of private schools, but rather the death of elite colleges. In less than one generation from now, the Ivys and similar schools will become niche schools, and lesser known schools that base admissions purely on merit and lower the D&I drumbeat will emerge as the new elite education.

As long as they can convince the wealthy to send their kids and to recruit their graduates, they will be fine. There is absolutely no indication that either is changing.