The Death of Private School As We Know It

[Anonymous]

Students at the private schools my kids attend stil do way better with college admissions than our local public. Not everyone is zoned for Wilson or the W schools.

[Anonymous]

There is a system. Pay full pay - so "others" have a chance to go to elite colleges. Shh! Dont tell anyone.

There is a system. Pay 50,000 and tell yourself it's for a better education than public. It's not. Shh! Dont tell anyone.

There used to be a bump in college admissions. There isn't. Shh! Dont tell anyone.

[Anonymous]

Not the reason my kids are in private school... especially with the state of the public school system right now with the pandemic and post pandemic. So grateful to be able to provide them this experience. Even if it is really costing us financially.

[Anonymous]

So, I am currently a MS public school parent. We are most likely moving kids to private next year but college admission isn't a factor. Frankly we are UMC and don't give a rip about Ivys but are moving for other reasons. So I guess it comes down to what you are looking for in your investment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Eh, we moved our kids from DCPS to a Big3 for high school because DCPS is a freaking nightmare. there are missing teachers, my kids never learned to write, etc. We are so happy at the Big3. my kids are finally being challenged and are reading and writing. Those of you who have not experienced public do not know bad it is. It's BAD. It's almost third world.

--disclaimer--your mileage may vary at other publics. this was Deal->Wilson in DCPS.

Well, your kids certainly weren't going to learn to write well from their parents. That's pretty obvious,

Also, the irony here is that your kids, having done well enough at DCPS to be accepted at a Big3, would likely have excelled had they stayed with DCPS and in the end gotten into better colleges. But, hey, go ahead and put your nose up to Deal and Wilson.

I think you missed PP’s point. PP felt their kids weren’t learning how to write in DCPS. How is “You’re a bad writer and your kids would get into better colleges from DCPS!!” a reply to that?

I’m amazed how many public school parents seem to think that great public schools college admissions are some sort of “gotcha” for private school parents. I am far more concerned about what my kid experiences during the 13 years of primary and secondary school than getting into very a shortlist of institutions for the four years of college.

[Anonymous]

I’m sure private school parents care very deeply about their DC current education. But there is a reason there is a Big 3 and it’s simply because the competition to get in there feeds college admissions.

For those of you that say otherwise, your kid isn’t Ivy material and you found this out in their Junior year. Too late to move them.

You’ve been taken.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe we're not sending our kids to private school for a guaranteed admission at an ivy

Exactly. What a bizarre post.

[Anonymous]

I assume if anything, private school will hurt my kids’ chances in college admissions because they will have a lower class ranking. The flip side is they’ll end up better educated and more well-rounded than they would have had they gone to public school, so we’ll take the trade-off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I assume if anything, private school will hurt my kids’ chances in college admissions because they will have a lower class ranking. The flip side is they’ll end up better educated and more well-rounded than they would have had they gone to public school, so we’ll take the trade-off.

+1

It’s bizarre how fervently some people believe that the only reason anyone chooses private school is for college admission, as if those four college years are the ultimate referendum on the previous 13 years of education. They are really, really not.

[Anonymous]

Here are the 2021 admissions from a Big3 (does not included multiple admits at many of the schools). Is there one college on this list that you wouldn't be happy that your kid is attending?
Personally I think it's awesome and guarantee that my kid will attend a decent college---never mind that they are also learning to to write well and think critically.

Boston College
Boston University
Brown
Bucknell
Colby
Colgate
William and Mary
Columbia
Cornell
Dartmouth
Davidson
Duke
Emory
Georgetown
Georgia Tech
Harvard
Johns Hopkins
NYU
Northwestern
Oberlin
Princeton
SMU
Stanford
Syracuse
Tufts
Tulane
UCLA
Chicago
Michigan
Penn
Richmond
Sewanee
USC
St. Andrews
UVA
Wisconsin
Vanderbilt
Wake Forest
Washington and Lee
Wash U
Yale

[Anonymous]

Wow - I hereby nominate OP for the 2021 Karen "I need to talk to the manager" award.

Sorry you couldn't buy more privilege than you already have.

[Anonymous]

You should have applied ED. With realistic choices.
Most everyone from Big3 can get into Tulane ED with enough tailoring.

You probably aimed too high.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can get the same/better education in public. Go waste money somewhere else.

I bet it's mostly so the parents can brag.

Not in DC! LOL.

[Anonymous]

What’s killing private schools is the tuition. It’s creating a barbell effect where only extremely wealthy families and those on financial aid can attend. Kids of journalists, government workers, and not-for-profits, not so much, and that makes for a less appealing school environment.

The college admissions bump comes from being able to apply ED because you were full pay at your private and will be full pay at the university.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thoughts and prayers

And I’m religious and send kid to faith based but rigorous school.

This was funny given the death of private school metaphor …