How do people afford it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our oldest and their spouse make the same as OP and sent their kid to public elementary school EOTP. After concluding reluctantly that the local middle and high schools weren’t viable options, they started playing the lottery and applying to privates. It was the last thing they wanted to do because they really didn’t want their kids going to school with a bunch of rich kids, plus they honestly didn’t want to put such a huge dent in their lifestyle. There are lots of things that can be done with kids with that kind of money that can benefit their growth just as much as private education.

Long story short, their kid got into several well known privates in DC but with virtually no financial aid. One very good school upped their offer to $10k in the end, but that still left a price tag of $40k plus and would only go up and they didn’t want to pay it. In the end, they sweated through the lottery and landed at a good option.

We have a lot more money than they do and we are very close with our grandkids. They never asked us to help and we never considered it. I think they knew we shared their philosophical revulsion at the idea of elite private schooling and also knew that we knew it was their choice entirely to live in the school district where they do.

Philosophical revulsion? Yikes. So glad they were able to lottery in to other options that aren't so taxing on the psyche!

[Anonymous]

My children went through private K-8 and now are in a private HS (the 50k ones). I would not scrimp and save to put them in private with the good schools around here. We have a very high net worth where we can easily afford it, but if I were you I would go public all the way. Put that money into retirement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our oldest and their spouse make the same as OP and sent their kid to public elementary school EOTP. After concluding reluctantly that the local middle and high schools weren’t viable options, they started playing the lottery and applying to privates. It was the last thing they wanted to do because they really didn’t want their kids going to school with a bunch of rich kids, plus they honestly didn’t want to put such a huge dent in their lifestyle. There are lots of things that can be done with kids with that kind of money that can benefit their growth just as much as private education.

Long story short, their kid got into several well known privates in DC but with virtually no financial aid. One very good school upped their offer to $10k in the end, but that still left a price tag of $40k plus and would only go up and they didn’t want to pay it. In the end, they sweated through the lottery and landed at a good option.

We have a lot more money than they do and we are very close with our grandkids. They never asked us to help and we never considered it. I think they knew we shared their philosophical revulsion at the idea of elite private schooling and also knew that we knew it was their choice entirely to live in the school district where they do.

Move along…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have 3 in private (40-50k each) and 375 HHI and we make it work… it’s a lot of money, but so far it has been more than worth it. Our income will likely increase to 400 in a year or two and our mortgage is 3.2k/month

HOW?????

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My children went through private K-8 and now are in a private HS (the 50k ones). I would not scrimp and save to put them in private with the good schools around here. We have a very high net worth where we can easily afford it, but if I were you I would go public all the way. Put that money into retirement.

I totally agree with this. Having one kid in both public and private and we can swing it without much impact to our life, but private is not the panacea many who pay for it make it out to be. There's alot of great public options. Move if you have to and make public work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My children went through private K-8 and now are in a private HS (the 50k ones). I would not scrimp and save to put them in private with the good schools around here. We have a very high net worth where we can easily afford it, but if I were you I would go public all the way. Put that money into retirement.

I totally agree with this. Having one kid in both public and private and we can swing it without much impact to our life, but private is not the panacea many who pay for it make it out to be. There's alot of great public options. Move if you have to and make public work.

What happens if the public kid decides that they want to go to private school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our oldest and their spouse make the same as OP and sent their kid to public elementary school EOTP. After concluding reluctantly that the local middle and high schools weren’t viable options, they started playing the lottery and applying to privates. It was the last thing they wanted to do because they really didn’t want their kids going to school with a bunch of rich kids, plus they honestly didn’t want to put such a huge dent in their lifestyle. There are lots of things that can be done with kids with that kind of money that can benefit their growth just as much as private education.

Long story short, their kid got into several well known privates in DC but with virtually no financial aid. One very good school upped their offer to $10k in the end, but that still left a price tag of $40k plus and would only go up and they didn’t want to pay it. In the end, they sweated through the lottery and landed at a good option.

We have a lot more money than they do and we are very close with our grandkids. They never asked us to help and we never considered it. I think they knew we shared their philosophical revulsion at the idea of elite private schooling and also knew that we knew it was their choice entirely to live in the school district where they do.

Move along…

NP. It’s philosophically revolting yes. And if I were a parent who had to rely on my parents to pay my child’s private school tuition I’d be embarrassed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our oldest and their spouse make the same as OP and sent their kid to public elementary school EOTP. After concluding reluctantly that the local middle and high schools weren’t viable options, they started playing the lottery and applying to privates. It was the last thing they wanted to do because they really didn’t want their kids going to school with a bunch of rich kids, plus they honestly didn’t want to put such a huge dent in their lifestyle. There are lots of things that can be done with kids with that kind of money that can benefit their growth just as much as private education.

Long story short, their kid got into several well known privates in DC but with virtually no financial aid. One very good school upped their offer to $10k in the end, but that still left a price tag of $40k plus and would only go up and they didn’t want to pay it. In the end, they sweated through the lottery and landed at a good option.

We have a lot more money than they do and we are very close with our grandkids. They never asked us to help and we never considered it. I think they knew we shared their philosophical revulsion at the idea of elite private schooling and also knew that we knew it was their choice entirely to live in the school district where they do.

And, here you are desperately posting on the private school forum. Wannabe!

[Anonymous]

OP: If your kid gets in to a Big 3 you will likely qualify for financial aid. Getting in is the hard part. Do not listen to the PPs who tell you that you have too much mortgage, etc. They don't actually know how FA at these schools work. If you want to give it a try, and they accept your kids, you can decide based on what they offer you, and the offer is often negotiable itself.

[Anonymous]

Do only high school so you have time to save up.

[Anonymous]

DCUM has a lot of people with good jobs and income interested in paying for private school but worried about it. Are there low interest loans available? I'd be interested in loaning money to someone like OP who has stable income at a decent rate. It feels like that would be pretty easy money for a lender.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nope, it's super hard, sorry op. If you are a minority, you may be able to get fa. Otherwise, if you have more than one kid in private it will be hard.

Please stop.
The minorities at these schools are either UC or UMC.
FA has nothing to do with being a minority.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My children went through private K-8 and now are in a private HS (the 50k ones). I would not scrimp and save to put them in private with the good schools around here. We have a very high net worth where we can easily afford it, but if I were you I would go public all the way. Put that money into retirement.

I totally agree with this. Having one kid in both public and private and we can swing it without much impact to our life, but private is not the panacea many who pay for it make it out to be. There's alot of great public options. Move if you have to and make public work.

This response always gets me. How is it easier for people to move to a better school district than to afford private? Housing prices in many better school districts are astronomical. I'm in a not so great school district and our housing is still insane. Additionally just moving affects so many other parts of your life than just school. What about commute? What about friends? Activities? This is not the easy answer people on here seem to think it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a fed, DH works at a non-profit. We make 310 combined. 750k mortgage. No other debt. We want to send our two kids private, but at $40-50k a year per kid it doesn’t seem possible. Is there anyone in our situation that actually found a way to make this work?

You may get FA especially at a Big 3 or other wealthy school that has a large endowment. NCS does a good job in bringing in more "middle" income (for DC that is - anywhere else you are considered top tier). I assume they give some financial aid to these families and the rest you can pay over a 10 month payment plan. A lot of full pay families also spread out payments all year. It can help to spread it out over the course of the year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a fed, DH works at a non-profit. We make 310 combined. 750k mortgage. No other debt. We want to send our two kids private, but at $40-50k a year per kid it doesn’t seem possible. Is there anyone in our situation that actually found a way to make this work?

You may get FA especially at a Big 3 or other wealthy school that has a large endowment. NCS does a good job in bringing in more "middle" income (for DC that is - anywhere else you are considered top tier). I assume they give some financial aid to these families and the rest you can pay over a 10 month payment plan. A lot of full pay families also spread out payments all year. It can help to spread it out over the course of the year.

I am pp also other options would be look at Catholics which do tend to be a lot less.