I am fascinated by the educational choices of the upper class

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to one of the top NYC privates and it's pretty much what was described above.

It can be fun to see former classmates and their parents in the news, which happens a lot. But you also see a lot of the a-holes you knew growing up doing well, and that's annoying.

My DH went to public schools in his small upper-middle class hometown then to UVA.
He is smarter than me but I am better educated. That's not necessarily gotten me any further in life though.

I can fit in pretty easily with an old-money crowd and know the social customs, the clubs and schools spoken about.
Again, it's not necessarily gotten me much farther in life.

As I mentioned on another thread, I have friends from these schools who are massreurs, follow Phish, are carpenters and potters. Going to these schools doesn't guarantee you anything in life or guarantee that you want to be in the rat race.

can you tell us about the social customs?

DP. But what do you want to know about? How to use the extra stuff that comes with the Victorian sterling that you use every day? How to gently work class markers into conversation without being too obnoxious - IYKYK-style? Understand how to ride, play lacrosse, crew, field hockey which aren't really that rare? The Eton kid I knew was not British. He had no obvious elite markers. He once got embarrassed at me when he thought I was trying to take a picture of the tea spread at the Savoy. But when I told him I wanted a photo of his wife, he calmed down (that was before phone cameras). Wasn't sure why the prospect of my photographing food was so gauche to him.

Np. I’m curious about the elite/class markers if you don’t mind sharing more. It’s fascinating!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am sure they don’t read all the race gender stuff that’s being shoved down the public school kids’ throats

Oh my, would you prefer to hang out with the book banners?

I don't think the summer reading recs will make you very happy....

https://www.andover.edu/news/2024/summer-reading-recommendations

[Anonymous]

I played travel soccer with a girl who ended up going to Choate. She went on to be a public school teacher. She always hated being rich and was constantly trying to be “normal.” She tried her local public but it wasn’t great for her. Pretty quickly ended up at Choate and we never really saw her again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to one of the top NYC privates and it's pretty much what was described above.

It can be fun to see former classmates and their parents in the news, which happens a lot. But you also see a lot of the a-holes you knew growing up doing well, and that's annoying.

My DH went to public schools in his small upper-middle class hometown then to UVA.
He is smarter than me but I am better educated. That's not necessarily gotten me any further in life though.

I can fit in pretty easily with an old-money crowd and know the social customs, the clubs and schools spoken about.
Again, it's not necessarily gotten me much farther in life.

As I mentioned on another thread, I have friends from these schools who are massreurs, follow Phish, are carpenters and potters. Going to these schools doesn't guarantee you anything in life or guarantee that you want to be in the rat race.

can you tell us about the social customs?

DP. But what do you want to know about? How to use the extra stuff that comes with the Victorian sterling that you use every day? How to gently work class markers into conversation without being too obnoxious - IYKYK-style? Understand how to ride, play lacrosse, crew, field hockey which aren't really that rare? The Eton kid I knew was not British. He had no obvious elite markers. He once got embarrassed at me when he thought I was trying to take a picture of the tea spread at the Savoy. But when I told him I wanted a photo of his wife, he calmed down (that was before phone cameras). Wasn't sure why the prospect of my photographing food was so gauche to him.

Np. I’m curious about the elite/class markers if you don’t mind sharing more. It’s fascinating!

I’m the poster who went to Andover.

Elite/class markers weren’t as prominent as you might have thought. My sister probably would be able to talk more about it at Horace Mann because it’s a day school.

Boarding school can hide a lot about where a kid is from and when you have 50% of the kids on FA, you do really get a range of kids.

I mean, I know how to handle myself in a high end department store (like Bergdorf), for example, but that’s because I grew up in Manhattan and my family has enough money to be able to afford to go there for clothes for nice occasions.

I went to school with MUCH richer kids, but they really weren’t that different from anyone else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to Andover and my sister went to Horace Mann.

Assuming those schools qualify:

We had excellent instruction in writing in particular. The language offerings certainly were broader than in your typical high school. Andover offers courses in 8 languages; I took Latin and Ancient Greek.

I took several dedicated philosophy courses. My favorite was called Law and Morality, where we read Plato, Marcus Aurelius, Socrates, etc. My friend took a course exclusively on Camus.

The school has a celebrated American art gallery and an archaeology museum, so we were able to use those facilities to supplement courses. One of my friends had the opportunity to do an independent curation project at the archaeology museum.

This is in addition to broad offerings in math, science, art, etc.

If you have specific questions, I’m happy to try to answer them.

That is interesting to me. My kids get a lot of FA at 2 different DC area schools that I suspect have some of the highest average incomes in the area.

When we were making the decision about where to send them, one thing that struck me was how limited curriculum was compared to public. Fewer languages, fewer electives, and predictable ones at that.

In the end, we liked other things and took the opportunities but it’s interesting to hear that the boarding schools are the opposite.

[Anonymous]

Where did you find limited curriculum at local private schools?

[Anonymous]

Can the PP explain how I should conduct myself at Bergdorf? (Genuine question-occasionally, I need to shop for higher end items but I kind of fake it in places like that!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to Andover and my sister went to Horace Mann.

Assuming those schools qualify:

We had excellent instruction in writing in particular. The language offerings certainly were broader than in your typical high school. Andover offers courses in 8 languages; I took Latin and Ancient Greek.

I took several dedicated philosophy courses. My favorite was called Law and Morality, where we read Plato, Marcus Aurelius, Socrates, etc. My friend took a course exclusively on Camus.

The school has a celebrated American art gallery and an archaeology museum, so we were able to use those facilities to supplement courses. One of my friends had the opportunity to do an independent curation project at the archaeology museum.

This is in addition to broad offerings in math, science, art, etc.

If you have specific questions, I’m happy to try to answer them.

It’s the Latin and Greek.

It's ancient Greek. No one cares about Greek literature after the classical period

The sky is blue. Water is wet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to Andover and my sister went to Horace Mann.

Assuming those schools qualify:

We had excellent instruction in writing in particular. The language offerings certainly were broader than in your typical high school. Andover offers courses in 8 languages; I took Latin and Ancient Greek.

I took several dedicated philosophy courses. My favorite was called Law and Morality, where we read Plato, Marcus Aurelius, Socrates, etc. My friend took a course exclusively on Camus.

The school has a celebrated American art gallery and an archaeology museum, so we were able to use those facilities to supplement courses. One of my friends had the opportunity to do an independent curation project at the archaeology museum.

This is in addition to broad offerings in math, science, art, etc.

If you have specific questions, I’m happy to try to answer them.

Why didn’t you go to the same school as your sister?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to one of the top NYC privates and it's pretty much what was described above.

It can be fun to see former classmates and their parents in the news, which happens a lot. But you also see a lot of the a-holes you knew growing up doing well, and that's annoying.

My DH went to public schools in his small upper-middle class hometown then to UVA.
He is smarter than me but I am better educated. That's not necessarily gotten me any further in life though.

I can fit in pretty easily with an old-money crowd and know the social customs, the clubs and schools spoken about.
Again, it's not necessarily gotten me much farther in life.

As I mentioned on another thread, I have friends from these schools who are massreurs, follow Phish, are carpenters and potters. Going to these schools doesn't guarantee you anything in life or guarantee that you want to be in the rat race.

can you tell us about the social customs?

DP. But what do you want to know about? How to use the extra stuff that comes with the Victorian sterling that you use every day? How to gently work class markers into conversation without being too obnoxious - IYKYK-style? Understand how to ride, play lacrosse, crew, field hockey which aren't really that rare? The Eton kid I knew was not British. He had no obvious elite markers. He once got embarrassed at me when he thought I was trying to take a picture of the tea spread at the Savoy. But when I told him I wanted a photo of his wife, he calmed down (that was before phone cameras). Wasn't sure why the prospect of my photographing food was so gauche to him.

Yes please 🙏

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to one of the top NYC privates and it's pretty much what was described above.

It can be fun to see former classmates and their parents in the news, which happens a lot. But you also see a lot of the a-holes you knew growing up doing well, and that's annoying.

My DH went to public schools in his small upper-middle class hometown then to UVA.
He is smarter than me but I am better educated. That's not necessarily gotten me any further in life though.

I can fit in pretty easily with an old-money crowd and know the social customs, the clubs and schools spoken about.
Again, it's not necessarily gotten me much farther in life.

As I mentioned on another thread, I have friends from these schools who are massreurs, follow Phish, are carpenters and potters. Going to these schools doesn't guarantee you anything in life or guarantee that you want to be in the rat race.

can you tell us about the social customs?

DP. But what do you want to know about? How to use the extra stuff that comes with the Victorian sterling that you use every day? How to gently work class markers into conversation without being too obnoxious - IYKYK-style? Understand how to ride, play lacrosse, crew, field hockey which aren't really that rare? The Eton kid I knew was not British. He had no obvious elite markers. He once got embarrassed at me when he thought I was trying to take a picture of the tea spread at the Savoy. But when I told him I wanted a photo of his wife, he calmed down (that was before phone cameras). Wasn't sure why the prospect of my photographing food was so gauche to him.

Np. I’m curious about the elite/class markers if you don’t mind sharing more. It’s fascinating!

I’m the poster who went to Andover.

Elite/class markers weren’t as prominent as you might have thought. My sister probably would be able to talk more about it at Horace Mann because it’s a day school.

Boarding school can hide a lot about where a kid is from and when you have 50% of the kids on FA, you do really get a range of kids.

I mean, I know how to handle myself in a high end department store (like Bergdorf), for example, but that’s because I grew up in Manhattan and my family has enough money to be able to afford to go there for clothes for nice occasions.

I went to school with MUCH richer kids, but they really weren’t that different from anyone else.

How do you handle yourself differently there than at Macy's or Ross? What's acceptable at Bergdorf but not at cheaper places, or vice versa?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to one of the top NYC privates and it's pretty much what was described above.

It can be fun to see former classmates and their parents in the news, which happens a lot. But you also see a lot of the a-holes you knew growing up doing well, and that's annoying.

My DH went to public schools in his small upper-middle class hometown then to UVA.
He is smarter than me but I am better educated. That's not necessarily gotten me any further in life though.

I can fit in pretty easily with an old-money crowd and know the social customs, the clubs and schools spoken about.
Again, it's not necessarily gotten me much farther in life.

As I mentioned on another thread, I have friends from these schools who are massreurs, follow Phish, are carpenters and potters. Going to these schools doesn't guarantee you anything in life or guarantee that you want to be in the rat race.

can you tell us about the social customs?

DP. But what do you want to know about? How to use the extra stuff that comes with the Victorian sterling that you use every day? How to gently work class markers into conversation without being too obnoxious - IYKYK-style? Understand how to ride, play lacrosse, crew, field hockey which aren't really that rare? The Eton kid I knew was not British. He had no obvious elite markers. He once got embarrassed at me when he thought I was trying to take a picture of the tea spread at the Savoy. But when I told him I wanted a photo of his wife, he calmed down (that was before phone cameras). Wasn't sure why the prospect of my photographing food was so gauche to him.

Np. I’m curious about the elite/class markers if you don’t mind sharing more. It’s fascinating!

I’m the poster who went to Andover.

Elite/class markers weren’t as prominent as you might have thought. My sister probably would be able to talk more about it at Horace Mann because it’s a day school.

Boarding school can hide a lot about where a kid is from and when you have 50% of the kids on FA, you do really get a range of kids.

I mean, I know how to handle myself in a high end department store (like Bergdorf), for example, but that’s because I grew up in Manhattan and my family has enough money to be able to afford to go there for clothes for nice occasions.

I went to school with MUCH richer kids, but they really weren’t that different from anyone else.

How do you handle yourself differently there than at Macy's or Ross? What's acceptable at Bergdorf but not at cheaper places, or vice versa?

Yes, can you please elaborate?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to Andover and my sister went to Horace Mann.

Assuming those schools qualify:

We had excellent instruction in writing in particular. The language offerings certainly were broader than in your typical high school. Andover offers courses in 8 languages; I took Latin and Ancient Greek.

I took several dedicated philosophy courses. My favorite was called Law and Morality, where we read Plato, Marcus Aurelius, Socrates, etc. My friend took a course exclusively on Camus.

The school has a celebrated American art gallery and an archaeology museum, so we were able to use those facilities to supplement courses. One of my friends had the opportunity to do an independent curation project at the archaeology museum.

This is in addition to broad offerings in math, science, art, etc.

If you have specific questions, I’m happy to try to answer them.

This is OP. Thank you! I suppose part of my fascination with the education of the elite is the head start they receive in terms of knowing certain things. It appears there is an emphasis on languages and culture. What are other aspects of their curriculum? What about athletics?

Andover’s Course of Study is here; it’ll be much more comprehensive than anything I post: https://www.andover.edu/files/CourseOfStudy.pdf

It’s basically like going to a liberal arts college without declaring a major. You end up graduating with a broad foundation in language, history, philosophy and religion, math, science, and the arts. College was very easy in comparison.

We were all required to participate in sports all 4 years. However, it only had to be a team sport the first year. After that, it just had to be some sort of physical activity. I signed up for squash my first year and was terrible at it, so I switched to yoga, which fulfilled the requirement. We also had to pass a swim test to graduate.

Andover has a huge athletics department, though. They have a hockey rink, multiple track facilities, an Olympic-sized swimming pool, etc. There was a girl in my year who swam for the US Olympic team.

My main extracurricular was orchestra. They have three chamber orchestras, which you have to audition for, and one larger symphony orchestra. That took up a lot of time.

I also did significant community service.

I find this so interesting too! I’d love to know the equivalent level of curriculum for the lower and middle grades.

[Anonymous]

I work in consulting for education and have had clients go to Le Rosey, Choate, Hotchkiss, etc.

I don't notice much of a difference except extreme privilege for the most part. Ability to take fabulous vacations, buy designer clothes, not worry about money. Kids are either very intelligent or excel at sports and have a desire to have the best or be the best.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh and to answer your question about being out of reach:

We have zero family legacy at either school. These schools are absolutely accessible for smart, motivated kids.

With rich parents. And the not like they hand out scholarship like candy.