Why can't non top tier privates just increase rigor and test prep to remove the perceived gap?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because their students couldn’t handle a more rigorous curriculum.

Really? You realize some people choose what you perceive to be “lesser” schools for lots of reasons, right? We aren’t applying to them because, frankly, they’re overpriced and we don’t want to be around people like you.

This

+1 this

Not everyone thinks the intense focus on test scores and grades is the way to go. Kids learn in so many other ways, and they need to learn to be well-rounded human beings, not just statistics generators. My husband and I both went to public school and had fantastic experiences at Little Ivies. There is more to life than numbers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because their students couldn’t handle a more rigorous curriculum.

Really? You realize some people choose what you perceive to be “lesser” schools for lots of reasons, right? We aren’t applying to them because, frankly, they’re overpriced and we don’t want to be around people like you.

This

+1 this

Not everyone thinks the intense focus on test scores and grades is the way to go. Kids learn in so many other ways, and they need to learn to be well-rounded human beings, not just statistics generators. My husband and I both went to public school and had fantastic experiences at Little Ivies. There is more to life than numbers.

Yep. I also still haven’t seen anyone actually cite these so called test scores. What are we talking about here? SATs? APs? Those don’t tell the whole story and also give you no insight into the K-8 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sidwell, NCS, STA, GDS, Holton, Potomac . . .

And the generally accepted list of the next tier?

Maret, Field, Flint Hill, SSAS, Episcopal, Bullis, Landon, Madeira, Gonzaga

By what measure? Maret has an average SAT score of 1360. SSFS, which you didn’t list here, is 1320. Is that 40 point difference really indicative of a difference in rigor? What about the 100 point difference between SSFS and Sidwell? Could it be that Sidwell families prep their kids more?

[Anonymous]

The fact is that Maret kids get into similar colleges as Sidwell kids, and by largely the same proportion to ivies and top 10 schools (10-15%). So, there is really no difference between the two in terms of rigor and certainly in terms of outcomes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The fact is that Maret kids get into similar colleges as Sidwell kids, and by largely the same proportion to ivies and top 10 schools (10-15%). So, there is really no difference between the two in terms of rigor and certainly in terms of outcomes.

OP wants rigor and testing. I would say many different approaches can lead to good outcomes, but that's what OP wants.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The fact is that Maret kids get into similar colleges as Sidwell kids, and by largely the same proportion to ivies and top 10 schools (10-15%). So, there is really no difference between the two in terms of rigor and certainly in terms of outcomes.

Uh, no they don’t.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sidwell, NCS, STA, GDS, Holton, Potomac . . .

And the generally accepted list of the next tier?

Maret, Field, Flint Hill, SSAS, Episcopal, Bullis, Landon, Madeira, Gonzaga

I have a child that declined a spot at a school on the first list to attend a school on the second list. The "less rigorous" school was a better fit for a variety of reasons, and a few months in to 9th grade I can report that child is happier than I ever could have hoped for, challenged, thriving. I think people have all sorts of different objectives when they look at private schools, not always just to attend the one with the best perceived reputation on this board and elsewhere, and it is great that there are so many options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The fact is that Maret kids get into similar colleges as Sidwell kids, and by largely the same proportion to ivies and top 10 schools (10-15%). So, there is really no difference between the two in terms of rigor and certainly in terms of outcomes.

OP wants rigor and testing. I would say many different approaches can lead to good outcomes, but that's what OP wants.

But again -- what tests are we talking about here? Since private schools don't participate in state tests, the only conclusion I can come to is we're talking about SATs and APs. That gives limited insight into academic rigor and only applies to high schools.

How are you all comparing K-8 schools, or the K-8 years in the K-12 schools? My suspicion is you're doing it based on perception, with really no objective data behind your conclusions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are filling a niche. There are people who don’t want stress factories for their kids and there are kids who just couldn’t keep up at those types of schools. Prestige is all in the eye of the beholder. If you think happiness and success in life will come from getting admitted to a top 20 college then good for you. Lots of people don’t think that way and that is why these schools exist.

I don't think it's necessarily top 20 college obsession, it's more a college readiness, and more to the point, a readiness for challenging departments. Any private school student can get into college, but are the seniors prepared to handle pre-med, engineering, computer science, nursing, statistics, pre-law tracks? That's where rigor helps.

Sheesh. I f*cked off at a good public school, nearly flunked out of a large state U, and yet somehow still made it through a joint JD/ME and BigLaw. Some people don’t need rigor when they’re young — they need time to mature, burn off some energy, etc. There is no one-size-fits-all approach. Follow your chil’s lead.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are filling a niche. There are people who don’t want stress factories for their kids and there are kids who just couldn’t keep up at those types of schools. Prestige is all in the eye of the beholder. If you think happiness and success in life will come from getting admitted to a top 20 college then good for you. Lots of people don’t think that way and that is why these schools exist.

I don't think it's necessarily top 20 college obsession, it's more a college readiness, and more to the point, a readiness for challenging departments. Any private school student can get into college, but are the seniors prepared to handle pre-med, engineering, computer science, nursing, statistics, pre-law tracks? That's where rigor helps.

Sheesh. I f*cked off at a good public school, nearly flunked out of a large state U, and yet somehow still made it through a joint JD/ME and BigLaw. Some people don’t need rigor when they’re young — they need time to mature, burn off some energy, etc. There is no one-size-fits-all approach. Follow your chil’s lead.

THANK YOU! It's freaking HIGH SCHOOL.

[Anonymous]

You are missing the point of private. We don’t send our kids to one of the so called top ones for anything to do w/ test scores, APs, etc. We send them there for the amazing quality of education they’re receiving, the true joy and quest for learning they have developed, all of the opportunities they have without leaving their campus, the level of reaching, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are filling a niche. There are people who don’t want stress factories for their kids and there are kids who just couldn’t keep up at those types of schools. Prestige is all in the eye of the beholder. If you think happiness and success in life will come from getting admitted to a top 20 college then good for you. Lots of people don’t think that way and that is why these schools exist.

I don't think it's necessarily top 20 college obsession, it's more a college readiness, and more to the point, a readiness for challenging departments. Any private school student can get into college, but are the seniors prepared to handle pre-med, engineering, computer science, nursing, statistics, pre-law tracks? That's where rigor helps.

Sheesh. I f*cked off at a good public school, nearly flunked out of a large state U, and yet somehow still made it through a joint JD/ME and BigLaw. Some people don’t need rigor when they’re young — they need time to mature, burn off some energy, etc. There is no one-size-fits-all approach. Follow your chil’s lead.

THANK YOU! It's freaking HIGH SCHOOL.

Yup. I went to a NE prep school and loved it, but I don’t think you have to have gone somewhere like that to be successful. That’s absurd. DH went to public school, a big state U for college and grad school, and currently makes $300K as a marketing exec. He actually credits those big schools for helping him develop resiliency and resourcefulness that have helped him in his career, and in life in general.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You are missing the point of private. We don’t send our kids to one of the so called top ones for anything to do w/ test scores, APs, etc. We send them there for the amazing quality of education they’re receiving, the true joy and quest for learning they have developed, all of the opportunities they have without leaving their campus, the level of reaching, etc.

And you can access all of that at schools outside the so called “top tier.”

[Anonymous]

i) Hiring higher caliber administrators and teachers is VERY expensive.

ii) Even the bottom of the incoming class at top tier privates is darn impressive. If mid-tier privates could afford to reject their bottom quartile, the remaining gap between mid-tiers and top tier privates would be quite small.

Everything else is window dressing. And "elite" college admissions is juked with athletic recruits, legacies and URMs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:i) Hiring higher caliber administrators and teachers is VERY expensive.

ii) Even the bottom of the incoming class at top tier privates is darn impressive. If mid-tier privates could afford to reject their bottom quartile, the remaining gap between mid-tiers and top tier privates would be quite small.

Everything else is window dressing. And "elite" college admissions is juked with athletic recruits, legacies and URMs.

Define top tier private using objective metrics. Prove that they are “darn impressive” using those metrics.

Unless you can do either of those things, you are engaging in pure speculation.