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Private & Independent Schools
Are Folks Really Doing This???????????
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Anonymous
| Just read the St. Albans thread; are families really donating monies to schools to get students accepted? This is beyond me! |
Anonymous
|
of course
Not MOST families, though But if you go to one of those big schools, they WILL be in your pocket looking for fundraising $$ |
Anonymous
| My sister served on the admissions committee at one of the big 3. She said that donations made by an applicant family were viewed as the blatant attempted bribes that they are. It rubs people the wrong way sometimes. |
Anonymous
| I would think that unless you can do this on such a scale that it would have been on your pre-brith to do, list along with "tell decorator the stripes she painted in the nursery should be 1/4" wider," it's irrelevant. |
Anonymous
why only sometimes? Is it only an issue if the amount of the bribe is deficient? |
Anonymous
| No school should be accepting a donation that is made to get an applicant accepted into their school. It's a huge conflict of interest and goes against good practice guidlines. |
Anonymous
|
Probably it's more about the promise of future donations, but only if your kid is accepted. After all, people who earn oodles of money are probably savvy enough not to give away $50K without a promise their kid will be accepted....
In the parent interview you just say something along the lines of "our parenting philosophy is to support our kid's school in every possible way, including monetarily." And then make sure they know you're a partner at a law firm, or a high-tech CEO. And then you don't need to say anything else.... I'm only half joking here. |
Anonymous
| Another strategy: get your kid into a "feeder" preschool or K-6 school. Donate a conspicuous amount of money to your feeder. When the time comes to apply to the elite private, the head of your current school, who knows how these things are played, will be sure to mention your very generous contributions to the annual fund. |
Anonymous
Disgusting. Really. Disgusting. |
Anonymous
|
We certainly didn't do this. But I posted it because I've seen it happen.
Parents who are applying to these schools need to know what they're up against. Otherwise, worst case, they will blame their kid for not measuring up test-wise or playdate-wise. IMHO it's better to blame yourself for not having enough money to play this game (supposing you even wanted to). |
Anonymous
Why? These are private institutions that can set their admissions policies. They could, if they wished, auction off admissions slots to the highest bidders (I am not at all suggesting that they are doing this --- we got in with no connections and no donations) Why is doing this different than paying for private education in the first place? Or using your money to buy into a good public school district, and then send your kids to a public school there? Or, the fact that the US spends so much on public education per child when most kids in the world have so much less? |
Anonymous
| PP, good point. Seen this way we are all buying our way into a private school education that's much better than what's available to the average kid from Anacostia, and it really just starts to look like a matter of degree. |
Anonymous
Then do it. Or charge more tuition. But, really, this donor stuff is-- I repeat -- disgusting. |
Anonymous
I guess the difference is, you know the asking price for the house, going in... But I HAVE wondered why private school education is so costly... |
Anonymous
| Yup, not a very transparent market. But the market for private schools is largely unregulated. |