Which is better private HS or private college: cannot do both!

[Anonymous]

We have two children, very good students, and have enough to have them do private HS or private college, but not both. Please, not a discussion of why we should do neither. TIA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have two children, very good students, and have enough to have them do private HS or private college, but not both. Please, not a discussion of why we should do neither. TIA

It would entirely depend on how good the public HS's were. Most states have public universities that you can get a good education at, but being able to pay for a private college would open options. If the local HS's are terrible, I'd probably opt for private HS, otherwise save the money for college.

[Anonymous]

I posted on the other thread to say basically what PP just said. If you have a good public HS or a realistic chance at magnets/IB, many would argue that the experience will be as good as many privates. Also, even the most qualified kids get turned down all the time at the top privates. So realistically speaking, it's not like you're comparing Sidwell/STA to your local public. Instead, the odds are that your talented kid will actually be facing a choice between some less elite private and the local public. If your kid needs the support a private HS can provide, this changes the equation.

Keeping your options open for college may be a good thing if your kid doesn't get into the state flagship (UVA and UMD honors are very competitive). Or, your kid might want to do STEM at MIT or music at Juliard. Or might want to dip his toe into architecture without taking the deep dive into a BARCH at UMD, which is not liberal arts, and where you can't take architecture classes unless you're in the BARCH program (yes, we looked into this). You just never know.

On the other hand, many here will argue that a private $60K university isn't worth it just because it's private. It might be worth the $60K if it's in the top 10-20 universities, if it offers something you can't get at the state flagship (MIT for STEM, for example).

[Anonymous]

Depends on which state you live in OP. If Va, then I would chance public college. If MD, UMD isn't as good as the VA options. If DC, you can get the $10k a year TAG money for public colleges around the country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Depends on which state you live in OP. If Va, then I would chance public college. If MD, UMD isn't as good as the VA options. If DC, you can get the $10k a year TAG money for public colleges around the country.

I'm a UVA grad and UMD is arguably better than any VA option for STEM majors. Now whether or not you want to go to school in college park is another matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Depends on which state you live in OP. If Va, then I would chance public college. If MD, UMD isn't as good as the VA options. If DC, you can get the $10k a year TAG money for public colleges around the country.

You are out of touch. UMD ranks far above most VA colleges.

OP, private colleges are usually generous with financial aid, so if your local HS is not to your liking, you should spend the money there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends on which state you live in OP. If Va, then I would chance public college. If MD, UMD isn't as good as the VA options. If DC, you can get the $10k a year TAG money for public colleges around the country.

You are out of touch. UMD ranks far above most VA colleges.

OP, private colleges are usually generous with financial aid, so if your local HS is not to your liking, you should spend the money there.

FA is available for families with HHI under about $100K, although it depends on a family's particular situation, number if kids in college, et cetera. It also depends on the university's endowment. You won't get any credit if the federal FA forms for having a 2nd kid still in private school. If your HHI is $50K or less you will probably get a lot of federal and college FA, although some or much of this may be in the form of (subsidized) student loans. Between $50-100K (these are really rough numbers) the FA dwindles, and don't expect any if your HHI is $200K. They don't include your 401(k) in the resource calculation, though.

Some colleges are generous with merit aid, which is different. The ivies don't offer merit aid, by some agreement among them.

[Anonymous]

Went to private college and loved it!

[Anonymous]

I have older children and if I had to do it again, it would be public high school and public college. I would then have the money to pay for grad school. Oldest daughter had to take out student loans to pay for grade school. Trying to help her as much as we can because we don't want these loans to weigh her down. She received merit aid but still had to take out loans for grad school.

[Anonymous]

College!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have two children, very good students, and have enough to have them do private HS or private college, but not both. Please, not a discussion of why we should do neither. TIA

It would entirely depend on how good the public HS's were. Most states have public universities that you can get a good education at, but being able to pay for a private college would open options. If the local HS's are terrible, I'd probably opt for private HS, otherwise save the money for college.

Agree with this PP. I went to a top public high school and attended private college. We are planning to move to that town when my kids get older (3rd grade or so) so that we can use the money to go towards college rather than private school. If we stayed where we are now, we'd have to send them to a private school as the public schools aren't very good.

I also think the right college is more important than the right high school. So, it would also depend on what the state schools are like in your state. Where I grew up, they were nothing to write home about and in my town were often treated with a community college mentality. Go there for one or two years to improve grades and then switch to a better school. I would hate to spend all my money on a private high school and just prey that my kids would get a full ride or something at a better school than the state college.

[Anonymous]

Private college. At my private college many of the kids who went to private HS were burnt out by the time they got to college and did not perform as well.

[Anonymous]

Public for both and buy your child a starter home when they graduate - early home ownership will make more of a difference over their lifetime.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have two children, very good students, and have enough to have them do private HS or private college, but not both. Please, not a discussion of why we should do neither. TIA

I would pick the best, most rigorous high school option, private if necessary. If your kids do well, they won't have to pay full price for college -- private or public.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have two children, very good students, and have enough to have them do private HS or private college, but not both. Please, not a discussion of why we should do neither. TIA

I would pick the best, most rigorous high school option, private if necessary. If your kids do well, they won't have to pay full price for college -- private or public.

There is no guarantee that anybody's kids will do well at the most rigorous high schools, and that's the rub. It's hard to stand out at the top area high schools, private and public. Also, the Ivies don't offer merit aid, and the most generous merit aid will probably come from 3rd-tier college. Some of these so-called third-tier colleges might be a fabulous match for your kid, but again it's so hard to predict these things.