Best private schools in NYC?

[Anonymous]

np. If you cared only about academic rigor, my opinion would be:
Trinity > Hunter > St. B > Dalton > Riverdale > Town

Private k-12, vs UES k-8, vs Hunter are going to be very different though. Hunter will be the most different, with fewer wealthy families and more immigrants. FWIW, going through 12th grade wasn't important to us, so we're at a boys' k-8.

[Anonymous]

Thank you! This is v helpful.

I definitely care a lot about rigor, but also want my kid to enjoy learning and stay mentally healthy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:np. If you cared only about academic rigor, my opinion would be:
Trinity > Hunter > St. B > Dalton > Riverdale > Town

Private k-12, vs UES k-8, vs Hunter are going to be very different though. Hunter will be the most different, with fewer wealthy families and more immigrants. FWIW, going through 12th grade wasn't important to us, so we're at a boys' k-8.

For purely academic rigor, I agree with this order.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you! This is v helpful.

I definitely care a lot about rigor, but also want my kid to enjoy learning and stay mentally healthy.

If this is the balance you're looking for, you should really consider the K-8 model. Like previous poster mentioned, it's a different vibe than the k-12. People talk about rigor as if it's entirely about school academic policies (how hard is the curriculum) and as if there's a set scale with objective measures that can be compared apples to apples. And it's really not like that. All of the schools on your list would be considered academically rigorous. Much of what determines success is a good match for learning styles and pedagogy. Much of it is about the students themselves. Top-performing kids at the K-8 schools get into and do well at the high schools you'd likely be interested in. It's worth careful consideration and research.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you! This is v helpful.

I definitely care a lot about rigor, but also want my kid to enjoy learning and stay mentally healthy.

If this is the balance you're looking for, you should really consider the K-8 model. Like previous poster mentioned, it's a different vibe than the k-12. People talk about rigor as if it's entirely about school academic policies (how hard is the curriculum) and as if there's a set scale with objective measures that can be compared apples to apples. And it's really not like that. All of the schools on your list would be considered academically rigorous. Much of what determines success is a good match for learning styles and pedagogy. Much of it is about the students themselves. Top-performing kids at the K-8 schools get into and do well at the high schools you'd likely be interested in. It's worth careful consideration and research.

I largely agree with this. Rigor at Hunter (more STEM) is very different from rigor at St. B's (reading, writing, and Shakespeare plays). The best school is the one where your kid succeeds, and these places are not the same. Our son has a ton of boy energy, and we liked that the boys' schools promised to keep him moving.

We also felt the k-8s were not as socially competitive as the k-12s (no ivy exmissions to brag about), and liked that. That said, there's a very strong argument that at any school you will find your people, but we are super happy with the general vibe of our school and don't regret our choice. I think if you if you followed groups of kids from kindergarten, they'd eventually end up in similar places as their k-12 peers, but there's no simple comparison to be made (even the k-12 exmissions numbers are complicated by varying levels of legacy and turnover at 9th grade).

I'll also add that, of the schools OP listed, Trinity, Hunter and St. B are known to be pressure cookers. From what I've heard, Dalton, Riverdale, and the other k-8s are less so. Some kids thrive under pressure; others not as much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
We also felt the k-8s were not as socially competitive as the k-12s (no ivy exmissions to brag about), and liked that.

I would argue it is the opposite as K-8 has the better middle school experience compared to K-12. In addition, they list the placements for high school instead of college.

[Anonymous]

St B's sounds amazing with its classical type education. Socially, would we have issues if we aren't the elite UES crowd (but full pay)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:St B's sounds amazing with its classical type education. Socially, would we have issues if we aren't the elite UES crowd (but full pay)?

Depends on the level of income.

[Anonymous]

Oh. Nothing impressive for NYC. 1 million HHI which is basically from our jobs as 2 working parents, no family money. So make enough to not qualify for financial aid, but nothing compared to the 20 million plus families on the UES.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh. Nothing impressive for NYC. 1 million HHI which is basically from our jobs as 2 working parents, no family money. So make enough to not qualify for financial aid, but nothing compared to the 20 million plus families on the UES.

You’ll be fine

[Anonymous]

Apologies for hijacking’s OP thread, but we are going through the application process too and considering some of these schools. We didn’t grow up here so it’s all foreign.

We also are applying to Hunter and privates. I thought Hunter was generally coveted, but it sounds like people with resources go private and those who pick Hunter (or others like it if those exist) make the choice primarily for financial reasons? The money matters to us but we can afford private. We are a doctor/lawyer family with two kids. If our daughter gets in, should we try Hunter. What kind of kids is that school good for or bad for. It’s very hard to get information about the school and we don’t know anyone who attends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
We also are applying to Hunter and privates. I thought Hunter was generally coveted, but it sounds like people with resources go private and those who pick Hunter (or others like it if those exist) make the choice primarily for financial reasons? The money matters to us but we can afford private. We are a doctor/lawyer family with two kids. If our daughter gets in, should we try Hunter. What kind of kids is that school good for or bad for. It’s very hard to get information about the school and we don’t know anyone who attends.

Hunter is very difficult to be admitted at the kindergarten entry point. There are more qualified children than available seats. People tend to view Hunter as winning the educational lottery. I would recommend reading Testing for Kindergarten by Karen Quinn and learning about the Stanford-Binet test. Hunter doesn't have sibling or legacy policies compared to private.

[Anonymous]

As I said, I didn’t grow up here and am learning about the schools as I go so I probably dont know what I’m talking about, but shouldn’t Hunter be easier to get into -
at least for an oldest kid? At the stronger private schools, it seems like there aren’t many openings after you knock out the seats reserved for siblings, legacies and other connected kids. At least at Hunter your kid can compete for every seat. Someone told me that last year at Dalton there were only six seats for kids with no hooks. No idea if that’s true, but it’s clear that a lot of spots are spoken for before admission season even kicks off.

My real question is should we even consider Hunter. We are a comfortably upper middle class family so we can pay the full private school tuition for both of our kids but getting free tuition would be meaningful for us. Are the private schools so much better that it’s worth paying or are they only marginally better?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As I said, I didn’t grow up here and am learning about the schools as I go so I probably dont know what I’m talking about, but shouldn’t Hunter be easier to get into -
at least for an oldest kid? At the stronger private schools, it seems like there aren’t many openings after you knock out the seats reserved for siblings, legacies and other connected kids. At least at Hunter your kid can compete for every seat. Someone told me that last year at Dalton there were only six seats for kids with no hooks. No idea if that’s true, but it’s clear that a lot of spots are spoken for before admission season even kicks off.

Nearly 2,200 apply to Hunter and 50 are accepted. 518 applied to Trinity school for 2022-2023 and 68 were accepted. Many apply to multiple private schools, there is only one Hunter.

Anonymous wrote:
My real question is should we even consider Hunter. We are a comfortably upper middle class family so we can pay the full private school tuition for both of our kids but getting free tuition would be meaningful for us.

There is no barrier to entry for public schools. You just apply and take the test. There is nothing to consider until there is an offer.

Parents League of New York offers free virtual fairs, you can listen to the presentations of the different private schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Apologies for hijacking’s OP thread, but we are going through the application process too and considering some of these schools. We didn’t grow up here so it’s all foreign.

We also are applying to Hunter and privates. I thought Hunter was generally coveted, but it sounds like people with resources go private and those who pick Hunter (or others like it if those exist) make the choice primarily for financial reasons? The money matters to us but we can afford private. We are a doctor/lawyer family with two kids. If our daughter gets in, should we try Hunter. What kind of kids is that school good for or bad for. It’s very hard to get information about the school and we don’t know anyone who attends.

Hunter is extremely coveted. The kids I know who got in were extremely gifted, and not simply well prepped. In most cases people with resources go private because their dc did not make the cut.