The alumni benefits of private school
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Anonymous
| We are trying to decide whether or not to keep our DC in private school. Some days I think it's really not worth the money, because it's a very big stretch for us. However, I was just looking at an alumni magazine from one of the schools my DH attended and I started to think about all the alumni benefits. There was a profile of someone who started a business with his prep school classmates after college and lots of people meet their spouses through friends of friends. Especially in DC, when you meet someone who went to the same school you did you have a special bond. This is obviously primarily beneficial if you remain in DC, but I've gotten a lot of mileage out of attending the school that I did. I know there are a lot of good public schools in the area and I'm sure lots of strong friendships are made, but because most of the schools are fairly big, when someone says they went to, for example, Whitman, I don't know if there is the same connection that there is at a smaller private school. Maybe I'm wrong.... It's also possible that my DC could build these types of relationships in college. I didn't, probably because I went to a large school, but maybe at a smaller college, those types of helpful alumni connections are developed. Anyone else benefit a lot from either HS or college connections? Do the alumni benefits, among other things, make private school worth it? |
Anonymous
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I think the alumni benefits of college are far, far greater.
That said, some of my classmates from a large public high school in New England are great for networking, so not sure the private exceeds public in that regard. |
Anonymous
| I went to a Big 3 school here and there are pretty limited alumni benefits. I have great friends from high school but most of them are doing pretty ordinary things. My friends from college and particularly grad school are MUCH more useful from a networking perspective. |
Anonymous
| The benefits have been useful for me, but not for business. I went to a small private in New England, and the connections have helped for some family or social things, but not much for business. I agree college and grad school are more helpful, unless you plan on living in your home town. |
Anonymous
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GDS grad. I have plenty of friends from high school but have certainly not seen any economic advantage. Many now live in NYC, though, maybe if I lived there...
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Anonymous
| Depends on the school. The Catholic high schools have tremendous DC area networks. They tend to care little about where anyone went to college. |
Anonymous
| In this country, not much benefit. In any other, HUGE! |
Anonymous
| OP here, I meant more social than economic/work related. There is a close knit, "insider" feeling between say Potomac/NCS/Sidwell etc grads that I'm not sure you get at large public schools. Maybe also because there are reunions every five years and the alumni magazine, you tend to keep the connections. DC is a small town and you keep meeting people that know people you know, and having private school in common is an instant bond creator. |
Anonymous
| I think alumni connections for top private schools are over-rated (and I went to one, though not in this area). Unlike college or graduate school, where you are likely to socialize with others with similar career interests, the kids you went to high school with are unlikely to end up in your same professional circle. In terms of social connections, there are a couple "hard core" families from my school that certainly form a tight-knit inner circle, but most of the rest of us haven't stayed in touch with more than one or two close friends other than through facebook (though I am facebook friends with 90% of the people in my graduating class). I attended middle school at a highly regarded public school, and as far as I can tell, those who stayed in public through high school are just as connected to their high school classmates (if not more so), who are just as prosperous and successful as my private school cohort. (For context, I grew up in a wealthy NY suburb) |
Anonymous
| Decades later, I'm still in close touch with many of my private school classmates and our friends from our brother school. I talked to one of my elementary classmates today. I have plenty of other friends from around the country and around the world, but there is a very strong bond between those of us who went to school together so many years ago. |
Anonymous
In some ways, I agree with you. My spouse went to local privates for elementary & h.s. and compared to many people I know people do tend to make more of an effort to keep in touch. However, I wouldn't let this be the deciding factor. DC is a place that attracts a lot of new comers and people that are from here that didn't go to private school. You can definitely have a strong social circle without it. So basically, if you think that there are academic/social benefits for the here and now, I would consider staying. If you think your kid would do well at your local public, that's something to consider. |
Anonymous
| Only if you think your child will live in this area for the rest of their life... |
Anonymous
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Op, I'm wondering if your kid is in school with my old classmates from my big three. There are women my year and around there who graduated with me who were mostly in the "popular" crowd (dancing school, country clubs, spring valley etc) and now send their kids to Beauvoir. judging by fb they seem to spend tons of time hanging out with each other and their kids. It looks like Mean Girls, The Next Generation.
Most of us have grown up and moved on with our lives. |
Anonymous
Been through this as well. I am not sure I want to spend $300,000 plus for private school so my kids can be subjected to this. |
Anonymous
| If you kid is social and a good networker - -yes, there is potential. But if you kid is not - then no - not much. Come on... |