Spend college money on private high school instead?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
A DC private as a 10th grader probably won't offer that much aid, even for Catholic.

Even teachers can only expect 50% (If they work at the school).

You are looking at 15K-25K (maybe 30) for 3 years, and tuition will increase each year.
Your kid will also have the impression that private college is a given.

Add in beach weeks, uniforms, textbooks and related social expenses. Sports, theatre, AP exams, band...they all have fees.

If you can use your college savings for tuition, replenish the college fund while they are in HS (almost impossible) you could get away with it, but if your child is content, you may want to keep it going as you have it.

I doubt OP needs to spend on the things you mention (beach week? Yeah, no.). Also, many schools do not even have fees for any of the things you list, except AP exams, and if OP is on financial aid, which I expect at any shcool they would be, those would be covered. Personally, I'd never pay tuition to a school that charged for textbooks and sports or musics/theater. Ridiculous. Also, millions in scholarships are offered by strong colleges to kids at less talked about D.C. private schools every year (same with DC public schools). They are exactly who colleges are looking for (even my full pay kids were offered nearly full scholarships at 2/3s of the colleges, add TAG and OPs 10K, and you'd be surprised at where that kid could go). The risk is that there are no guarantees, and a more welcome risk that, like my kid's friend, you may have to turn own a top school for that full ride to a lesser known school -- but that is only bad news on DCUM.

The problem with this site, is that you get way too many comments from people who are wealthy, only know of a handful of expensive private schools, and believe they are gunning for top 20 colleges full pay -- that is not OP's situation, so a school that isn't "worth it" to them likely works really well for OP, and one that has all sorts of hidden fees and social pressure to spend money isn't on OP's list anyway.

OP, the admissions people at private schools are not boogeymen, they can be very helpful; you can call and talk to them and be honest about your situation and get frank responses in return. And if you don't get that vibe from them, thank them for their time and call another school.

Sure, you be that parent.

FWIW, many independents charge for textbooks.

[Anonymous]

OP, I mean this kindly, it’s best to save up whatever you can for college instead. You do not have the luxury financially of banking on better preparation from an independent school.

[Anonymous]

I am not sure what the waitlist looks like for 9th - but check out cap city. It works for some kids - and typically has 2 Posse scholars in each graduating class as well as a Trachenberg scholar

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your total college fund is only $40,000 (10,000 x 4), that means your child is going to community college first while living at home.

Bullsh*t. There are all sorts of tier 2 and 3 universities that'll give great merit and automatic discounts if you have good stats. The average 4-year loan sum for a '21 college graduate is about $30k. $30k in student loans + $40k from parents + work-study job + summer internships = 4 years of public university BEFORE any scholarships, grants, and potential merit and means-based awards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your total college fund is only $40,000 (10,000 x 4), that means your child is going to community college first while living at home.

Bullsh*t. There are all sorts of tier 2 and 3 universities that'll give great merit and automatic discounts if you have good stats. The average 4-year loan sum for a '21 college graduate is about $30k. $30k in student loans + $40k from parents + work-study job + summer internships = 4 years of public university BEFORE any scholarships, grants, and potential merit and means-based awards.

Good luck with that. That sounded exhausting to read.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
A DC private as a 10th grader probably won't offer that much aid, even for Catholic.

Even teachers can only expect 50% (If they work at the school).

You are looking at 15K-25K (maybe 30) for 3 years, and tuition will increase each year.
Your kid will also have the impression that private college is a given.

Add in beach weeks, uniforms, textbooks and related social expenses. Sports, theatre, AP exams, band...they all have fees.

If you can use your college savings for tuition, replenish the college fund while they are in HS (almost impossible) you could get away with it, but if your child is content, you may want to keep it going as you have it.

I doubt OP needs to spend on the things you mention (beach week? Yeah, no.). Also, many schools do not even have fees for any of the things you list, except AP exams, and if OP is on financial aid, which I expect at any shcool they would be, those would be covered. Personally, I'd never pay tuition to a school that charged for textbooks and sports or musics/theater. Ridiculous. Also, millions in scholarships are offered by strong colleges to kids at less talked about D.C. private schools every year (same with DC public schools). They are exactly who colleges are looking for (even my full pay kids were offered nearly full scholarships at 2/3s of the colleges, add TAG and OPs 10K, and you'd be surprised at where that kid could go). The risk is that there are no guarantees, and a more welcome risk that, like my kid's friend, you may have to turn own a top school for that full ride to a lesser known school -- but that is only bad news on DCUM.

The problem with this site, is that you get way too many comments from people who are wealthy, only know of a handful of expensive private schools, and believe they are gunning for top 20 colleges full pay -- that is not OP's situation, so a school that isn't "worth it" to them likely works really well for OP, and one that has all sorts of hidden fees and social pressure to spend money isn't on OP's list anyway.

OP, the admissions people at private schools are not boogeymen, they can be very helpful; you can call and talk to them and be honest about your situation and get frank responses in return. And if you don't get that vibe from them, thank them for their time and call another school.

Sure, you be that parent.

FWIW, many independents charge for textbooks.

Many don't. And many kids don't want to go to beach week. Mine doesn't.

[Anonymous]

The best spent tuition money is middle school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There’s only a limited amount of loans he can take out. You cannot afford it and you have no guarantee of scholarships or merit aid. I cannot even wrap my mind around why you would be entertaining this for a kid who is doing fine.

Because I’m reading too many DCUM posts 😵‍💫 and feeling bad
and left behind

And we will contribute more towards college I was budgeting that for a possible
High school

Plus DC TAG helps

Your solution is to stop reading posts on this forum. And that’s not a joke - if they’re making you feel bad and left behind, and leading you to consider poor financial choices, the solution is not to change schools but to stop reading.

Save your money for college. The only scenario where raiding the college funds for private high school might make sense is for special needs kids and schools. I know people who have done this when it became clear that college was not the likely path for their kids, and even finishing high school wasn’t certain without extra supports from a specialized school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The best spent tuition money is middle school.

Mine in middle and private has been not impressive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The best spent tuition money is middle school.

Yes. I have two children who started middle school in private and it has been absolutely worth it! Like night and day from our ‘top ranked’ public.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There’s only a limited amount of loans he can take out. You cannot afford it and you have no guarantee of scholarships or merit aid. I cannot even wrap my mind around why you would be entertaining this for a kid who is doing fine.

Because I’m reading too many DCUM posts 😵‍💫 and feeling bad
and left behind

And we will contribute more towards college I was budgeting that for a possible
High school

Plus DC TAG helps

Your solution is to stop reading posts on this forum. And that’s not a joke - if they’re making you feel bad and left behind, and leading you to consider poor financial choices, the solution is not to change schools but to stop reading.

Save your money for college. The only scenario where raiding the college funds for private high school might make sense is for special needs kids and schools. I know people who have done this when it became clear that college was not the likely path for their kids, and even finishing high school wasn’t certain without extra supports from a specialized school.

+100

[Anonymous]

"The only scenario where raiding the college funds for private high school might make sense is for special needs kids and schools."

+1

Paying money that should be going into a college fund or some sort of skilled trade school on private school tuition only makes sense in this situation. If your kid truly can't hack it at a public school because the school isn't able to serve their needs or they're experiencing bullying or something awful, then and only then should you raid their small college fund.

Lately I've been running into families that have next to nothing saved for college who have kids in private high schools costing them $15,000 or more annually. I can only assume that they haven't spent even five minutes looking into what college costs these days and that they don't realize nobody will cover your DC's room and board unless they're a National Merit Scholar.

Save your money for college! Public high school is free but public college is NOT.

[Anonymous]

Is Washington Jesuit Academy an option for you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:nobody will cover your DC's room and board unless they're a National Merit Scholar.

And even then, the list of schools that offer full tuition deals to National Merit Scholars is short.

[Anonymous]

A reason you should consider Private is they have much better college counseling than DCPS.
This past year, the DCPS counselor for 12th graders at Wilson went out on leave in the fall. The kids were scrambling to get recommendations in.