Was Private Worth the Money if DC Didn’t Get into a “good” University?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP how many threads on this have you started??

Different poster here and I started a similar thread in recent weeks but not this one. I do think it's a subject on many peoples' minds.

If you’re spending 50k a year, rightfully you should have a right to know about the prospective college chances that your school has to offer.

Most of them post their matriculation lists. Not sure exactly what more you want.

If my kid goes to what you consider a "not good" university, I'll still consider private school money well spent. Know why? Because he's happy and learning. The environment in our zoned public school was cold and chaotic. Maybe other people have better public choices but we sure didn't. So we went private and my quiet, shy, anxiety-prone child has bloomed. Worth every penny. That will do more to inform the rest of his life than would going to what you consider a "good" university.

So so true.

[Anonymous]

We live in a pretty good district (our high school offers around 25 AP classes) and we don't have infinite resources, so yes, I would be a little salty if I spent $50k per year on private and our kid didn't get into a top college. We are considering sending our oldest to boarding school in a few years because it might be a good academic fit plus he could play a sport that isn't very competitive in the area. I would not feel good about this decision if he doesn't end up playing that sport at the D3 level at a good college because tuition represents a significant amount of money. We can afford it, but there would be tradeoffs. These are just the undeniable facts of our situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Obviously college matriculation isn’t everything, but I feel as if I have talked to parents who wish they had kept their kids in public had they known their kids were going to go to a subpar university. I have seen quite a few threads talking about grade deflation at ‘top whatever’ schools, and having concerns that it is negatively impacting their child’s admissions, then what exactly is the point of a top private school? Sure the quality of education in high school is important, but arguably you make most of your connections and zone in on your career path in college. Do you regret spending tens of thousands of dollars every year for private school?

Of course. Big 3 was.

[Anonymous]

It’s too late to network in college.

[Anonymous]

You have to be extraordinarily lucky to fall into the right circles in college if you don’t have an in from high school already

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP how many threads on this have you started??

Different poster here and I started a similar thread in recent weeks but not this one. I do think it's a subject on many peoples' minds.

If you’re spending 50k a year, rightfully you should have a right to know about the prospective college chances that your school has to offer.

Most of them post their matriculation lists. Not sure exactly what more you want.

If my kid goes to what you consider a "not good" university, I'll still consider private school money well spent. Know why? Because he's happy and learning. The environment in our zoned public school was cold and chaotic. Maybe other people have better public choices but we sure didn't. So we went private and my quiet, shy, anxiety-prone child has bloomed. Worth every penny. That will do more to inform the rest of his life than would going to what you consider a "good" university.

So so true.

Agree. The metal detectors alone were worth avoiding. Now I would prefer we fix our schools. Obviously we could since we have decent elementaries. Don’t know what gives.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Obviously college matriculation isn’t everything, but I feel as if I have talked to parents who wish they had kept their kids in public had they known their kids were going to go to a subpar university. I have seen quite a few threads talking about grade deflation at ‘top whatever’ schools, and having concerns that it is negatively impacting their child’s admissions, then what exactly is the point of a top private school? Sure the quality of education in high school is important, but arguably you make most of your connections and zone in on your career path in college. Do you regret spending tens of thousands of dollars every year for private school?

Alex, I'll take things that never actually happened for $100.

don’t get the reference.

You have to be old, and not have done sports. I think it came on TV during practice

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Duh. People aren't going to admit to that, in real life or even DCUM, are they? But it's obvious. I'd say about half of private families are ultimately disappointed in their child's college admission and the money they spent to get there. However they rationalize with smaller class sizes, reduced exposure to gun violence (not drugs, alcohol, etc) and the potential to meet other wealthy families. College admissions are only one reason out of many to choose privates over publics.

That’s nuts. And not true. So you’d say wrong innit

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Real question should be directed to parents who send their kids to private school whilst on financial aid. What’s the reason? Especially if it’s not the big 5, is it really worth it?

What is wrong with you? That’s low.

Obviously it’s worth it. I bet people at your income level are getting FA but you’ll never know it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't care where my kids go to college as long as, at the end of the day, they can afford to raise their kids the way they were raised.

+1
Many jobs are doing away with the stamp of college as a requirement. Hopefully, we'll go back to apprenticeships. Most of what is needed for any job is learned on the job. I have a PhD in STEM and I used maybe 10% of what I learned my first 5 years, everything else was learned on the job. Now 18 years in I draw on my experiences and business relationships, not anything from my education.

As long as my kids can maintain their lifestyle AND, more importantly, get off my books, why do I care about an arbitrary piece of paper?

You are so right. I went to the dr yesterday and I was like bring the orderly. I don’t need your MD high fallutin’ ways.

[Anonymous]

And he better have not gone to no private high school neither

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We live in a pretty good district (our high school offers around 25 AP classes) and we don't have infinite resources, so yes, I would be a little salty if I spent $50k per year on private and our kid didn't get into a top college. We are considering sending our oldest to boarding school in a few years because it might be a good academic fit plus he could play a sport that isn't very competitive in the area. I would not feel good about this decision if he doesn't end up playing that sport at the D3 level at a good college because tuition represents a significant amount of money. We can afford it, but there would be tradeoffs. These are just the undeniable facts of our situation.

+1000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s too late to network in college.

Lol

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Real question should be directed to parents who send their kids to private school whilst on financial aid. What’s the reason? Especially if it’s not the big 5, is it really worth it?

I don't follow your thinking. My friend's son is going to STA for $10k/year. Why not do that? It's a fantastic school for very little money.

Precisely!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP how many threads on this have you started??

Different poster here and I started a similar thread in recent weeks but not this one. I do think it's a subject on many peoples' minds.

If you’re spending 50k a year, rightfully you should have a right to know about the prospective college chances that your school has to offer.

Most of them post their matriculation lists. Not sure exactly what more you want.

If my kid goes to what you consider a "not good" university, I'll still consider private school money well spent. Know why? Because he's happy and learning. The environment in our zoned public school was cold and chaotic. Maybe other people have better public choices but we sure didn't. So we went private and my quiet, shy, anxiety-prone child has bloomed. Worth every penny. That will do more to inform the rest of his life than would going to what you consider a "good" university.

So so true.

Agree. The metal detectors alone were worth avoiding. Now I would prefer we fix our schools. Obviously we could since we have decent elementaries. Don’t know what gives.

Metal detectors are a good safety precaution. More schools should have them.