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IVY BOUND -- WHICH PUBLIC OR PRIVATE WILL GET ME THERE?
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Anonymous
| Pp-- you're sadder for commenting on it. Stop preaching and judging. Read something else -- how to get your kid into MK |
Anonymous
St. Albans, NCS, Holton, Sidwell, Potomac |
Anonymous
what's MK? |
Anonymous
Absolutely true for girls. I have a young female cousin rower starting at an Ivy next fall. She was heavily recruited by all the big name schools with rowing programs, private and public, and I was amazed to watch the coaches at really impressive schools trying to get a moment of her time at a regatta last summer. Now she is an amazing young athlete, but if your daughter is tall and athletic it is definitely worth checking out. |
Anonymous
|
IMHO the concern is not getting into an "Ivy" per se. It's getting into a competitive school. Which could easily include Stanford, MIT, Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore and their ilk.
ALL OF THESE are really, really difficult to get into. So it's not even "Ivy" obsession, it's "competitive college" obsession. So I'd rephrase OP's question as, will public or private get a kid into one of these? |
Anonymous
According to the Post's own education columnist, Jay Matthews, there are a few DC public schools as good as Sidwell (where his daughter went). It's here: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/class-struggle/2009/11/sidwell_friends_school_as_rors.html. But not in the actual column, it's in his response to something somebody else said, on 11/16 at 2:52. You have to scroll down to get to his comment on , so I'll excerpt it here: "As for Sidwell vs. DCPS, there are some DCPS high schools that offer a level and range of teaching that is at least as good as Sidwell's. These include the School Without Walls, Banneker, Wilson and to a surprising degree, Bell Multicultural. There are also some charters that show the promise of being as good academically, although many of the charter high schools in the city have not reached their full size or potential." So yeah, you could buy that 4-bedroom house near the metro. And then you could also go down a bit on your list, and get an upstairs bathroom you like. Or, once you have the language or other academic opportunities, you can start asking questions further down your list, like where do the kids go to college. |
Anonymous
| I would believe Jay Matthews if he sent his kid to one of those "as good as Sidwell" options -- but he didn't. |
Anonymous
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And it's BS.
Certainly, you can get a decent education (and admission to an Ivy or similar caliber university if that's what you're looking for) from any of the DCPS schools he has mentioned. But to say that the level and range of teaching is as good or better than Sidwell's is ridiculous. And becoming even more ridiculous as DCPS fires or drives out some of its best teachers. |
Anonymous
He lives in Maryland. Apparently he wanted to send his kid to Whitman, but his wife and daughter overruled him: http://themorechild.com/2009/03/10/jay-mathews-live/. So the jury's still out on whether he would have sent his kid to a DCPS school, because it wasn't an option for him. Scroll down to his response to the blog. |
Anonymous
See, I think you're assuming that Ivy admission is OP's ONLY goal. She didn't say that. She could be like lots of other people here, who want a great education first, but aren't afraid to ask questions about things that are numbers 4-5 on their list. If I asked about school art programs for my pre-K kid, would you slam me? No, because you'd realize that I probably care more about my kid learning to read or write, and that art's a secondary but still valid interest. Let's let her speak for herself on this. |
Anonymous
| What a nice reply pp -- I'm the OP and I just wanted to hear people's views. |
Anonymous
Actually a kid might have a better shot coming from DCPS than from a private, regardless of the education. |
Anonymous
| I agree with that pp. I wasn't brave enough to send my kid to a DCPS high school. The idea of having a kid going through a metal detector every day really turned me off. But to your point -- i'm sure you've heard it but they call Wilson "Yale or Jail" . The kids who are able to do well in such tough environs are looked upon favorably by college admissions people. And, for the privates, it's hard for kids to be the top 4 or 5 in the class since there are so many smart kids there. |
Anonymous
| Agree with PP. I did an alumni interview for my alma mater (not an Ivy but top liberal arts school) of a Wilson Student. He was white, lived in Chevy Chase DC and had great grades. But, he was a horrible interview and obviously had no desire to go to the school, so I gave him a bad recommendation. He ended up getting into a few ivies - which I highly doubt he would have if he had gone to a private school in the area. |
Anonymous
You are a generous person. However, OP chose to give this thread the title "IVY BOUND -- WHICH PUBLIC OR PRIVATE WILL GET ME THERE?" It's rather difficult to draw the conclusion that OP has not already set her heart rather rigidly on her darling offspring attending an Ivy, and that her only concern is how to get the kid there. She didn't say "I would love for my child to attend an Ivy," or, "While it's most important to me that my child be happy and challenged, I can't help but confess that I would love for him/her to attend an Ivy." She said "IVY BOUND." That was her choice and she has been justifiably ridiculed for it. Sorry to be a b****, but I've lived in this town for 10 years and I think the singleminded focus of parents with 5-year-olds on getting their kids into a big-name college (more than a decade from now!) is insane, unhealthy, and yes, deserving of ridicule. Let your kids be kids, let them develop their interests and personalities over the next decade, and see where it leads them. |