Which private high schools have significant cohorts of gifted kids?
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Anonymous
One thing I'd add is that it depends on what the OP considers as being "served"....because if that means you want your kid to have special advanced tracks that are beyond typical at the school - it's NOT going to happen at all the schools on this list (STA, NCS, Maret, SFS, GDS). For some, it's not in their interest to accommodate one kid this way. |
Anonymous
I agree with this....and I agree with others who say writing/humanities side is stronger at private. But I will say there's some more nuance depending on what you want for your kid...or frankly...whether your kid is able to succeed across many dimensions. From recent reports of Big 3 graduates heading to engineering programs - they say the kids coming out of a math/science magnet do tend to be a bit more advanced. This doesn't mean the Big 3 (probably Big X) aren't prepared or don't do as well - they all know how to work hard and do what is needed to catch up and it evens out after a year or so. But the kids do say they notice a difference compared to the kids coming from hard core STEM based programs. I think it depends how well rounded you want your child to be. And whether you think your kid will work to be well rounded at the expense of some hard core STEM (that they can just get later in college). Attitude is important here for both parent and child - and in the end - you can shove a square peg into a round hole. I'd venture that the Big X graduates will have had better public speaking and writing backgrounds - so even if doing STEM as their eventual career - they are well suited for a wider set of jobs (not just number crunching, but jobs that need to also have communication and leadership skills). I say this partially based on my math kid who attended CTY for many summers with crazy crazy brilliant kids in STEM subjects. Every time, the feedback from the teacher to us was how our kid stood apart (by a lot) in presentations, in communication skills, in working with others, and explaining very complex "math work" in words and thoughts. These were not instead of their math accomplishments in the class...but in addition to. I credit all of these to the strength of their private schools - this is a total introvert kid, so these skills were not based on their own personality. Granted, these other writing/communication/presentation skills are VERY frustrating for some highly gifted people, so it depends on whether you want to put your child through the frustrations of honing those other skills while also having to "suffer fools" who aren't at their STEM level. It's sadly the case that sometimes gifted students are impatient and look down on other students (and teachers too) when they are not challenged on the single dimension that interests them. I think it's important to quash that sort of thought - but many parents feed it. |
Anonymous
Yep, this is a good point. Tech companies have all kinds of different positions, from "worker bee" types to principal engineers to C-suite leaders and middle management in between. There's room for both the magnet and Big X types, but depending on your education/training/personality certain corporate departments will usually be a better fit than others. |
Anonymous
| Why is the assumption that a STEM career is the only/most desirable path? |
Anonymous
It was shown to you many many times. All the STEM competitions be it AMC8, AMC10, AMC12, Mathcounts, Science bowl, Math Olympiads, Science Olympiads, Intel/Regeneron Science etc.. they are all dominated by public schools. Private schools barely registered in the radar except for the Harker school in California. |
Anonymous
I’m sure it’s irrelevant that only 10% of students in this country go to private schools to begin with. |
Anonymous
Regis doesn't register in the STEM radar. |
Anonymous
Look at the starting and mid career pay for those with just undergrads, and compare it to other undergrads |
Anonymous
And of those, only 24% went to nonsectarian schools. So the population of students who go to secular schools—which include the vast majority of top private schools that might compete in these competitions—is all of roughly 2% of the country‘s students. So representation at these competitions is not the persuasive data point you think it is. |
Anonymous
I didn’t major in a STEM field and will have $285,000 in stock vest tomorrow. That’s after tax. My income is $1.4 million this year. But sure. |
Anonymous
Most private schools don't enter. It's not a thing. |
Anonymous
Yep. And it has nothing to do with the quality of their programs. PP needs a new argument. |
Anonymous
How do you define "STEM career"? For example, do any of these count? Quantitative finance at an investment bank IP litigator at Big Law Corporate controller Head of sales at a medical device startup In-house lawyer at a cloud software company Chief Compliance Officer at a global aerospace and defense manufacturer |
Anonymous
That's nice. Your job must not involve data analysis. |
Anonymous
And what is this high school "STEM radar" of yours? Wondering, because Cal Tech, CMU, MIT, RPI, WPI, Purdue, Stanford, Stevens, Georgia Tech, IU, Virginia Tech, RIT and a whole host of universities that are not Tech, but have great STEM, seem fine with it. https://www.regis.org/section/?id=121 What more does a given kid need? |