How many parents who did private in DC are now sending DC to public or charter?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Am I really the only one so far, as of page 4, who understands that a lot of these DCPS "by choice" parents in actuality cannot readily afford $70,000 - $104,000 after tax for private school for 13 years?

Several acknowledged that. I am a Sidwell alum and we are public (MoCo) by choice so it's not a money thing for everyone.

Of course for all those people anxious to get their kids into Sidwell and other popular schools to put them on the path to the Ivy league and prosperity, what does it say when many of the alums can't afford to send their kids there?

Some of us also went to Ivy after prep school... and grad schools, etc yadi yada... so would like to do the same for our kids. Much harder to do than for our parents but that still doesn't assuage the guilt. My DH likes to joke that we are downwardly mobile...

My public school kid is applying to several Ivy League schools. They will accept applications from public school kids. Sometimes they even admit them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Am I really the only one so far, as of page 4, who understands that a lot of these DCPS "by choice" parents in actuality cannot readily afford $70,000 - $104,000 after tax for private school for 13 years?

Several acknowledged that. I am a Sidwell alum and we are public (MoCo) by choice so it's not a money thing for everyone.

Of course for all those people anxious to get their kids into Sidwell and other popular schools to put them on the path to the Ivy league and prosperity, what does it say when many of the alums can't afford to send their kids there?

Some of us also went to Ivy after prep school... and grad schools, etc yadi yada... so would like to do the same for our kids. Much harder to do than for our parents but that still doesn't assuage the guilt. My DH likes to joke that we are downwardly mobile...

My public school kid is applying to several Ivy League schools. They will accept applications from public school kids. Sometimes they even admit them.

The majority of kids at the Ivies have always come from public schools. I'm not talking about that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My oldest went thru GDS and off to college. Second child goes to BasisDC charter and we have better vacations now. (also donate liberally). He will have a great story to tell when applying to college.

And since DC public school kids don't go up against the private school kids for admission (at least for Ivies, there is kind of a quota), or to put it another way are in a completely different category, he may have a better chance at getting in to the college of his choice from BasisDC than from GDS. Food for thought. We thought about it too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My oldest went thru GDS and off to college. Second child goes to BasisDC charter and we have better vacations now. (also donate liberally). He will have a great story to tell when applying to college.

And since DC public school kids don't go up against the private school kids for admission (at least for Ivies, there is kind of a quota), or to put it another way are in a completely different category, he may have a better chance at getting in to the college of his choice from BasisDC than from GDS. Food for thought. We thought about it too.

Tell us what that category is...poor, uneducated, not as important as you are?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My oldest went thru GDS and off to college. Second child goes to BasisDC charter and we have better vacations now. (also donate liberally). He will have a great story to tell when applying to college.

And since DC public school kids don't go up against the private school kids for admission (at least for Ivies, there is kind of a quota), or to put it another way are in a completely different category, he may have a better chance at getting in to the college of his choice from BasisDC than from GDS. Food for thought. We thought about it too.

Really? My DH and BF were and are interviewers for their respective Ivies in another very large metropolitan city and I've never heard of this. Given similar outstanding SAT scores and grades, the only other hooks are for legacies, development cases, and underrepresented minorities. I have never heard of public school kids being in a completely different category than private schools other than that there is somewhat of a quota for the public school magnets like TJ. Given that very few DC public HS kids get into the Ivies at all, please clarify what you are talking about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My oldest went thru GDS and off to college. Second child goes to BasisDC charter and we have better vacations now. (also donate liberally). He will have a great story to tell when applying to college.

And since DC public school kids don't go up against the private school kids for admission (at least for Ivies, there is kind of a quota), or to put it another way are in a completely different category, he may have a better chance at getting in to the college of his choice from BasisDC than from GDS. Food for thought. We thought about it too.

Tell us what that category is...poor, uneducated, not as important as you are?

No, I know what the PP meant. If you're not at the very top of your prestigious private school class, you're not getting into the Ivies. Same thing with NOVA public schools--only the very top students will be admitted to UVa and William and Mary. For admissions at top colleges, sometimes it's better to be the top student at a less prestigious high school, assuming you are prepared for the work, of course.

[Anonymous]

The majority of kids at the Ivies have always come from public schools. I'm not talking about that.

This.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My oldest went thru GDS and off to college. Second child goes to BasisDC charter and we have better vacations now. (also donate liberally). He will have a great story to tell when applying to college.

And since DC public school kids don't go up against the private school kids for admission (at least for Ivies, there is kind of a quota), or to put it another way are in a completely different category, he may have a better chance at getting in to the college of his choice from BasisDC than from GDS. Food for thought. We thought about it too.

Tell us what that category is...poor, uneducated, not as important as you are?

No, I know what the PP meant. If you're not at the very top of your prestigious private school class, you're not getting into the Ivies. Same thing with NOVA public schools--only the very top students will be admitted to UVa and William and Mary. For admissions at top colleges, sometimes it's better to be the top student at a less prestigious high school, assuming you are prepared for the work, of course.

Maybe if you live in Oklahoma or flyover country. For the East Coast and other major metropolitan areas, the hs that occasionally send one student to an Ivy every few yrs will continue to do the same yr in, yr out. Doesn't really matter whether it's public or private.

[Anonymous]

I went to DCPS (eaton, deal, wilson) I send my kids to private. The DCPS education I got was not, I feel, all that great. We all bring our own baggage when it comes to making choices for our kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to DCPS (eaton, deal, wilson) I send my kids to private. The DCPS education I got was not, I feel, all that great. We all bring our own baggage when it comes to making choices for our kids.

I suppose my baggage is that I don't feel my private school high school education was worth $140k. It was probably worth the roughly $30k my parents paid back then.

Wilson seems about the same to me now as it was then, but my high school doesn't seem to have improved exponentially.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to DCPS (eaton, deal, wilson) I send my kids to private. The DCPS education I got was not, I feel, all that great. We all bring our own baggage when it comes to making choices for our kids.

No joke. I went to MoCo for K-12 and wouldn't send my DC there. We are very happy with our DCPS experience.

[Anonymous]

Not only are the schools MUCH more than when we went there (even factoring a generous inflation/cost of living increase) but so are the houses, gas, and the things we do for our kids outside of school, not to mention college. I went to a prestigious liberal arts college where freshman year with room and board cost as much as my kid's 1/2 day 3 year old nursery in DC 15 years after that first year in college, and the nursery school wasn't Beauvoir. Also, the houses in JKLM are ridiculous as compared to when we were kids, as are our activities, plus the tutoring transportation etc. I think it is a factor more than people would admit, though truly there is no shame in it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Am I really the only one so far, as of page 4, who understands that a lot of these DCPS "by choice" parents in actuality cannot readily afford $70,000 - $104,000 after tax for private school for 13 years?

Your numbers are way lower than they actually would be.

Take Sidwell, which is admittedly at the highest end of the tuition range, where tuition averages (for lower school) $34,288 PER YEAR. Times 13 years (K-12) and you get $445,744.

Factor in more than one child, possibly, and a NW DC mortgage payment - and most people except the top 1% in the city can afford the entire amount.

[Anonymous]

PP. Sorry. Typing too fast.
...most people except the top 1% CAN'T afford the entire amount.

[Anonymous]

I think the pp who spoke of $70k-$104k for private tuition in DC considered the amount to be doled out annually every year for 13 years if one had 2-3 children. That number over the course of 13 years would barely cover extracurriculars or transportation.