Private School - has it been worth the money to you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
That hasn't been our experience at all. Most of our friends are products of private schools, K-12, and Ivy or equivalent colleges, and top grad school programs. I can assure you that your one example of the fu8k up guy who went to Harvard is the exception rather than the rule. Probably why he stands out.

Have you ever seen the 7 up series? Most people pretty much end up in life as expected.


Not sure what you're intending to say here. Most people end up where their *talents* would be expected to lead them? Most people end up where the *prestige of their school* would be expected to lead them?

Also, agree that an Ivy or equivalent diploma opens a lot of doors. But the world has changed since we went to school and, in particular, there's no longer a guaranteed path from private schools to the Ivies and equivalent and then straight on to Wall Street. Plenty of public school kids go to Ivies, MIT and Stanford. This isn't our grandparents' world of white shoe bankers who all went to the same schools and colleges. It may well be that "most of your friends" are fabulous successes after their private school and Ivy educations, but maybe your friends aren't particularly representative either (anecdata), in fact maybe they're all lawyers (the one profession where this seems to still matter).


Most of our friends are lawyers and investment bankers and I agree with you, those are the two professions where where you went to school still count.

I do not hire Ivies undergrads any more....had too many problems. I look for candidates who were on scholarships and had shitty summer jobs. The shifty summer job is very important. It usually show the person will buckle down, work hard and make opportunities for themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anyone who thinks that this question can be reduced to a few general impressions, anecdotes about "kids I know who went to private school and are now working at Starbucks", or who see the value of education as nothing more than getting into an Ivy league college either know nothing about kids or nothing about education, or in some case both.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's worth every penny. My children have the attention they need and deserve. I feel that I'm able to talk to administration when issues occur and teachers are genuinely interested in my child's education. My girls are not exposed to many social elements - media, rock stars, or clothing. They are encouraged to think outside the box and are in a community where their socio economic status is welcomed and not ostracized.

I'm curious what you refer to. Do you mean they are accepted instead of ostracized for being wealthy?

[Anonymous]

If you care about Ivy educations (I had 2 of them and see my non Ivy friends thriving as much or more) public school is the way to go. This is a statistically sound comment. Do the research. If you want a safer, more nurturing environment you can pay for one. Will that be a true life experience or a sheltered one and do you care? That is up to you to decide. My 2 cents.

[Anonymous]

Everyone has a story about a private school kid who was a slacker. There are so many public school slacker and screw ups that it is not even a story. More of an ummm hummm

[Anonymous]

But the wealthy public school slacker? Not likely very many of those.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
That hasn't been our experience at all. Most of our friends are products of private schools, K-12, and Ivy or equivalent colleges, and top grad school programs. I can assure you that your one example of the fu8k up guy who went to Harvard is the exception rather than the rule. Probably why he stands out.

Have you ever seen the 7 up series? Most people pretty much end up in life as expected.


Not sure what you're intending to say here. Most people end up where their *talents* would be expected to lead them? Most people end up where the *prestige of their school* would be expected to lead them?

Also, agree that an Ivy or equivalent diploma opens a lot of doors. But the world has changed since we went to school and, in particular, there's no longer a guaranteed path from private schools to the Ivies and equivalent and then straight on to Wall Street. Plenty of public school kids go to Ivies, MIT and Stanford. This isn't our grandparents' world of white shoe bankers who all went to the same schools and colleges. It may well be that "most of your friends" are fabulous successes after their private school and Ivy educations, but maybe your friends aren't particularly representative either (anecdata), in fact maybe they're all lawyers (the one profession where this seems to still matter).


Most of our friends are lawyers and investment bankers and I agree with you, those are the two professions where where you went to school still count.

I do not hire Ivies undergrads any more....had too many problems. I look for candidates who were on scholarships and had shitty summer jobs. The shifty summer job is very important. It usually show the person will buckle down, work hard and make opportunities for themselves.

You again, with the widget factory that Ivy Leaguers don't seem thrilled about working at. At least you found a new forum after posting this a gazillion times on the college forum. Have you considered finding a new axe to grind, though?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But the wealthy public school slacker? Not likely very many of those.

Ridiculous. Lots of wealthy kids in Bethesda, Potomac, McLean public schools. And some are slackers and some are not. Just like in the private schools. As a PP said, a lot of it is about the parents. Get a grip, people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's worth every penny. My children have the attention they need and deserve. I feel that I'm able to talk to administration when issues occur and teachers are genuinely interested in my child's education. My girls are not exposed to many social elements - media, rock stars, or clothing. They are encouraged to think outside the box and are in a community where their socio economic status is welcomed and not ostracized.

I'm curious what you refer to. Do you mean they are accepted instead of ostracized for being wealthy?

I'm curious which private school this is, where nobody watches TV, listens to music, or competes over clothing. Not my kids' former private school, for sure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
That hasn't been our experience at all. Most of our friends are products of private schools, K-12, and Ivy or equivalent colleges, and top grad school programs. I can assure you that your one example of the fu8k up guy who went to Harvard is the exception rather than the rule. Probably why he stands out.

Have you ever seen the 7 up series? Most people pretty much end up in life as expected.


Not sure what you're intending to say here. Most people end up where their *talents* would be expected to lead them? Most people end up where the *prestige of their school* would be expected to lead them?

Also, agree that an Ivy or equivalent diploma opens a lot of doors. But the world has changed since we went to school and, in particular, there's no longer a guaranteed path from private schools to the Ivies and equivalent and then straight on to Wall Street. Plenty of public school kids go to Ivies, MIT and Stanford. This isn't our grandparents' world of white shoe bankers who all went to the same schools and colleges. It may well be that "most of your friends" are fabulous successes after their private school and Ivy educations, but maybe your friends aren't particularly representative either (anecdata), in fact maybe they're all lawyers (the one profession where this seems to still matter).


Most of our friends are lawyers and investment bankers and I agree with you, those are the two professions where where you went to school still count.

I do not hire Ivies undergrads any more....had too many problems. I look for candidates who were on scholarships and had shitty summer jobs. The shifty summer job is very important. It usually show the person will buckle down, work hard and make opportunities for themselves.

You again, with the widget factory that Ivy Leaguers don't seem thrilled about working at. At least you found a new forum after posting this a gazillion times on the college forum. Have you considered finding a new axe to grind, though?

Also, most Ivy League under grads hold 2-4 internships per year (true fact at DC's Ivy league school). It never occurred to you to call up their former bosses to ask about previous job performance?

[Anonymous]

From what I've seen, it's not where you went to school that counts, but what you major in that will determine how successful you will be after college. I know way too many people with liberal arts degrees from ivies that don't have jobs where they earn as much as the kids in my family- bottom tier schools, but kick ass majors= fat paychecks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From what I've seen, it's not where you went to school that counts, but what you major in that will determine how successful you will be after college. I know way too many people with liberal arts degrees from ivies that don't have jobs where they earn as much as the kids in my family- bottom tier schools, but kick ass majors= fat paychecks.

What a horribly limiting way to think about education and success. How crass and spiritually empty to measure success by the size of someone's paycheck. I never viewed education solely as a direct route to a paycheck. I acquired two liberal arts Ivy degrees which I'm sure you would deem worthless. However, my parents and I saw education as a way to enrich the mind and develop some thinking skills along the way. I did graduate work -- also at top Ivies -- and had many doors open to me. I chose work that I found meaningful and hopefully would make a social contribution. I did not go for the largest paycheck, though hat certainly was an option.

[Anonymous]

Worth every penny. In fact, I think our school's tuition is a bargain for the level of service we receive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But the wealthy public school slacker? Not likely very many of those.

I went to public high school in one of the top 3 wealthiest towns in the USA. There were two boys at school who were both from incredibly wealthy Mayflower ivy educated families. They had houses all over the East coast and overseas, yachts, you name it.

Both boys got into smoking dope in high school. One is now in jail for drug related offenses and the other has just been put back in jail for breaking his parole.

So there are two examples for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But the wealthy public school slacker? Not likely very many of those.

Hahahahahahahaha!!!!!!
- public high school teacher in McLean