Private HS worth the money?
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Anonymous
| there's pros and cons to public and private. the debate is endless and the outcome is the same, whatever works for your child and your family. For me personally, both my husband and I went to private so we always knew when we have children we would send them to private. My husband has a classmate from his very elite private school who is a spinal surgeon and then he has another classmate who is a low level loan officer at a bank. I have classmates that went on to become doctors and lawyers too, but there's also a classmate who became a stripper 2 years after graduation. There's winners and mediocrity that come out of each type of school. For us, we strongly believe in small class size. We can comfortably afford it and we don't ever want to look back with regrets that we had all this money, but didn't invest in schooling. If our daughters end up strippers, so be it. |
Anonymous
| My public school in the midwest graduated three of the top surgeons. One of the top doctors in town, refused to send his three boys to any private or independent school, they were too bright. His daughter, who died last year, was not so bright - she went to a private school. The sons became all top rated surgeons. |
Anonymous
Ok, but what are the other public school classmates doing? The best and brightest will succeed no matter where they are, but it's those that are average is what concerns me as a parent. Of course every parent thinks their junior is gifted and bright, but in reality not everyone is and the competition due to the sheer number of students is intense. I've heard of even the most motivated parent and child getting burned out from public and run to private as fast as they can, but for those that are average, it's a gamble. You can either end up loving school and learning or hate it due to the environment in which if you're not a jock or nerd, you're just set up for being mediocre. I'd rather have my possibly average public school kid be something a bit more at private if not for a better chance at life then at least for the sake of enjoying the school experience, not feeling like just another body moving from class to class. And btw, all these Midwest people need to stop comparing their Midwest upbringing and experiences to the DMV. Here there are a handful of kick ass public schools with the rest just ranging from average to horrible so many parents don't have a choice in sending kids to private. |
Anonymous
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23:28 why did you leave the Midwest? Did DC offer more, was there more opportunity and competition? It is the same for students. Unless you are speaking of the top few public schools in Md and VA there is no comparison to the top 6 or 7 DC privates. Year after year graduates of those schools out preform publics.
Moreover Another Midwestern poster's reference to high level stem classes in 9th grade is narrow. Are you saying that only scientific excellence counts? Do you actually believe that? Any finally the poster that went to three colleges apparently had some trouble graduating or is a fraud. No one has ever called Columbia easy. Maybe Harvard, maybe Brown but not Columbia. Their strict requirements for a degree which includes hours of forced study of all sorts of world renowned scholars has won the school global recognition. If you found that easy you should be teaching at Oxford. I guess the thousands of middle of the class kids from east coast privates and publics that attend Michigan and Indiana really excell upon arriving in the Midwest and become fiercely competitive. |
Anonymous
Well, then this is a different argument. To wit: Private schools help ambitious, high-achieving upper middle class parents keep their average kids in the upper middle class. That's plausible. Depends on the kid and the economy, I suppose. And not the greatest environment for ambitious high-achieving kids themselves because it means they're surrounded by other kids whose parents are running scared and pushing their kids to the limit. Hence the pressure cooker environment. |
Anonymous
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The pressure cooker comes from within the kids who want to achieve. If your kid doesn't have that innately, then the pressure cooker schools won't be the right fit.
Not all independent schools are pressure cookers. |
Anonymous
| TJ is beyond pressure cooker and it's a public school. |
Anonymous
Second point (not all private schools are pressure cookers) is true. First point (comes from kids) generally isn't. Or it's true in the sense that kids under extreme pressure at home bring that pressure to school. Which explains the cascade of mental health issues junior year. |
Anonymous
Yes, and so? |
Anonymous
Capt obvious strikes again!! 
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Anonymous
The obsession with privates in DC is a total new money thing. Ask anyone who went to one of them 20 years ago. |
Anonymous
The obsession with privates has increased as the quality of public has deteriorated and incomes have remained stagnant. |
Anonymous
| Privates are an absolute luxury and most people simply can't afford them. So there is no use in making the majority of the population feel bad. We limited ourselves to having one child so we could afford private. |
Anonymous
I bet to differ. Privates are not a luxury for those who make big sacrifices to send their kids to schools that are the best for their children. For us, the "pressure cooker" high school in our district was not an option for our DS. There have been multiple suicides at that school over the past year. That says something is horribly amiss in that cultural environment. So glad we made the sacrifice to send our DS to a place that nurtures his mind, body, and spirit. |
Anonymous
| They are a luxury and I'm glad DH and I both worked our asses off to be able to afford it. |