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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]NO SCHOOL CARRIES ANY PARTICULAR BENEFIT FOR COLLEGE ADMISSION. Take that calculus out of it.

Colleges are not so dumb! There are very talented and high-achieving students in both public and private, and the admissions officers identify them easily, then cherry pick a class based on those AND OTHER factors that are not within your total control (maybe they need a tuba player, or they're particular moved by series of non-profits a kid "founded" and wrote about, or they're still going for the usual athletes).

Don't kill yourself to get your kid into a public magnet or an expensive private - your kid will compete against pre-selected kids, and competition is obvious and fierce. But don't think that competition doesn't exist at all in large publics; it's less visible, since your kid maybe doesn't know ALL the other top students in their 700-student grade, but it's very much there.

So in the end, your decision has to focus on other factors, notably safety (is the public school safe?), and expense (can you afford 60K+ a year K-12 and college?). Those are the big ones for parents. Secondarily, how do you feel about school peers? Is a so-so public fine, because you trust your kid to study hard? Is an excellent public better, but then you'll have to afford expensive real estate there, and the kids will be under significant academic pressure, just as if they were in a top private? When is it ever worth it to pay for a so-so private? Never, I think, unless you're looking for a particular religious school.

Forget about accompaniment. Private schools don't necessarily give kids more attention than publics. Yes, classes tend to be smaller, but that does not necessarily translate to better instruction or more hand-holding. Publics are mandated by law to offer services and accommodations to kids with diagnosed disabilities that impact their academics, privates don't have to do that. The private schools with the most admissions to top universities are cutthroat and do not help their students. They just select at entry and let their families do the rest!

The greatest factor in educational success is a family's wealth and attention to academics. Most families in wealthy neighborhoods, whether they put their kids in private or public, pay for tutoring for their kids. Some kids with learning differences need remedial tutoring, but a LOT of families pay for tutors to get their already good students into advanced classes, and ensure they receive high scores in all their standardized exams (despite the test-optional environment, which is really only a safe option for certain underrepresented groups).

I've just been through the college admissions process with one of my kids. This is the lay of the land. PLEASE do not pay for a private school thinking it will get your kid into the Ivy League. That is an expensive mistake to make. [/quote]

This is OP. I should clarify that I am NOT talking about getting into Ivies. I am talking about getting into desirable good colleges like Michigan, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Northwestern, Wash U, UT, Emory, Tufts. These are the schools my peer set went to and none of their kids who are good students with top grades are getting in. What my friends are saying is that other than academics the public schools don’t push the kids toward extracurriculars, charity work, etc that make them stronger candidates outside of grades. The thought is that privates so that much better and make the students much more well rounded.[/quote]

No.

And by the way, when I say Ivy League these days, I mean ALL the top schools, yours included. Because now, it's a lottery at all those schools. You and your friends don't quite grasp how random and how selective all the top tier has become. If your kid isn't an underrepresented minority who has founded their own non-profit, and is a high level athlete or musician (meaning state, national or international level recognition), then no amount of AP classes, perfect scores and perfect GPA will guarantee admission. Excellent academics just prevents students from being rejected in the first round. If they don't bring anything else to the table, chances of getting in are quite low.

There is no way that paying for private school opens doors wide enough for this. You'll get a lot more bang for your buck if your child is in a decent public and you pay for one-on-one tutoring to give them excellent content mastery, so they can focus on their extra-curriculars. Tutors and extra-curriculars get expensive. Travel sports can be 10K a year per kid. Prep Matters has a fee structure that goes from $175 to $500 per hour, depending on the tutor (the founder is $500 an hour). To attain high levels of achievement in their chosen activity, kids need to spend years on it. Costs add up. I hope you weren't thinking about just paying for private school and nothing else. Since it's a competition, kids in private are also booked up with activities, and a lot of parents at those schools are well connected and money is not an issue. They will have interesting internships and opportunities your child may not have. They will pay for private (not school-based) college counselors and essay editors. And come college admissions time, your child will be compared to that cohort.

Actually I'm not saying all private school parents do this. I'm saying that enough wealthy parents, of private AND public schools, help their children out with whatever advantage money and connections can get, that it impacts college admissions for all students.

If you can easily afford private school AND those other things, then all the above is moot and you can go right ahead! But many of us need to weigh carefully how, when and where to spend our money. Given that it's so competitive these days, and private school is not (and was never, apart from a few NY feeders cited above by another PP) an easy fix to get into top universities... many parents who could possibly afford private just keep their kids in good-enough publics, and save their money for college payments, plus downpayments for their kids' first homes, or other monetary gifts. This makes a reasonable amount of sense, since the biggest predictor of financial success is not so much the name on the diploma, but the amount of debt young graduates start out with. If they graduate from a regular college with no debt, have a house with a low mortgage or no mortgage because their parents helped out, then they're already starting out life with a distinct financial advantage compared to most college graduates.

So... it's time to think a little more long-term, OP. Brand names of private schools and universities are very nice. But they may not be the most important factor in your children's wealth accumulation.

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