Reply to If you are wealthy would you send your kids to a W school over private?

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Reply to "If you are wealthy would you send your kids to a W school over private?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Why would a college accept a kid from a school with very few advanced classes?[/quote]

Legacy
Money
Sports
Special talents.

The same reasons these kids are accepted at private schools
[/quote]

Ah ok. Got it. So none of them are actually any good at teaching kids anything. Rich people just choose mediocrity for their kids. [/quote]

We don't need anything more academically.  The kids get the advantages in the soft skills and colleges rank them higher because of this.  [/quote]

Huh? [/quote]

There have been so many studies on this, especially since the college admissions scandle.  Just Google "private school advantage in college admissions" or something of that nature.  The advantage will never go away (unfortunately).  The UC are really good at helping and insulating themselves for centuries if not millenia.  The categories for college admissions will change with time, but there will always be a way to give slight advantage to already advantaged folks.  It's always been that way.

Remember, women began entering the workforce in droves in the 70s and still are represented at 3% in top jobs, have unequal pay in almost every industry, and still take on the lions share of work at home.  White men however still have the advantage in every category.

Why do you think public vs private schools is somehow going to magically escape human psychology and be fair?

I'm from the UMC and slightly pierce into UC circles.  Of course, I see the advantages and want my kids to have them.  I will likely never be UC, but my kids definitely have a chance.  And they do have the mannerisms, peer group, and education to support it.[/quote]

My Father-in-Law grew up poor and is now pretty wealthy. He has been encouraging us to send our kids to private school (especially high school) because in life, it's truly who you know and not what you know that makes a difference. This is how life works for the most part, whether we like it or not.[/quote]

Exactly. The quality of education sucks. But that doesn’t matter. [/quote]

Well.... no really.

It's a different type of education.  If you want them to learn multi-variable Calculus (or difficult math in public school), I have to question why.  I am a scientist and the last time I used it was to pass the AP exam in HS.  On the other hand, if you want them to learn soft skills (learned in private schools), the last time I used that was today dealing with some colleagues.  So which skills are more relevant?  What exactly is an "education" to you?

In Spanish the phrase "mala educación" or "bad education" literally means poor manners.  This idea of soft skills/ private school advantage transcends cultural boundaries and time.  You can find similar things the world over.
[/quote]

You’re making it seem that public schools graduate only cave dwellers that only communicate through grunting, while private schools are graduating only smooth talker, peace prize material. Of course there’s no basis for this assumption.[/quote]

The post doesn't sound like that.  Of course there is some overlap between the two.[/quote]

But what’s the basis to assert that privates teach soft skills but publics don’t? In my view soft skills depend more on personality and the values taught at home.l, have less to do with the high school the kid goes to.[/quote]

I agree.  I’ve got no issue with private schools but the “soft skills” argument is bizarre.[/quote]

Not sure why this is confusing. There is a lot of effort in private schools to make sure kids are well mannered and cultured.  They practice public speaking in virtually every subject, engage in developing negotiation and moderation skills and participate as a school in many academic competitions. Generally, they are more comfortable in professional settings and find it easier to engage with adults.  Having behavior and attire/uniform requirements so help to set the tone for being civil, presentable and engaging. [/quote]

I accept public speaking gets a bigger emphasis in many private schools but the rest is so subjective.  Obviously wealthy well connected kids will always rise to the top but does private school itself really better prepare kids for professional settings?  I particularly struggle with the idea that these kids are better prepared to be “civil, presentable, and engaging.”  Not to mention, as PPs have pointed out much of this is strongly influenced by settings outside of school, such as at home.

I actually do think private has a lot of pluses but this particular argument quickly [b]starts to get offensive[/b] imho.  Not to mention it’s an area where always being surrounded by other rich people/ living in a bit of a bubble could be more of a hindrance than anything else.  It’s super easy to relate to people who are like you….[/quote]

Is it offensive because it hits too close to the bone?

Why exactly does it trigger you?

It is were just ridiculous you would just roll your eyes and laugh to yourself or write it off and not respond.  It triggers you for a reason, probably because there's a grain of truth in it that your personal insecurity just won't let you bypass.[/quote]

I actually thought I responded in a measured and thoughtful way, but okay.[/quote]

Question still stands.  You're offended.  Why?  The truth is not offensive, unfair maybe.  Offensive?  I'd like to know what makes it offensive.[/quote]

Really, are you really that dense you don’t realize the adjective offensive can have different meanings? Making a disingenuous argument is offensive to someone’s intellect. Your prodding insistence is offensive, as in too aggressive. It’s funny how you think you unearthed deep seated fears of the previous poster from a mere adjective.[/quote]

Oh, so it's a vocabulary comprehsion problem.  And your perception of "aggression" is strange.[/quote]

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