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[quote=Anonymous]To the people who say "it's not worth the money " unless you're at SFS, GDS, Market, Cathedral or St. Albans: I'm not sure what you think you're buying.

Those schools definitely do provide a lot more individual attention from teachers and may provide more communal social environments than many public schools, but many other private schools also do that.

If you think you're buying significantly improved college admissions chances, I'm skeptical to say the least.  If your kid at age 12 has the kinds of grades and test scores needed to get in at one of those very selective private schools, then your kid will probably have the kinds of grades and test scores needed to get into an Ivy, a NESCAC, or some other highly selective college.   There may be some kids who actually would do better applying out of a public high school or a less selective private school because Yale may not want to take 10 percent of the GDS senior class but might be willing to take another kid from Wheaton High.  Yes, those selective private schools do very well in college admissions, but they start with a lot of very smart, full-pay kids.

If you think you get great business connections by sending your kid to one of those selective private schools, I think you'll be disappointed.  I've never seen much business being transacted at any DC private schools.  Maybe I just didn't notice it, but I don't think it happens much.

The same is basically true for less selective private schools.  They send fewer kids to very selective colleges, but they started with fewer who had the kinds of scores and grades that would predict future admission to selective colleges.  The students who would have been academic stars at SFS, GDS, etc., often get into very selective colleges even if they apply from a less selective private high school.  There are plenty of wealthy parents around at all of the private schools.  And, unlike most public schools but like the most selective private schools, the less selective private schools do usually offer a lot of individual attention.

We pulled our kids out of Big 3 but went with even smaller private school classes instead of public school.  For our kids, we were happy with that choice.  The education was great, though less pressured, and the kids were mostly more friendly.

Your mileage may vary.

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