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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm very familiar with the Baltimore schools.

If we're talking about Gilman, Friends and Park, this is how they're positioned on the scale of personality, from preppy to artsy/liberal: Gilman (all boys, historically prestigious, the #1 school for Baltimore's establishment), Friends (middle of the road, popular among JHU academics, progressive but grounded) and then Park (strong curriculum, faculty called by their first name, very liberal and progressive, perhaps too much, historically the #1 school for elite Jews in Baltimore although that's weakened somewhat with many now sending kids to Gilman/Bryn Mawr).

I've heard more than a few people say that Friends is the best public school education money can buy, and there's truth to it. The atmosphere at Friends is comparable to the atmosphere at good public schools in affluent in-town suburbs with a high percentage of educated parents in the academics / medicine / non profits. As such Friends is popular with parents who find the traditional prep school atmosphere off-putting because they went to public schools themselves, but who find Park too unstructured/hippy.

On the flip side, other parents might question why paying 30k for something that may not feel inherently special or unique. Friends is a happy school with good academics, but may feel like it's missing that special touch one might expect from a private school, and which Park and Gilman have albeit for quite different reasons.

Academically, in terms of college placements, Gilman and Park have the edge. Friends used to be comparable but has weakened in the last decade, not because of any decline in faculty or teaching but [b]slight[/b] [b]changes[/b] to the [b]student[/b] [b]body[/b] [b]demographics[/b]. But a bright kid won't be hurt.

It's well worth visiting all three schools and paying close attention to the campus vibes and students. Faculty are great at all three. Based on what you've said about your son I would suspect he'd lean towards Park and Friends over Gilman, but definitely don't rule Gilman out. [/quote]

Can you please go into more detail?[/quote]

10-20 years ago Friends used to get a lot of bright students from families who were highly educated but didn't have big incomes but who could manage to swing the tuition. Academics, non-profit administrators, social workers, similar occupations. But many of those kids are now going to the top programs at City/Poly, or Towson, as the tuition increases have priced them out of private schools. I am not implying the student body is weaker but my observation is that the top cohort who would have ratcheted up the Ivy and top LAC admission numbers is smaller as a consequence. Friends used to have comparable college placement and SAT scores with Gilman and Park but it's now slightly behind. At the same time I don't think the "bottom" of the class is weaker than in the past. Rather there are perhaps a few more kids admitted at the bottom end and the middle of the pack is bigger. Great news if your kid is middle of the pack!  [/quote]

Wouldn’t tuition increases have cut these families from all school across the board? Unless you’re saying that Friends is less expensive than the others. In that case the economic downturn could go both ways for it.[/quote]

The other schools have more affluent families than Friends, as a whole. That's long been the case. [/quote]

How could you possibly know that? Those numbers aren’t ever available.

The kids I’ve seen from Friends always seem to have the most lovely way of talking with other adults and kids — just so present and friendly. I’ve always chalked that up to the Quaker emphasis on community. I was surprised by how posh it was when I visited. I guess I had been expecting more Quaker simplicity but it was in some ways the most luxurious.

I have heard that their endowment is smaller than other schools, maybe second to Bryn Mawr. But that would suggest to me that other places can give more financial aid. Size of endowment also depends on when they started the fund.[/quote]

You spend enough time around the Baltimore privates and you pick things up. Plenty of Friends parents have said this to me directly. I don't think there's any study to find the average incomes at X school and compare it to Y school, but you can use soft factors to make a reasonable judgement. Friends parents aren't poor, certainly! But it's never had the level of wealth to the extent you can find at Gilman or McDonogh. The school also has a smaller endowment and the overall facilities aren't quite as nice as at the other schools. None of this is a criticism for Friends is a very good school, but it does tend to fill a niche just as the other schools do. And many Friends families like it this way and specifically chose the school for this reason. [/quote]

1) Anecdata isn't data. You have no way of knowing about other people's wealth -- income is only one piece of it, and sometimes the least important for families who inherit.
2) Does anyone know that school endowment correlates to the wealth of the families at the school? PP's point about financial aid seems relevant here, insofar as the more resources the school has, the more it can support non-full pay students.
3) What do you mean about the facilities?[/quote]

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