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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Regular UMC people aren't going to pay $$$ for an education/school experience if they can get a comparable one at public school for free.  So they only apply to privates that they think offer some real advantage over the good publics in the area.  That might just be those 3

Paying $100k for a middling private is only worth it if you have a kid that needs more individualized attention or wants to play a specific sport or something like that (unless you are so rich that it's not a stretch)[/quote]m
 
Please speak for yourself rather than as if your value judgement represents a universal truism.  -
Brand name private schools may only be worth it to you.

We have a lot of experience at both public and private schools. There are many other factors that make good private schools worth it to us:
- extensive research shows that most girls do better at all girls schools (emphasis on female leadership);
- better partnerships between home and school;
- teachers knowing your child in deep ways;
- bullying/ emotional health addressed head on by school counselors;
- presence of school nurse for inevitable injuries/ emergency meds needed;
- emphasis on balance of arts/ athletics/ academics/ spiritual growth and community service; 
- ability to play team sports even if not coached from a young age or even any experience with new sports at all;
- dress codes and uniforms that reduce peer group pressure to wear designer labels/ trendy gear and implicitly place emphasis on school being a place of learning rather than a fashion show;
- writing programs at good privates far superior to writing skills taught in public schools;
- freedom to start obscure quirky social clubs of interest to individual students; and
- being well prepared for college (studies show students who attend private school much more likely to graduate in 4-6 years).

That said, public schools have many advantages not mentioned yet in this thread (Apart from obvious huge financial savings, public schools allow finding friends in one’s neighborhood, free school buses, less privileged entitlement (although at our local public HS, the student cars are just as expensive as at our private), more access to summer internships and national competitions in STEM/ specialties and less preppy atmosphere).

For us, and many friends I have talked to, deciding whether to go public or private and which privates to apply to, are
not simple calculations based on brand name recognition/ status.[/quote]

+1 anyone who chooses private schools based solely on brand name value knows little about quality education and finding the right fit  … your children are not status objects but people with unique needs.[/quote]

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