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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]One of the nicest things about sending kids to Latin is that Latin parents aren’t DCUM posters. [/quote]

Ironic[/quote]

Not really, as I don't have kids old enough to send to Latin. My neighbor told me this, and seeing this thread, I see what she means.[/quote]

I think some of this is parent self-selection. BASIS has more hyperacheiving Type A parents who want their kids to be the same & are more likely to have kids capable of being the same. Latin parents tend to be a bit more laid back about academics. Latin seems like a lovely, well-run school where kids are happy, but I look at the college outcomes and cringe. Why is virtually no one getting into the kind of school my DH & I went to? BASIS seems to have many issues, but some kids are getting into such schools. Most normal, laid back parents rank Latin over BASIS given everything else... I'd love to be one of those parents. BUT... I have this decision to make very soon & I'm not sure I can be.[/quote]

Because times have changed and the college landscape has changed. It's a generational thing, it's not just Latin. The kids I interview for my alma mater come from all different schools, are 1000x better than I ever was, and don't get in.[/quote]

+1, if you went to an Ivy or a place like Williams or University of Michigan and have the expectation that your child can perform as you did in school and in extra-curriculars and have the same outcome, you are going to be very, very frustrated by the college application experience.

I think the PP is right that there is a self-selection bias with BASIS but she's not following it through to it's conclusion. Yes, BASIS tends to attract much more hyper achieving (not merely high achieving) Type A parents. But their kids aren't getting into elite colleges because of BASIS, nor because they are inherently smarter. They are getting in because these families do whatever it takes. Fourteen years of piano lessons plus camp for composing? Okay. Private fencing coaches and traveling to meets all over the country to get ranked status in a sport that gets recruited at elite colleges? Okay. Helping DC found a non-profit at age 15 in an interest area? Sure. Oh, and this stuff is a give: college consultants and private tutors to ensure perfect applications and perfect grades. And it's easier to justify this stuff when your kid is at BASIS because you aren't paying for private school tuition, and your kid gets a boost from that too.

If you think simply sending your kid to BASIS and being laid back will result in your kid getting into Princeton or whatever? No. First you will wind up dealing with BASIS hounding you if your kid's test scores drop. Second, since BASIS does not offer a super well rounded education, your kid won't have the additional extra-curriculars necessary for admission to a school like that through school, so you have to provide it.

If you are cringing about Latin kids who wind up at UMD or JMU or University of Denver or Sarah Lawrence of whatever, then you need to decide. Do you want to do whatever it takes to get your kid into what you consider to be an elite college? Or are you willing to accept the new reality of college education, where simply being a smart and hardworking kid who is above average at one sport and also does great on the debate team doesn't mean you get to go to a top school, and decide that maybe that means you can still give your kid that same upbringing and be okay with them going to a school that would have been considered a let down when you attended college.

BASIS attracts whatever it takes parents. That might be good or bad depending on who you are.[/quote]

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