Anonymous wrote: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)

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.

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)

They're coed, they're relatively progressive, they're academically strong, they go through 12th grade, two are within walking distance of our house and one is a short drive/bus ride away. How many other schools fit those criteria?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We only applied to one school because it was the only one I thought was worth paying for, and we like our public fine for elementary. We didn't get in. We can easily afford private but our kid will be in public. I am totally second guessing this choice now that delta is here and this school year might be a mess too, but this was the choice made last fall.

Generally it is not wise to only apply to top schools, Let alone only one. If nothing else, it is good for your child to feel like they have options. Apart from that, there is no guarantee that schools with the most snob value will be well suited to meet the academic and social needs of your child. There are many many good options in this area.

It is better to learn this now then when applying for colleges. Applications are through the roof with online common apps. Many HD senior students last year regretted not applying to more “safeties” even though many say no decent colleges can be assumed as safe admissions anymore.

I agree in general, but this was for K so we figured we could revisit the question later, and as I said we like our public elementary school. Our child was 4 at the time and we didn't make him aware of the application process (he was barely involved because covid - no WPPSI, no playdate). It would be madness to only apply to one uni.

Anonymous wrote:The parents shouldn't be the ones applying.

How do you get a 4 year old to apply on behalf of themselves?

Anonymous wrote:Certainly the social connections are a factor when applying to the K-12s. In addition, families want in early so their kid doesn’t have to compete when admissions is more merit-based in later grades. Also, families who can afford $50k/yr for 13 years are almost guaranteed to be with mostly wealthy families for at least the first six or seven years and that’s what they want.

You win DCUM for the day.

We applied to only those three schools for our kids because we wanted a secular, co-ed, K-12 school that was convenient for our location, and those three have the best reputations within that small set of criteria.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We only applied to Sidwell. Would have been fine with our public options in DC, otherwise.

As a Sidwell parent, I feel confident in saying that this PP ^^ is in the social climbing category. It's an excellent place but it absolutely does not offer a package that is unique among the schools in NWDC.

I am the PP you are responding to.

Yes, we know that. We had a unique familiarity with the school and community and as such, it was the only one we wanted to apply to for our kids. It worked out fine, but it most definitely was not for social climbing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Social climb to what? This isn’t 18th century France.

+1 They're expensive private schools in an area of solid to great public schools depending on where you live. The demand for these schools is not infinite, and for some people it doesn't make sense to spend 30-40k per year per kid for a private that isn't highly regarded (although GDS and Sidwell are better than Maret academically from what I've seen).

Oh! The Maret folk will be out to get you for that comment. Don't you know? Maret is THE BEST SCHOOL EVER!

So true- all of our posts will probably get deleted shortly!

The parents shouldn't be the ones applying.

Anonymous wrote:We only applied to Sidwell. Would have been fine with our public options in DC, otherwise.

As a Sidwell parent, I feel confident in saying that this PP ^^ is in the social climbing category. It's an excellent place but it absolutely does not offer a package that is unique among the schools in NWDC.

Anonymous wrote:Because their kids is bright, they are rich, and for some reason or another they aren't applying to cathedral schools.

Other than a few exceptions, most people who apply to private apply to these + beauvoir/sta/NCS. Why? It's not worth the money otherwise

the underlined is true only if the most important factor is name dropping among your BigLaw colleagues or tennis moms at the club.

Those who actually know education understand that there is a short list of K-6/8 schools that provide an experience and an outcome on par with the lower schools listed in the OP.

Anonymous wrote:Could this seriously be an educational decision for elementary school or is it just pure social climbing strategy?

When you don’t apply to them do you not love your kids enough to spend the money?

There I made a stupid judgmental statement as well.

Anonymous wrote:We only applied to one school because it was the only one I thought was worth paying for, and we like our public fine for elementary. We didn't get in. We can easily afford private but our kid will be in public. I am totally second guessing this choice now that delta is here and this school year might be a mess too, but this was the choice made last fall.

Generally it is not wise to only apply to top schools, Let alone only one. If nothing else, it is good for your child to feel like they have options. Apart from that, there is no guarantee that schools with the most snob value will be well suited to meet the academic and social needs of your child. There are many many good options in this area.

It is better to learn this now then when applying for colleges. Applications are through the roof with online common apps. Many HD senior students last year regretted not applying to more “safeties” even though many say no decent colleges can be assumed as safe admissions anymore.

We only applied to one school because it was the only one I thought was worth paying for, and we like our public fine for elementary. We didn't get in. We can easily afford private but our kid will be in public. I am totally second guessing this choice now that delta is here and this school year might be a mess too, but this was the choice made last fall.