Anonymous
04/19/2026 10:22
Subject: Re:Zarna Garg podcast
I was only able to get 3/4th of the way through before I had to turn it off. I’m probably more pro-public school than most folks in this chat, but even I found it amusing that two parents who could barely finish a complete thought, were trying to tell what the better school option was. 
Anonymous
04/19/2026 09:38
Subject: Zarna Garg podcast
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Omg Zara Gary and her entire family are Trump loving, immigrant hating hypocrites. Her shtick based on Indian mom stereotypes is so tired and pathetic. Her daughter gushes over Usha Vance, saying she made it permissible for Indian women to date white men. Hideous!
I'm not a Zarna fan but is what she's saying about her experience at HM valid? That's what I want to understand.
I posted above about my DS having a great experience at HM. We don't find favoritism to be a thing there, and overall the community has been warm, supportive, and friendly.
Zarna's experience is valid for Zarna, and she clearly has strong feelings about it. It's also clear that she had specific expectations about college placement, and I would offer that being hyper-focused on just a handful of "acceptable" colleges as the end goal is probably not a great platform from which to make decisions about your child's education.
If you're looking at HM for your DC, go on a tour and try to assess for yourself how you feel about the school and how your child may or may not thrive there.
Well, she is not unlike most Indians in chasing prestige as the only viable outcome.
So her priorities and expectations would definitely be different than another parent who has different priorities and expectations for the HM experience.
It's only bad when the brown people do it.
I've been around these parents and they are kind of one dimensional. Uninteresting.
And they openly talk about making money as their goal in life.
The native blacks in the US have far more personality, depth, and ..... compassion.
Lol you sound like a FOB yourself, they are the only ones who use phrases like "native blacks."
Anonymous
04/19/2026 09:35
Subject: Zarna Garg podcast
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Omg Zara Gary and her entire family are Trump loving, immigrant hating hypocrites. Her shtick based on Indian mom stereotypes is so tired and pathetic. Her daughter gushes over Usha Vance, saying she made it permissible for Indian women to date white men. Hideous!
I'm not a Zarna fan but is what she's saying about her experience at HM valid? That's what I want to understand.
I posted above about my DS having a great experience at HM. We don't find favoritism to be a thing there, and overall the community has been warm, supportive, and friendly.
Zarna's experience is valid for Zarna, and she clearly has strong feelings about it. It's also clear that she had specific expectations about college placement, and I would offer that being hyper-focused on just a handful of "acceptable" colleges as the end goal is probably not a great platform from which to make decisions about your child's education.
If you're looking at HM for your DC, go on a tour and try to assess for yourself how you feel about the school and how your child may or may not thrive there.
Well, she is not unlike most Indians in chasing prestige as the only viable outcome.
So her priorities and expectations would definitely be different than another parent who has different priorities and expectations for the HM experience.
It's only bad when the brown people do it.
No, I can’t stand it no matter the race. Some of us are thrilled with Middlebury and Michigan. The parents who are Ivy or bust are exhausting.
And yet you specifically mentioned her ethnicity - I wonder why.
I wasn’t that poster. There are parents like that of all races, though I do agree with the poster, first generation Indian American parents have a higher likelihood of that attitude. There’s a middle ground - not hanging on the coattails of your families money but also not being so intense nobody with any social likeness wants to spend time around you.
It's totally fine to talk shit about other races, guys, as long as it's those smelly Indians with their weird food and strange ideas about wanting their kids to excel!
Anonymous
04/18/2026 20:42
Subject: Zarna Garg podcast
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Omg Zara Gary and her entire family are Trump loving, immigrant hating hypocrites. Her shtick based on Indian mom stereotypes is so tired and pathetic. Her daughter gushes over Usha Vance, saying she made it permissible for Indian women to date white men. Hideous!
I'm not a Zarna fan but is what she's saying about her experience at HM valid? That's what I want to understand.
I posted above about my DS having a great experience at HM. We don't find favoritism to be a thing there, and overall the community has been warm, supportive, and friendly.
Zarna's experience is valid for Zarna, and she clearly has strong feelings about it. It's also clear that she had specific expectations about college placement, and I would offer that being hyper-focused on just a handful of "acceptable" colleges as the end goal is probably not a great platform from which to make decisions about your child's education.
If you're looking at HM for your DC, go on a tour and try to assess for yourself how you feel about the school and how your child may or may not thrive there.
Well, she is not unlike most Indians in chasing prestige as the only viable outcome.
So her priorities and expectations would definitely be different than another parent who has different priorities and expectations for the HM experience.
It's only bad when the brown people do it.
No, I can’t stand it no matter the race. Some of us are thrilled with Middlebury and Michigan. The parents who are Ivy or bust are exhausting.
And yet you specifically mentioned her ethnicity - I wonder why.
I wasn’t that poster. There are parents like that of all races, though I do agree with the poster, first generation Indian American parents have a higher likelihood of that attitude. There’s a middle ground - not hanging on the coattails of your families money but also not being so intense nobody with any social likeness wants to spend time around you.
Anonymous
04/18/2026 20:00
Subject: Zarna Garg podcast
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Omg Zara Gary and her entire family are Trump loving, immigrant hating hypocrites. Her shtick based on Indian mom stereotypes is so tired and pathetic. Her daughter gushes over Usha Vance, saying she made it permissible for Indian women to date white men. Hideous!
I'm not a Zarna fan but is what she's saying about her experience at HM valid? That's what I want to understand.
I posted above about my DS having a great experience at HM. We don't find favoritism to be a thing there, and overall the community has been warm, supportive, and friendly.
Zarna's experience is valid for Zarna, and she clearly has strong feelings about it. It's also clear that she had specific expectations about college placement, and I would offer that being hyper-focused on just a handful of "acceptable" colleges as the end goal is probably not a great platform from which to make decisions about your child's education.
If you're looking at HM for your DC, go on a tour and try to assess for yourself how you feel about the school and how your child may or may not thrive there.
Well, she is not unlike most Indians in chasing prestige as the only viable outcome.
So her priorities and expectations would definitely be different than another parent who has different priorities and expectations for the HM experience.
It's only bad when the brown people do it.
I've been around these parents and they are kind of one dimensional. Uninteresting.
And they openly talk about making money as their goal in life.
The native blacks in the US have far more personality, depth, and ..... compassion.
Anonymous
04/18/2026 18:52
Subject: Zarna Garg podcast
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Omg Zara Gary and her entire family are Trump loving, immigrant hating hypocrites. Her shtick based on Indian mom stereotypes is so tired and pathetic. Her daughter gushes over Usha Vance, saying she made it permissible for Indian women to date white men. Hideous!
I'm not a Zarna fan but is what she's saying about her experience at HM valid? That's what I want to understand.
I posted above about my DS having a great experience at HM. We don't find favoritism to be a thing there, and overall the community has been warm, supportive, and friendly.
Zarna's experience is valid for Zarna, and she clearly has strong feelings about it. It's also clear that she had specific expectations about college placement, and I would offer that being hyper-focused on just a handful of "acceptable" colleges as the end goal is probably not a great platform from which to make decisions about your child's education.
If you're looking at HM for your DC, go on a tour and try to assess for yourself how you feel about the school and how your child may or may not thrive there.
Well, she is not unlike most Indians in chasing prestige as the only viable outcome.
So her priorities and expectations would definitely be different than another parent who has different priorities and expectations for the HM experience.
It's only bad when the brown people do it.
No, I can’t stand it no matter the race. Some of us are thrilled with Middlebury and Michigan. The parents who are Ivy or bust are exhausting.
And yet you specifically mentioned her ethnicity - I wonder why.
Anonymous
04/18/2026 18:35
Subject: Zarna Garg podcast
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Omg Zara Gary and her entire family are Trump loving, immigrant hating hypocrites. Her shtick based on Indian mom stereotypes is so tired and pathetic. Her daughter gushes over Usha Vance, saying she made it permissible for Indian women to date white men. Hideous!
I'm not a Zarna fan but is what she's saying about her experience at HM valid? That's what I want to understand.
I posted above about my DS having a great experience at HM. We don't find favoritism to be a thing there, and overall the community has been warm, supportive, and friendly.
Zarna's experience is valid for Zarna, and she clearly has strong feelings about it. It's also clear that she had specific expectations about college placement, and I would offer that being hyper-focused on just a handful of "acceptable" colleges as the end goal is probably not a great platform from which to make decisions about your child's education.
If you're looking at HM for your DC, go on a tour and try to assess for yourself how you feel about the school and how your child may or may not thrive there.
Well, she is not unlike most Indians in chasing prestige as the only viable outcome.
So her priorities and expectations would definitely be different than another parent who has different priorities and expectations for the HM experience.
It's only bad when the brown people do it.
No, I can’t stand it no matter the race. Some of us are thrilled with Middlebury and Michigan. The parents who are Ivy or bust are exhausting.
Anonymous
04/18/2026 14:13
Subject: Zarna Garg podcast
It’s hard to know how good these schools are because so many people tutor their kids — is the tutoring because the kid needs it to keep up or are they tutoring because they don’t have a good teacher or are they tutoring because the school has bought into newfangled learning ideas that don’t actually work all that well and that say they are based on “science” when they really aren’t.
Anonymous
04/18/2026 13:56
Subject: Zarna Garg podcast
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Omg Zara Gary and her entire family are Trump loving, immigrant hating hypocrites. Her shtick based on Indian mom stereotypes is so tired and pathetic. Her daughter gushes over Usha Vance, saying she made it permissible for Indian women to date white men. Hideous!
I'm not a Zarna fan but is what she's saying about her experience at HM valid? That's what I want to understand.
I posted above about my DS having a great experience at HM. We don't find favoritism to be a thing there, and overall the community has been warm, supportive, and friendly.
Zarna's experience is valid for Zarna, and she clearly has strong feelings about it. It's also clear that she had specific expectations about college placement, and I would offer that being hyper-focused on just a handful of "acceptable" colleges as the end goal is probably not a great platform from which to make decisions about your child's education.
If you're looking at HM for your DC, go on a tour and try to assess for yourself how you feel about the school and how your child may or may not thrive there.
Well, she is not unlike most Indians in chasing prestige as the only viable outcome.
So her priorities and expectations would definitely be different than another parent who has different priorities and expectations for the HM experience.
It's only bad when the brown people do it.
Anonymous
04/18/2026 13:47
Subject: Zarna Garg podcast
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Omg Zara Gary and her entire family are Trump loving, immigrant hating hypocrites. Her shtick based on Indian mom stereotypes is so tired and pathetic. Her daughter gushes over Usha Vance, saying she made it permissible for Indian women to date white men. Hideous!
I'm not a Zarna fan but is what she's saying about her experience at HM valid? That's what I want to understand.
I posted above about my DS having a great experience at HM. We don't find favoritism to be a thing there, and overall the community has been warm, supportive, and friendly.
Zarna's experience is valid for Zarna, and she clearly has strong feelings about it. It's also clear that she had specific expectations about college placement, and I would offer that being hyper-focused on just a handful of "acceptable" colleges as the end goal is probably not a great platform from which to make decisions about your child's education.
If you're looking at HM for your DC, go on a tour and try to assess for yourself how you feel about the school and how your child may or may not thrive there.
Well, she is not unlike most Indians in chasing prestige as the only viable outcome.
So her priorities and expectations would definitely be different than another parent who has different priorities and expectations for the HM experience.
Anonymous
04/18/2026 13:41
Subject: Zarna Garg podcast
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:It's not so uncommon for kids to switch schools for high school, even if they are at a K-12. I've certainly heard of other families leaving for SHSAT or screened publics for high school. I think if you're not rich and are full pay at a private and your kid can get into a good public then it might be worth it to switch. You can save money for college and probably have plenty of money for private college counselors. In high school you also have to be more concerned with who your kid is spending time with and things like partying and drugs. I might prefer to have my kid at a good public and around other smart, hardworking kids of diverse backgrounds. I wouldn't be surprised if there was some gatekeeping at some of these schools. I have heard that it happens at Trinity. Seems to me moving from HM to BS is not such a crazy choice.
I agree with this. I think people are not getting that going to a TT private K-8 helped a lot of these families get in to a SHSAT public school. It also helps they have the funds for tutoring and extra classes, and also helps that the can pay extra for a good college exmissions counselor. So I take the "switch" with a grain of salt. Honestly I bet their children would have gotten in to any school they wanted even if they stayed at HM. And they obviously used money to help get them in to schools from public.
Stuy and Bx Sci former parent.
My kids were public all the way.
I think I spent under 950 per child for one week of intensive SHSAT tutoring because there were no summer camp options in the last week of August. They said it was a waste of time because the classes were dumbed down for the lowest performer.
No private tutoring for anything else.
No college counselor except the bad ones provided by the schools.
One kid at UVA the other at LSE. One of them refused to show us their application and we were completely in the dark during the college app process.
If your child needs a lot of tutoring and hand-holding, they dont really belong at these schools as real life will be a continual struggle unless they will be equipped with life coaches and therapists to shepherd them for the next few decades.
Anonymous
04/18/2026 13:29
Subject: Zarna Garg podcast
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Omg Zara Gary and her entire family are Trump loving, immigrant hating hypocrites. Her shtick based on Indian mom stereotypes is so tired and pathetic. Her daughter gushes over Usha Vance, saying she made it permissible for Indian women to date white men. Hideous!
I'm not a Zarna fan but is what she's saying about her experience at HM valid? That's what I want to understand.
I posted above about my DS having a great experience at HM. We don't find favoritism to be a thing there, and overall the community has been warm, supportive, and friendly.
Zarna's experience is valid for Zarna, and she clearly has strong feelings about it. It's also clear that she had specific expectations about college placement, and I would offer that being hyper-focused on just a handful of "acceptable" colleges as the end goal is probably not a great platform from which to make decisions about your child's education.
If you're looking at HM for your DC, go on a tour and try to assess for yourself how you feel about the school and how your child may or may not thrive there.
Are your kids in middle/high school? Or lower? I've heard that these issues don't pop up until middle school level.
I would also ask if your family is hooked in some way - data points are data points but it matters where the anecdote is coming from.
He’s a senior.
Anonymous
04/18/2026 11:30
Subject: Zarna Garg podcast
Anonymous wrote:The person I knew at Horace Mann who left was astronomically wealthy and didn’t want their kid to grow up to be a shit. The Headmaster was pumping them for money in exchange for favors. It grossed them out.
I think you mentioned elsewhere that this family moved to Trinity? Asking, b/c I have heard stories of money favoritism at T as well (from a couple of years back).
Anonymous
04/18/2026 11:19
Subject: Zarna Garg podcast
All these schools run on money, there is no denying that. How it affects *your* kid in your specific situation is a hard thing to predict. I find the whole worrying about college outcomes before even entering high school not productive. You likely don’t even know what your kid’s interests and real strengths are at that point. I’d rather give my child a broad high quality education and exposure to different aspects of culture than burden them with the hypsm-or-bust mentality. HM doesn’t even seem to send too many kids to the top-5 schools in recent years; go there for the rigor, the resources, the breadth of course offerings, and the opportunity to find your niche/crowd. If you you are the type of parent who considers Chicago/Cornell/Duke as a failure, you and your kids are probably not gonna have a great time anywhere.
Anonymous
04/18/2026 11:17
Subject: Zarna Garg podcast
Also, learning how to play “the” game and curry social favor is not a necessary part of a rigorous education. It’s mainly teaching your kid to work a system that doesn’t mirror the actual world. Favors and where you went to school and who your friends are matters very little longterm if you don’t have the goods.