Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bumping post up. Really want to know what everyone thinks! Does TT really provide a lot of marginal benefit if kids are tracking to top quartile of class academically?

It matters a TON, even at the better suburban schools. For example last year at Chatham NJ - a solid upper middle class town with good school system. It's often ranked in the top 10% of the state.
High property taxes but good schools is the trade off.

Last year class had about 300 graduates. Obviously not everyone is bound for 4 year college, but i think it's like 90%

1 matriculation into cornell, duke, princeton, yale, uChicago - that's it for the top schools. (they did have a vandy, ucla, berkley, georgetown, usc, unc)

so you have to grind hard as kid to get into a top school. and it's not like this is a piece of cake - the parents are professional and all aiming for the same schools.

if the goal is BC, Tuffs, Tulane, Indiana, Middlebury, NYU, Wake Forest - and those are good schools - then that's a different story - although still have to be in top 20% of the class.

College exmissions are MUCH harder in the burbs.

So I'm a bit conflicted here. I believe Princeton High School has better exmissions. 20 went to Princeton this year but supposedly only 4 to 5 without family affiliation at the university. 4 to Penn including 2 Wharton, 6 to Cornell and 7 to other Ivies, Duke or UChicago. So call it 37 Ivy+ exmits. I've heard anecdotally that only about 50 to 60 kids in a class of 300 are really gunning for the top colleges. So in this way it felt that getting into a good college would be actually LESS competitive than at a TT. Would be super curious to hear what the PHS alumn posting here has to say.

No, it's nothing like private school. Classes will be much larger and there won't be the same depth of offerings. There is some small portion of the school that is low income. However, there is also a large population of families associated with the university, either as professors or more commonly, researchers. Most of these kids are either East or South Asian. Then wealthy professional class families. It isn't that you are competing with less talented kids -- wealthy suburban schools don't place as well as top tier or even second or third tier private schools. The top level classes will be extremely cutthroat. Prior poster is correct that the students going to Princeton U are almost all faculty kids. Eighty percent plus of the students are the honors college prep crowd. Honestly can't think of a single way in which it would be better than a top tier private, as there is also a vibrant rich kid, work hard/play hard party crowd.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bumping post up. Really want to know what everyone thinks! Does TT really provide a lot of marginal benefit if kids are tracking to top quartile of class academically?

It matters a TON, even at the better suburban schools. For example last year at Chatham NJ - a solid upper middle class town with good school system. It's often ranked in the top 10% of the state.
High property taxes but good schools is the trade off.

Last year class had about 300 graduates. Obviously not everyone is bound for 4 year college, but i think it's like 90%

1 matriculation into cornell, duke, princeton, yale, uChicago - that's it for the top schools. (they did have a vandy, ucla, berkley, georgetown, usc, unc)

so you have to grind hard as kid to get into a top school. and it's not like this is a piece of cake - the parents are professional and all aiming for the same schools.

if the goal is BC, Tuffs, Tulane, Indiana, Middlebury, NYU, Wake Forest - and those are good schools - then that's a different story - although still have to be in top 20% of the class.

College exmissions are MUCH harder in the burbs.

So I'm a bit conflicted here. I believe Princeton High School has better exmissions. 20 went to Princeton this year but supposedly only 4 to 5 without family affiliation at the university. 4 to Penn including 2 Wharton, 6 to Cornell and 7 to other Ivies, Duke or UChicago. So call it 37 Ivy+ exmits. I've heard anecdotally that only about 50 to 60 kids in a class of 300 are really gunning for the top colleges. So in this way it felt that getting into a good college would be actually LESS competitive than at a TT. Would be super curious to hear what the PHS alumn posting here has to say.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have an accepted offer on a house in the burb. Moment of truth. Pull the ripcord or no?

What town?

Princeton

That's where I grew up and attended public school. Luckily, there are also good private options.

What was your experience? No good?

Fine.Support for athletics is non existent. It won't match your private school experience academically. The glorifcation of public school education in this thread is crazy. In reality, it's bureaucratic. Detracking has been an issue --like most public school systems these days, there is buy-in on need for "equity." On the other hand, there are some insane tiger parents and a very stressful high school academic experience. Student suicides have been an issue for decades, with the train tracks providing an unfortunate lure. If you don't like it, plenty of private schools nearby.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bumping post up. Really want to know what everyone thinks! Does TT really provide a lot of marginal benefit if kids are tracking to top quartile of class academically?

It matters a TON, even at the better suburban schools. For example last year at Chatham NJ - a solid upper middle class town with good school system. It's often ranked in the top 10% of the state.
High property taxes but good schools is the trade off.

Last year class had about 300 graduates. Obviously not everyone is bound for 4 year college, but i think it's like 90%

1 matriculation into cornell, duke, princeton, yale, uChicago - that's it for the top schools. (they did have a vandy, ucla, berkley, georgetown, usc, unc)

so you have to grind hard as kid to get into a top school. and it's not like this is a piece of cake - the parents are professional and all aiming for the same schools.

if the goal is BC, Tuffs, Tulane, Indiana, Middlebury, NYU, Wake Forest - and those are good schools - then that's a different story - although still have to be in top 20% of the class.

College exmissions are MUCH harder in the burbs.

I don’t think it’s that much harder. You’re comparing apples to oranges. NYC TT schools are filled with hooked kids, Chatham PS is not. There’s no guarentee that you’re unhooked kid would have better results. I would be happy if my kid got into any of those colleges.

I don’t know why this argument is always made, as if ivy legacy parents or rich families only have kids in TTs. It’s just not true.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bumping post up. Really want to know what everyone thinks! Does TT really provide a lot of marginal benefit if kids are tracking to top quartile of class academically?

It matters a TON, even at the better suburban schools. For example last year at Chatham NJ - a solid upper middle class town with good school system. It's often ranked in the top 10% of the state.
High property taxes but good schools is the trade off.

Last year class had about 300 graduates. Obviously not everyone is bound for 4 year college, but i think it's like 90%

1 matriculation into cornell, duke, princeton, yale, uChicago - that's it for the top schools. (they did have a vandy, ucla, berkley, georgetown, usc, unc)

so you have to grind hard as kid to get into a top school. and it's not like this is a piece of cake - the parents are professional and all aiming for the same schools.

if the goal is BC, Tuffs, Tulane, Indiana, Middlebury, NYU, Wake Forest - and those are good schools - then that's a different story - although still have to be in top 20% of the class.

College exmissions are MUCH harder in the burbs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have an accepted offer on a house in the burb. Moment of truth. Pull the ripcord or no?

What town?

Princeton

That's where I grew up and attended public school. Luckily, there are also good private options.

What was your experience? No good?

Fine.Support for athletics is non existent. It won't match your private school experience academically. The glorifcation of public school education in this thread is crazy. In reality, it's bureaucratic. Detracking has been an issue --like most public school systems these days, there is buy-in on need for "equity." On the other hand, there are some insane tiger parents and a very stressful high school academic experience. Student suicides have been an issue for decades, with the train tracks providing an unfortunate lure. If you don't like it, plenty of private schools nearby.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have an accepted offer on a house in the burb. Moment of truth. Pull the ripcord or no?

What town?

Princeton

That's where I grew up and attended public school. Luckily, there are also good private options.

What was your experience? No good?

Fine.Support for athletics is non existent. It won't match your private school experience academically. The glorifcation of public school education in this thread is crazy. In reality, it's bureaucratic. Detracking has been an issue --like most public school systems these days, there is buy-in on need for "equity." On the other hand, there are some insane tiger parents and a very stressful high school academic experience. Student suicides have been an issue for decades, with the train tracks providing an unfortunate lure. If you don't like it, plenty of private schools nearby.

I would have a very different take for some suburban districts outside of New York City. Not sure about Princeton . I have plenty of them, athletics can be heavily emphasized. Overemphasized. Why is there so much time and attention spent on high school sports? It makes no sense but it is there.

If you find an IB district and decide to pursue the IB diploma, It feels tracked although anyone can choose to pursue it. Only a small number of students choose to do the full diploma and it's generally a nice nerdy group. The emphasis on writing seems to deter a lot of interest for some reason. But it's a benefit and the kids that do it will be well prepared for college.

Princeton spends zero on athletics or close to it. Only spends on orchestra and the like. If that's not your kid's thing, you are out of luck.

I don't know. Google says they spend 1 to 2% of their annual budget on Athletics every year ...1.7 million. That does not sound like zero.

The average public school district spends 2 to 4 percent of its budget on athletics.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have an accepted offer on a house in the burb. Moment of truth. Pull the ripcord or no?

What town?

Princeton

That's where I grew up and attended public school. Luckily, there are also good private options.

What was your experience? No good?

Fine.Support for athletics is non existent. It won't match your private school experience academically. The glorifcation of public school education in this thread is crazy. In reality, it's bureaucratic. Detracking has been an issue --like most public school systems these days, there is buy-in on need for "equity." On the other hand, there are some insane tiger parents and a very stressful high school academic experience. Student suicides have been an issue for decades, with the train tracks providing an unfortunate lure. If you don't like it, plenty of private schools nearby.

I would have a very different take for some suburban districts outside of New York City. Not sure about Princeton . I have plenty of them, athletics can be heavily emphasized. Overemphasized. Why is there so much time and attention spent on high school sports? It makes no sense but it is there.

If you find an IB district and decide to pursue the IB diploma, It feels tracked although anyone can choose to pursue it. Only a small number of students choose to do the full diploma and it's generally a nice nerdy group. The emphasis on writing seems to deter a lot of interest for some reason. But it's a benefit and the kids that do it will be well prepared for college.

Princeton spends zero on athletics or close to it. Only spends on orchestra and the like. If that's not your kid's thing, you are out of luck.

I don't know. Google says they spend 1 to 2% of their annual budget on Athletics every year ...1.7 million. That does not sound like zero.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have an accepted offer on a house in the burb. Moment of truth. Pull the ripcord or no?

What town?

Princeton

That's where I grew up and attended public school. Luckily, there are also good private options.

What was your experience? No good?

Fine.Support for athletics is non existent. It won't match your private school experience academically. The glorifcation of public school education in this thread is crazy. In reality, it's bureaucratic. Detracking has been an issue --like most public school systems these days, there is buy-in on need for "equity." On the other hand, there are some insane tiger parents and a very stressful high school academic experience. Student suicides have been an issue for decades, with the train tracks providing an unfortunate lure. If you don't like it, plenty of private schools nearby.

I would have a very different take for some suburban districts outside of New York City. Not sure about Princeton . I have plenty of them, athletics can be heavily emphasized. Overemphasized. Why is there so much time and attention spent on high school sports? It makes no sense but it is there.

If you find an IB district and decide to pursue the IB diploma, It feels tracked although anyone can choose to pursue it. Only a small number of students choose to do the full diploma and it's generally a nice nerdy group. The emphasis on writing seems to deter a lot of interest for some reason. But it's a benefit and the kids that do it will be well prepared for college.

Princeton spends zero on athletics or close to it. Only spends on orchestra and the like. If that's not your kid's thing, you are out of luck.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have an accepted offer on a house in the burb. Moment of truth. Pull the ripcord or no?

What town?

Princeton

That's where I grew up and attended public school. Luckily, there are also good private options.

What was your experience? No good?

Fine.Support for athletics is non existent. It won't match your private school experience academically. The glorifcation of public school education in this thread is crazy. In reality, it's bureaucratic. Detracking has been an issue --like most public school systems these days, there is buy-in on need for "equity." On the other hand, there are some insane tiger parents and a very stressful high school academic experience. Student suicides have been an issue for decades, with the train tracks providing an unfortunate lure. If you don't like it, plenty of private schools nearby.

I would have a very different take for some suburban districts outside of New York City. Not sure about Princeton . I have plenty of them, athletics can be heavily emphasized. Overemphasized. Why is there so much time and attention spent on high school sports? It makes no sense but it is there.

If you find an IB district and decide to pursue the IB diploma, It feels tracked although anyone can choose to pursue it. Only a small number of students choose to do the full diploma and it's generally a nice nerdy group. The emphasis on writing seems to deter a lot of interest for some reason. But it's a benefit and the kids that do it will be well prepared for college.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bumping post up. Really want to know what everyone thinks! Does TT really provide a lot of marginal benefit if kids are tracking to top quartile of class academically?

It matters a TON, even at the better suburban schools. For example last year at Chatham NJ - a solid upper middle class town with good school system. It's often ranked in the top 10% of the state.
High property taxes but good schools is the trade off.

Last year class had about 300 graduates. Obviously not everyone is bound for 4 year college, but i think it's like 90%

1 matriculation into cornell, duke, princeton, yale, uChicago - that's it for the top schools. (they did have a vandy, ucla, berkley, georgetown, usc, unc)

so you have to grind hard as kid to get into a top school. and it's not like this is a piece of cake - the parents are professional and all aiming for the same schools.

if the goal is BC, Tuffs, Tulane, Indiana, Middlebury, NYU, Wake Forest - and those are good schools - then that's a different story - although still have to be in top 20% of the class.

College exmissions are MUCH harder in the burbs.

I don’t think it’s that much harder. You’re comparing apples to oranges. NYC TT schools are filled with hooked kids, Chatham PS is not. There’s no guarentee that you’re unhooked kid would have better results. I would be happy if my kid got into any of those colleges.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have an accepted offer on a house in the burb. Moment of truth. Pull the ripcord or no?

What town?

Princeton

That's where I grew up and attended public school. Luckily, there are also good private options.

What was your experience? No good?

Fine.Support for athletics is non existent. It won't match your private school experience academically. The glorifcation of public school education in this thread is crazy. In reality, it's bureaucratic. Detracking has been an issue --like most public school systems these days, there is buy-in on need for "equity." On the other hand, there are some insane tiger parents and a very stressful high school academic experience. Student suicides have been an issue for decades, with the train tracks providing an unfortunate lure. If you don't like it, plenty of private schools nearby.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bumping post up. Really want to know what everyone thinks! Does TT really provide a lot of marginal benefit if kids are tracking to top quartile of class academically?

It matters a TON, even at the better suburban schools. For example last year at Chatham NJ - a solid upper middle class town with good school system. It's often ranked in the top 10% of the state.
High property taxes but good schools is the trade off.

Last year class had about 300 graduates. Obviously not everyone is bound for 4 year college, but i think it's like 90%

1 matriculation into cornell, duke, princeton, yale, uChicago - that's it for the top schools. (they did have a vandy, ucla, berkley, georgetown, usc, unc)

so you have to grind hard as kid to get into a top school. and it's not like this is a piece of cake - the parents are professional and all aiming for the same schools.

if the goal is BC, Tuffs, Tulane, Indiana, Middlebury, NYU, Wake Forest - and those are good schools - then that's a different story - although still have to be in top 20% of the class.

College exmissions are MUCH harder in the burbs.

I don’t think it’s that much harder. You’re comparing apples to oranges. NYC TT schools are filled with hooked kids, Chatham PS is not. There’s no guarentee that you’re unhooked kid would have better results. I would be happy if my kid got into any of those colleges.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have an accepted offer on a house in the burb. Moment of truth. Pull the ripcord or no?

What town?

Princeton

That's where I grew up and attended public school. Luckily, there are also good private options.

What was your experience? No good?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is absolutely no accountability to public school parents -- zero. Private schools have to be accountable or parents will move to other schools.

Yeah, it's certainly not like public school parents have any say in where their kid goes to school

I don’t know if this is sarcasm. The overwhelming majority of total enrollment in the U.S. is in public. Most parents cannot pay private tuition, I’m not saying that to be mean but that’s the reality. Parents are stuck with their local public option in most cases and have to make the most of it.

This is an NYC discussion and in NYC you have a *ton* of choices in public school

And the property taxes to pay for some of the good school districts are very high. Some public districts are spending 40 grand or more per student per year in their public schools. Being stuck with the public school is exactly what the families in a lot of these towns are looking for. It's the entire reason they go to these towns. The quality of the public school controls the real estate market.

but purely based on the outcomes, stress for students, etc - does not seem worth it.

personally much rather have DC go to a 2/3T school, be better on the mental health and go to WashU/Emory/NYU versus grinding it out with GPA, ECs, travel sports and if lucky get a top 25 school.

that's worth $500k or whatever MS/HS cost in NYC.