Summit Country Day vs. St. Ursuline! Which one to choose?! (Cincinnati: house, neighborhood)

[writelydie]

I don't mean to go totally off topic - but have you considered public school for your daughter? It seems as though money isn't the issue here, and Summit/Ursuline/St. Ursula are very good schools. But public school gives kids a totally different and in my opinion more well-rounded experience. If you're looking for academics & athletics, I'd look at Walnut Hills HS. Walnut Hills is really an academic leader in Cincinnati. It is non-denominational, though. Again, nothing wrong with private schools if that is an option for your family, but public school can be just as good!

[kjbrill]

It never ceases to amaze me how Walnut Hills is touted over and over. If everyone went there who is advised to it would be impossible to get in. It is apparently a good HS, but the ONLY ONE in the Cincinnati System? What makes it succeed while others fail? Is the admission testing so rigorous they are picking off the cream within the city?

[Sarah Perry]

Originally Posted by kjbrill

It never ceases to amaze me how Walnut Hills is touted over and over. If everyone went there who is advised to it would be impossible to get in. It is apparently a good HS, but the ONLY ONE in the Cincinnati System? What makes it succeed while others fail? Is the admission testing so rigorous they are picking off the cream within the city?

Well, yeah, that would pretty much sum up the whole reason for the existence of Walnut Hills. It's touted because it's the magnet school for smart kids and academic achievers in the CPS system. Of course it's not the only CPS high school. But people who're interested in getting their kids a top-quality public education don't voluntarily send them to Withrow or Aiken.

[progmac]

Originally Posted by Sarah Perry

Well, yeah, that would pretty much sum up the whole reason for the existence of Walnut Hills. It's touted because it's the magnet school for smart kids and academic achievers in the CPS system. Of course it's not the only CPS high school. But people who're interested in getting their kids a top-quality public education don't voluntarily send them to Withrow or Aiken.

although taft is now rated 'excellent'

[Sarah Perry]

Originally Posted by progmac

although taft is now rated 'excellent'

The news stories about Taft are intriguing, to say the least. They make me wonder if we could have one of those big educational success stories that you hear about on the national news and you figure happen so rarely that it's always somewhere else. Where an administrator or group of professionals and parents team up to buck all the odds. But I don't know enough to say. I do know enough to not trust local news. Stories I happen to have some firsthand knowledge of are almost always riddled with inaccuracies.

[Chemistry_Guy]

I have had siblings graduate from St. Ursula, Walnut Hills, and St. Xavier High schools. All three are excellent schools. Of the three, my sister had the most trouble fitting in at St. Ursula. While the education provided is excellent, the environment reminded me of a high school version of Miami University. A lot of the girls were spoiled and cliqueish and my sister, though smart, pretty, athletic, and personable, did not make a lot of friends in her class. Most of her friends were at Walnut. My brother's and my experience at St. Xavier was nothing but positive, although in all honesty there is quite a bit of arrogance and snobbery there as well. The difference is that at St. X the spoiled rich kids were ostracized rather than emulated. It seemed that teenage boys 'organize' themselves into a social hierarchy based more on achievement and athletic prowess while the girls were more interested in wealth. Walnut was completely different. The kids seem to go out of their way to downplay social class. It was not uncommon to see kids dressed like hobos getting picked up in brand new Cadillacs and Mercedes and other kids dressed the same taking the bus or riding in 20 year old rust buckets.

However, they say that it is not what you know but who you know, and from this perspective St. X and St. Ursula are two of the most well connected schools in the city. I have personally seen many X and Ursula alumnae given great opportunities due to their connections. In this, Walnut comes in a distant third when comparing the three.

As far as Summit goes, I think it is pretty much like St. Ursula, just located in a nicer area and with boys. Many of the high school students at summit have already gone to gradeschool with each other for nine years, so cliques might be more entrenched.

[kjbrill]

St X may come out ahead due to the fact it draws from such a wide area in Greater Cincinnati. While I am sure it has its cliques, from what I know academics are still the first order of business. And as stated boys seem to have a different criteria for acceptance than girls.

When it comes to connections, I would have to believe the students at Cincinnati Country Day, Summit Country Day, Cincinnat Hills Christian Academy, and other similar schools would definitely carry an advantage.

[Wilson513]

Originally Posted by Chemistry_Guy

I have had siblings graduate from St. Ursula, Walnut Hills, and St. Xavier High schools. All three are excellent schools. Of the three, my sister had the most trouble fitting in at St. Ursula. While the education provided is excellent, the environment reminded me of a high school version of Miami University. A lot of the girls were spoiled and cliqueish and my sister, though smart, pretty, athletic, and personable, did not make a lot of friends in her class. Most of her friends were at Walnut. My brother's and my experience at St. Xavier was nothing but positive, although in all honesty there is quite a bit of arrogance and snobbery there as well. The difference is that at St. X the spoiled rich kids were ostracized rather than emulated. It seemed that teenage boys 'organize' themselves into a social hierarchy based more on achievement and athletic prowess while the girls were more interested in wealth. Walnut was completely different. The kids seem to go out of their way to downplay social class. It was not uncommon to see kids dressed like hobos getting picked up in brand new Cadillacs and Mercedes and other kids dressed the same taking the bus or riding in 20 year old rust buckets.

However, they say that it is not what you know but who you know, and from this perspective St. X and St. Ursula are two of the most well connected schools in the city. I have personally seen many X and Ursula alumnae given great opportunities due to their connections. In this, Walnut comes in a distant third when comparing the three.

As far as Summit goes, I think it is pretty much like St. Ursula, just located in a nicer area and with boys. Many of the high school students at summit have already gone to gradeschool with each other for nine years, so cliques might be more entrenched.

I think your assessment of these three schools is correct.

Ursula has always been the school for pretty princesses, on their way to colleges like Miami (you mentioned) and others.

The Summit holds itself out as superior academically with many published faculty, but it is so cliquish my youngest transferred out including for that reason. It is a magnificent place. I drive by there almost every day and it looks like it is a film set for a Harry Potter movie. I may post up a photo or two if I remember.

Walnut Hills is much more complicated because of the wide social strata represented there. I was very active when my oldest son was there for six years. A very complicated place. Not for the easily distracted or led, that's for sure. And, the lack of controls on a restless and creative student body would have any parent nervous. But the possibilities are great at WHHS for the exceptional student. My oldest received a full tuition and residence scholarship at RPI, perhaps the best engineering school in the country. Colleges like WHHS, a lot.

St. X is a well connected place if the next step is Loyola, Notre Dame, or Georgetown. MIT, Princeton and RPI, not so much.

[Chemistry_Guy]

Originally Posted by Wilson513

St. X is a well connected place if the next step is Loyola, Notre Dame, or Georgetown. MIT, Princeton and RPI, not so much.

While I had plenty of high school classmates going to east coast Ivy league schools, I would agree that the school is most well connected at the schools you mentioned, as well as other Jesuit schools like Boston College, Marquette, Holy Cross, and Santa Clara. Also there seems to be quite a pipeline to Stanford lately.

However, when I was talking about connections I wasn't talking about colleges as much as professional business connections in Cincinnati. While the exclusive private schools like CCD, Seven Hills, and Summit are well connected, with as much as 20% plus of the senior class headed to an Ivy, a high percentage of the students never come back to Cincinnati and the classes are much smaller. My best friend went to Seven Hills in a year where 10% of his graduating class went to Harvard alone, but that was out of a class of 61. St. X graduates 350 young men a year and, in the Cincinnati catholic tradition, a high percentage of them come back to the area after graduation. You really can't walk through an operating room, courtroom, scientific conference, political fundraiser, or similar environment in this city without bumping into X alumnae.

[Wilson513]

Originally Posted by Chemistry_Guy

While I had plenty of high school classmates going to east coast Ivy league schools, I would agree that the school is most well connected at the schools you mentioned, as well as other Jesuit schools like Boston College, Marquette, Holy Cross, and Santa Clara. Also there seems to be quite a pipeline to Stanford lately.

However, when I was talking about connections I wasn't talking about colleges as much as professional business connections in Cincinnati. While the exclusive private schools like CCD, Seven Hills, and Summit are well connected, with as much as 20% plus of the senior class headed to an Ivy, a high percentage of the students never come back to Cincinnati and the classes are much smaller. My best friend went to Seven Hills in a year where 10% of his graduating class went to Harvard alone, but that was out of a class of 61. St. X graduates 350 young men a year and, in the Cincinnati catholic tradition, a high percentage of them come back to the area after graduation. You really can't walk through an operating room, courtroom, scientific conference, political fundraiser, or similar environment in this city without bumping into X alumnae.

Quite, quite true. St. X grads fill the ranks of the Prosecutor's Office, City Hall, and many others. The "return to Cincinnati" rate must be incredible.