Moving to Dallas - Best Academic Private Schools (Plano, Highland Park: private school tuition, colleges)

[Big G]

Originally Posted by EDS_

Your circular and moving arguments are annoying no question.

You might be taking all this a bit more seriously than I am. You clearly have a vested interest in Jesuit, so I'm just having fun tweaking you on it.

1. You may not think Jesuit is a better choice for boys than Plano West, Coppell or HP. The Jesuit parents of kids from those districts do and so do those who applied and were turned down.

By extension, those who could have gained admission but chose not to apply (and I'd assert that's the top 15-20% of PWSH) think Plano West is a better choice than Jesuit.

2. Your stand that the number of labeled AP courses is somehow really important is plainly bogus per the Cistercian example and the same applies to all of the better privates.

I only brought up the AP course offerings in response to one of your posts, to point out one measure by which public schools could be considered not just equal, but superior to private schools. If you want to move the goal posts by calling that "bogus", go ahead.

3. And rounding out your misconceptions my daughter plays a sport at UA her team competes against public schools all the time. Same with BL. Clearly Jesuit has blazed a nice athletic trail.

But only Jesuit is willing to man up and play with the big boys. There - I praised Jesuit! Happy now?

[EDS_]

[quote=Big G;18107398]You might be taking all this a bit more seriously than I am. You clearly have a vested interest in Jesuit, so I'm just having fun tweaking you on it.
Maybe


By extension, those who could have gained admission but chose not to apply (and I'd assert that's the top 15-20% of PWSH) think Plano West is a better choice than Jesuit.
That's clearly true but my point still stands

I only brought up the AP course offerings in response to one of your posts, to point out one measure by which public schools could be considered not just equal, but superior to private schools. If you want to move the goal posts by calling that "bogus", go ahead.
That's a very red herring


But only Jesuit is willing to man up and play with the big boys. There - I praised Jesuit! Happy now? Do you really expect Cistercian and St. Marks with a few dozen boys per grade to play public school football for example?
[/QUOTE

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by Lakewooder

No somebody else wrote that..

Ok thanks.

[HockDad]

I absolutely agree that if you are a star at a public high school, you can often times right your own ticket. However, I also strongly believe that the odds of writing your own ticket are increased substantially if you go to the right private school. Lets look at Hockaday. Last year 10% of the graduating class went to one of the top 5 high colleges in the US (Harvard, Yale, MIT, Princeton, Stanford). Now 10% is only 10 girls, but still, no public high school in Texas can compete with that.

Also, lets look at National Merit Scholars. Either last year or the year before Hockaday had 17. That is roughly 16% of the class. How did HP or Plano fair? Well, Plano had more, but as a percentage basis, it was not even close. HP had considerably less. The scholastic ability of the girls is not limited to the top 5% of the class, but is spread out.

The final test I would ask you to consider is to examine where the grads are going to college. Very few Hockaday girls stay in Texas. I would guess 75% go out of state. A typical out of state school for someone in the middle of the class (30-70%) might be Wake Forest, Rice, UNC or Vanderbilt. As a whole they are not going to UT, A&M, etc.

[Rabbitwarren]

HockDad,

I'm worried about the very things you just brought up. My children are very young and they go to Trinity Christian Academy in Addison. We believe it is a very good school and we love the environment. The other families clearly value education and we have been impressed over all. Our eldest child is a fifth grader, so we haven't gotten to see a lot outside of Lower School and, now, Middle School.

TCA had ONE National Merit Semi-Finalist this year. ONE. This bothers me to no end. Most of our graduates stay in Texas. Not all, but most. WHY? I've been driving myself insane this week because a good friend with a daughter at Plano West saw her family's hopes dashed when that daughter did not get in to Northwestern. She takes a boatload of AP courses, got a 34 on her ACT, is uber-involved at school... It doesn't make any sense to me and it got me thinking about schools in a whole new way. I've been studying Hockaday's website for a few nights, trying to decide if it's worth it to make a change. We love where we are. But is it enough? How do you decide?

[racehorse]

maddyzmommy, why does this bother you? Do you imagine your child will not have a satisfying life if they don't go someplace like Northwestern?

FTR, I graduated from NU and while it is a big door opener, my husband went to A&M, which opens a lot more doors here. He also makes more money than I do!

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by maddyzmommy

HockDad,

I'm worried about the very things you just brought up. My children are very young and they go to Trinity Christian Academy in Addison. We believe it is a very good school and we love the environment. The other families clearly value education and we have been impressed over all. Our eldest child is a fifth grader, so we haven't gotten to see a lot outside of Lower School and, now, Middle School.

TCA had ONE National Merit Semi-Finalist this year. ONE. This bothers me to no end. Most of our graduates stay in Texas. Not all, but most. WHY? I've been driving myself insane this week because a good friend with a daughter at Plano West saw her family's hopes dashed when that daughter did not get in to Northwestern. She takes a boatload of AP courses, got a 34 on her ACT, is uber-involved at school... It doesn't make any sense to me and it got me thinking about schools in a whole new way. I've been studying Hockaday's website for a few nights, trying to decide if it's worth it to make a change. We love where we are. But is it enough? How do you decide?

I don't know anything about Northwestern's admissions process but lots of schools have what amount to geographical quotas. Meaning they accept X kids from Texas and maybe she was for whatever reason the next person on that list. Placing too much hope in any one private university shows a serious failing amongst the student's advisors and parents quite frankly.

If you want your daughter to get into Hockaday next year it may be too late. If you are looking at the year after call them now.

[racehorse]

NU was always big on getting kids from outside of the Midwest. University of Chicago as well--I worked in their college financial aid office for a while.

If you're happy with the school otherwise, seriously, why change?

[momof2dfw]

Originally Posted by maddyzmommy

TCA had ONE National Merit Semi-Finalist this year. ONE. This bothers me to no end. Most of our graduates stay in Texas. Not all, but most. WHY? I've been driving myself insane this week because a good friend with a daughter at Plano West saw her family's hopes dashed when that daughter did not get in to Northwestern.

1. National Merit. Forget the school your child goes to for a second. If your child has it in them and you give them all the proper training to nail the PSAT then your child can be a National Merit Scholar. There are several programs in the area to prep a student for the PSAT.

2. What happened to finding the top 1-3 colleges for ones field and concentrating on getting into THOSE schools vs a school that might look good on a high schools record that one of their grads got into it????? If your child wants to major in x and they go to a school that is subpar in that field only because that school is viewed highly by name alone BY SOME........ what and where does it really get them on down the line. My daughter, a soph in high school, already knows the top 3 schools in her field of interest. She is focusing on those to apply to and one just happens to be in Texas. It's the #3 in her field but it is still a very well regarded school. If that is where she ends up, is happy w/ her decision and can secure a job to support her once she graduates......... I'm HAPPY for her.

[TurtleCreek80]

Maddyzmommy,

Why are you concerned? Where does your kid want to go to college? Can you realistically expect her to score 700+ on each section of the SAT? If not, she has little chance of Ivy/Ivy+ regardless of what high school she attends. What is her "hook"- special & unique talent/skill that will make her stand out. Your friend's kid may have been rejected because being a high achieving student from a powerhouse high school isn't "enough" when colleges are only accepting 7-15% of applicants....most of whom also took a boatload of AP's and aced the SAT.

Why should it bother you that TCA has few National Merit kid's? All your kid has to donis take the PSAT and SAT and rock out to become one. It's not anything special Plano ISD or Hockaday is doing to crank out the NMF's each year.

Quite honestly- a standout kid has a better chance of getting to Ivy from a TCA than a Hockaday or Plano Senior because there's less competition at the top of the class.

Your kid needs to take care of herself and the rest will follow. As long as your family is happy with the instruction & environment at TCA, that's the most important thing.