Boston Globe article-is buying a home in boston worth it? (Cambridge: 2015, apartment)

[Nobodybody]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

I'm trying to think of a suburban place in the United States where this isn't the case. I'm stumped. It's like that anywhere I can think of. In the United States, people self-segregate along socioeconomic lines. Texas, for example, is an extreme example. In Texas, affluent sections of towns split off from the rest of the time to have their own school system. Metro-Atlanta is another extreme example of socioeconomic self-segregation. California is stuffed full of examples in the Bay Area and LA. You don't see affluent New Yorkers flocking to the Bronx.

I'm having trouble putting my finger on it, specifically. As an example, my company in the MetroWest has an array of both lower and higher paying positions, and all employees are fairly well integrated. One of the first things I was asked by many of the people in higher positions was 'where did you go to school?', 'what did your parents do?', 'where did they go to school?', 'what town are you from?'.

Maybe it's due to the fact that a lot of old money, and therefore old formalities and ways, are still very prominent in this area. In the Midwest, for example, job title carried weight, and to some extent what school, but here I immediately felt excluded from many of my peers (even though we've achieved the same job status and presumably pay rate) for being raised by a single parent with a degree from a State University. I've never experienced these details having so much weight before. And maybe it's just the density and compactness of the Boston area, but in no other place have I experienced, for example, 'being from Wellesley' such a distinguishing characteristic as opposed to being from the next town over.

The amount of concern for one's pedigree around here sometimes makes this area feel like one big Dog Show.

The more I think about this, in my previous environs, the very 'upper' and 'lower' classes were such minorities in comparison, and separated from the mainstream 'middle' class, so that interaction was fairly infrequent. Here, the percentage of 'upper' class represents a greater portion of the whole, and, especially in the workplace, these classes co-mingle regularly.

[Parsec]

Originally Posted by chicagoliz

Well, US News is somewhat questionable, but even accepting that top 50 = "Tier 1" for purposes of this discussion, that's a lot of schools. And it's actually 100 schools, because they rank colleges separate from universities. I think part of it is the reputation of the schools, but a bigger part is the students themselves -- in some schools, the kids are obsessed with colleges, and they tend to have a lot of kids go to good schools. In other areas with some different demographics and emphasis on certain schools, more people will be satisfied with a lower tier school (even if they might have been able to get into a higher-ranked school).

I'm not saying US News offers definitive rankings. My main point was an average kid in a top tier high school will be placed into a more prestigious university than an average kid from a lower performing high school. I, like most parents, don't expect my kids to get to Harvard. I moved to the best school district I could afford to give my kids a better chance of landing at one of the other top 50 or 100 universities in case they are not Ivy league material.

[Whatsnext75]

'My main point was an average kid in a top tier high school will be placed into a more prestigious university than an average kid from a lower performing high school'

I would think so too.

[Parsec]

Originally Posted by Whatsnext75

'My main point was an average kid in a top tier high school will be placed into a more prestigious university than an average kid from a lower performing high school'

I would think so too.

So would you be in agreement that's why parents want to move to Newton/Lex, and not because they expect to buy a path into Harvard? I agree that was a ridiculous statement by whoever posted that earlier, but the advantage of a top school system at the high school level is very clear.

[robr2]

Originally Posted by Whatsnext75

A co worker is toying with the idea of moving to Medford, but is disappointed that she wont have a Somerville address if she does this. I guess having a Somerville address is cool??

I grew up in Somerville. My parents worked their butts off to get out of there in the early 80's. Now people are working their butts off to get into the city. Who wunda thunk??

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by Parsec

So would you be in agreement that's why parents want to move to Newton/Lex, and not because they expect to buy a path into Harvard? I agree that was a ridiculous statement by whoever posted that earlier, but the advantage of a top school system at the high school level is very clear.

Unless it's sour grapes that you can't afford to live in those towns.

[Whatsnext75]

Originally Posted by Parsec

So would you be in agreement that's why parents want to move to Newton/Lex, and not because they expect to buy a path into Harvard? I agree that was a ridiculous statement by whoever posted that earlier, but the advantage of a top school system at the high school level is very clear.

I think most parents feel the need to send their kid to the best school they can, but some are misinformed. For some it means moving to the most expensive town they can with the best school system or it means trying to get them into a milton or a thayer academy and paying for that. I don't think parents who move to these towns or even the parents who send their kids to a private school are expecting Harvard (they aren't very informed if they are), they just want to do the best they can and try to get their kid into a good college since it's $$ no matter what. But some do make the mistake of thinking a private school will work for itself and the kid doesn't have to apply themselves to the fullest.

I think it mainly depends on the kid, not the school. I dont know why that's rocket science for some people. By the time the kid is in middle school you should have an idea on what kind of student they are.

My husband constantly looks at real estate and pays attention to those top tier schools. We have an 18 month old and will be moving out of the city in 5 years. He and I also both went to a private school so it can be a big decision. You dont want to be stuck in an $$ town and then decide you want to do private school...or i guess we dont have that kind of money to burn. For us it would be one or the other....just so we could say, hey we did the best we could, we sent our little loves to the best school we could.

I honestly dont know for sure, i dont have stats on whether an average kid at a top tier school always goes to a better school than an average kid at lower tiered school. Not sure how much the college admissions cares when it comes down to that?

[Parsec]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

Unless it's sour grapes that you can't afford to live in those towns.

Huh, are you talking to me? Who said I couldn't afford to live in Lexington? I have no desire to put my Asian kids through that pressure cooker school system against a student body raised by Tiger Moms. If my kids were White, Black or Hispanic I wouldn't mind, but they are Asian which puts them at a major disadvantage going through a school system that's 25% Asian. Reverse discrimination against Asians in the college application process is well documented, so I think my kids will do better in a town like Sudbury than in Lexington. Besides, the commute is too far for my wife.

[Whatsnext75]

Originally Posted by robr2

I grew up in Somerville. My parents worked their butts off to get out of there in the early 80's. Now people are working their butts off to get into the city. Who wunda thunk??

I know, i remember when it was called Scumerville or Slummerville.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by Parsec

Huh, are you talking to me? Who said I couldn't afford to live in Lexington? I have no desire to put my Asian kids through that pressure cooker school system against a student body raised by Tiger Moms. If my kids were White, Black or Hispanic I wouldn't mind, but they are Asian which puts them at a major disadvantage going through a school system that's 25% Asian. Reverse discrimination against Asians in the college application process is well documented, so I think my kids will do better in a town like Sudbury than in Lexington. Besides, the commute is too far for my wife.

Too many pronouns. I meant that it might have been sour grapes from the initial person who wrote that good school systems in premium towns were worthless because most of the students didn't get into the Ivys. "You" in no way was intended to mean "Parsec". I agree with your statement that you, of course, want to put your children in the best possible school system.