Top NJ High Schools (Elizabeth, Montclair: chapel, university, restaurant)

[EEEPNJ]

Originally Posted by tandcookies

Great post!!

Agreed.

[MoorestownResident]

Originally Posted by lolamom

Moorestown guy-maybe instead of trying to hard to convince this group you should invest your energies trying to convince the folks who do the rankings...... Just a thought.

I have to say that I given this subject more thought than most because we a) have small children and b) have moved around a ton in the past few years and c) we "came up" socio-economically thanks to DH's Ivy degree. My husband went to a top IVY which he got into despite growing up lower middle class and going to a very unremarkable public school system.

My two cents for what they are worth:

An ivy league degree is a wonderful thing to have if one comes by one through "honest means"--meaning a truly superb intellect AND a work drive. Too many young people these days are groomed to within an inch of their lives just to get into the Ivy "pageant". I see it all the time--truly smart kids with incredible inner abilities who are reduced to scholastic robots--study, study, tutor, study, activity, study..... If it comes naturally, fine, but I can't see me pushing my kids this way unless it comes from them..... That's how my in-laws did it with DH--they guided him and supported him but the drive and motivation originated from him. That's how it should be....there is no crime in a young person finding their path on their own and in due time. College is but the beginning of the path, you know?

I can tell you that my DH has done well for precisely due to latter--he is smart as all heck and he works hard. Having said that, we will both admit that the Ivy League degree has opened doors for him AND given him credibility--especially early on in his career. But in our observation, he has done better in life than many of his college peers and I honestly think it's because of his worth ethic and drive.... things that cannot be purchased.

FWIW, I am a state school girl and did okay in my career---mid level manager @ 34 and then quit to have kids.

So--what do we want for our rug rats? Well, here is what I have observed....

I don't think the whole Ivy league thing is all that for everybody. Would I love for my kids to attend a top school? Yeah---but only if it came from them. What I want for my kids more than anything is that they develop a passion for SOMETHING whatever it may be. If they go Ivy, I hope they do this in pursuit of something they are passionate about instead of viewing the experience as an end, rather than a means.... KWIM?

We all have daydreams for our kids and I am not above having some for mine.... I'd love for my kids to go to a solid tier B school, have a fantastic experience, do well and then go to an ivy league grad. When I see how hard people work at the Ivy leagues, I feel sad thinking of my kids missing out on all the fun I experienced. So in my ideal world, they'd get both. I have to say too that practically speaking, I think a graduate degree from a top school carries more panache and opens more doors than a mere undergrad from an Ivy.

Having said all THAT-let me confess this: We moved to Millburn for the schools. However, instead of viewing it as a means to the Ivys, we did it because it appears to be a fantastic school system....and an education is what we are after--not just an Ivy ticket. I doubt we will still be living here by then anyway and I figured in the meantime, start as we mean to go on.... I will give my children every raw ingredient I can come up with to allow them to succeed but my hope is that the drive and motivation come from them. I am not naive---I am the mother of little kids and it's easy to philosophize when you are looking ahead--much harder when you are in the heat of the battle. Still, I am hoping I can resist the temptation to get all crazy about it when the times comes precisely by doing all I can NOW to set my own parenting goals AND provide a solid foundation.

Anyway, those are my thoughts on it--take it for what they are worth. I am sure now that I have written this all out, I have jinxed myself! I can hear my kiddies coming to me in 10+ years--"MOM, I have found my passion: it's punk rock and I want to drop out of school to attend punk-band academy" or something.... Just as long as their "passion" is not drugs, we should be fine!! At the end of the day, love them, feed them, look out for them and then cross your fingers and hope it all works out! That's all anyone can do.

Sigh, isn't motherhood grand?

Lola

Not trying to convince anyone; just dispelling the general ignorance and attacks that I am taking for no good reason. 'The people that do the rankings' at NJ Monthly had MHS at #10 in 2000, since then a flood of building increased the school's enrollment, it is making its way back to the Top 20 where it belongs and it will be there shortly.

[Obrero]

Originally Posted by MoorestownResident

Not trying to convince anyone; just dispelling the general ignorance and attacks that I am taking for no good reason. 'The people that do the rankings' at NJ Monthly had MHS at #10 in 2000, since then a flood of building increased the school's enrollment, it is making its way back to the Top 20 where it belongs and it will be there shortly.

Unless a plague of locusts comes along and makes it drop in the rankings again.

[DITC]

Malcolm X Shabazz!!

[Giantone]

Originally Posted by MoorestownResident

Not trying to convince anyone; just dispelling the general ignorance and attacks that I am taking for no good reason. 'The people that do the rankings' at NJ Monthly had MHS at #10 in 2000, since then a flood of building increased the school's enrollment, it is making its way back to the Top 20 where it belongs and it will be there shortly.

Ok ,now this is getting sad."Flood of Building"..in MIllburn and Short Hills hehehehehe...........you're crazy!

You're taking heat becuase you have made false and misleading statments and have no facts to back anything you say.

[tallguylehigh]

I've pretty much written this thread off- at first I was willing to listen to what he had to say and what facts he was bringing to the table, but I now see that he has no facts, only his own impressions and interpretations to the point of bordering on 'troll' status.

So MR, you keep acting like MHS is the besy HS EVAR and that your sh*t dont stink, but you are convincing no one except yourself. Hell, if NJ Monthly were to read your comments in this thread, they might drop it another few spots!

[MoorestownResident]

I posted all the facts that verify my claims that MHS and MFS are Ivy league feeder schools. I gave you links, showed you the schools the kids are going to from both schools, the numbers attending, did expert analysis of success rates, etc. You refuse to believe the facts that is your issue. You are the troll in this thread, not me. Next time try to debate someone less knowledgeable than you and you won't be as frustrated.

[MoorestownResident]

And BTW, Cranford HS is NOT a blue ribbon school. Therefore, it is a guaranteed certainty that a senior coming from MHS has a better chance of getting into an Ivy or equivalent.

[jerseyj]

Originally Posted by MoorestownResident

And BTW, Cranbury HS is NOT a blue ribbon school. Therefore, it is a guaranteed certainty that a senior coming from MHS has a better chance of getting into an Ivy or equivalent.

Cranbury does not have a High School, they send their kids to Princeton High school

[MoorestownResident]

Cranford, corrected.