Greenhill vs Hockaday (Plano, West, Howe: private school tuition, cost, suite)

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by UnfairPark

Just because you decided to pay for private schools and pick free lower ranked colleges, doesn't mean it's holy gospel. :-)

That's not what I'm talking about. But along those lines I'd like for you to tell me how my kids might have done it better.

[biafra4life]

Originally Posted by EDS_

That's not what I'm talking about. But along those lines I'd like for you to tell me how my kids might have done it better.

Well technically you could have said no to private school and instead bought a house within one of the cities with the top school districts (West Plano, Coppell, Southlake etc). With strongly involved parents like yourself, your kids would’ve likely been strong academic performers even within the public school systems, certainly good enough to get into Baylor and Texas A&M. From there, continuing on the same path you described. That would have saved you even more money.
However, it’s all moot now since mission accomplished on both ends.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by biafra4life

Well technically you could have said no to private school and instead bought a house within one of the cities with the top school districts (West Plano, Coppell, Southlake etc). With strongly involved parents like yourself, your kids would’ve likely been strong academic performers even within the public school systems, certainly good enough to get into Baylor and Texas A&M. From there, continuing on the same path you described. That would have saved you even more money.
However, it’s all moot now since mission accomplished on both ends.

That's fair. A couple of things, K-12 other than picking their respective high schools our kids didn't have much of a say. And until my son's high school days we lived in the Plano West attendance zone. Our son attended Plano schools for a bit as well.

[UnfairPark]

Originally Posted by EDS_

That's not what I'm talking about. But along those lines I'd like for you to tell me how my kids might have done it better.

Who knows if they might have done better or worse? No one knows what glory or misery paths not taken could have brought or what's ahead on an apparently safe path. Sometimes we can't even imagine scope of missed oppurtunities. Let's not forget that pre-Med or some engineering majors are exceptions, for most majors one has to weigh money vs value, free isn't always the best value and importantly, not for every student. However, there are no perfect decisions, every decision has a diffrent set of pros and cons.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by UnfairPark

One of my church fellow's kid declined UTD's Mcdermot, SMU's Presidential and A&M's full ride National Merit Scholarships for UT's Buisness Honors just a couple of years ago. He didn't make it off of waitlist but they were willing to pay big bucks for Penn's Wharton as level of peers, faculty and alumni are just very different at these places which make total educational experiences and future oppurtunities completely different.

However, for their second kid, they picked Rice's Trustee Distinguished scholarship (half tuition)over Cornell University full pay and UTD/A&M National Merit Scholar free rides. One size doesn't fit all and what path works for pre-Med, is pretty much useless for investment banking at Wall Street.

You know what I owe you an apology. Earlier when responding to this quote I misread your meaning significantly. Sorry for that.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by UnfairPark

Who knows if they might have done better or worse? No one knows what glory or misery paths not taken could have brought or what's ahead on an apparently safe path. Sometimes we can't even imagine scope of missed oppurtunities. Let's not forget that pre-Med or some engineering majors are exceptions, for most majors one has to weigh money vs value, free isn't always the best value and importantly, not for every student. However, there are no perfect decisions, every decision has a diffrent set of pros and cons.

1. Sure every important decision guarantees unforeseeable consequences and ramifications. IMO we can stipulate that.

2. I agree that free or less expensive isn't always the best option but many times they are.

3. Looking askance at a kid from a solid private or a top grad from a public because they choose a less glamorous undergrad path is pretty silly. Generally there is a good reason.

4. In the aggregate among those who actually pay so far as value big name expensive college ROI numbers at the undergrad level are not impressive. That said ROI among most high end graduate programs is excellent.

[UnfairPark]

No apologies warranted. However, ROI isn't the only purpose of an education, being able to earn a living is just a small benefit, growing as a human being should be one's real goal. I don't equate undergrad degree with a trade diploma.

[Vagabond007]

This year’s Hockaday class had great placement and are a strong batch that does not repeat.

Many get selected to HYPMS and other top schools due to sports/legacy/underrepresented minority status so more is at play than quality of education at school.

St Marks had similar or better record couple of years back but has been more modest now.

So if your kids are still young don’t extend yourself to send them to these schools.

[Taub201]

The question is how talented are the H/SM teachers relative to other options, as well as class sizes and resources. The students have higher average test scores and seem more motivated than other students except maybe TAG schools like Booker T and Townview. How important is it to be surrounded by motivated students? According to the last poster, not $30K per year especially if that's a significant part of a family's income.

[UnfairPark]

Originally Posted by Vagabond007

Many get selected to HYPMS and other top schools due to sports/legacy/underrepresented minority status so more is at play than quality of education at school.

Lets not forget another major factor in selecting a college after acceptance, upper middle class students from Plano, Frisco, Coppell are unlikely to get enough financial aid and Ivies don't offer merit scholarships. If you look at cost of attendance, all of these colleges cost $70,000 -78,000 per year. Many upper middle class families don't even apply after using EFC calculator, others apply hoping to get some aid or merit but back out when financial estimate arrives. Even ones who get some aid, it ends up costing $50k or more so $200-350k for an undergraduate degree isn't really affordable for most.

One big perk offered by schools like Hockaday is having a connected, supportive and engaged college guidance staff, public schools really lack in that department. They can get fired if outcome isn't good unlike their public school counterparts who have secure employment.