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I don't know too many kids who were privately schooled from k-12 whose parents are like, "You're welcome, but you're on your own for college, so get those loans - we're done!".
It absolutely has to make sense financially & not only for the k-12 years, but for college and beyond.
You'll figure it out & you will also figure out, once you have future baby, what you want for him/her & what "lifestyle" petty enjoyments you are willing to "trade in" for that future baby and his/her future.
I do. They could not afford both. They opted to pay for the foundation "work" (private elementary) hoping kids would thrive, pull in excellent grades, and get scholarship, jobs, etc..
That probably is true in many private schools. It seems that in many parochial schools, though, where the student body is diverse and parents are not wealthy but are very concerned about their child's education (or religious instruction), administrators are not as swayed by benefactors, etc, of problem students.
Again, this varies. The parochial schools my husband taught at were in high crime, high poverty inner city locales, where he had more than a few students killed during robberies, etc. . My ex, by contrast, was an alum of an east coast Catholic preparatory academy full of wealthy, blazer wearing kids with lots of disposable income for recreational drugs. Fine Catholic institutions, all.
Again, this varies. The parochial schools my husband taught at were in high crime, high poverty inner city locales, where he had more than a few students killed during robberies, etc. . My ex, by contrast, was an alum of an east coast Catholic preparatory academy full of wealthy, blazer wearing kids with lots of disposable income for recreational drugs. Fine Catholic institutions, all.
Parochial/diocese-run schools are in a totally different league from the St. Fancy Schmancy Preps, which are often independent.
In Philly, Devon Prep, Norte Dame de Namur, etc. can go toe-to-toe with any of the top, non- (or loosely) sectarian privates. They're also priced accordingly.
The best way to approach this would be to compare two schools against each other, rather than the ideology of Public vs Private. There are simply too many variables to come up with a catch all answer.
First define your expectations of an education for your child then find the schools that best meet those expectations whether those are public or private. What your neighbors are mostly doing should weigh into that about as much as what they feed their kids weighs into what you feed yours.( in other words, not at all)
You know your kids best and as they grow you will figure out what environment is best for your child. There is no rule that says you cant switch at some point if a fit now isn't one later.
Many will say they think private school is a waste of money but then complain endlessly about their local public school doing (Insert just about anything here). Public school is designed to do something for everyone. It will never be perfect for all kids ever. Actually neither is private school.
So again, look at it in a granular way. Compare school X with Y rather than concept X and Y. The answers simply won't be that obvious.
The best way to approach this would be to compare two schools against each other, rather than the ideology of Public vs Private. There are simply too many variables to come up with a catch all answer.
First define your expectations of an education for your child then find the schools that best meet those expectations whether those are public or private. What your neighbors are mostly doing should weigh into that about as much as what they feed their kids weighs into what you feed yours.( in other words, not at all)
You know your kids best and as they grow you will figure out what environment is best for your child. There is no rule that says you cant switch at some point if a fit now isn't one later.
Many will say they think private school is a waste of money but then complain endlessly about their local public school doing (Insert just about anything here). Public school is designed to do something for everyone. It will never be perfect for all kids ever. Actually neither is private school.
So again, look at it in a granular way. Compare school X with Y rather than concept X and Y. The answers simply won't be that obvious.
If it was just so easy to compare. I have subbed in eleven different school districts for a number of years and in different grades. It would be difficult for me to rank these districts from best to worst. There are just too many variables. I can sub in a district for 40 or 50 days and I haven't been in all classrooms and all subjects. I hear people say they visit a couple schools and they know that one is better for their child. I'm dubious.
If it was just so easy to compare. I have subbed in eleven different school districts for a number of years and in different grades. It would be difficult for me to rank these districts from best to worst. There are just too many variables. I can sub in a district for 40 or 50 days and I haven't been in all classrooms and all subjects. I hear people say they visit a couple schools and they know that one is better for their child. I'm dubious.
Which is why you're supposed to start with well defined expectations then find a school that meets those. That makes weeding out schools a much easier exercise. You dont even have to visit them all. Rankings may or may not be a factor.
It isnt all that different from any other decisions in life. You use the information you have at hand to make the best possible decision you can at that time.
If it was just so easy to compare. I have subbed in eleven different school districts for a number of years and in different grades. It would be difficult for me to rank these districts from best to worst. There are just too many variables. I can sub in a district for 40 or 50 days and I haven't been in all classrooms and all subjects. I hear people say they visit a couple schools and they know that one is better for their child. I'm dubious.
Agreed. The overall culture and offerings and resources have to be evaluated on their own merits, really, when deciding what is the best fit in a given situation. Base it on the needs and criteria specific to the individual student and his or her situation. There's no real rubric for what's best. Only what's best for a given individual.
Your first statement is incorrect. Most colleges give credit for a high enough score on the AP exam. My son went to UPenn and they did not. As a pre-med major he was able to test out of his first biology class once he got to UPenn. He would have been better off taking the course since the second biology class was not offered until the next semester. BTW, Princeton gives credit for AP classes. See https://www.princeton.edu/pub/ap/
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Yet despite all the hard work, students like Brown may not be able to place out of required college courses or even skip freshman year if they score well on the AP tests. Some prestigious colleges have stopped giving academic credit for AP tests scores.
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Behind this question of college credit for AP tests is a deep-seated anxiety felt by educators that students aren’t prepared for college.
“Three out of four students who get to college come lacking in foundation and strong skills that a good college education requires,” says Carol Geary Schneider, president of the Association of American Colleges and Universities.
Specifically, she says students lack skills in research, writing, and evidence-based analysis. Schneider says the general problem of college readiness “raises questions about whether the courses students took in high school, that might’ve been labeled AP or dual enrollment, were really providing students the preparation in writing and research that college itself will emphasize. Different institutions are making different judgments about that.”
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Ken Bernstein, a retired teacher who writes on education, thinks more schools might join Dartmouth, Brown and Columbia on the AP question. Even though a third of high school students are taking AP tests, he says, “There aren’t that many kids prepared at a college level. Let’s be realistic.”
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Trevor Packer, a Vice President at the College Board, the organization that runs the AP tests, points out that AP scores weren’t originally used as a replacement for college credit.
“The original use in 1956…was as a tool for placing students appropriately”, he says. That means determining whether a student should be in French II instead of French I, but not about placing out of French altogether.
Meanwhile, some schools, including the University of Pennsylvania and Duke University, have scaled back or are reconsidering how much credit they give students for AP exams. They question whether a high mark on the test is really equivalent to mastering college-level course work.
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At the University of Pennsylvania, French, physics and a few other departments award credit or advanced standing based on a student’s AP scores. But other departments, including chemistry and biology, found that students who used AP scores to skip introductory courses fared worse in upper-division classes than those who took the full sequence at Penn because they weren’t as well-prepared...
After reading your posts in this thread, I can't believe you would make a comparison of all public vs. all private schools. There is no way this topic can be intelligently discussed. Both private and public schools vary immensely. It also varies a great deal based on where you live. I live in Western Pennsylvania and we have a declining number of Catholic schools, a growing number of very small Christian schools, and a handful of elite private prep schools. We have public schools that vary from awful to excellent. For most students, the top private prep schools and the top public schools are comparable. It all comes down to the student population.
Trust me, I'm more than aware that private & public schools vary - sorry if I didn't make that clear in this thread. For instance, my local public schools aren't very good at all...but a few towns away in every direction? There are some great public schools.
Last edited by Informed Info; 07-12-2017 at 10:36 PM..
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