Bellaire HS versus Carnegie Vanguard (Dallas, San Antonio: big home, private school, college)

[HookTheBrotherUp]

I know of a family who cried when their daughter was admitted to DeBakey, and not Carnegie! Okay, the mother and daughter cried, and only live three blocks away, walking distance.

My suggestion/advice is that your daughter should consider herself fortunate that she was admitted to Carnegie. It is not a zoned school, so she will be with the best of the best. The old proverb 'if you lay down with dogs, you'll get up with fleas' rings true in this case, but in a positive way. Choose Carnegie. As someone else mentioned, I think it is currently rated 11th best school in the nation.

Now for my unsolicited opinion, if it were my child, my child would have no say and I would decide what is best. Youth always will want to still with their friends, not fully knowing the implications of their decisions at such a young age, but parents have been there, and should be in a better position to make the right choice for their children. It is their job and responsibility.

[Houston parent]

Two things:

- I assume the above poster meant Carnegie is the #11 PUBLIC high school in the nation
- You can force a kid enroll in a high pressure school like that, but if they don't want to be there, they can easily hold back on their work and get the boot. This kid needs to WANT to be there to succeed.

[TFW46]

My granddaughter goes to Carnegie and loves it. She's intelligent but not a nerd by any means -- she's attractive, athletic, very out-going and has a lot of Carnegie friends just like her. I attended Bellaire Hi years ago and, in my opinion, there's no comparison regarding quality of life between the two.

[testmo]

Dont push your kids too much. Without knowing anything about your daughter or how she does with change shes getting old enough to have her opinions heard. My sister cream of the crop. Ivy league failed out and went to ut honors school. Then she chose to be on the streets amongst other things and years later still hates my parents and still has nothing. But hey! They wanted her to go to private HS and ivy league so they got what they wanted

Your kid could go to carnegie and end up at UT or less or go to bellaire and still go to an ivy league school for whatever. Like schum said - i know people earning 200k 6-7 years out of college one went to texas tech and another from an equivalent in california. Ivy league means almost nothing unless its a graduate program or your going to stay and work in academics. People on this board are ridiuclous with their kids and schools

[texasroots77]

Of course it will be uncomforatable to leave her existing group of friends but it sound like Carnegie is an excellent school and she may not have another entry option. If it were my child I would send her to Carnegie. Hopefully she will make new friend easily and love the school. If she does not you can always change later. I agree that you want your kid to be a kid but I also think kids in 8th grade are not capable of making mature decisions when it comes to theire education.

[DanielWayne]

Originally Posted by testmo

Dont push your kids too much. Without knowing anything about your daughter or how she does with change shes getting old enough to have her opinions heard. My sister cream of the crop. Ivy league failed out and went to ut honors school. Then she chose to be on the streets amongst other things and years later still hates my parents and still has nothing. But hey! They wanted her to go to private HS and ivy league so they got what they wanted

Your kid could go to carnegie and end up at UT or less or go to bellaire and still go to an ivy league school for whatever. Like schum said - i know people earning 200k 6-7 years out of college one went to texas tech and another from an equivalent in california. Ivy league means almost nothing unless its a graduate program or your going to stay and work in academics. People on this board are ridiuclous with their kids and schools

I agree with y'all and I'll add another. I went to a really small public high school in a shrinking, crumbling town. At one point in the last decade it was deemed 'academically unacceptable.' But after perusing FB I find out that some of my classmates went on to schools even more prestigious than anything in Tx and ended up with double professional degrees like MD/PhD or JD/PhD or even PhDs in engineering (there is an engineering prof at Rice from my old neighborhood). One of my slacker classmates ended up as an anesthesiologist. Heck a guy from my high school played for the Seahawks in the superbowl last year. The list goes on. I know this is not unique, and my home town is turning into a dump. Not exactly Bellaire or Sugar Land type place. But the point is you can be successful even if you go to an average public school. So I don't understand the fascination with "school ABC or bust."

[HouMomof2]

[quote=KatieKennedy;34372416]You can always start her at Carnegie, and if she doesn't like it, move her to Bellaire at the winter break (assuming you are zoned to Bellaire). If you pass up CVHS now you can't get in later.

Agreed. She can always change if she hates it but I would make her at least try it before she decides she hates it. You can make sure she is involved in something outside of school if she's afraid of becoming socially awkward.

I understand attending this or that school doesn't guarantee a Harvard education and riches. But, great opportunities can be rare so you have to take advantage of them when you can. A good lesson for her to learn. Don't squander opportunities.

[KatieKennedy]

According to the latest U.S. News and World Report rankings, Carnegie is 23rd in the nation. DeBakey is 33rd, and Eastwood is 106. Some of the Yes Prep schools also were highly ranked. Bellaire is not even in the top 100.

[KatieKennedy]

Bellaire is ranked 494 in the nation, 54th in Texas. Carnegie is 23rd in the nation, number 3 in Texas behind 2 schools for the gifted in Dallas.

[LeavingDetroit]

Carnegie's drop out rate is very high. Kid across the street goes there and never comes outside. Many kids fail out and sometimes I've heard the parents pull them out as it is a pressure cooker.

I listened to my son. He was admitted to Debakey and he did not even want to try Carnegie given the horror stories he heard. I am supporting his choice. He wants to do 2 school sports (Fall and Spring) and be active in a couple of outside activities. I do not know if that is even possible at CVG given the workload. My son has elected all pre-AP classes for next year other than English, which is not his strong point.

I guess you have to know your own child. Given that April 11th has come and gone, what do you decide ?