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Ohhh, I forgot about that! Great deal! Was it hard for you to land at Georgetown as a junior and, I assume, younger than your peers?
It was hard, yes, to get them to accept all of the college credits I had earned at Bard, and it was hard socially being 2 years younger than everyone, because I didn't get the whole college orientation experience. But it saved me tens of thousands of dollars.
I went to Bard (High School Early College). It's best for liberal arts types. But after Bard I did get to go to Georgetown as a junior because it gives you an AA degree upon graduation, which saved me 2 years of college tuition!
Yeah for BHSEC! I know someone who went there, received an excellent education and was admitted to several top liberal arts colleges.
Georgetown was free? That's a great deal! Or was Bard free? Also a great deal!
The only school I know about is Stuy, and, in brief, it's a great school for the right type of kid.
There is some truth to what Citizenrich is saying about the "elite" schools. My daughter went to Stuy and was one of the average kids. The competition is out of sight. There are some students there who excel at academics, plus they're active in extracurriculars. I honestly don't know how they do it. They're extremely driven. They must not sleep, ever.
The pressure can get to a kid who doesn't have a lot of support at home.
BUT with a large school like Stuy, you will have all types of kids, in terms of personality and interests (see CONS, below, about diversity). My daughter did find her crowd and was very happy there. Her grades were in the low 90s most of the time. She knew she wasn't one of the top students, and she was fine with that.
But as Citizenrich said, the "average" Stuy kids do not get into the top colleges. One recruiter said at an event, "I could fill my whole class with Stuy kids and have a great class." But of course no college wants that. So the top layer of kids get a lot of offers, and the others content themselves with what's left over. That's not necessarily bad, because there are a lot of really good colleges out there that are mostly overlooked by people. But for a kid focused on the Ivies or MIT and Stanford, attending Stuy might not be the best way to get there.
Here are the pros and cons, as I see them (take into account that my daughter graduated in 2007, so this may be old):
PROS:
1. Intellectually rigorous (for the most part). High standards for student work. Basically, the first year of college for Stuy kids consists of reviewing what they learned in high school.
2. Diverse student body in terms of interests and abilities (see below, CONS, for ethnic diversity). Nerds rule!
3. Large student body means good array of courses. Lots of APs. Amazing math department.
4. Courses in many foreign languages offered. When my daughter was there, I think Stuy offered ten. She took Japanese.
5. Fairly modern state-of-the-art building, nice location in Battery Park City.
6. Swimming pool, and the kids are forced to learn to swim if they don't already know how.
7. Teachers are generally accessible to kids.
8. Many extracurricular activities.
9. Kids travel from all over the city to attend Stuy (see CONS also).
CONS
1. Lack of ethnic and racial diversity. I don't know what it's like now, but when my daughter was there, the student body was mostly Asian, and I think it's even more so now.
2. A percentage of teachers were unbelievably bad. I mean, really truly incompetent. If Stuy is the cream of the crop, I can't explain how that happens, but it does.
3. Advising department is understaffed. You and your child will not get handholding or much personal attention. This is a public school, after all.
4. Kids travel from all over the city to attend Stuy. Thus, your kid's friends may live far away from you.
5. High-pressure environment. Lots of homework, projects. Students can easily get overwhelmed. You will need to support your kid and occasionally be an advocate.
6. Turnover in the principal's office. I think they hired someone though recently.
That said, my daughter had a great experience there, learned a lot, and attended an out-of-state public college on a full scholarship. That was such a blessing for our family, I can't begin to tell you. Let me know if you have any questions.
It must have been different in my time. I went to "Old Stuy" (the one on 345 E. 15th Street) and several of the 'average' kids went on to IVY schools. I think that since it moved to its new location and has all these amenities, more people want their children to attend; hence there is increased competition both to get in and while you are there,
I'm not familiar with the other schools- do they have similar programs, OP? Would your child find something that would interest him at each school?
It must have been different in my time. I went to "Old Stuy" (the one on 345 E. 15th Street) and several of the 'average' kids went on to IVY schools. I think that since it moved to its new location and has all these amenities, more people want their children to attend; hence there is increased competition both to get in and while you are there,
I'm not familiar with the other schools- do they have similar programs, OP? Would your child find something that would interest him at each school?
I went to "new Stuy" in the 90s and agree with everything MS. Tarabotti posted except the part about college entrance. I too remember a good deal of average Stuy grads getting into NYU, Georgetown etc.
The point she makes about lack of diversity and kids coming from all over the city is something you need to really consider, being that socialization during HS years is important. I maintained friendships with the friends I had in my neighborhood being that my friends from Stuy were spread across different boroughs. And remember, the workload is so intense that most you don't have much time to hang out after school unless you just don't want to sleep ever.
Stuy is extremely intense and so is Brooklyn Tech. Besides assessing your kid academically, you also need to assess whether they strive in a competitive vs. collaborative environment. I know someone who is very strong academically and left Brooklyn Tech after 10th grade simply because he could not stand the competitiveness of the place. There are plenty of smart people who are laid back and do not do well in a structured environment with tons of work that these schools require. Chaminade is on Long Island, and I am hearing mixed things. It's an all-boys school and there were incidents of hazing and bullying. Academically, it is strong, but in terms of diversity, you mostly get privileged white kids from the nearby Garden City, and ome kids from well-to-do families in Rockville Centre. If you are looking for a very solid education, it might be a good choice, if you are looking to have your kid exposed to things beyond formal education, I would pass on it.
Hi. You post was in 2016. I am joining Bard this September. How was your school experience? Was it really hard and a lot of homework? How was you overall experience?
Help me help my kid decide. What are the relative strengths of Regis, Stuyvesant, Bard, Chaminade and Xavier.
I need help with deciding between Chaminade, Molloy and Xavier please. My son also applied to the specialized HSs and Bard, but these don’t come out until March. So essentially, I’m deciding between the three catholic schools for now. Any suggestions or reviews would be much appreciated!!!
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