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All this talk about private schools seems overwrought. I know so many middling products of both private and public schools, and so many amazing products of private and public schools. Private seems great if you have a smart and talented child, but if not, it's just an pricey experience for the mediocre.
14 replies [ Reply | Watch | Options ]i disagree - mediocre kids can actually stand a chance at private school - mediocrity is not an option there.
[ Reply | Options ]OP: Is 4 years at Brearley and going to Carnegie Mellon amazing or mediocre? How about 4 years at St. Anne's Belfield and going to Ball State for college?
[ Reply | Options ]NP: You know that just because you go to a place like Brearley you aren't automatically entered into a top college, right? You have to compete with all the kids from all the other schools. Harvard doesn't take a whole class from one school. In that regard, sometimes you are better off going to a no name high school and being the superstar there
[ Reply | Options ]op: exactly, private school is no guarantee. for the mediocre, it's just a pricey experience.
[ Reply | Options ]You misunderstand me. I'm not saying the kids who went to CM or Ball State from Brearley are mediocre, I'm saying they had to compete amongst stars to get places. This was a tough year for college admissions. If some of those kids had been at less competitive schools, they might be going to "better" colleges. I know nothing about Ball State, but Carnegie Mellon is not a bad place
[ Reply | Options ]but who is to say that the outcome had those kids gone to local public wouldn't have been community college? in which case one could argue that private helped them reach their highest potential.
[ Reply | Options ]You have to be kidding. It matters what you learn there, not where you go to college. BTW, both DH and I went to crappy state colleges. Yet he managed to become president of the company he works for, making millions. At some point your skills and abilities matter more than where you went to school. He's got a bunch of Hardvard and Princeton people working for him, and people from almost every college so desired by UB. It's not all about that.
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well that's not what I was talking about. my boss's kids, all were C students in public, he sent them to private to put them in an environment where just getting by with a C was not acceptable. Now 2 are grown, 1 still in college. I wouldnt say the 2 older ones are super successful, but probably better than they would have been in public. My point is, its not just the super bright who go to private.
[ Reply | Options ]OP: Carnegie shpws that a child is not confined to the liberal arts oriented "stuff" of private schools...has better engineering than any of the Ivies and a top notch musical theater program. I'd be thrilled to have my B girl attend CMU, thrilled.
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