Middle/High school in US: Questions/Concerns

[RRS]

Thread starter for many such general discussions.

[RRS]

Hi RaReSha3,

I have a question somewhat different from this thread,my kids are still young (one in elementary).

please let me know your opinion on private versus public schools for elementary through high school.(based on your experience)
Does this matter?

The reason I am asking is recently I heard some parents commenting it's very important to at least send them to good private schools for middle and high schools to get in to these Ivy league universities.

I heard "being here only you will get these connections that are needed to get in to these ivy leagues" ( I am confused hearing this).

For India IITs ,kids should attend entrance coaching and pretty smart to get in right? No need of any connections.Here in US how is it different?

Your question belonged here. hence choosing to reply here. There is already one such thread but your post asked a different question from college point of view especially securing admission to top notch colleges in US for undergrad education.

I don't think there is one right answer. Depends on where you reside and are planning to reside till your kids grow up till they reach college admission age.

If you are residing in New England, the 2 top high school academies who send more than 20-30 students every year to the top 10 colleges are private. But if you come to Bay area, this year Lynnbrook in Cupertino which is a public school sent similar number to top colleges too. The top public high school in bay area is cloutwise Montevista and STAR testwise/school ranking wise is Mission San Jose in Fremont both of which are public schools but more of their students ended up UCs than east coast private schools either by choice or by rejection : ). No highschool publishes if a kid got rejected or the reasons : ) but it's right decision to keep up the kid's morale.

But don't pay attention to admission to Ivy league/top 10 college as a sole criterion for kid's success. I have seen after paying $30K per year in Harker school, $16K per year in challenger school during 4 years of HS, the probability of those kids attending a very good university is similar to kids studying in public highschools in very good school district. I had seen similar stories from kids attending Philips academy or Phillips Exeter academy during our time in east coast versus kids studying in winchester/Acton public schools in MA.

It's just not apple to apple comparison. What private schools offer in 1 on 1 attention due to lesser class strength and higher academic focus, good school district public schools make it up with increased peer competition and good athletic/sports/extra-curricular facilities for overall organizational development. The bigger class strength public schools also prepare them to face similar big numbered class strength in college life.

College admission hinges on lot of different factors; GPAs, SAT/ACT scores, number of APs, performance in those APs, SAT-II scores,essays, extra curricular artistic activities plus the individual/team sports. Above all these, the mood of the admission committee and/or recent noticeable change in school's clout : ). The last one is important as if the prevailing mood in admission committee is there are too many Asians in short list, your kid might be cut off for no apparent reason but just being in that list of crowded over achieving kids at wrong time : ).

Added later: I wrote the above in hurry.
Ahirman touched on different disciplines and college-ranking based on such disciplines.

US News publishes list of top 50 colleges in every discipline every year. If your kid can get into any of the top 50, it's a great achievement. If your kid can get into top 20 matching his/her choice of discipline, it's a greater achievement and if your kid can get into the first choice of their college selection, it's a greatest achievement too and above all if your kid is happy with whatever college acceptance he/she gets and is excited to enter college, it's a greatest accomplishment : ) and that's honestly my opinion.

College brand name defines us/our kids only to an extent but if they don't want that to define them at all, give them that freedom.

Always be a pro-active parent in listening to their concerns and pay attention to their short comings to improvise within a limit. Beyond that, don't do over-parenting. Kids don't like when parents start defining success from their yardstick from our experience : ).

[GoodForAll]

It's just not apple to apple comparison. What private schools offer in 1 on 1 attention due to lesser class strength and higher academic focus, good school district public schools make it up with increased peer competition and good athletic/sports/extra-curricular facilities for overall organizational development. The bigger class strength public schools also prepare them to face similar big numbered class strength in college life.

Thank you!! I am really confused which one to choose ,I sent him to private school for two years and then changed him to public school for second grade (a good one in west coast not in bay area though) thinking that I have to prepare them to face similar big numbered class and not so well behaved kids (bullying for ex) like private schools.

But ofcourse that 1-1 attention is missing and not that great education,but there are advanced level classes for kids who excel their peers too,was finding consolation in that.Paying for 50k eack year (for two kids),even though it's possible,I was not sure if that's needed.I myself didn't pay that much for my MS here:-)

[QUOTE]College admission hinges on lot of different factors; GPAs, SAT/ACT scores, number of APs, performance in those APs, SAT-II scores,essays, extra curricular artistic activities plus the individual/team sports. Above all these, the mood of the admission committee and/or recent noticeable change in school's clout : ). The last one is important as if the prevailing mood in admission committee is there are too many Asians in short list, your kid might be cut off for no apparent reason but just being in that list of crowded over achieving kids at wrong time : ).

Seeing this already ,everywhere in advanced classes more and more asians.
Some how I feel now Asians are not seen with high regard compared to earlier,somehow everyone is branding Asians as people pushing their kids to reach the galaxy .

I myself never took these things that serious until a state test came,then thought I also have to pay attention and not hold him back due to my lack of support/knowledge.If he has potential to excel I should give him the surroundings that help him grow too .

[QUOTE]
US News publishes list of top 50 colleges in every discipline every year. If your kid can get into any of the top 50, it's a great achievement. If your kid can get into top 20 matching his/her choice of discipline, it's a greater achievement and if your kid can get into the first choice of their college selection, it's a greatest achievement too and above all if your kid is happy with whatever college acceptance he/she gets and is excited to enter college, it's a greatest accomplishment : ) and that's honestly my opinion.

Yes,as long as they get to one of the good schools and it helps to make a good living good enough. More than that if they are happy with what they are I am happy too:-)

[AmmuS]

Regarding private vs public schooling, I would like to add the following.

I went to private school (kindergarten to 8th grade and then 4 years of highschool). If I had the choice I would not even consider private school. Private schools lack the government funding that public schools are given. Therefore, by the time high school rolls around, many classes cannot be taken and the amount of extra curricular activities are very low. Because of the loss I endured, I opted to send both my children to public school. My oldest is in her final years of middle school, and I cannot tell you the opportunities they've had placed before them.

As for Ivy League colleges, don't aim so high for such a grand tution loan that the student would probably be left with. There are so many great colleges that take pride in their teachings.

[layman]

Initially public schools are liberal to the kids and then tighten the screws when the kid goes to middle school. So, for elementary education, private school can have some advantage in academics. But, at high school level the gap between a good public school and a good private school is not much in terms of academics. As others pointed out, public school will have some advantage in terms of socialization, exposure etc.

[ahirman]

Lynbrook sent 20-30 students to top 10 colleges...thats a news to me unless you are including UC schools in top 10.

Its a widely known fact that most of the top students from famous bay area public schools end up in the UC system. The schools have become factory for UC system because of high emphasis UC system gives to academic performance. Sometime close to 20% of graduating class from these school heads for the same UC school.

UC schools are great though and the college education is cheaper than similarly placed private schools. Good public school districts and UC system are two great advantages of living in bay area.

For the private boarding schools in NE most of the students dont have to even compete with the average joe. Papa pays and kaka plays.

[layman]

Its a widely known fact that most of the top students from famous bay area public schools end up in the UC system. The schools have become factory for UC system because of high emphasis UC system gives to academic performance. Sometime close to 20% of graduating class from these school heads for the same UC school.

UC schools are great though and the college education is cheaper than similarly placed private schools. Good public school districts and UC system are two great advantages of living in bay area.

By the time our kids complete school, it may change. There was some talk of forcing UC colleges to take top 4% from each school of California. If that came into effect Lynbrook school and some junk school of CA has to send the same number of kids to a UC college irrespective of their GPAs.

[cyberabadi]

... There was some talk of forcing UC colleges to take top 4% from each school of California. If that came into effect Lynbrook school and some junk school of CA has to send the same number of kids to a UC college irrespective of their GPAs.

Forget regulation, Good Universities have already started diversification of their class. You have more chance of getting into a good university if you top a middle-of-the-bracket or bad school district that being in the top 10-15% of the class in a good school district. I am guessing that 10years from now, lot of folks who are spending $20K/year on a private school or $200K+ more for a home in some school districts, would not know what hit them.

[boca]

Good Universities have already started diversification of their class. You have more chance of getting into a good university if you top a middle-of-the-bracket or bad school district that being in the top 10-15% of the class in a good school district.

Is there any reference to the above? Also, what do you mean by diversification?

[cyberabadi]

Is there any reference to the above? Also, what do you mean by diversification?

Sorry, I meant to say diversity in the incoming class.

Yes, I have seen this in my close friends circle. People with better resumes/scores missing out just because the university can not have too many from the same school (Not accurate but that is the guess I think). And another making it because of not being in the good school district. The parent was working in the interior of the state and the kids went to a public school (not stellar or good) there and made it to the the top university in the state. They might have been the only ones (or few) from that public school to make it to a 4year program at a top-notch university.

Also w.r.t Masters programs - I remember someone from MIT mentioning that almost all of their undergraduates apply for admission into a graduate program at MIT and all of them have stellar resumes/scores/etc. But not more than ~20% of the class is filled with MIT UG's. Because, they want diversity in the incoming class.