Public school.
If your neighbourhood isn't all that great, do you still want your kids to grow up there?
If your neighbourhood isn't all that great, do you still want your kids to grow up there?
It all depends on the public school...
What city are you in? What district are you looking to move to?
What city are you in? What district are you looking to move to?
dullard
Elite Member
- May 21, 2001
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In my experience, parental factors >>> selection of school.
Lots of people will deny that simple fact, but evidence supports it time after time.
If you put your kids in a great school and then don't make them do their homework, they'll do poorly. If you put your kids in a so-so school but you push them hard out of school, then your kids will do quite well.
Lots of people will deny that simple fact, but evidence supports it time after time.
If you put your kids in a great school and then don't make them do their homework, they'll do poorly. If you put your kids in a so-so school but you push them hard out of school, then your kids will do quite well.
Public school- you can only shelter your kids for so long and you shouldn't try to. Everyone can benefit from experiencing diversity and different cultures that you cannot find by being around all rich white kids. As far as your kids getting into a "bad crowd", that hardly even exists in elementary school so don't worry about it. I also find that private school kids can be much worse in high school.
As far as education, you can make your way to a top university from any school. It would be much more beneficial for you to use that extra money you would of spent on a public school for private tutoring to get your kids ahead.
As far as education, you can make your way to a top university from any school. It would be much more beneficial for you to use that extra money you would of spent on a public school for private tutoring to get your kids ahead.
Sounds like there's enough argument for both sides here not leaning one way or the other.
My neighborhood is at the city borderline so while it is a good neighborhood, the rest of the school district encompass some not so desirable areas so the sum ends up being school not all that good.
I'm leaning toward moving to better neighborhood with better public school for the same reason - I want to be able to expose them to real life elements rather than the perceived sheltered private school. My wife on the other hand wants the private school option for the curriculum which I think in a good public school you can have rigorous curriculum also (she saw some Oprah show where they had a valedictorian in some small town school who's failing college because the school did not prep her for college work at all). Like I said, my beef with public school was personal experience where I breezed thru and struggled a bit in the university. By the time I recovered in junior/senior year making As and Bs, my GPA was already down the tube.
My neighborhood is at the city borderline so while it is a good neighborhood, the rest of the school district encompass some not so desirable areas so the sum ends up being school not all that good.
I'm leaning toward moving to better neighborhood with better public school for the same reason - I want to be able to expose them to real life elements rather than the perceived sheltered private school. My wife on the other hand wants the private school option for the curriculum which I think in a good public school you can have rigorous curriculum also (she saw some Oprah show where they had a valedictorian in some small town school who's failing college because the school did not prep her for college work at all). Like I said, my beef with public school was personal experience where I breezed thru and struggled a bit in the university. By the time I recovered in junior/senior year making As and Bs, my GPA was already down the tube.
without perusing this whole thread, has anyone made any 'catholic school girl' uniform jokes yet?
halik
Lifer
- Oct 10, 2000
- 25,696
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QFT
From my personal experience, the difference lies in the effort your kids put into it. I went to a public school that's unlisted on the top 1000 highschool... graduated summa cum laude and got into top10 univeristy in my majors.
That being said, even our subpar highschool had more resources as opposed to the schools i went to in europe. Ultimately, it's the matter of motivating your kids to apply themselves and get a good education. Sending them to a private school won't change a thing.... if your kid starts rolling with the "im cool because im not good at math" BS american atitude, school choice is irrelevant. Most B-/C average kids i met in highschool had the intllect to get straight As, but they just didn't care.
I went to a church school too and I'm cynical about religion.
Maybe either you're religious and it helps, or if you're not then it makes you cynical. I certainly have an ingrained distaste for religion.
The "i went to private school k-12 and it is better" nonsense is so irritating.. you never went to a public school, so how could you declare what is better?
My wife is a teacher and has talk about both private and public schools in the same location and she found the education/curriculum/exposure to be much better in the public schools... private school tends to shelter.. plus the forced religion... not great imo. I, on the other hand, went to a high school with over 2000 students and I had a great time... What can I say.. it is hit or miss.. try out your area... if you are not happy, then move.. there is no rush.
My wife is a teacher and has talk about both private and public schools in the same location and she found the education/curriculum/exposure to be much better in the public schools... private school tends to shelter.. plus the forced religion... not great imo. I, on the other hand, went to a high school with over 2000 students and I had a great time... What can I say.. it is hit or miss.. try out your area... if you are not happy, then move.. there is no rush.
- Oct 28, 1999
- 62,484
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From a professional standpoint and how your career turns out, I don't think the grade/high school you go to makes a damn bit of difference for 99% students. That one percent is going to excel in any environment you throw them at. For the other 99% it comes from where you go to college, how well you network yourself, and what sort of opportunties come across your way later in your life. Not your high school.
Ultimately it's an individual and parental influence that makes the difference, not the school.
What a particular school can affect is a quality of learning environment, the safety of the environment, and the extra curricular activities that are available and how easily they are to get into.
And that's more of a factor of size and location than public or private.
Big schools provide more opporunities, better locations provide safer environments.
You can have big private schools. You can have big public schools. You can have small private schools. You can have small public schools. For the most part private can selectively choose their student body so they tend to be a bit safer. But this can be minimized by moving to a safer public school or a smaller, more rural one.
I won't tell you that one is better than another. I will tell you that size and location will provide better or worse opportunities and better or worse learning/safe environments.
You have to make the economic decision as to whether it is a better choice to pay private tuition or to relocate to quality public district.
Ultimately it's an individual and parental influence that makes the difference, not the school.
What a particular school can affect is a quality of learning environment, the safety of the environment, and the extra curricular activities that are available and how easily they are to get into.
And that's more of a factor of size and location than public or private.
Big schools provide more opporunities, better locations provide safer environments.
You can have big private schools. You can have big public schools. You can have small private schools. You can have small public schools. For the most part private can selectively choose their student body so they tend to be a bit safer. But this can be minimized by moving to a safer public school or a smaller, more rural one.
I won't tell you that one is better than another. I will tell you that size and location will provide better or worse opportunities and better or worse learning/safe environments.
You have to make the economic decision as to whether it is a better choice to pay private tuition or to relocate to quality public district.
my parents put me thru private school up until 12th grade. What did it get me? I was a National Merit Scholar, and as such received a full scholarship offer from many universities, including the one I picked.
I chose Texas A&M, went there, took honors classes and am graduating tomorrow Magna Cum Laude in Electrical Engineering. My private school education placed mem well ahead in my first year of classes..now I am going to Georgia Tech on a full ride+stipend for graduate school
So it may not end up being a financial detriment after all, if you factor in the 8 years of undergraduate+graduate school, like my parents paid for my sister to go to college and med school
Could I have been National Merit from a public school? Possibly, but I think my private school was worth it
I chose Texas A&M, went there, took honors classes and am graduating tomorrow Magna Cum Laude in Electrical Engineering. My private school education placed mem well ahead in my first year of classes..now I am going to Georgia Tech on a full ride+stipend for graduate school
So it may not end up being a financial detriment after all, if you factor in the 8 years of undergraduate+graduate school, like my parents paid for my sister to go to college and med school
Could I have been National Merit from a public school? Possibly, but I think my private school was worth it
I deal with Japanese elementary school kids and find most of them to be dumb as a brick. IMO, a big problem is parents and teachers provide zero discipline, and that seems to suit them just fine.
BTW, high school is thought of as a socializing place, not for study. The real studying is said to take place in the private "juku" (cram schools).
And college- although considered to be a pain in the ass to get in, once you're in you're on easy street.
Americans don't have the best rep when it comes to intelligence, but honestly most Japanese are quite ditzy.
MrColin
Platinum Member
- May 21, 2003
- 2,403
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Private IMHO. If upward social mobility is on your agenda for the kids that is.
Milage may vary so check out the schools. If none of the schools are very good consider using the money you could spend on educational stuff w/ the whole family like foreign travel.
Milage may vary so check out the schools. If none of the schools are very good consider using the money you could spend on educational stuff w/ the whole family like foreign travel.
I'm glad I went to a public school. If you go to a poor public school, I can understand the poor perception of them.
However, I went to one of the top institutions. Rigorous? Unless you're talking about the private shcools that send all their kids to Ivies and Stanfurd, we're far more rigorous than private schools like Bellarmine or other magnet schools in CA.
You guys are talking honors and AP courses, and our high school has them all. We had some cuts but its not because our students are not capable, its because of the CA budget cuts. That said, we had 4 classes of AP calc, 7 classes of AP US History, 5 classes of AP Econ, etc etc.... You get it.
Most of my friends who left our high school came out to say we're damn nerdy kids. Yea, that's true. We're 60% Asian. And guess what? Going to top notch schools like Stanfurd, MIT, Harvard or Cal or UCLA, we feel that we're definitely prepared for the challenges. Hey, lots of us said Berkeley would be the same as high school. Well, guess what, it's probably easier IMO. It's only harder in the sense you have more freedom and you need to balance things out, but work? About the same...
Public school gets my vote. With teh right parenting, public schools work. Your typical public schools across the nation don't cut it though.
And that is where parenting comes in. Honestly, my perception of high school kids is that they don't give a sh!t. And guess what? Maybe half our high school didn't.
But the other half? Man, Asian parents. Two words. ASIAN PARENTS. We got pressured, yelled at, sent to classes (bu-xi-ban), SAT prep classes, summer school, junior college, you name it. And we came out top notch in the school. Insane SAT scores, insane college acceptances. Well some of you will disagree, and I somewhat disagree with this type of parenting, but in the end you produce more kids that care. Some will get tired and get burnt out, but most of us will see the importance of caring about school and life at a younger age. I have to say it beats finally realizing you need to take life seriously when you're at a 2 year JC after getting a 2.8 GPA in high school.
However, I went to one of the top institutions. Rigorous? Unless you're talking about the private shcools that send all their kids to Ivies and Stanfurd, we're far more rigorous than private schools like Bellarmine or other magnet schools in CA.
You guys are talking honors and AP courses, and our high school has them all. We had some cuts but its not because our students are not capable, its because of the CA budget cuts. That said, we had 4 classes of AP calc, 7 classes of AP US History, 5 classes of AP Econ, etc etc.... You get it.
Most of my friends who left our high school came out to say we're damn nerdy kids. Yea, that's true. We're 60% Asian. And guess what? Going to top notch schools like Stanfurd, MIT, Harvard or Cal or UCLA, we feel that we're definitely prepared for the challenges. Hey, lots of us said Berkeley would be the same as high school. Well, guess what, it's probably easier IMO. It's only harder in the sense you have more freedom and you need to balance things out, but work? About the same...
Public school gets my vote. With teh right parenting, public schools work. Your typical public schools across the nation don't cut it though.
And that is where parenting comes in. Honestly, my perception of high school kids is that they don't give a sh!t. And guess what? Maybe half our high school didn't.
But the other half? Man, Asian parents. Two words. ASIAN PARENTS. We got pressured, yelled at, sent to classes (bu-xi-ban), SAT prep classes, summer school, junior college, you name it. And we came out top notch in the school. Insane SAT scores, insane college acceptances. Well some of you will disagree, and I somewhat disagree with this type of parenting, but in the end you produce more kids that care. Some will get tired and get burnt out, but most of us will see the importance of caring about school and life at a younger age. I have to say it beats finally realizing you need to take life seriously when you're at a 2 year JC after getting a 2.8 GPA in high school.
No, I feel that is wrong. You shouldn't choose your child's friends. You should educate and raise your child in the right environment at home, so that when they do go out to look for friends, they're not attracted to druggies or slackers, but rather positive influences in their life.
My parents never said Ic ouldnt be friends with so and so, but it was more that I chose the right friends that matched the lifestyle I grew up in...
Red Dawn
Elite Member
- Jun 4, 2001
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Catholic Girls (with their little tiny moustaches) Catholic Girls, you know how they go..they go all the way!...Frank Zappa.
When I was in High School girls that went to all girls Catholic Schools were the favorite of the guys because they were a lot looser than Public School girls.
When I was in High School girls that went to all girls Catholic Schools were the favorite of the guys because they were a lot looser than Public School girls.
Yep X 200.
School just gives the info. If the parents take the time to sit down and make sure their kids learn it, then public school will be just as good as any private. Private gets a good name as parents that send their kids there are more involved usually. So its more the parents, not the school that matters.
i attended public schools until college.
i live in a wealthy area but never attended schools there. i went to high school in small town (also a wealthy town) and it indeed was the best.
small high schools = better education.
now i'm at a private institution. go RIT!!
i live in a wealthy area but never attended schools there. i went to high school in small town (also a wealthy town) and it indeed was the best.
small high schools = better education.
now i'm at a private institution. go RIT!!
Schadenfroh
Elite Member
- Mar 8, 2003
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I went to a private school in my early elementary days; they put me in a "slow class" for a number of years. It was a halfway curriculum between normal and "retard" class. The principal finally saw that I was not an idiot when I handed everyone in my grade's ass to them on every standardized test we took. My parents took me out of private education in my late elementary days and stuck me into public schools when the Catholic school started putting a much larger emphasis on teaching ?the Catholic ways? to the students. My parents thought that it would screw me up in my most crucial years. They put me in the gifted program in the public school after I took the IQ tests and later I took all the AP classes that my high school offered. But, I hated public schools. I had lived a sheltered life in that private school. The kids behaved (or got the living sh!t beat out of them if they did not), the building was clean and spotless, all of the equipment of the school was clean and relatively new, all of this was not the case at my new public school. Sure, I got to finally have classes with people that were not white (was very weird at first), but the school system was very under funded. The buildings were rundown, equipment was ancient, most teachers did not care, and kids were doing whatever the hell they wanted. I could feel myself getting dumber.
Private > public (in most situations)
Private > public (in most situations)
I went to private school through high school and now go to a large public university. It helps a lot in terms of preparing you (I mean if it's a good private school, you can have crappy private schools too) but don't think that your kids won't be exposed to drugs and stuff like that at private school, I knew a lot of kids doing blow just because money isn't a factor.
Watch out if you're looking for a place with "good schools". The high school I went to had "exemplary" ratings at the time, but has dropped to "acceptable" and keeps getting worse. Now they're spending 70 million on a stadium. Great use of upper class suburban money!
The best schools are probably the ones in wealthy urban areas anyway- no room to build university size stadiums and generally better people who raise better kids than the typical suburb trash.
The best schools are probably the ones in wealthy urban areas anyway- no room to build university size stadiums and generally better people who raise better kids than the typical suburb trash.
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