re: How much is private school in your area?

This thread is basically birth control to me.

Networking is part of the value

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I agree with pretty much everything that you stated. I didn't go to private school, and my wife didn't either (and we turned out alright), but we can definitely see the advantages of it. When we have a kid, he/she is going to private school. It's one of the reasons that I only want one child, I want to be able to send it to the best schools possible.

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I didn't, nor did my SO. I went to a public school which was considered one of the better schools in the state at the time (suburban). She went to a public school in a different major city (actually in the city).

My school was probably higher ranked than hers, and had a low minority enrollment. Mostly upper middle class families, but a lot of small business owners and first generation money. Almost all kids went to college, but a lot went to mediocre schools and more than expected didn't finish.

Her school was about 55% white, and a lot of the minority students weren't well off. However, the large majority of the white students went to better colleges, and the vast majority finished. Seeing her group of friends and the dynamics really hit home that there can be major differences even among highly regarded public schools. The students from her school tended to be less douchey than the ones from mine, went to better colleges, and were fed into better greek orgs and the like.

Anyway, I say all that to say that even if i live somewhere where the publics aren't bad, I'm going to assess the private school situation. Sometimes, as in her case, the public school is the right choice. For me, public school worked out fine, but expectations were different, and it could have made a pretty big difference.

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quote: honestly if the public schools are that bad in your area perhaps you should just move I'm being dramatic, but I do note a pretty huge difference in the startling development of affluent young children here in the city (mostly private school) vs the kids where my parents live (upper-middle class suburb, mostly public).

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What exactly do you mean by this? I think I agree but I'm not completely sure what you're saying.



I went to a fairly affluent public high school and it was fine, but if I have kids I will definitely send them to private school. By that time, I'm sure our society will be so trashy it will be well worth the price.

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It is easy to say kids are expensive but not know what it really means.

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I pay $7200/year for my 2 years old Montesorri school and that is considered on the cheaper end

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this would be more due to their home life and a reflection of their parents, rather than their school, IMO

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I think there is value in what you're saying, but I also think it can be tough to see where one starts and the other stops.

I do think having that type of family skews the situation because they look for those attributes in classmates. But I also think that such schools put pressures back on the family to maintain that home life.

Meanwhile, theoretically, I have little doubt that really good parents may let off the gas when their kids are lapping the field at a mediocre school. Which is ok, until they get to a level where the parents didn't (college admissions, presumably).

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Damn near every job I've worked I got because of someone I know

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same here

but it never involved name dropping my HS

14,295 for the first one (h.s.)
13,895 for the second one (h.s)
10,695 for the third one (2nd grade)

Plus books
Plus fees
Plus whatever else they want.

$19k