big public v. small private.

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

<p>Let's just say that stereotypes are rampaging in my part of the world.</p>

<p>The local public high school has like 2700 kids, smoke wafting from the bathrooms, and fights. That I can deal with, except the teachers are impossible. While I'm sure to find a great couple of teachers (I'm only a hs frosh), my first semester has been completely disconnected. Question about a paper? "So--will that impact your final grade, little girl? <em>pat head</em> You've got a 99, silly, you're set." Grr--I've always been someone who values the process of learning, not purely the testable result (which is 25% of our final grade. I'll do fine, probably A's, but that's not how I like to measure the time spent in my class.).</p>

<p>On the other hand, the private school in the area is much smaller, and seems to have top-notch facilities and more engaged teachers, if only because of the smaller kids (and possibly the lack of bulky 19-year-olds walking around with "cigarettes"). The big problem: It's probably 98% white. Said a current student, "Everyone at my school's the same." (ie polo and khaki wearing, eyeliner whores with golfcarts in their driveway) I'm white. But what I love about my current school is the evident diversity, especially in the IBMYP (and eventually IB) program. </p>

<p>I think it's possible I actually would get a stronger education at the public, but I don't want to be coerced into accepting numbers as my only badge of honor. I want teachers to grade my papers, and I can't tell if that's something I'll have to sit around to junior year to experience.</p>

<p>What's your opinion? Stay big public or transfer small private?</p>

2

<p>As someone who had this chance (well, not to transfer to a private school, but one in the rich area of town known for its damn good education), I stuck with the public. Find those one or two teachers who know what they're doing and get to know them; find the five or six other kids stuck in the same boat as you and work with them on clubs, etc. Use the time before junior year to self-study and get involved in clubs so you can lead by the time your academics are challenging.</p>

<p>Just advice, don't base your decision on it :)</p>

3

<p>My kids definitely aren't going to the high school im going to atm..</p>

<p>Ill probably have them go private until 8th grade, then they can go to public high school</p>

<p>Socializing > studying</p>

4

<p>^Those are the sorts of kids that are always the biggest partiers. I'm not a parenting expert, but from what I've seen, the homeschooled and formerly private schooled students are the wildest, have no attention span, and often come off as spoiled brats. No offense to those people, it's just an observation. I'm sure there are plenty of the same people who never entered the door of a private school. I think public school is just a better experience unless the private school is really good.</p>

5

<p>Thanks for the advice guys. From what I've heard from friends, it's definately a clique-y and heavy drinking bunch at the private. I was sort of mesmerized by the private's spiffy campus, science lab rooms, and the hope of more engaging teachers. </p>

<p>Perhaps I was a little to hasty to dismiss an uninteresting first semester. I'll restart second semester (all new classes, and far more demanding, thank goodness) with a better perspective. Maybe it was just a slump. I do, after all, love the public personalities.</p>

<p>Still, I love the advice you guys are shelling out. More, peas!</p>

<p>Do y'all think I should ask my parents to drag me to the open house for the private in a few weeks? Just to check it out? Because my parents might be mighty surprised, and you are all awfully reassuring about my current public.</p>

6

<p>i had a really, really similar situation to yours for high school- i could continue going to the public school i'd been going to all my life OR switch to a small private school. I chose the private school, and i've never looked back.
I don't really know what else you're looking for in a school (other than engaged teachers), but in my case, I absolutely LOVE my school. Even though we don't have many AP classes (b/c it's small), I feel like I'm getting a great education that is actually preparing me for college. It's also amazing to have friends who actually care about their education (not many did at my old school). There's something to be said about being in an environment where you know that everyone else in the class was up at 3 AM working on the same paper or studying for hours before finals; at my old school, I probably would've been alone in doing this. When you have several people calling you and asking how far you are on a paper or if you've studied for the math test (not in a bad way), it motivates you to get your work done. </p>

<p>As for my teachers, most all are excellent and honestly care about their students' lives. The other difference in teachers is that they are teaching because they want to, not because they have to make money (salaries at my school are much lower than public schools). Another bonus- good teacher rec's.</p>

<p>So that's my experience with choosing schools. I still have friends at my old school, and from their school experience, I'm so glad I switched. It's hard to say which one you should pick because I don't know what either school is like and I don't know what kind of environment you like. If you would like smaller classes with a lot of teacher interaction and classmates who can be overachieving (it has pros and cons), I'd say switch. </p>

<p>You sound like someone who really likes learning, not just memorizing something for a test. For me, my school has really fostered my love of learning, which used to be something I didn't care about at my old school (mainly because you'd get teased to no end).</p>

<p>No school is perfect; they all have negative points. If the lack of diversity outweighs the positives in your opinion, then it's not worth switching.</p>

7

<p>^lovely post, thank you very much.</p>

<p>The interesting thing about my public is that it's actually very rigorous. It's an IB program I'm in (although certainly a minority in my school, it's an excellent and actually nationally ranked program), and probably more kids stay up late here than at the private. </p>

<p>However, because of the size of my current school, I feel like if you're more of a humanities thinker than a science/math geek (two subjects I love and tend to fare extremely well in, since I really don't play favorites with classes, but still...) I feel like the public emphasizes quantifiable data. I feel like it wants me to ace tests first, love learning second. I know many amazing students from my public, many who have gone on to prestigious unis and colleges. </p>

<p>My issue is not necessarily the quality of education, but the education for ME. I know that I'll be going to a liberal-arty school, whether an actual LAC or an undergrad focused uni. Not the big, although excellent, state school (UNC) so many of my classmates are headed towards. And that's the school I metaphorically compare my public to. </p>

<p>That says something about my mindset: analysis above fact. Sure, I can recite to you the photosynthesis formula and it's reciprocal respiration formula. But why does it matter? And am I engaged enough in the public to stay after class or even after school to reobserve the photosynthesis lab we did with algae that day? </p>

<p>I know my public offers me an outstanding education, but perhaps not exactly of the application I'm looking for. I have no doubt my public peers care about what they're learning (regardless of the BS they say behind a teacher's back). I just find some difficulties connecting with my teachers and other administration. I don't want my hand held--in fact the exact opposite--but I sense that my public school wants me to just record my lecture-style notes and be done with it. </p>

<p>But perhaps a meeting with my counselor, as unaccessible and pointy as she is, is in order, and some after class discussions with my teachers. Despite the fact that most are either still slurping lattes, half-asleep, during class, or yell at us to leave as soon as the lunch bell rings.</p>

8

<p>Public all the way, i attend a large public high school in indianapolis and i love it. Im not sure about other public schools but our teachers are amazing and the school is very diverse (white pop is only about 35% and im one of them), i have learned so much more than academics at this school, we are working on sensitive issues currently such as immigration in collaboration with the public state universities. The private schools around here are filled with primarily rich white people. I had the option of attending a private hs but decided not to. dont simply overlook public schools because of their image. my school has the image of being ghetto to everyone around the city but its not. even the other public schools around (carmel, zionsville) are filled with predominantly rich stuck up white kids who are so naive to life and the world, in my opinion private schools are in a bubble and pretend to be perfect, i do not feel i would have gotten a better rounded education at any private school and plan to continue with public education during college</p>

9

<p>^your public sounds a lot like mine! I agree that the diversity is a big bonus, but I am planning on attending a smaller uni or LAC during college, not a large public. Because I know I'm on that path, I'm wondering if I should switch to a more intimate educational track now. </p>

<p>I think I may just stick out the public. Private's expensive, and my public friends and I love to criticize the public cost (like 15 grand or something crazy; I'm not even sure my parent's would go for it unless I convinced them that the public was drastically inferior for my needs). HS's a time to be a person, and although the courseload is more rigorous at the public as IB (which is what makes the situation somewhat atypical), I do think the people at the public are wonderful. They understand people as more than just grades; in fact, grades are rarely discussed, except around finals ("Oh, glassesarechic, you don't need to study!"), but my friends and I have study parties. I think through the posts on this board and my reactions to them, I'm starting to realize the public's the way to go. If I have to work harder to forge relationships with the GC and teachers, so be it.</p>

<p>Although, in the private's favor, most public teachers take FOREVER (as in, never) to return student's paper, which makes progress in a class very difficult.</p>

<p>Opinions?</p>

10

<p>I had some of the same issues when I was a freshman so hopefully as a senior i can give you advice for what has happened in my situation. My freshman class had approximately 900 students and we were the first class to begin in the new freshmen center. I was involved in all the honors classes I could be as a freshman and continue with honors and ap classes throughout hs. you will find that ur school will become very intimate as these honors/ap students tend to be in many of the same classes throughout their 4 years. And the 900 students had dropped to 550 as of my senior year. As for GC i never actually knew mine but im not sure wat help she could have given me because i knew what classes i wanted to take and i only needed them for the signatures for college apps, my school is IB also but i dropped it because i wanted more electives but if u continue with IB it will be even more intimate. another plus of public schools is the vast amount of classes they offer (we have about 300), and if ur planning to go to a private college then im sure ur parents will really want to save that 15k/year, as for teachers taking a while to turn back papers that it is more common in freshman classes because they tend to be much larger (i have 2 classes this year with less than 10 students) but we also have an online database which we can view our detailed grades on at home so it might be diff for you, i also love the sense of community within a larger school due to sports teams (it was awesome wen our football team went to state this year and it is something i will never forget), etc, the main reason i am glad i chose not to go private is because of the many types of people, in private the majority of people all come from the same privileged background thus u always associate with people that have similar ways of thinking while my school has families that make less than <30K and some that make 500K+, let me know if u have any other questions i think i answered them all lol, and for a freshman u r out of the ordinary, i know i wasnt thinking about where to go to college then lol, im a freshman mentor now at the school and most have no idea and those that do will probably end up changing, at the beginnning of hs i wanted to go into engineering at either purdue or illinois @champagin, urbana but in december of my senior year i changed to finance so i decided to go indiana but also looked atmiami of ohio, i actually never looked at private for college bcuz i love the big school feeling with the smaller groups (such as honors college which i will be in)</p>

11

<p>haha I must sound really neurotic. I'm in IB too, and I think your point about intimacy correlating with grade is true. Most of my classes are in the 30-40 range, but the sophomore classes I've peeked in tend to have 20/25. Much more reasonable!</p>

<p>As far as grades, I'm just sort of irked that my semester classes are ending, and some classes haven't given papers back from first quarter. Other teachers don't even read papers (like one I spent hours on), and instead check only for my "fifteen citations and outline." We do have a nifty online database, but I like teacher comments. Of course, I'm also slowly learning to like the challenge of bonding with teachers in large classes. If I want to know a grade, I'm sure I can ask after class. </p>

<p>I also don't want to start a family revolution. I'm the oldest, with two more coming. I don't exactly think my other sibs have even considered the private, and I don't want to create an expectation for them to go. I've also heard that IB at my school is far more rigorous than the private (which does offer AP). </p>

<p>My big concerns about the public probably stemmed from the pot smokers in the hallways (I get a little woozy sometimes, it's so bad). But thank you guys for all your encouraging comments! I'm thinking that even if I don't keep on the public track in college (and I probably won't, just to escape and start to buckle down), my current school offers the balance of an actual hs experience and rigorous academia that I need. I just have to push a little harder for teachers to give feedback. </p>

<p>Thanks to all you guys for your advice!</p>

12

<p>I kinda had the opposite situation as you. I went to a preppy, white, rich college-prep middle school, which was grades 6-12. By the end of 8th grade, I had no friends, no social life, and so-so grades. Me and this other boy were the only ones in the school there on scholarships, so everyone was INCREDIBLY snobby. I transferred to the public high school, which sounds like yours, although smaller by about 500 kids. I love it! My advice is: join academic clubs to meet like-minded people, strive for straight A's, and make friends with you grade-level counselor. I was nice with mine, and she let me skip core classes that were prerequisites for good ones. I have mixed classes- 3 of them are for anyone who wants to sign up (sculpture, physics, and anatomy); and 4 are with only smart people (trig, japanese 4, AP psych and AP english). My school is SUPER diverse (like 25% white) and i have a great social life! My best friends are the weed-smokers in the bathrooms, and i'm also good friends with college-bound people... best of both worlds because i get invited to all the parties but have a fun study group :) Whatever you choose to do, good luck!</p>

13

<p>social education > textbook education, go public. Trust me you learn so much more about life if you go to public school and its easy as **** ull just get straight A's. I learned so much about how different people are and i learned how to accept people and im better at socializing now and just a better person overall. Private school is filled with a bunch of rich white kids who are all the same and are all douchebags. Go public.</p>

14

<p>It really depends on what you want. I suppose I can't give a great answer because I have always been in private school... but I can say what private school has done for me. </p>

<p>At my school everyone really does care for one another. (it's a catholic school.. it's biggest downfall in my opinion) so we have prayer. Although I am not the religious type, it is nice to see how if someone at the school is ill (like in the hospital ill, cancer ill, etc) or killed.. or even in an alumni or an alumni or staff family member is ill or has died we pray for them. </p>

<p>What I love about it is the sense of community and the attachment many people seem to have to the school. There's so many teachers that actually went to my school when they were in high school and even though the pay is less they come back. </p>

<p>But you said the school you're looking at is not diverse.. mine is.. but do not let social life or diversity be the only things you look at when choosing. (although i do think diversity is a huge plus)I'm sure you'll be able to find friends anywhere.</p>

15

<p>I'm glad everyone who is jumping up and down about diversity in public is also stereotyping private as only for white, rich kids.</p>

<p>GREAT job.</p>

16

<p>I would stay in the public, but I can only give my experience. </p>

<p>I went to a Catholic school for nine years. It sucked. The kids who played the best sports got the best grades because the teachers wanted them to go to good colleges with athletic scholarships, even if they didn't grasp the course material at all. Catholic school was... fake. Everything there was fake. It was smaller, but you really only got one side of the story with most issues. And as many people have said, there's less diversity and honestly many people become close-minded there (not all, obviously).</p>

<p>I now go to a public high school. I love the diversity, getting both sides of the issue. I like having people disagree with me. I have not lost my love of learning, but rather challenge myself. Your teachers WANT close relationships with their students (why else would they be teachers?) and if you talk to them generally they will go over things such as papers and stuff and show you your strengths and weaknesses. </p>

<p>Just personal experience.</p>

17

<p>
[Quote]
^Those are the sorts of kids that are always the biggest partiers. I'm not a parenting expert, but from what I've seen, the homeschooled and formerly private schooled students are the wildest, have no attention span, and often come off as spoiled brats. No offense to those people, it's just an observation. I'm sure there are plenty of the same people who never entered the door of a private school. I think public school is just a better experience unless the private school is really good.

[/Quote]
</p>

<p>No, it's the kids who STAY in a private school through high school or transfer out of the high school that are like this. Generally, if they are transfered before frosh year than they are fine.</p>

18

<p>"I'm glad everyone who is jumping up and down about diversity in public is also stereotyping private as only for white, rich kids.</p>

<p>GREAT job."</p>

<p>^I'm not sterotyping private as only for rich whites. The school I went to consisted of ONLY rich white kids.</p>

19

<p>I went to an extremely diverse k-8 private school for 9 years. I was in the same position- public vs. private. I chose private and right now Im burried under work and thinking why did I do this to myself. But I know someday it will all be worth it- I think. . .</p>

20

<p>This sounds exactly like the situation in my town. I'm only going into ninth grade (and on CC not because I'm obsessed, but because I want to be prepared) but there are two high schools in my town: the 5-A public and the small (150 kids) private. Although the private is Catholic, many non-Catholic students attend. I will be attending the large pubic, and from what I've heard from older students, this sounds like the right decision.</p>

<p>Most people I talk to say it's really great to have diversity in your high school, because it really prepares you for what's out there. Also, an IB program is fantastic, and even though your teachers may not be the best, if you study hard enough, you can make strong bonds with teachers who ARE worth it. Also, private tutoring is a great option if you want learning on an intimate level and you aren't getting it at your high school.</p>

<p>I would choose the public. Even though you want to head the liberal arts rode, it's probably the better choice in the long run.</p>