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^I'm not sterotyping private as only for rich whites. The school I went to consisted of ONLY rich white kids.
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<p>I refuse to believe not one kid at your school was either:</p>
<p>a. on scholarship/financial aid of some sort
b. a different ethnicity</p>
<p>Stay at the big public. When I was applying to college, one essay prompt was "explain how diversity has effected your outlook on life"...it wrote itself because my large public HS is so diverse (4,100 kids, 200 or so teachers...you get the idea. Think of a movie of a SoCal HS (not the OC, more like Freedom Writers...that school is actually in my district. It's like our claim to fame. XD). </p>
<p>I highly doubt it's as bad as you're making it out to be. And, like tonk907 said, the diversity prepares you for the real world. You learn how to deal with different types of people instead of being surrounded by the same privileged kids all day, every day.</p>
<p>well i think people are forgetting that not all private schools are filled with really rich white kids. i go to a private school, and its great. not everyone is rich, religious, smart or white. </p>
<p>i think you guys automactially hear 'private school' and think about Gossip Girl and the Clique which isn't always true.</p>
<p>^...I've never heard of either of those. XD</p>
<p>I'm biased because I live in SoCal, so most of the private school kids indeed are privileged white kids with mommies and daddies in showbusiness or something of the like. Although I shouldn't have generalized.</p>
<p>With only 60 kids in the school, yes, I'm sure they were all white. And yes, I also stated that there were 2 on scholarships.</p>
<p>if you want to learn badly enough, you can make it work at the public. it's frustrating, yes, but it makes you learn to be an advocate for yourself, and be incredibly organized. (i go to a big school and the process for getting transcripts out is RIDICULOUSLY disorganized.) find the great teachers, find the kids who "get" you-- it might take a little time. it's likely that at least one of those teachers will want to help you challenge yourself-- this year i'm taking an independent study in foreign policy with a history teacher i had sophomore year, and i'm learning more from that than a lot of my other classes.</p>
<p>Hey, I don't think that anyone besides yourself should make the decision because there are so many different factors, but here are my two cents. I am planning on attending a smaller private boarding school next year. I am suprised to hear that your private school was so undiversified bcause most that I looked at cherished diversity (it looked better on there stats). Anyway I felt and still feel that boarding school is the place for me because my school is ok but no one really is passionate about learning and knowledge like I am. The classes are easy ( I'm in eighth grade, taking geometry and have a 103.2 in it) and my friends tease me because of it. when I started looking into private schools I realized that it doesn't have to be like that. If you are looking for harder classes and more supportive teachers, look around. Most decent private schools are better and have tons of diversity.</p>
<p>^^ agreed.</p>
<p>i'm surprised by the sweeping generalizations and stereotypes in this thread!!
every public school and private school is different.
public school does NOT always=diversity
private school does NOT always=rich, snobby, white kids
In fact, the public middle school i went to had two african americans and one asian. The diversity in that school was a joke, and racial slurs were rampant.
considering the private school I go to is less than half the size of the public high school I would've gone to, the diversity is relatively high.
Sure, there are a fair few privileged kids, but hardly any are snobby. We also have scholarship students as well, but it's not like anyone knows or even cares.</p>
<p>I think there is marked distinction between the type of Catholic schools you find in every town and private college-preparatory schools (sometimes these are parochial, but usually not).</p>
<p>Where I live (a place with a lot of professionals), the public school is actually pretty decent--yes, about half of the kids don't want to be there and don't focus on academics, but if you hang out with the half that does appreciate school, you can leave with a great education, definitely comparable to the private school that I attend.</p>
<p>The Catholic school in our town, however, is terrible; most of the teachers do not have teaching degrees, and the majority girls are rather spoiled and snobbish, though most of them come from the lower income groups. There are some good kids too, but a smaller percentage than at the public school. I actually think that our public school is way better than the Catholic school, and that parents are kidding themselves if they think shelling out an extra $5,000 is going to give their kids a much better education. This might not be true for all Catholic schools, but it is true for the one in my town.</p>
<p>Finally, there is the private school in my area that costs an extra $30,000 dollars. I think that money makes a difference--most of the kids are there because they want to be there, and the ones that aren't either feel guilty about wasting their parents' money and not getting the most of their education, or are overshadowed by the population that wants to be there. The teachers are also good, but I think they're about on the same level as the public school teachers if the public school had less students. I guess they have flashier degrees though. In terms of privilege, at least 20% of the students are on scholarship, and although there are a few snobs, they are not the majority. The biggest difference at private school here is the type of clothing people wear--at public school it's all Abercrombie and Hollister, but private school people wear Ralph Lauren and BCBG dresses, but it's ok if you can't afford that because character and intelligence usually matter more (at least to the people you probably would want to befriend). And in terms of race, I think the government forces the school to accept a certain percentage of minorities.</p>
<p>Anyway, I mostly just wanted to say that there is a difference between parochial schools and private schools where I live, and that if you live in area where there are a lot of professionals, the public school probably isn't too bad (and will save you a lot of money!). However, if you live in an urban area, the private school might be better.</p>
<p>And In the OPs situation-I would go with private if you can afford it and don't mind your GPA possibly dropping.</p>
<p>So a month and a half later and I'm still debating....</p>
<p>Just to clarify: For all the people making cases about stereotyping, I did say in my OP that stereotypes were rampant in my part of the world. Big public= diverse. Small private= rich white kids. BUT for some reason I'm convinced that there's something to the private above the public.</p>
<p>I'm going to be a nerd and make a pro/con list.</p>
<p>Public
PRO ............................................ CON
-Diverse ....................................... -Teachers don't give a s.hit
-Lots of friends..............................-Even teachers that do care aren't
-People with all diff. goals ................terribly educated on helping gifted kids
in life ...........................................excel. To them, raising your hand
-Debate......................................more than once a class means Harvard,
(nationally competitive team) ...... baby!
-Never boring...............................-Teachers take forever to grade papers,<br>
-Decent record with Harvard,........... so it's hard to grow in the course of a
Princeton, UPenn, etc...................semester class.
................................................. -My world history teacher even said he'd
................................................ never send his daughter here.
................................................... -Have I mentioned the violence and pot?</p>
<p>Private
PRO.............................................CON
-School newspaper .......................-Some people say it's really easy to slide
-School actually knows how............by w. grades BUT I do think an AP-
to handle college admissions............heavy course would be fairly rigorous
-Smaller environment......................-Price
-AP (vs. public IB) allows more........-Farther from home (though not significant
flexibility. I've already...................plus there's good busing)
charted a potential three-year .......Lack of diversity (money, race)
course schedule (I'm currently........-I have former friends there who profess
a frosh).................................... stealing parents' credit cards, wear all
-Teachers are actually...............a&f, and drive around in swanky cards
educated in their fields ..............with liquor everywhere
and want to teach it....................
-My neighbor's granddaughter,.......
a shy intellectual (kinda like I)......
goes there and likes it................</p>
<p>Anyway, I thought I'd revive this thread and see what y'all have to say again! It seems to be split pretty 50-50 public-private.</p>
<p>Ehh, let me just say, the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. For now it might seem like the private school might have a lot of the things you want, but I'm pretty sure that if you switch and the novelty of the private school wears off, you still won't be content. Every school has good and bad sides. I'll say just stay where you're at right now, and try to make it work.</p>
<p>I go to a private school and all I have to say is that it depends on the person and it depends on the school</p>
<p>each school has a reputation for a reason. Some schools are only there because parents refuse to let there kids go to public school and they're not smart enough to get into a better school. Those kids do a lot of heavy drinking and easily make ralph lauren look like a prostitute's uniform</p>
<p>any good private school has at least 20% of the students on scholarship. The majority of students are there for a reason and it's not to throw money away. It says something when I can count 4 of my friends off the top of my head who are nationally ranked at various activities. Barely anyone graduates to go to a party school. One girl graduated last year and is on full scholarship at johns hopkins. </p>
<p>I do have to say though that most people that go to primary and middle private schools and then transfer to public tend to end up doing the partying deal. </p>
<p>if you go to a good public school and the local private isn't known for academics there is no reason to switch otherwise don't count private school out. Here is a list of schools based on university matriculation
[url=<a href="http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-COLLEGE0711-sort.html%5DWSJ.com%5B/url">http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-COLLEGE0711-sort.html]WSJ.com[/url</a>]</p>
<p>I go to a private school in the top 20 of the list from the link provided and I have no regrets about my decision. I feel I'm particularly fortunate in that my school is quite progressive, relatively diverse and we have a superb array of hard working, engaging staff. Because my school is a tad 'out there' we are not your stereotypical New York prep-school such as Brearley and Chapin. There is great diversity among the student body and people are generally very friendly with eachother. Yes there are cliques that you will attatch yourself to but you will find that in any school, public or private.</p>
<p>Diversity and all else aside, I feel that, in the, end, it comes down to the quality of education that you will receive at the institutions. If you want to create a diverse and interesting social life then do so, you don't have to depend on the school for that! Look at the courses offered in the schools..which ones appeal to you more? Look at the academic clubs...are there any that catch your eye? Ask yourself where you feel you will excell and you'll have your answer.</p>
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<p>I know it OT but could you provide a link to the said IB rankings if you don't mind?</p>
<p>CorruptedMorals (cute name, btw), the list I was referring to was actually in context of my whole school. We were in the top 1000 high schools in the nation (acc. to Time? I think? one year). We've since been booted, but I think that list is actually compiled based on AP tests taken by graduating seniors. Lots of IBers at my school take AP exams following their IB courses, though, so it does say something about the quality of my school. </p>
<p>Oh, and the private I'm mentioning isn't anything extraordinary (not on the list provided). They do send plenty of kids "up north" (Williams, Yale, etc.), but they're no feeder school. I do think that a lot of parents send their kids there because they don't like the "image" of my school, and I don't think they have a large number of scholarship kids. </p>
<p>What they do have is a far more flexible program (AP), and one that may actually be more rigorous than my IB. The problem I have with IB is that, because my school is so big, teachers don't ask you to think but instead to memorize. At the private, all AP's and even the standard courses require, at least according to the website, far more thinking and writing. And reading! I barely do any of that at the public (well, I read on my own time, but it's way harder to get through the Illiad without a teacher up your rear end!).</p>
<p>Oh, and last thing before y'all laugh at me for being such an incredible ninth grade dweeb: The teaching at the private seems way more involved, like the teachers are actually happy to be there (since they get paid less than the public). I feel like I could learn to respect my teachers again, and to feel like they, instead solely of my diverse cast of peers, are the ones I am learning from.</p>