<p>3togo: I never said that I don't respect individual decisions. It is up to the parent to decide what is good or bad for their children and no one should question that.</p>
<p>But you are trying to point out that you chose the public school you happen to be living in over the top private school because it is there for you free of cost. What would you have done if the top private school you have access too also was free?</p>
<p>trackstar23: "My Child Was Classmate of Ivy-Bound Students"</p>
<p>I think everyone prefer that over "My Child Was Classmate of San-Quentin-State-Prison Bound students"</p>
<p>I do think you are known by the company you keep.</p>
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But you are trying to point out that you chose the public school you happen to be living in over the top private school because it is there for you free of cost. What would you have done if the top private school you have access too also was free?
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Yes ... we basically are in the position to choose what school our kids can go to (assuming they would be accepted to their private school of choice) and we have chosen our local public school ... if we thought private schools would be better for our kids we would send them to private school. And the cost is much less of an issue it appears superficially. If I wanted to send my kids to private school I could move about 1/4 mile (into another town) and lower my property taxes so much it would pay for about 1/2 of expense for one of my kids to go to private school. We believe a public shool environment is better for our kids.</p>
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I never said that I don't respect individual decisions.
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these are your words also "Find one single person who will reject a top private high school education if the money is not involved.". When I read someone's global statement of a universal truth ... I find it hard to believe they respect decisions that run counter their universal truth.</p>
<p>3togo : "If I wanted to send my kids to private school I could move about 1/4 mile (into another town) and lower my property taxes so much it would pay for about 1/2 of expense for one of my kids to go to private school. We believe a public shool environment is better for our kids."</p>
<p>This is again a cost issue. You will have to move. What if you have to pay for the public school of your choice? Would you still send your children there?</p>
<p>By saying "Find one single person who will reject a top private high school education if the money is not involved." I was try to indicate the average person criteria of judging private school over public school.</p>
<p>You may chose one school over other but you can convey this only if you have to pay same for the two schools. Since you live in the area of your public school and you said you happen to have a good public school that is free to you, the choice of such a public school to a private school is not a good example to counter that statement.</p>
<p>ParentofIvyHope: "My Child Was Classmate of San-Quentin-State-Prison Bound students"</p>
<p>Yes. Any school in the Bay Area with a price-tag under $30k/yr has a matriculation list similar to: </p>
<p>San-Quentin- 35
Folsom- 28
LA County Jail- 22
Santa Clara County Jail- 14
Work-Release-13
Probabtion- 8</p>
<p>Maybe that is what they put on brochures at Harker to get gullible parents to pay all that cash. Either way, i'm sure your daughter is enjoying her "well rounded education" filled with individual laptops and class trips to Hawaii. </p>
<p>I'm just saying that since you likely live in the affluent areas of San Jose,LG, or Toga, there are several public schools that come to mind that could provide the environment you claim to want. And if you don't want public, there are other way cheaper choices like Mitty, St. Francis Notre Dame, etc. that will give her the same kind of resources. Your comment @3togo implied that you don't have the luxury of good other options. ROFL. And for colleges- if an admissions officer has already taken 10 legacy/donor admits from Harker and none from a high school you deem inferior, your daughter will be put at a disadvantage! Can your excel program compute that?</p>
<p>We picked public > top privates. No contest. Can't get anywhere close to what the public offers in a private school, even at $30K/year. We looked. And I know people who made the opposite choice and were unhappy with their decision. One size does not fit all.</p>
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trackstar23: You might be wrong. It is not necessary that only hooked students matriculate to top schools. There are lot of hard working non hooked students go to top schools every year.
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<p>By the same virtue, it's fair to say that there are even MORE hard working, unhooked students who just don't make it into the top schools each year. In the college admissions game, every little bit helps.</p>
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I send my daughter to a private school for the environment and a well rounded education that will provide her the basis to be successful in the real life.
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<p>And that's precisely the goal you should have in mind, and if that's what you truly want for your daughter, then good for you. But let's be honest here. If there wasn't an incentive to go for these top-tier colleges, then there'd be no point in going to a private school. Most people go to top private high schools with one thing in mind - prestigious colleges. I simply don't buy the excuse that most people are there for a good education, as I fail to see what schools like Harker offer that my top public could not - education-wise.</p>
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Find one single person who will reject a top private high school education if the money is not involved. You can't feel the difference if you have not gone thru such an experience. A good private school education surpasses any top of the line public or parochial school.
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<p>Oh believe me, there are certainly incentives to turn down a top private school. Consider Saratoga, Gunn, Troy, and all those high octane public high schools near the Bay Area. Even without money involved, you'd be hard pressed to turn down the opportunities that exist at those public schools.</p>
<p>ParentOfIvyHope: The number of students for those four years was ~800, maybe more like 850.</p>
<p>trackstar23: You forgot to mention the schools for which you listed the matriculation.</p>
<p>It will be nice for you and Big Brother 4 to put up matriculation lists of the schools instead of bashing me for sending my daughter to a private school.</p>
<p>Stick to thread's topic. Why do I send my daughter to a private school spending 30K is not the topic of this thread?</p>
<p>At Chapel Hill High School in Chapel Hill, NC the most popular schools to attend were: UNC, Appalachian State University, NC State University, UNC Wilmington, and UNC Greensboro.</p>
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It will be nice for you and Big Brother 4 to put up matriculation lists of the schools instead of bashing me for sending my daughter to a private school.
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<p>Dude I'm not bashing you. But if you think I did, then I apologize.</p>
<p>To be honest though, I don't think there's any point in you specifically dwelling over all this data. I think your daughter is in good hands with Harker - you should let Harker do its job. That's what you paid it to do.</p>
<p>This year was our strongest year ever for matriculations (coming from a 10 year old Georgia program).</p>
<p>1 0 Harvard
1 1 Yale
2 1 Duke
2 1 Emory
1 1 Dartmouth
1 0 Caltech</p>
<p>We also had a lot of University of Georgia and Georgia Tech acceptances.</p>
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This is again a cost issue. You will have to move. What if you have to pay for the public school of your choice? Would you still send your children there?
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POIH ... this is more than a little frustrating. I live near Boston which is a mecca of top private high schools that are prime feeders to the elite colleges you apparently want your kids to attend (from your user name). Does this language work for you. You consider my public school free, OK I'll go with that ... if one of these terrific private schools was free or even better yet offered to pay us $10,000/per yr/per kid to send our kids to their private schools we would not do it. We flat out think our public school is better environment for our high school age kids to grow as students and people. Hands down ... the only way we possible could be tempted to move off that position would be if the private schools offered us so much money we were tempted to send our kids to a school that would, in our opinion, not be as good for them.</p>
<p>PS - both my wife and I went to elite schools as undergrads and grads and had terrific experiences at our schools ... we also have informed opinions on the pros and cons of public/private backgrounds for kids applying and attending elite schools ... for us public is the way to go ... and there is no question of our preference.</p>
<p>3togo: I respect your decision and I've also heard that the public school system in MA is far better than that in CA.
I love Boston and respect the environment of Cambridge town. I would be so happy if my daughter can attend one of the two top Univ. in Cambridge, MA.
I've not been exposed to MA public school system. But the CA public school system is not good in my opinion. Which again is my opinion and is not intended to offend CA public school students or parent?
My statements are based on the comparison of CA public, parochial and private schools.
The idea in no way was to offend you.</p>
<p>jesus...only the top 10% of my school usually get anywhere in the top 100 schools....its a terrible public school that pretends its the best</p>
<p>My daughter's high school recently reported what their senior class will be up to next year. This is a California public high school, 30% of the school would be considered URMs, 15% are in the federal funded lunch program, 8% are considered English language learners. And the college counseling center is basically a lady who can find whatever you ask for in a file, but you do need to know what to ask, so not much help there. </p>
<p>And yet, 97% of the class is going on to further their education. The vast majority (63%) of the class will even move on to 4 year colleges, the rest will be attending community colleges or trade schools. </p>
<p>Twenty one percent of the class will be attending one of the UCs, with UCSanta Cruz having the most students from their school. </p>
<p>Fourteen percent of the class will be matriculating to the California State college system, San Jose State picking up the second highest number of kids going to one school. Though it should be expected that the two closest public universities would have the highest number of graduates matriculating there. Economics is a big factor in public education. </p>
<p>Twenty two percent of the class will be attending private four year institutions, about half of those out of state, with the rest (41%) attending public schools, 1% international, and almost 5% out of state publics.</p>
<p>And though this public school is considered pretty average, and overshadowed by nearby public and private high schools, they will be sending 2 to Harvard, 1 to MIT, 1 To Yale, 5 to Stanford, and 4 to other Ivys. Fourteen percent are going to what CC considers a Top University or LAC. Those bright kids, they will find their chances anywhere.</p>