<p>hehe the thing is, most of the us is middle class. It's just a fact of life. I can tell you if you want socioeconomic AA, then you're going to be dishing out a lot more cash than currently where the rich kids/alumni are helping out, even at a supposedly "need-blind" school</p>
<p>Make the government pay for the lower classes to go to college. It'll be like they joined the army for the money, except instead of doing time in the service, they can just do time in college. </p>
<p>Ha, like that has a shot in hell of working.</p>
<p>everything that looks good in theory doesn't always translate well to real life. sure, an equal society is grand, but it isn't every going to happen. If you can pay full tuition you can bet your bottom dollar you look more attractive than a poor city student who's parent is below the poverty line and can't pay anything</p>
<p>back to the op, i go to a public school</p>
<p>What kind of a public school? Is it in a city? A rich area? Poor?</p>
<p>I go to a public school. I am definitely enjoying myself, but it could be better. I know I could have received a better education elsewhere and that ticks me off sometimes, but hey, college is right around the corner! And about the diversity thing... that's all we've got... lol. ESL classes galore too. Makes for an interesting bunch sometimes.</p>
<p>I LOVE the ESL kids at my school. Does Brown have a large international population?</p>
<p>i go to a ghetto fab school in philadelphia</p>
<p>I have had the amazing opportunity to go to a medium/large (500 students per grade) school with no private schools within 150 miles. This means that all students of all backgrounds are put togeather in the same situation.</p>
<p>While we have many advanced classes and an IB curriculum, I have learned to interact with those that I would see in private school and those outside of it. It has been invaluable while still providing an amazing education (Our Speech and Debate, Music, and Drama programs are huge and among the top in the nation; as an example).</p>
<p>Nickelby, what activities might you do next year at Brown (if that's where you're going)?</p>
<p>Speech/Debate/Forensics if possible,
Political Organizations
Orchestral Groups</p>
<p>I am not certain on my activities, however. With such a paradigm shift from high school to college, I think that I have to find what (at whatever school that I end up at) suits me best. I am certain that I will do some activities, regardless of where or what.</p>
<p>omg.. i always thought that my school was pretty large.. until i heard that the "medium size" is 500 kids in one class.. geesh our school only has about 190 kids in one class... im just having an epiphany here.. just tells you how you get so caught up in your own little world and become oblivious to almost everything else....</p>
<p>Well, it is one of the largest in the state, and will soon be split in half. However, I like the size due to the large diversity of classes and students. It is actually harder to get lost because you can find your niche.</p>
<p>Some areas, like Florida, California, etc., have 4,000+ students in one school. That IS too large.</p>
<p>i like my public school. yes, it is nearly crap, but i experience such an aray of ppl and things and such. about the party in the woods, yeah, we have those too, except i've never been to one. haha. i dont think i could stand to go to a private snobby school, and hope and pray that i wont surrounded by snobs in college. i feel sorry for snobs though, they are helpless.........</p>
<p>although i may not be getting the best education at a public school, i am okay with it. i like learning, and my school helped me realize that. i dont know how my teachers compare with private school teachers, but i do know i have some excellent teachers, and my school is a city school in a city with a population of about 11,000, and 75% of the town is on food stamps....sooooo....</p>
<p>I go to a public school in Northwestern New Jersey (rural section), and it's just your average highschool. It's got a rather well rounded curriculum, I guess, and it's pretty small. Just your average everyday homogenous high school.</p>
<p>I go to a small (400 students) public high school in a middle-class (average income 60K) town in New York. It's really weird because there's also a private school in the same town, and we public kids look down on them and they look down on us. The fact is that most of the private and public kids went to the same elementary school (private school starts from middle school), and they used to be friends. I'm kind of glad I went to a public high school. I can't imagine having had to actually apply to middle school or high school, although some public schools, like Stuyvesant in NYC, has entrance requirements. There's less competition for grades and leadership positions. For example, the three highest gpa are as follows: 4.4 out of 4.5, 4.3, 4.2. It's not like 5 4.449s and 2 4.445s or something. And for the leadership positions, you pretty much get the positon if you want it. College acceptances aren't that great, but there is one advantage: it gives you a chance to stand out. I would rather be valedictorian of a small, public school than be 50th percentil in a private school.</p>
<p>Funkyspoon, most Ivies are so endowed that they do not need to charge tuition (but do anyway, of course)...the interest on the endowment is more than enough to pay for every single student's forty grand...</p>
<p>But then again, $40,000 does not cover the student's cost to the school, either.</p>
<p>public school SE PA. i do kind of feel the same way as the OP about private school.. i dont get it. in the city i do, but otherwise, i just dont get it</p>
<p>A lot of the good athletes at my school transfer to private athlete schools to get recruited. I think it would suck to transfer somewhere for your senior year, but I guess if you want to play good sports (hockey mostly) then that's what you do.</p>