<p>I have a daughter who currently attends a NYC public middle school. She has been admitted to Hunter College High School for 7th grade, although it was always our intention to send her to a "top" private school here in the city in 9th grade. While she has not yet been accepted at a top private, we have every reason to think she'd do well in the admissions process-she's an outstanding student and test taker, and is a stand-out athlete (top in the city for her age/sport). Money aside, would be interested in hearing your thoughts on pros and cons of both school options. </p>
<p>I’d have her attend hunter for 7th grade and if she’s not happy there, she can easily apply out for 9th to the privates here in the city or a boarding school (if that’s what you all want). The good thing is that if she doesn’t get into the private school you are hoping for…she will always have a place at Hunter. I’ve known ppl who’ve done it…they’ve gone to hunter for lower school but leave for the HS years. </p>
<p>ccprep9- It’s not that straightforward. It might be a good education, but class sizes are still double the average NYC private and the facilities and sports can’t begin to compare.</p>
<p>ccprep9-are you a student at an NYC private or public? </p>
<p>@Willmom I have three dcs in a nyc private school and class size is important to us. We love the small class size…my dd just chose BS over LaGuardia for 9th grade and class size had a lot to do with it. She didn’t want to be in a school with 2600 kids. I’m not sure how many students Hunter has but it is lovely being in a classroom with 12 kids. GL with your choice </p>
<p>@nycmomof3 BS=Bronx Science? </p>
<p>@Willmom BS=boarding school. NYC’s daughter will be going to Solebury.</p>
<p>I just got into Deerfield and Milton Academy (boarding schools), I think that your daughter should go to hunter because it’s a great school. However for 9th grade, you guys can get the option to decide if she should stay at hunter, or apply to top private or top boarding or even specialized. It’s like a win-win.</p>
<p>I think you should take the Hunter opportunity. You won’t get it again, and she might fall in love with the school and its culture. For seventh and eighth grades, it’d probably be hugely beneficial; she’d get a great education. Then, for high school, you can make the decision to apply to a number of different options or stay at Hunter. </p>
<p>@pdl100 My concern is that she is at a K-8 now and is likely to fare very well in the admissions process @ private. Supposedly if you are already at an ongoing school, it’s a strike against you since you aleady ahve a home vs. applicants who don’t…Also, crazy as it sounds, I’m afraid she will not want to leave, but <em>I</em> really think an independent school is better in many ways. </p>
<p>@Willmom no I meant Boarding School (BS). I think that if you do choose Hunter, you may not have the current high school advisor (assuming her school has one) pushing for your dc when it comes to admissions. You may be on your own applying out from hunter…this is all an assumption since I don’t have experience with hunter but I’ve known many ppl applying out from K-12 schools (private) and they’ve all felt that the school didn’t help them in the process. GL</p>
<p>@stargirl3 thanks for clarifying before I could 
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<p>If you really believe that independent schools are better (for you and your family), then by all means continue at the K-8 until high school. That’s really a decision you need to make with your family. However, as people have mentioned, K-12 or 7-12 or whatever the numbers don’t typically help kids apply out-- even less so if you can’t get back into the school. (A K-12 will have kids apply out normally, while a 7-12 that you can only get into in 7th grade probably won’t, so think about how that affects her high school applications.)</p>