I got admission, but is Private School suitable for me?

Prep School Admissions
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<p>I got admission into a good prep school... I wouldn't say I worked hard for it, may be for a month during essays, not much for SSAT. I am excited about it.. But I also want a reality check as to how much going to a private school would benefit me... My parents will be paying for most of the tuition fee... My family is upper middle class...</p>

<p>I am doing well in my current public school.. We don't have ranking in school, but I should be in the top 5% among 600 8th graders.. Our High School is ranked 250 or so out of top 1000 public schools as per Newsweek Magazine in 2011.. It offers several AP courses and I am confident I will do well this school.. I am very competitive and always try to do my best. I participate in sports regularly, but I am not an accomplished athlete... Working on becoming one!</p>

<p>I first started this private school quest, partly to gain experience (to use it during college admissions) and then partly to see where the chips fall... Both myself and my family are not full fledged Private School proponents..</p>

<p>The school I got into "Lawrenceville" is extremely competitive (top ten schools) and I got in as day student, my only option... However it would require my parents to make time to drop me and pick up every day - each time one hour for them and they both work long hours. </p>

<p>I would like to find from those who have attended a private school or have kids that attended or attending private schools, I would like to hear from you. I would like to find out what benefits you see in attending private school? How much more advanced the curriculum is? My favorite subjects are literature and Science, but I am also two years advanced in math. Does it really matter taking all those advanced classes? I have seen some kids from my school get into Duke, Carnegie Mellon, etc.. </p>

<p>How much difference does it make in my career and life?</p>

<p>YOUR FEEDBACK is greatly appreciated.. It would mean a lot to me...</p>

<p>A</p>

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<p>just putting this out there, reading this upset me because i spent SOOOOOO long working on my l’ville essays and my ssats and ugh, i got rejected. just appreciate that you got in is all im going to say, people want to be in your position so badly.</p>

<p>Sent from my SGH-T769 using CC</p>

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<p>My intent is neither to upset anyone nor do I take it for granted the admission.</p>

<p>But I would like to hear from others - parents, students, alumni - their experiences. Your guidance is greatly appreciated.</p>

<p>A</p>

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<p>As a fellow to-be-or-not-to-be student, I believe that the benefit in private schools lie in the increased opportunities and the academic-friendly environment. Though my local high school is one of the top in my county, it is probably #9,999 out of #10,000 nationally.</p>

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<p>Not sure, b99, if you’re talking about spending two hours a day in the car yourself, or if the total is one hour. The former is pretty stiff and could affect your ability to take advantage of what you’d like to do at L’ville. (Not sure if you can ever become a boarder if the day commute is in fact unsatisfactory.) But aside from the commute, go to the re-visit to get a sense of how different L’ville is from your hs (which you may have to imagine based on your huge ms). The difference is between apples and oranges. You may rationalize getting into the same college at the end of the four years, but that’s not the point. The mission of L’ville is to create a community of students and teachers who are united by so much common purpose, out of an uncommon diversity. My vision of public hs is that they are more “transactional”, focusing on academic and “external” inputs and outputs, without making much effort to address your individual social and spiritual needs. The latter L’ville will include in how it intentionally creates “community”. If this is getting too abstract or hard to understand, again, go to revisit and see if it “feels” right. Read more threads on CC too!</p>

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<p>As a private day school parent (who may be a boarding school parent next year), I think that some of the advantages of private/independent schools are smaller class size; opportunity to meet with teachers on a regular basis if you are having a hard time with a subject or if you are just really interested in a subject; facilities – academic, artistic, athletic, etc.; the range and quality of extracurricular activities; networking possibilities that will help you in your future in ways that you might not be able to anticipate now. I went to a public high school and a liberal arts school in New England and am active as a college alum but not as a high school alum but my friends from college who went to private schools (Brearley, Collegiate, etc.) are still very connected to their schools and to their fellow alums.</p>

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<p>@barcelona99</p>

<p>I sent you an PM.</p>

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<p>I don’t think the main advantage of a good prep school like lawrenceville is the advancement of its classes but rather the intensity and depth of learning in whatever class you take at whatever level. This is due to the small class size, the quality of the teachers, the special motivation of the teachers (for most teachers at places like lawrenceville teaching is a passion, not just a job), and the quality of the other students. All the students there chose to be there and went through a rigorous process to that end. They are motivated. One thing I think a private school does especially well is teach good writing, a skill that will be useful for the rest of your life. A friend of mine who went to public school, then yale, and did her phd in english at columbia, told me that, among the students she taught at columbia, she always noticed that private school grads wrote better than public school grads, no matter how good the public school. Also, I think one can learn an incredible amount from the sheer diversity of students at a place like L. You’ll get a more worldly education, not just in particular subjects but also in general culture. You’ll be better prepared for college. One last thing is that a place like lawrenceville becomes a part of your identity, like family, that you’ll have for the rest of your life. A friend once remarked that he hated being at Hotchkiss but loves being an alum.</p>

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<p>Thank you all… I will reply in detail after school… Look forward to hearing from more…</p>

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<p>Keep in mind that this is coming from someone who was a day student at a boarding school in the 90’s, so my advice could be outdated.</p>

<p>I only lived 10 minutes from the school and it was cheaper to live at home. Also, I thought I would have the best of both worlds - freedom at home and the best opportunities at school. And in a way, I did. But I missed out on a lot, too, by being a day student. I feel like, looking back, that I wasn’t able to bond with my classmates the way I wanted to simply because I didn’t live in the dorms and share that experience with them. I was constantly having to worry about transportation and who was coming to get me and when, and it was a pain. Then again, this was before cell phones, so it’s probably a lot easier to figure that stuff out now. I was dealing with pay phones and pagers! Plus, once a parent was in the car, there was no reaching them until they got there in person. If there was a misunderstanding about where or when to meet, all hell broke loose. </p>

<p>Again, some of my advice is outdated. But here’s another piece of the puzzle: Think about how your home life is now. Is everybody already stressed to the max? Does one or both of your parents flip out when the least little thing goes wrong or if there’s some sort of unforeseen inconvenience? Is there arguing at home? An hour (each way?) is going to add more fuel to any fires that are already there and could strain relationships all around.</p>

<p>If you’re dealing with a stressed out family system, I <em>strongly</em> suggest that you board at Lawrenceville instead of living at home, if your family can afford it. I don’t doubt that your public school is good, but I don’t think you have any idea how much work Lawrenceville is going to require from you physically, mentally, intellectually, and emotionally - how could you? It’s not part of your experience yet. Even that hour or two spent commuting each day is going to be crucial not only to you getting your work done, but also getting enough sleep. And without enough sleep comes both academic problems and athletic injuries.</p>

<p>So take my advice for what it’s worth - it might not apply to your situation. I came from a working class family where one parent worked days and another worked nights, and it took nothing to create a screaming fight in my house. For that reason alone, I wish I had boarded just to get away from the tension and chaos. Even living 10 minutes away, the commute ate into my work time - and also, sometimes I’d have to be dropped off super early or wouldn’t make it to class on time (teachers didn’t accept the “my dad dropped me off late” excuse and I still got written up even with a note from home). Living at home while going to school was just super, super, super stressful. And my parents never wanted to bring me there on weekends when my friends were socializing - I already had Saturday classes, but they refused to take me there on Sundays to see my friends. So again, I missed out on a lot of bonding.</p>

<p>I hope this helps in some way. If you got into Lawrenceville and you like the school, then I really think you should go. But being a day student is not necessarily the best of both worlds, depending on your situation.</p>

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<p>Charger78 has hit it out of the park–bravo–read that post again and again…it is spot on as to why private, esp boarding schools, are what they are and why people want them and parents are willing to pay.</p>

<p>They are ends not means to an end–at least when they do it right.</p>

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<p>Thank you for all your feedback.</p>

<p>@Charger78: I take it from your feedback that L’Ville will allow me to develop deeper bond with fellow students, also help develop my individuality more than it is possible at a typical HS like mine. I look forward to the revisit day. </p>

<p>Are there any things that I should look out for during these revisit days?</p>

<p>@uesmomof2 and @ brown1996: I take it from your feedback that I will have greater access to top notch teachers which enhances my chances of academic growth and also I get to develop long lasting relationships. Also name recognition.</p>

<p>@patronyork and @coconutcake: You have alerted me and my family with some major potential issues regarding daily commute and also the potential gap between boarders and day students. I really have no choice on boarding, but it is good to know. You have opened my eye on these important issues.</p>