While we haven’t heard from all the schools yet, I’d be interested to hear people’s (informed) thoughts about Regis, vs. Trinity, vs. SA, vs Collegiate vs Horace Mann. We think HM is the most high pressured (and farthest geographically). For a smart, high achieving boy who is not used to tons of pressure (coming from a low key school), but is driven to perform, and somewhat inherently competitive, what would be best? Open to all-boys, obviously, but have reservations.
Regis is a very special place. If your son was just admitted, I’d go with that.
Only caveat is if your son is very advanced in STEM (meaning has already taken calculus in elementary school or is ready for calculus as a freshman), but none of those schools is particularly strong for a very advanced STEM student.
For an unhooked kid, meaning no legacy, minority or influential parent “bumps,” college placement should be strongest out of Regis. Good luck with your choice, and congrats!
Trinity is pretty high pressured. I don’t know what gave you the impression it wasn’t?
Regis is free.
Regis is in a league all it’s own.
For me, Regis would be the clear choice.
What gave you the impression that OP’s impression of Trinity is low pressure? Did I miss something?
Oh, I’m not under the impression that Trinity is low stress-the students there just seemed happier than those at HM, which seems hyper competitive. When we toured for K (years ago, obviously), our tour guide basically admitted to being overwhelmed. At least at Trinity, everyone gets a lunch period! But tell me more about the pressure at Trinity-I’d love to know more
Thanks. The tuition is not an issue for us (long story), so the free part is not relevant. We love Regis’s motto, and service component and have met great grads from there. One concern we have is that with no tuition, the per student spend is much lower, which might compromise quality of education? And certainly leads to bigger class size. He’s a strong math student, but hasn’t been exposed to advanced math classes, so, unless he takes off in high school, should be fine without super advanced options.
If you don’t need the free spot at Regis, maybe leave it for someone who does? Small class sizes make the biggest difference for kids who lack other advantages. For kids with college educated parents, small class sizes make less of a difference. At least that’s what the research says re: public school class sizes. We have good friends at Trinity and it seems like a high pressure environment, not just in terms of academics, but socially, as well. It is easy to feel poor even if you are quite wealthy! Families seem quite status conscious.
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Helpful feedback on trinity. I won’t mind feeling poor, but I’d rather not have my son be surrounded by overly entitled peers, and become entitled himself.
I wouldn’t worry about spending compromising quality of education, of course once you are past a threshold above which all of these schools comfortably fall. Students make the school, not the other way around. Same thing for class size. It makes no difference for kids with the cognitive ability to get into Regis.
One thing to be aware of, which we have discovered now that our kid is in a private high school with the children of at least four billionaires. The donor and influence culture can permeate a school, and lead if not to outright favoritism in both grading as well as discipline, then to what is perhaps worse: the perception of favoritism. Kids have a keen sense of fairness, but they also have a notable tendency to latch onto excuses for their own failures to engage, reasoning that it’s a “rigged system.” As you tour these places, I would keep your eyes and ears open to any signs of this.
Last, I personally think there is a lot to be said for single sex education at this age, especially for boys. So, for me, the choice would be between Regis and Collegiate. And I’m just guessing from your screen name that you are on the Regis side of the park…
Best of luck, you can’t go wrong with any of the choices, but I think I’d go with Regis even if the free tuition is not important.
Good points, thank you. I’m interested to hear more about the benefits of single sex education at this age. Removing the distractions of the opposite sex has clear advantages (assuming child is hetero), but I worry about Lord of the Flies with all boys.
You won’t get any Lord of the Flies at Regis, lol. Besides the distractions of the opposite sex at these ages, I think that if you can make generalizations (and they are only generalizations), boys and girls simply learn differently. Boys tend to have shorter attention spans, and be more interested in pushing and extending boundaries. Girls are much more focused, more intellectually mature by mid-adolescence, but less interested in pushing and extending boundaries.
Collaboration and the need for social approval appear to be stronger for girls at this age (and maybe at all ages) than for boys; conversely, it is easier for boys to compete, even fight, and then simply brush it off as if nothing happened. Again, these are just generalizations, and any individual boy or girl of course would fall somewhere on a continuum, but in my experience they argue for different approaches to learning. Just my two cents…
There is a huge literature on sex differences, and you could start by googling Steven Pinker’s videos on Youtube - they are as good a starting place as any - if you are interested.
Thanks, again. I’ve read lots of Michael Thompson, but will look at Pinker, too.
Regis boys mix regularly with girls from the nearby all-girl Catholic schools like Sacred Heart. Also, St. Ignatius is coed and right across the street. Plus being in Manhattan, your son will have plenty of exposure to the opposite sex.
Regis all the way.
I’m just curious.
For those who have said Regis all the way: Is there a coed or all girls’ option you would recommend over the other schools in OP’s title?
An additional relevant point, to be eligible to apply to Regis, you need to be a baptized Roman catholic boy …
At Regis your S will get so much more than just a great academic education.
@wisteria100 , what is the so much more? I’m not closely familiar with Regis at all, but am aware of the school and know of if it’s high academics and have have heard great feedback from people familiar with the school.
For Regis, people often emphasize the no-tuition as an asset, and I can certainly understand that. I just want to be sure that it’s a truly outstanding education, not just very good and free. I’ve also heard that Regis can involve more rote memorization and less Harkness-style discussion than some of the other top schools, (though I am not sure if that is true and would love to hear more about that). My son is very interested in discussion and posing deep (for a 14 year-old) questions, so he will do best in a school that fosters intellectual curiosity.