Private High School...Worth the Added Cost?

Pre-College Topics High School Life
1

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I'm a rising junior this year and I really didn't enjoy my high school last year because I felt like I wasn't challenged in my classes and I didn't like the people I was with. My high school used to be the best in the district but it has really gone down hill. We have drug busts about 1-2 times a month and I see drug deals way too often. I also can't put my backpack down or out of my sight because we have 1-3 thefts EACH DAY. I really didn't feel safe at my high school and was disappointed in the easiness of the classes. </p>

<p>I was really excited because I thought it would be different this year. I chose to participate in a dual enrollment program at the local community college. While I was disappointed to leave all of my friends at high school, I was excited because I thought the classes would be more challenging and the people there would really want to learn. However, today was my first day and I was really disappointed. I have a horrible headache from the smell of all the smokers in my class and most of my classes consist of high school drop-outs with a few parents thrown in. I barely have any homework and really don't feel like I will learn very much this year. I don't want to waste another year of high school where I am not challenged and not enjoying myself.</p>

<p>Basically, I have three options now. I can go back to my old high school and hope to get back in the AP classes. Option Two, I can stay at the community college and try to make the best of it. Option Three, I can attend the private jewish high school about 1/2 hour away. Ideally, I would love to attend the private high school but my parents really don't want me to. They don't see the point in paying for a high school farther away when the one down the street is free.</p>

<p><"CLIFF NOTES" VERSION> I'm not enjoying the dual enrollment program I'm in, is it worth it to pay the extra money for a private high school. Will it be too late to make new friends if I do switch to the private school (junior year)? Should I just stick it out at the dual enrollment program or transfer back to my old public high school? </p>

<p>Thanks in advance for your help:)</p>

2

<p>Very difficult question. I had to make a decision like this a few months ago, although it was leaving my pretty good high school and joining a free public boarding high school(competetive admissions, NCSSM). I chose to move schools.</p>

<p>I found that my grades aren't as good as I wanted to be, and I'm not the smartest person here anymore(far below, although I have very very good shot at #1 for computer science :) ). But I absolutely love it here.</p>

<p>I would say do what your heart tells you. Don't try and do it to get into college. There is no way to "beat" the College Admissions system. If you get into a college above your level, you just might be screwed over for the rest of your life.</p>

3

<p>For ME, the $18k tuition is worth it. Compared to the public school system I would be going to, the education is just totally different. Not better per se, but more "intellectual" if that makes any sense. The workload is 100000000000000000000000000000x harder (I had 14 hours of french this weekend because i had to redo the summer reading because i switched into honors from regular and there's a different summer assignment, and in the first 4 days of honors english we had 2 essays due, none of them summer work). But the drama program is sorta my niche, and I could NOT get the training I'm getting in drama from a public school because instead of being like the everybody man in the shows at my current school, I would be one of like 50 stage managers and 20 directors and 150 stagecrew and 400 actors. I have the flexibility and freedom here to act in one show, direct another, do light design for another, stage manage the fourth, etc...</p>

<p>For many (most?) kids, the money is not worth it. I'd say that 75% of the kids at my school would be just as challenged and happy at a public school, but I'm not one of them.</p>

<p>I'm also the type of person that really enjoys teacher communication, and I have literally a dozen teacher friends that I actually enjoy spending time with, etc. and they're not "weird" about spending time with students. I frequently have coffee and chat with past teachers that no longer teach me, etc. When there's only 8 or 12 kids in a classroom and you're one of like 5 vocal ones, that's what happens. I had a class last year of 3 (Ap music theory), and one of two kids this year (but i dropped it for Ap art history, with 9 or so kids so there's only one in the first class now).</p>

<p>You have to evaluate what you want out of a school. It's sort of like the big university vs. liberal arts college thing.</p>

<p>OH - another thing, we get WAYYYY too comfortable in our surroundings. :D No one wears shoes, the dress code is enforced but people always wear clothes that meet the requirements but are by no means "nice", etc. And I know VERY personal details about everybody, including people I would never spend time with. That's another, somewhat unfortunate, thing that happens. Everyone knows everything about everybody, good or bad. You do sortof respect people you don't like, which doesn't happen anywhere else.</p>

<p>I think you should tour some private schools and see if you like them. But don't let that be your only thing to go by - I wasn't impressed by the tour when I toured the school I'm at now back in 6th grade. But I enrolled anyway because of various other incidental factors, and I couldn't imagine myself anywhere else.</p>