<p>Public schooling my entire life. And I'd like to think I've turned out well.</p>
<p>At least in the area I live, I think the kids are better off attending public schools, especially for elementary and middle school. We had more opportunities in terms of technology and earning high school credit early (with math and foreign languages).</p>
<p>Also, I think in my situation, the schools I have attended are far more diverse than any private school, both economically and racially. And I've learned to get along with people radically different than myself. Plus, I have had more freedom in choosing my religious beliefs (I know not all private schools are parochial).</p>
<p>Which leads me to believe I have benefited more from public schools than I would have from private schooling.</p>
<p>I've gone to both public and private schools. The private school I go to now is unbeatable. Simply, it has funds no public school can come close to and money buys great teachers, great facilities and unbelievable opportunities for study abroad and things most people don't have the opportunity to do until college. It also has amazing diversity with kids from every state and dozens of countries. I was happy in public school, but honestly, it just couldn't compare and I thank my parents for making this investment.</p>
<p>It all depends on the school you go to (not all public/private schools are the same) and what you want out of the school. I have a friend that has attended both public and private schools and she says there are pros and cons for both. For me, I've attended public schools every year up until this year, when I'll enter a private school. Should be an interesting experience.</p>
<p>I think it depends on location as well. Where I live, there's an excellent public schooling system. But I can understand if the school system isn't very good why you would want to go to a private school. At the same time, I think public school gives opportunities that private school don't.</p>
<p>I agree WeezerFan. For example, where I am from, public schools offer much strong programs then any of the private schools in the area. By the same token, they are really crappy public schools out there. It all depends.</p>
<p>The quality of pubic schools vary a lot depending on where you live. In NYC, most public schools are pretty bad...and the funding for them comes from property taxes, a system that's pretty flawed bc a poor region can't afford to have good public schools because the property isn't worth as much. </p>
<p>Private schools aren't a waste of money if your public schools are awful. I went to public school before high school and I seriously felt that it was retarding my intellectual development. I loved the private high school I attended and it has taught me so much. </p>
<p>Also, a lot of private schools offer financial aid for poor families, so you don't have to be rich or give an arm and a leg to attend.</p>
<p>But I think that public schools are usually more diverse, and I think there's a lot to be said about that. I've learned how to get along with kids that are vastly different from myself in school. Sure, there's lots of drugs and bad things in my school, but I think it's good to have exposure to that. After all, there is in the real world too, and it's good to deal with it at a young age and not be sheltered. (Not to imply that private school students are.)</p>
<p>How can public schools possibly be more diverse? They have to take anyone who lives in an area, and most areas are more rather than less homogenius. Top private schools draw from every state and country. They choose based on diversity, They have financial aid to make certain that a full range of incomes are represented. Take a top public like Scarsdale. Everyone is upper middle class or above. How on earth can public schools be more diverse when towns tend to be people of like minds and circumstances?!</p>
<p>Suze, it depends where you live. Much of suburban Maryland is far from homogenous (except for Bethesda and Potomac), so public schools around here are very diverse.</p>
<p>Im seeing a lot of ignorance floating around in this thread. Anyway, I've been to both a public school and a private school, so I will share my thoughts...</p>
<p>Social Aspect: Most of you who say that there are no cliques, no social life, no drugs, etc. in private schools are just dead wrong. You are falling into the trap of the typical stereotype of the football jocks crowding the hallways of public schools with cheerleaders in their arms and the bookworms studying nonstop in the private school libraries. However, I argue that social life in a private school can be much better. For one, it's a smaller class of kids and you really get to know each and every one of your classmates. My class size is 140 and I know everyone's name and can probably name at least one interest of each student. Secondly, in response to the person who said private schools are missing out on the "drugs," this was by far the MOST ignorant statement. I thought it was widely known that drug use is infinitely higher in private schools, mostly because they have the dough to do it at least once a week. And concerning the sports... I'd say that across the board, private school sports are better. Recruiting is a huge factor in that. If you look at all the top teams in the nation in sports like basketball or hockey, private schools flood the board.</p>
<p>Academic Aspect: Many argue that you can get just as good of an education in public schools than private. In some cases, yes...a good public school can offer just as great of an education. But in my mind, its the RESOURCES that count. There are soooooo many opportunities in a private school it is quite ridiculous. I wont go into much depth, but the main thing that private schools offer are RESOURCES, RESOURCES, and more RESOURCES. In the college counselling aspect, the private schools have the public schools beat by faaaar. Where as a college counselor in a public school may be responsible for hundreds of kids, a private school may have 2 or 3 counselors representing no more than 120 kids or so. The counselors really get to know you. It is very common to meet with your counselor once a week during the school year. This allows them to advocate very strongly for you when it comes to college app time.</p>
<p>I don't think private schools are diverse at all, even if they draw kids from around the country, most of them tends to be rich and spoiled. The culture at a private school is pretty homogenous--everyone wears the same brands of clothing and share SAT tutors. A lot of those kids don't understand what it's like to have to work for what you get, because they can just charge everything to daddy's credit card. But academically, these schools are top-notch and they have much smaller classes than public schools.</p>
<p>zantedeschia, could you generalize anymore?</p>
<p>How are private schools not diverse? They are MUCH more diverse than public because they come from many different areas. In my neck of the woods, you go to any of the inner-city public schools and 95% are african americans. go 50 miles east and they are all white protestants. in my private school, in the class of 140 or so, there are (roughly) 10 african americans, 10 orientals, about 15-20 indians, about 20-30 jews, and the rest white. how much more diverse can that get? as far as the "kids using daddy's credit card," i suppose thats true for the vast majority. afterall, private schools arent free. but saying that all of them are that way is ludicrous as well. kids do receive financial aid and i have several friends who work long hours during the summer to help foot the bill for college.</p>
<p>okay...i exagerrated the number of minorities out of fury in reading yet another ignorant poster...making a post full of stereotypes and generalities. to clarify, there are exactly 3 african americans, exactly 12 orientals, exactly 16 indians, however i wasnt lying about the jews...there are literally dozens of them. close to 30.</p>
<p>zantedeschia, you do realize only a small portion of the students at private schools are going to schools like Exeter and Hotchkiss? I'd say about 15% of my friends ended up going to the largest private high school in my town, and they did so because a) it's Catholic and b) the Archdiocese covered most of their tuition. Most of them are working-class Irish, Polish, and Italian kids, and several of my Jewish and Protestant friends went there as well.</p>
<p>There are differences between "private," "prep," and "boarding." You are definitely not describing the average private school.</p>
<p>Zanteseshia, you don't have a clue what you're talking about. Let's also throw out the average parochiacal school. They don't even count as a private school. There are many poor private schools. The best are the most diverse schools in the Country.</p>