<p>Relax foggy. I don't care how you spend your money.</p>
<p>We are the children of Lawyers, Doctors, CEO's and Fund Managers. We atend public school.</p>
<p>Time will tell whether we are your son's boss, partner or employee.</p>
<p>Sure ddomino88, so do the children of all convicts ..... and the list is long.</p>
<p>There is a much better chance that children of SUCCESSFUL Lawyers, Doctors, CEO's and Fund Managers attend private school.</p>
<p>One more point!!!</p>
<p>Everyone only complaint about the worth of private school in terms of the money being spent.</p>
<p>Question is if you take the money out of the equation, will you say the private school is not worth.</p>
<p>In another way the question is if you are given option to attend the private school or public school without any tution expense which one will you prefer.</p>
<p>ParentOfIvyHype: Might not some of the Lawyers, CEO's and Fund Manager at your school be convicts or under investigation and soon to be indicted as well?</p>
<p>My parents and my family are well off and successful, even by national standards, thank you. </p>
<p>Unlike you, our heads aren't stuck in our lower sphincters when it comes to measuring a person's value by how much they earn or spend.</p>
<p>Look, I'm getting off the thread too. I feel like I'm talking to modern versions of Thurston Howell III.</p>
<p>Your child will not get into an Ivy. Good Bye.</p>
<p>Guys...do you bother to read the thread? IM PERFECTLY FINE WITH GOING TO VANDERBILT. I LOVE THE SCHOOL.</p>
<p>Its my parents...</p>
<p>ddomino88 : You are the one who raised the point of your parent being well off and successful.</p>
<p>My point was just that most people don't send their children to private schools because it involves tuition and most people think it is waste to spend money on the Children Schools Tuition and consider it as a right for the Government to pick up the tab for public schools and then complain about those being so stinking.</p>
<p>I presume your parent won't mind living in the inner city gheto's as they are not bothered by the company you mix with.</p>
<p>And as getting into Ivy, I don't think it is anything objective and so there is no rules of getting into or not getting into.</p>
<p>SweetLax88-- give your parents some time to get used to the idea that you will be attending Vanderbilt. Have they visited with you? Maybe once they look past themselves to see your excitement, they will become excited for you. Good luck!</p>
<p>I have read CC for two years but haven't felt compelled to go through the process of making a username until today when I read this statement: Private schools in our view provide the best controlled environment by bringing like minded people together. Many of us here have agreed that the overall high school experience is more significant than the academic experience alone. In this light good public schools will provide a more valuable experience than many private schools. One of the most important aspects of the high school experience is peer interaction. Admissions at elite colleges agree; they invest a great deal of money and time to **produce a class that is diverse **in interests as well as socioeconomic backgrounds. What are the benefits of bringing togeather "like minded" people? This is not a rhetorical question. I am genuinely curious to understand where you are coming from. </p>
<p>Many students of private schools are missing out--most private schools have a student population that is largely middle to upper class. Some schools offer scholarships but most schools don't have the resources to take in a significant number of financial aid kids (I could be wrong about top boarding schools). </p>
<p>Maybe I am bias because I am a product of 12 years of public school education. In any case, in response to one parent's question, "If you are given option to attend the private school or public school without any tution expense which one will you prefer"?, I would say my public school in a heartbeat. It provided an education similar in quality to that of private schools and accordingly, sent off more than a third of my class to Ivy League caliber schools--but that is not the main point. We also had the opportunity to learn and socialize with classmates who come from all walks of life. Classroom discussions were lively largely due to our very different perspectives as a result of our very different backgrounds. </p>
<p>I am not addressing those who live in areas that lack good public schools. I am also not against private schools; MomofWildChild has articulated well the benefits of private schools. I just wanted to let parents know the benefits of good public schools. At the very least, I feel like public school graduates would be less likely to make elitist statements like the following: "I presume your parent won't mind living in the inner city gheto's as they are not bothered by the company you mix with". I've mixed with that company and I become a better, more learned individual. As someone who belongs to the middle class, had I gone to a private school, I would have been more likely to be narrowminded, not in mean spirit but in ignorance. </p>
<p>ParentofIvyHope- I do not know your child or the school he/she attends so I am in no position to pass judgment. In any case, I wish you and your child the best in getting into an Ivy League school, all of which I feel are highly committed to diversity.</p>
<p>Sorry that this post got so long- and Iapologize to the OP for hijacking. Vandy is a great school, you will have a great time! As for the parental issuess, time heals all. Cliche but true.</p>
<p>gocrimson10: I think you don't have your stats correct:</p>
<p>Lets go over the profile for good public schools in USA:</p>
<p>You call diversity, you will be surprised to know that most top rated public schools are:</p>
<p>90 - 95% (either White or Asian)</p>
<p>Take the example of the best public school in California Whitney it is > 90% (Asian or White).</p>
<p>Also Most of the so called good public schools are in wealthy neighborhood where the median priced houses are > $600,000 and representation from groups other than White or Asian is negligible.</p>
<p>Those sham public schools promote segragation. racial exploitation.</p>
<p>At least at my child's private school the stats for diversity are much better (35% W, 35% A, 15% L, 5% B, 10% O)</p>
<p>Private school are like minded on the basis of urge to provide good education or ethics to the children.</p>
<p>But good public school only exploit lower class people by providing the rich and wealthy a closed communities.</p>
<p>The so called childrens of Doctors, lawyers and other professional will be found in the close wealthy communities with only whites or Asian (at most) which will provide excellent education to their children at the exploitation of inner cities lower class population.</p>
<p>I've done enough studies to say that I'll prefer a private high school as I'm paying for it and not exploiting another fellow human being by closing those out in cold at the pretext of sending my child to closed wealthy communit public school</p>
<p>I attend a public high school in a state with an extremely poor record when it comes to public education funding. Both of my parents are succesful professionals, and we live in a very middle class neighborhood. I live in a valley at the confluence of wealth and lower-class: I have classmates and friends who live in apartments and who live in giant expensive homes.</p>
<p>I would beg to differ with the statistics posted by ParentOfIvyHope. I believe that your screen name reflects your general attitudes toward education and I don't think I could present an argument that would dissuade you from your views. </p>
<p>My parents taught me to value rich education over a deep bank account. </p>
<p>My public high school is very ethnically diverse. It sends students straight to the workforce, to community colleges, to state universities, to top LACs, and to Ivys. </p>
<p>It offers a variety of advanced programs, APs, IBs, extra curriculars, successful sports teams, community service opportunities, etc. I am involved in many of them, as arre most of my friends.</p>
<p>What angers me most about this thread is the arrogance and fear I sense from the parents who are spending so much money for a "higher quality" private high school education. If you were not so afraid of sending your children into an environment where they may be challenged not just academically, but socially, ethically, and culturally, than a different reality would manifest.</p>
<p>If your financial resources and will to live vicariously through your children were to be focused on a public school rather than a private school, then your child would receive a diverse, challenging education- and so would many other children.</p>
<p>My public school thrives in a state where budget cuts loom because we have embraced the socioeconomic diversity of our community. Parents from all social classes have taken risks and "integrated" my high school, providing each child with an opportunity for a quality, meaningful eductaion.</p>
<p>Peace.</p>
<p>OP: if I were your parents I'd be very proud of you. You tried your best, you sound like a great student, you got into a great school (Vanderbilt) and you should be proud of yourself regardless of what colleges you got into. I might be mad at your school, but not at you.</p>
<p>The "so called chidren of doctors, lawyers and other professional" are likely paying higher property taxes in the upper-end communities and are funding, not exploiting the schools in lower income neighborhoods where many people rent and pay no property or schol tax at all .</p>
<p>Your child will eventually need to exit the safe bubble you've created. He/she will meet and iinteract with members of nonwhite/asian ethnicity.</p>
<p>Until then, you are not contributing to the growth and development of a healthy young adult if you fear people who live in the inner city (I believe "ghetto" was your term) or who do not attend a private high school.</p>
<p>You can also rent in a good public school area. You don't have to be rich to live in a good public school system. I prefer public schools because they usually are local to where I live. Drop/pick my kids are a lot easier. This is not usually the case with private schools. I know and thought hard about this before my first child start kindergarden and came to the conclusion that in the long haul, the convenience of a good local public school is best. In addition, my kids get to socialize with the local kids while for some private schools it's maybe slightly less convenience.</p>
<p>I'm sorry, just because you went to like Deerfield Academy/Phillips Exeter/Phillips Andover Academies does NOT mean that you can get into ANY school you want</p>
<p>If you're spending $30k a year so you child gets a better education, then, to me, your viewpoint is understandable.
However, if you think this will be his or her "golden ticket" into an Ivy League school, then I think you should rethink your priorities.</p>
<p>Personaly, I'm going to a public highschool, albeit one in a upper-class area. I also know many people going to said private highschools. The only benifit that I see to going to one of the private schools, as far as admissions, is they are more "lenient" with grades and such. Doesn't work with AP classes, but if your course load is lessened by not having to even show up to your other classes, it would seem to be a manjor benifit.</p>
<p>"His friends are more diverse in all ways--racially, socio-ecomonically."</p>
<p>"At least at my child's private school the stats for diversity are much better (35% W, 35% A, 15% L, 5% B, 10% O)"</p>
<p>They may look diverse on the outside, but are they diverse in background and thought? Regardless of their race and wealth, a good majority, if not all of them, probably came from families who care about their children and their education, and a lot of those kids probably have a passion for learning. My school (public) was less racially diverse, but the people came from all walks of life. There were those kids who wanted to learn and had parents to support them, but there were also others. There were people who simply didn't care for learning at all. There were kids who wanted to make the most out of their education and go to college, but due to troubling or abusive situations at home, cannot make it a priority. They also do not have the support of their parents. One girl wanted to take the SAT, but couldn't because her parents didn't want her to, saying that college was a waste of time. I used to think college would be a more mind opening experience than high school due to the diversity in race, but it wasn't. There is more to diversity than just race and socioeconomics.</p>
<p>I recently got accepted to Exeter for my senior year, and I'm debating whether or not to go. But it seems from this thread, that attending a prestigious private boarding school doesnt really increase your chances of getting into a good school since everyone's application is of such high stamina. Is this true? Because if yes, then maybe it's just best to stay at the school I'm at right now...</p>
<p>There is a reason why students like you are having difficulties with college admissions. A whole crop of fraudulent bastards from Korean high schools, with their falsified transcripts, ghost-written essays and recommendations, and completely made-up extracurricular activities are swarming top universities, and to the extent that their admissions to such prestigious schools are rising, opportunities are narrowing for honest, hard-working kids from American high schools, i.e. students like you. </p>
<p>This has been an open secret among Korean international students. Read the following articles for yourself and decide if it requires immediate action from American students and high schools...and the universities. </p>
<p>(1) An extremely representative case of the falsification of "translated" transcripts (in English, created liberally by school administrators eager to send their kids to ivy league schools). Exclusive report by the Hankyoreh, one of the major newspapers in South Korea: </p>
<p><a href="http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/175976.html%5B/url%5D">http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/175976.html</a>
<a href="http://www.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/176484.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/176484.html</a></p>
<p>(2) SAT scandal in Korea (exams leaked and then provided to students on the eve of their exam)</p>
<p>On how Hanyoung Foreign Language HS's designation as an SAT exam center privilege was revoked + allegations surrounding the incident
<a href="http://www.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/176737.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/176737.html</a></p>
<p>On how 900 SAT exams by Korean int. students got cancelled after ETS found out that serious breaches were made in the storage of exam packets
<a href="http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200703/kt2007030918123410220.htm%5B/url%5D">http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200703/kt2007030918123410220.htm</a>
<a href="http://chronicle.com/news/article/1792/ets-cancels-900-sat-scores-in-south-korea-after-security-breach%5B/url%5D">http://chronicle.com/news/article/1792/ets-cancels-900-sat-scores-in-south-korea-after-security-breach</a></p>
<p>Just to remind you: A few students from the school in question - btw, most of its peers in Seoul and South Korea did the same thing, but were never caught in their acts - still got into Wharton, Harvard and Princeton. </p>
<p>The only way to take care of this situation? Sue the bastards. Sue the universities. Tell the universities to keep, indefinitely, all the records submitted by Korean high school students and match them with official transcripts that can be provided by Korean government if requested formally. Sue the students for their falsified records. I mean.....70 for A? With that score, the student can't even get into low-ranking universities in Korea. </p>
<p>Btw, the high schools also run SAT CR and Writing prep courses during official classroom hours! This is ****ing illegal but they continue to do so secretly. Imagine this: you are guaranteed excellent recoms and transcripts, can make up any spectacular extracurricular activities at will, and are regularly exempted from standard educational curriculum whenever you want to study for SATs. Your school run SAT prep courses during classrooms, and you don't even have to bother to show up in classes. Your essays are ghost-written by professional admission consultants. Unless you are an absolute idiot, you will get into ivy league schools. It's that simple. </p>
<p>Sue the bastards.</p>
<p>Whoa talk about crazy conspriacy theory, dude you sound like you're crying wolf how many fake korean students can there be, this is probably 1% of total applicants....and it's not like they can't handle themselves in the ivies.</p>
<p>And i love the dynamics of this thread, as soon as i leave everyone who supported the point i was trying to make chimed in, a public school education is something "real" and opens your eyes to the world, unlike the sterile snobbish world of the privates. I'm kinda afraid for those kids who go to private schools, they dont seem that independent, i think they need to take a ride down to the "ghetto" dont you agree momofwildchild? laugh out loud.</p>
<p>fsu- Thank you for continuing to prove my point. You obviously have no idea what these schools are like. No, they aren't in the ghetto. However, they are probably less insulated than many of the public schools out there. Talk about a bubble- you should check out the "top" public schools in the Dallas area! </p>
<p>You seem to have a lot of resentment towards parents who chose to provide this type of education for their kids. No, it isn't for everyone. My family's situation was unique and we sacrificed quite a bit to do this for our kids, and we certainly missed them while they were away. </p>
<p>By the way, my son is getting plenty of ghetto-time in the neighborhood around his Ivy.</p>