<p>I agree with the parent that the child should decide where he wants to attend school. If he likes the private, enroll him there. If he prefers to attend the public, let him go there.</p>
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<p>Actually, many top schools are particularly eager to tap into top achievers at less-resourced public HSs who have shown the initiative to find their own enrichment activities. My two Ds at Harvard both graduated from our rural county public HS with over 2/3 of the students on the free or reduced-cost lunch program. Their HS program was not exceptional, but since my wife and I are both educators we always knew that we’d be active in helping them supplement their formal curriculum. I believe that having built the record that they did in a setting that required extra effort was a major hook in their applications at Ivies.</p>
<p>Read other posts by this poster. ■■■■■?</p>
<p>■■■■■ ALERT It’s a student ■■■■■■■■, which is why I did not respond to this thread, even though I have an opinion on public v. private high school.</p>
<p>Yep…went back and read…in other posts this poster is a high school junior. In this thread, he is the spouse of someone and together they earn $300,000 a year. </p>
<p>Nice try. I hope the mods close this thread.</p>
<p>My D’s went to private school b/c the local public schools are not that good. Period. It was the best choice but it was also their choice. It was definitely a financial sacrifice but we do not regret it. Small classes (like 6-8), wonderful relationships with teachers, and very very well prepared for college. They also were day/boarders usually staying during the week and home on w/e. Although D #2 was a proctor and stayed more. Adjusting to a college dorm - there was no adjustment. They had already done it. But it is not for everyone. Shadow, shadow, and look at several schools.</p>
<p>Nice catch about the ■■■■■■■■.</p>
<p>thumper1-■■■■■ Patrol. Nice snag.</p>
<p>It seems that the big difference is not so much academic quality as competitiveness (public hs) vs. nurturing (private hs). It sounds a bit like the discussion of LAC vs. big or medium research university.
Some kids need a more nurturing environment, some are naturally competitive, and some are not competitive but are not bothered by other people’s competitiveness. So you need to figure out what kind of kid you have.
Also what do the schools offer beyond academics? A neighbor of ours has a son who was accepted at all the top private schools he applied to in our area (some are nationally known and are considered feeders for Harvard). The hs is actually bi-modal and sends a fair number of students to HYPSM every year, but it also has low SES, limited English students. He decided to go to our local and only so-so high school because of the ECs, and I’m told he loves it. Both my kids went to the public hs and did very well in college admissions and both enjoyed the range of ECs available there.</p>
<p>Ugh, I posted before I found about the ■■■■■ alert! :(</p>
<p>That is OK…once in a while we all feed a ■■■■■.</p>
<p>Yes. Good ■■■■■ catch. ■■■■■■ other threads, too…</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/738230-can-i-get-into-harvard-4-0-5-0-gpa.html#post1062823848[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/738230-can-i-get-into-harvard-4-0-5-0-gpa.html#post1062823848</a></p>
<p>Actually credit goes to MOWC…who first posted the ■■■■■ alert.</p>
<p>Credit to atomom, then MOWC and thumper. Goodbye ■■■■■</p>