Private or public school? | FerrariChat

Private or public school?

Discussion in 'Other Off Topic Forum' started by Teenferrarifan, Jan 15, 2004.

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?

Public Vs. Private

  1. Public

  2. Private

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  1. Teenferrarifan

    Teenferrarifan F1 Rookie

    Feb 21, 2003
    3,098
    Media, PA
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    Erik
    What are people's thoughts on public vs. private high schools? I haven't seen this discussed before, and was curious to find out everyone's views.
    Erik
     
  2. mbmike

    mbmike Formula Junior

    Oct 31, 2003
    752
    Well, I go to a public high school, and I'm turning out just fine. Granted, it is one the best school districts in Los Angeles (Manhattan Beach), so it's excellent.

    If you're worried about it for colleges, don't be. We already have four kids in Ivy League schools just from early decision. For the record, we already have people going to the following schools just from early admissions:

    - 2x University of Pennsylvania (Including myself)
    - 2x Brown
    - 1x Duke
    - 1x University of Chicago
    - 1x Stanford
    - 2x NYU (Inlcuding Tisch Film School)
    - 1x Cal Poly San Louis Obispo

    And I guarentee there will be lots more acceptances to Ivys/Top 25 schools from regular decision. There always are.
     
  3. mondial85

    mondial85 Karting

    Sep 9, 2003
    168
    Indianapolis
    Full Name:
    Casey Slattery
    I graduated from a private school a couple years ago and loved it. I cant say anything about public schools becasue Ive never been in one, but it seems that the main advantage of a private school is they are usually smaller so you have more of a family atmosphere. Also, my private school was college prep so college is SO easy now. It prepared me for my college life in many ways. About 70% of my class went on to ivy league or to private college, but it was one of the best private schools in Indiana. I have many friends from public schools who also had a great experience.
     
  4. F328 BobD

    F328 BobD Formula 3

    Mar 17, 2001
    2,327
    Southlake, TX
    Full Name:
    BobD
    Doesn't this completely depend on where you live? Some people move away from the urban areas to get into good school districts in the suburbs where the schools are excellent... and pay dearly in taxes for the great schools.

    If I lived in downtown Chicago, I wouldn't send my kids to public schools. This and many other reasons is why we don't live in the city now.
     
  5. Teenferrarifan

    Teenferrarifan F1 Rookie

    Feb 21, 2003
    3,098
    Media, PA
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    Erik
    I will now say that I agree with what BobD I go to public school, but live in a great suburban area with good schools. I have loved public school, but I hear a lot of people who almost cringe when they hear that I go to public school for some reason. Most of them are stuck up friends of my parents, but I always wanted to go to public school. Keep this thread going. Also, mbMike congrats Penn is a great school. Coming to the east coast awesome!!
    Erik
     
  6. bostonmini

    bostonmini Formula 3

    Nov 8, 2003
    1,890
    I have spent two years at a select 16 prep, as well as 2 at a top public high school. I can say without reservation, that school is what you make of it, nothing more, nothing less. I liked public school better, it was more fun, but I still concentrated on studies. It is also good because in my opinion the more relaxed environment gives a kid much better people skills, many private schools are still single sex. I think most important is the role of the parents. Poor parenting will lead to a failure in even the best of scholastic environments, while solid values will lead to success under the most adverse conditions, in my experience.
     
  7. RacerX_GTO

    RacerX_GTO F1 World Champ
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    Nov 2, 2003
    13,965
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    Gabe V.
    I went to private school through my high school years and graduated out of a class of seven. The education was at a higher level than the public school system, thus preparing us(the students) for pre-college education. Teacher availability was always there for such a small class size.

    I will say in the 'finding friends' department... was limited at the private campus, but mingling with the public school crowd made up for the lack of ability to make new friends. I would have liked to have dated more cheerleaders than I was able to date, but some things are not possible when you are confined to a close knit campus.


    - Gabe
     
  8. Teenferrarifan

    Teenferrarifan F1 Rookie

    Feb 21, 2003
    3,098
    Media, PA
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    Erik
    Has anyone gone from public high school to a private college? I am leaving public school to go to St. Joe's next year, and am curious as to the difference there as well.
    Erik
     
  9. ralessi

    ralessi Formula 3

    May 26, 2002
    1,093
    Houston, TX
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    Rikk
    I don't think the issue is so much about public vs. private but about where you live and the quality of the schools. In some places (like where I live) the public school option FAR outweighs any possible private schools that I could go to. But still, the public school is not very good program wise.

    For someone who is interested in sending their kids to good schools, it is important to live in an area where there are many options. That way you can send him to the school that sends 20 or 30 kids to the ivy league each year. In my school, we send probably 1 kid a year if that - this hurts the new kids who want to get in (me). If you send your kid to a good school - public or private - that has established a name for itself, and that has counselors and other people who will go the extra mile to help you/your kids in college admissions, you will have a great advantage.
     
  10. kenny

    kenny Formula Junior

    Nov 9, 2003
    376
    Greenwich , CT
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    Kenny
    Definitely Private school.... The high school I graduated from placed 40% of its graduating class into ivy league schools, and this is pretty much consistent year to year.. The public schools in NYC are something to be desired...
     
  11. branko

    branko F1 Rookie
    Owner

    Mar 17, 2003
    3,710
    Birmingham, Alabama
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    Branko Medenica
    I did and loved it. Going to a small private college, I felt more like an individual, I knew all of my professors and they knew me by name. Friends of mine have told that at a large university you become more like a number.
     
  12. Teenferrarifan

    Teenferrarifan F1 Rookie

    Feb 21, 2003
    3,098
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    Erik
    Branko I agree with you. That is why I didn't want to go to a huge school with like 30,000 students. If the teacher doesn't know my name I don't want to go there.
    ERik
     
  13. jimpo1

    jimpo1 Two Time F1 World Champ
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    Jul 30, 2001
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    Dallas, TX
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    Jim E
    Bob, are you talking about me? :)

    I live in an area that has exemplary public schools, but I put my kids in private school. I question the logic of that every day. There have been parents that have taken their kids out of the private school because the classes were too small!
     
  14. FastTalk

    FastTalk Formula Junior

    Aug 20, 2002
    556
    Calabasas, CA
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    Adam Alexander
    Is the guy that is going to Tisch Film School have the last name Goldstein, I think I know his dad?

    Adam
     
  15. TimN88

    TimN88 F1 Veteran

    Jun 12, 2001
    5,045
    Northeast
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    Tim
    Public school for me all the way. Out of the 107 kids in my graduating class, probably 35% went to teir one schools, including me. Colleges dont care f you went to prep school. If you have the grades then your fine.
    Also, prep school kids are, in general, very sheltered so when they come to college, they are the kids that end up in the hospital for alcohol poisoning. I dont have this problem because in public highschool more than half the kids drink regularly at age 14 (which by the way is FINE). Then again it depends on where you live. In westchester county that s pretty much the norm, although my town drinks more than others.
    Highschool is all part of growing up. I wouldnt have given it up for the world.
     
  16. mondial85

    mondial85 Karting

    Sep 9, 2003
    168
    Indianapolis
    Full Name:
    Casey Slattery
    wow, that wasent my experience. We drank and smoked all the time in private school. It was the public school kids who had no idea how to drink or what the difference between beer and hard liquor was. Like you said though, it depends on where your from.
     
  17. 96impalaSS

    96impalaSS F1 Rookie

    Dec 8, 2003
    3,524
    Hell
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    Chris
    a couple of friends dropped out for one reason or another (dont know why its not liek highschool was that tough) but they went and got there G.E.D. and its there diploma is the exact same as mine from my highschool it even says Castle High school on it. so somebody "other shouldve been listed on there as well (like home schooling or what ever other methods there are to choose from). But form what i learned at public schools you may not really learn as much about actual subjects but you learn more about real life attending schools that have a bit from all the different types of people like lower to middle income and upper income people and alot of times street smarts can help you out a great deal in real life. Kinda like how the marines helped me learn about how everyhtigns not fair and sometimes you just gotta suck it up and be a man about it.(i thnk what i was trying to explain got messed up due the few drinks i had earlier but oh well ;) )
     
  18. carmaster

    carmaster Karting

    Jan 13, 2004
    62
    Boston/ Portland
    Full Name:
    Paul
    I went to a public highschool, and now I go to a small private college in Boston. I do like being at a small school, there is under 3400 students here and less then 30 kids in each of my classes and usually it's less then 20 in the specialty classes.
     
  19. Dave Radu

    Dave Radu Karting

    Nov 20, 2003
    133
    San Jose, Ca
    Full Name:
    Dave Radu
    My daughter just graduated from private school. Best $$ I ever spent.
    I could of bought a 360 with what it cost me over the years. But she is well educated and I know I've done the best I could for her.
    Now on to the 360.
     
  20. TestShoot

    TestShoot F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Sep 1, 2003
    12,026
    Beverly Hills
    Private baby, especially when your kids are younger, they get more education and less bs. If you take it seriously, giving them a headstart is the best you can do for your kids.

    When is the last time kids shot up a private school?

    I went to Hewlett on Long Island, then went to public school. I learned more French and science before grade 5 than I did in HS at college prep level.

    Not to knock public school teachers, but when you pay for an education, you pretty much guarantee that for a high dollar amount, your kid will be learning something worthwhile and not being stalled because of other students holding up the class. Public schools spend more time hand holding kids and overcrowding kills them. In Hewlett, if I was not up to task, I get a swift kick in the ass (figuratively)

    And when you start them young in an environment like that, they are more adept at learning as life moves on.

    Socially public schools are more laid back, no emphasis is placed on protocol or etiquette. More likely that public schools can be seen as 'Lord of the Flies' where social class and clique -ish nature is set up.

    In private school nobody cared that my dad was a cop and my best friend's father was a Concorde pilot, but in HS @ Los Alamitos, the Orange County attitude left me out of pretty much everything that I did not kick the door open on myself.
     
  21. KennyH

    KennyH F1 Veteran
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    Aug 13, 2001
    5,238
    NYC
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    Kenny

    Couldn't have said it any better...

    My experience with private school kids (I attended public school) are that they are generally wilder when they go to school and get involved with harder and more expensive drugs. Public school has all of the benefits a private school has if you challenge yourself. If you're in the top level courses (AP and honors) you generally have teachers who are just as qualified (or more so) but choose public because they pay more and have more benefits.

    If your child is going to mix with the bad crowd, they will regardless of where they are. If they're looking for trouble, they'll find it no matter if they're with the "general population" or if they're with a diversity deprived population. I go to a college with a fair amount of diversity now and it is a real eye opener to kids who came from private school-- I have friends who have never had a real conversation with a spanish kid- and when they're put in a situation in which they have to, theyr'e intimidated..

    As Tim said, prep school kids are generally sheltered- and when they finally become independent from their school/parents they start experimenting; for instance, the only kids I know of who use coke and e are prep school kids-- whereas public school kids have been subjected to parties and drinking from an earlier age and when they have their freedom, don't take advantage of it..

    Considering you don't live in a town/city with a terrible school district, send you kids to public school.

    (BTW, the argument that private school kids get into better schools is BS, my best friends go to Harvard, UPenn, Cornell, Michigan and Virginia)
     
  22. judge4re

    judge4re F1 World Champ

    Apr 26, 2003
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    Dr. Dumb Ass
    Unless it is a high crime area, there is nothing wrong with public school. All the reasons pointed out are valid. Besides, nothing prepares you for partial differential equations...

    Education is the foundation, the stronger it is, the better career you can build upon it. That said, it is not a spectator sport and requires active participation. Life has a nasty habit of identifying the star performers.
     
  23. TimN88

    TimN88 F1 Veteran

    Jun 12, 2001
    5,045
    Northeast
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    Tim
    Bull****. I took AP European history in highschool where i learned everything that was taught in a european history class i took at college last year. At private school it seems like kids dont get an experinece dealing with adults. Its like theyre in their own little world (kind of like college i guess). If you at least make a little effort in highschool you can get into most any college. I go to a tier one school and i would guess 50% of the kids here are from private schools, maybe more. their HS education costed hundreds of thoussands and dollars, while mine was free. Now im at the same college. To top it off, my grades are significantly better than most of the private school kids i know and i dont even spend as much time doing schoolwork as them, (mainly because i dont have time).
     
  24. Teenferrarifan

    Teenferrarifan F1 Rookie

    Feb 21, 2003
    3,098
    Media, PA
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    Erik
    Well said Kenny and Tim. BTW Tim I am taking AP Europe right now, and I can't even imagine anything that isn't taught about the subject. The class covers everything.
    Erik
     
  25. TCM

    TCM Formula Junior

    Nov 10, 2003
    552
    Tyngsborough, MA
    Well, I agree and disagree with many of the points here. School is what you make of it. I went to public school until high school, and then attended a private hs. I think the teachers were better in public school, but the atmosphere for learning was 100x better in private school. When the bell rings, kids are quiet and ready to learn. This is not the case in public school, where you have the kids who could care less about school (maybe 3%) causing trouble and distracting other students. I found that the private HS also helped prepare me for the workload in college. I knew how to study and how to use my free time properly. On a side note, I also think private school definately has more alcohol/drugs usage. Kids have the money for them and are not worried about the risks. Overall though, I think private school is worth the money for the connections you make and the more challenging work load.
     

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