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I went to a private school. AMA.

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Original post by Wired_1800
Would you send your kids to private schools from the experience that you had?


Yes, absolutely. An elite one in the UK/US (Eton, Westminster, Choate, Andover, Exeter etc) or the same as what I had: private international school.

The network, environment, teaching quality, opportunities are all unmatched.
Original post by Wired_1800
Would you send your kids to private schools from the experience that you had?


I know I definitely wouldn't
Original post by tazarooni89
What kind of assumptions have you made?

My view of society probably did get skewed in a way. I always knew that there were people who didn't have much money or did things that aren't considered to be "posh", but then I underestimated what a high proportion of people that was.


What things would you consider to be posh?

Did your private school do Oxbridge prep interviews and things like that?
Do you actually feel like the education is better?
Original post by Steampunk_Turtle
Do you actually feel like the education is better?


I couldn't say for sure, because I've never been to a state school.

Although I'd say do get great opportunities for a well rounded education. Not just in terms of academics, but in terms of a broad range of different types of experiences, which would usually cost a lot of money to get.

In terms of academics though, I think the most useful thing is the fact that you're surrounded by lots of other people who value education and perform really well. It incentivises you to work harder yourself.
Original post by qwertyuipdoe
I know I definitely wouldn't


Why wouldn't you send them to private schools? Private school kids account for majority of the leaders in many industries including finance, law, media, engineering, arts, politics etc. They also account for high numbers in top universities around the world including UCL, Oxbridge, Imperial, Harvard, Yale, Princeton etc.
Original post by balanced
I never said paying for food was easy, but it's possible to keep meals cheap by making things like pasta bake.


You clearly completely missed my point. You go on holiday 'every few years' and you get presents every christmas and birthday. Shut the **** up thinking you have it tough. Your life is bloody easy, just as mine is - (YOU GO ON HOLIDAY EVERY FEW YEARS - SO MANY PEOPLE HAVEN'T EVEN LEFT ENGLAND). Stop being so pathetic and understand how privileged you are to have the life you have.

Spoiler

Original post by celloel
You clearly completely missed my point. You go on holiday 'every few years' and you get presents every christmas and birthday. Shut the **** up thinking you have it tough. Your life is bloody easy, just as mine is - (YOU GO ON HOLIDAY EVERY FEW YEARS - SO MANY PEOPLE HAVEN'T EVEN LEFT ENGLAND). Stop being so pathetic and understand how privileged you are to have the life you have.

Spoiler



I never said I have it hard. Therefore you're whole argument is invalid. Also I was quite happy that I got my grades, as exams can be quite hard when you feel like you haven't slept for 72 hours due to narcolepsy. Jumping to conclusions a bit.
Original post by celloel
You clearly completely missed my point. You go on holiday 'every few years' and you get presents every christmas and birthday. Shut the **** up thinking you have it tough. Your life is bloody easy, just as mine is - (YOU GO ON HOLIDAY EVERY FEW YEARS - SO MANY PEOPLE HAVEN'T EVEN LEFT ENGLAND). Stop being so pathetic and understand how privileged you are to have the life you have.

Spoiler



Hur dur dur 'check your privilege' blah blah blah

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Original post by balanced
I never said I have it hard. Therefore you're whole argument is invalid. Also I was quite happy that I got my grades, as exams can be quite hard when you feel like you haven't slept for 72 hours due to narcolepsy. Jumping to conclusions a bit.


You did say that, you said 'people don't understand how tough we have it', basically saying you think you have it tough.
I have a physical illness, but I worked for them - my parents didn't buy me my grades.
Original post by Princepieman
Hur dur dur 'check your privilege' blah blah blah

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Yeah, he ****ing does need to. It's disgusting to say you have it hard for their reasons - their literal reasons were because they 'only go on holiday every few years' and only get presents at Christmas and Birthdays. Some people actually do have it tough. And this person does not.
Okay, let's all calm down 😳

Whether or not someone "has it tough" is a relative thing. Most of us are probably in a position where we have very easy lives compared to some people, and tough lives compared to others.

If your parents have enough money to spend on private school, you probably have an "easy" life, in the sense that you also have food on the table, a bed to sleep in, clothes to wear etc. Which not everyone does. On the other hand, the stereotype that as a private school pupil, you're the son of a rich businessman with a top job and a huge estate already lined up for you to inherit without having to do a single bit of work in your life is also mostly not true.

Chances are, you're somewhere in the middle. It's true that we have it easy in some ways, and also true that it's not always easy as some people might think. Let's just leave it at that :smile: This isn't a competition to see who has the toughest life. We're all just trying to make our way in the world however we can.
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by celloel
You did say that, you said 'people don't understand how tough we have it', basically saying you think you have it tough.
I have a physical illness, but I worked for them - my parents didn't buy me my grades.

You don't but grades they just make us work and don't really teach us.
Original post by celloel
Yeah, he ****ing does need to. It's disgusting to say you have it hard for their reasons - their literal reasons were because they 'only go on holiday every few years' and only get presents at Christmas and Birthdays. Some people actually do have it tough. And this person does not.


To imagine that there are people fleeing war and persecution and those that cannot afford 3 standard meals per day. Yet, we have a kid who has it tough that they did not go to the Bahamas last year and had to settle for Cornwall.
Original post by Princepieman
Yes, absolutely. An elite one in the UK/US (Eton, Westminster, Choate, Andover, Exeter etc) or the same as what I had: private international school.

The network, environment, teaching quality, opportunities are all unmatched.


Really? Why not just a really good state school in a good school district? Or a grammar (selective) state school? They all have good opportunities and the network isn't really that important at the school stage except for politics. Most people who can afford to send their kids to elite private schools probably already have a great network of professionals.
Original post by Trapz99
Really? Why not just a really good state school in a good school district? Or a grammar (selective) state school? They all have good opportunities and the network isn't really that important at the school stage except for politics. Most people who can afford to send their kids to elite private schools probably already have a great network of professionals.


Because, I want to maximise the level of opportunities available to my children. There's a difference between simply acknowledging that you might have some good opportunities as a well off member of society and actively maximising for the highest exposure to said opportunities.

You simply cannot compare a place like Andover (with an over $1bil endowment) to a 'good state school' in a 'good area'. The people who get into these top private schools are not only very well connected but they have the curiosity, intellect and general 'polish' about them which will rub off of their classmates.

Likewise with my international school experience, I absolutely would not be the same person I am today without exposure to so many cultures and backgrounds. I'm much more open minded, more aware, more comfortable with change, and more attuned to having to shape myself into new environments than I otherwise would be had I stayed in a normal school.

So it's not a question of do good state schools have good opportunities but rather do they maximise these opportunities in a condensed and effective manner? The answer to the latter question is they don't.
Original post by Princepieman
Because, I want to maximise the level of opportunities available to my children. There's a difference between simply acknowledging that you might have some good opportunities as a well off member of society and actively maximising for the highest exposure to said opportunities.

You simply cannot compare a place like Andover (with an over $1bil endowment) to a 'good state school' in a 'good area'. The people who get into these top private schools are not only very well connected but they have the curiosity, intellect and general 'polish' about them which will rub off of their classmates.

Likewise with my international school experience, I absolutely would not be the same person I am today without exposure to so many cultures and backgrounds. I'm much more open minded, more aware, more comfortable with change, and more attuned to having to shape myself into new environments than I otherwise would be had I stayed in a normal school.

So it's not a question of do good state schools have good opportunities but rather do they maximise these opportunities in a condensed and effective manner? The answer to the latter question is they don't.


Yeah I guess it is true that the private schools do shape children into more intellectual, more confident people and have better opportunities. But, personally, I just feel that a free education at a state school will be fine (along with the right parenting) for the most part. Private schooling and its benefits seem like more of a luxury thana necessity for me. All I would want in a school is good teaching, good facilities and good clubs and activities outside academia.
Original post by Trapz99
Yeah I guess it is true that the private schools do shape children into more intellectual, more confident people and have better opportunities. But, personally, I just feel that a free education at a state school will be fine (along with the right parenting) for the most part. Private schooling and its benefits seem like more of a luxury thana necessity for me. All I would want in a school is good teaching, good facilities and good clubs and activities outside academia.


If you can afford said 'luxury', then why not?

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Original post by zanner
Advice for a person who went to a state school and may end up at a private school for 6th form?


It's k
Try not to compare yourself to others
Personally having attended a state secondary school where I got the second highest GCSE results: 6A*3A to going into a VI form where my grades where simply average/ just below (having chosen to study triple science and maths), it took a hell of a lot of adjusting. So be prepared to adjust to the new records set
But overall I'm really grateful
I've done so much in this past year, I've learnt such a huge deal
I think being able to get to know people from all walks of life is really really eye opening
I'd say be open minded, try to leave your assumptions behind because you'll find the oddest things out.

And make sure to get involved!!! In everything you can
Milk the private education for all its worth!!!!!
Do silly things like Eco rep or charity rep because more often than not cute buffet lunches are involved
Ahhh the amount of buffets I've had this year hahaha
Work hard from day one. I know it's far easier said than done so I think one thing would to be to just get involved. Don't be afraid of what people may think, as for the most part they're entirely lovely and all have great manners.

(I'm at an all girls VI form btw)

Good luck!


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Original post by Princepieman
If you can afford said 'luxury', then why not?

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Even if I can afford it, I'd rather save the money unless I was a millionaire or someone really rich. If I was earning something more normal like £250000 I probably wouldn't send my kids to a private school because the benefits of it just don't really seem worth it to me.

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