Public vs. Private

I got to a public school right now in Europe, but I used to go to a private, catholic school in America. I'll have to say that I like private schools more. A lot of people dislike the idea of uniforms, but I think they're good. It's not that I'm against expressing yourself through fashion. It's just that it's easier to get up in the morning and choose Monday's or Wednesday's uniform, and not ponder in a towel wondering whether you should use a peach cardigan or a baby blue one. Also, sometimes people may feel left out if they have different fashion styles(?), so at private schools everyone's dressed the same, so they can't judge you so much due to your attire. The only thing I didn't like about Catholic school really was the fact we had to go to Church several times a week, and go to confession, even when I can't recall committing a sin the past week. Oh, and also they're are religion classes... so extra homework. Then there's the mandatory community service.

I unfortunately had to deal with public schools my entire life, and I hated it with a passion. I never felt like I was being academically challenged, and even after three different high schools, I never found one where I was pushed to be a better student. The only courses that I ever had difficulty in were my math courses, and that wasn't until senior year when I took AP Calculus and was completely unprepared for it because my previous school, where I took Pre-Cal didn't even cover the basics for the following course. Honestly, I think the fact that I just sailed through high school, made it extremely difficult to function my first year as per setting a study svhedule. I vowed the moment that I graduated my children will never experience public school. I really want my future kids to go to a Catholic school (really and truthfully, the smartest friends of mine at university graduated from or were in attendence at Catholic high schools).

And after two years of being forced to find polos, I would've welcomed a uniform and actually was one of the few students pushing for them for m senior year.

@ Rose Red Rum

Numerous studies show that students from public schools do better at university that the ones from private schools (for example). This is attributed to a large extent to the fact that public school students are more independent and don't need a host of teachers telling them what to do and when. So if you had problems with setting up a study schedule or challenging yourself, it probably wasn't because of your school.

@ kafka
When I was a junior in high school, physics was supposed to be the hardest course in the school. My teacher decided that the majority of class time needed to be devoted to watching the IT Crowd and Big Bang Theory. I'm not joking about that either. We had nerf wars on a regular basis and melted things with magnifying glasses (I kid you not). The hardest thing I had to do that year was cut my term paper for honors english by half because my teacher didn't want to read 2000 words. I only had to read through my notes a few times the night before a test in economics to get a high A. I graduated with a 3.795 GPA, and I spent less time studying my last two years combined than I did my first semester of college because while it was difficult, I did eventually assimilate. It wasn't because I was lazy or because someone was or was not breathing down my neck. It was because I never needed to study to get A and B marks in most of my classes. I've only had a few classes where I spent a decent amount of time studying the material, and those were my math courses, with which I regularly have issues.

I know that studies show that public schools do better in uni because they're more independent (which is definitely true), but I think private school students can understand the workload and the expectations better than those of public schools. As a former private school student, I found the transition to university quite easy - actually, easier than school, in terms of the expectations and standards. I go to a decent university, and I've found that doing work averagely in school (eg 65-70) is the same as a 80. This could just be my uni though, but that's what I've found.

Also, in school while I was spoon fed quite a bit, I've found also at my university that they tend to spoon feed us a bit, (but perhaps this is because I'm a first-year, so).

As for the general debate on whether I prefer public to private, I've never been to a public school so I can't really judge. I only went to one school for my whole schooling career. Up until year 9, I went to a certain campus where my whole girls year level was about 25-30 girls, so everyone knew everything about everyone. It was also hard to fit in when you had been an outsider - so because of that, I always felt like I never fit in and I was pretty miserable. However, I moved to the main campus and each class averages about 18 girls (the whole year level at that campus had about 150 girls), and I became so much happier there. I think, with the more people there are (in public schools) it's easier to fit in, because there are so many groups you can join and hang out with, and everyone is so different. Socially, I think I'd prefer public school, but then socially it has its negatives as well.

Private schools have that snobby reputation, which is true - my school is one of the most expensive in the state, so you had to be fairly well off to come here - but there are a lot of middle-class families that don't spend money on holidays and work full time and struggle a bit but still manage to send their kids to good schools (this is me). We also get hate from public schools, and there have been occasions where public school kids have thrown tomatoes or pencils or just random things at my classmates simply because of the school we go to. Or, if I'm around people who go to public schools, I don't say what school I go to because I don't want to be pre-perceived as a 'rich bitch'. Sometimes I struggle with feeling proud from the school I went to or embarrassed, in a way, because of what others may say about me. I know I shouldn't feel the latter, but people get touchy about it, so.

Education wise, I was taught that private > public, because private schools have the funding to afford better teachers and all that. I'm sure each school in general varies, though.

(My apologies if I'm spewing some sort of crap or it doesn't make sense, it's late here )

I've never been to a private school because of financial matter, but I've had friends who go to them. I personally think I prefer public schools over private though. Public schools have given me more options than I would receive at a private school; I'm in the International Baccalaureate program which looks really good on college applications and gets you ready for college with higher standards. You go to school and do get to socialize with other "normal" students but you're mostly with the same 40 or so kids for four years. So I'd vote public.

I've attended private school from kindergarten all the way until 12th grade (senior year of highschool), and both schools were Catholic.

The reason being, of course, funding for public schools a problem to my parents. Both of my parents attended public school (my mother attended private school for a semester or two and transferred out because she didn't like it). They wanted me to be in private school because they see it as the best option---especially due to the fact that the learning done prior to college is crucial.

Now that I'm in college, I'm glad I attended private school because there are other people in my class that are struggling with the workload. For me, the grading scale and expectations of private school are making me work even more in college and it's a great feeling. Plus, if there's a lesson or group project, I don't feel weird asking questions or being the group leader. Overall, college is different from what I expected in a good way. I owe that to all the stress and long nights spent in private school.

I've been to public schools (state schools in England) all my life, and I have to say, I've never had a problem with them. My secondary school and my current sixth form college are better than the average state school (grades-wise anyway) so I'd definitely prefer to stay where I am than go private. I'm still able to get the grades - I, along with many people who went to my state school, got grades that were far above the national average and higher than those achieved by many people in private schools. We were always pushed so that the work was challenging and, whilst we did have some teachers who weren't so great, the school provided lots of resources so that, when it came to revision, I was still able to make sure I knew everything I needed to know.

Furthermore, I prefer the atmosphere of state schools. Private schools round here tend to be single-sex (which I wouldn't like as I'm good friends with a lot of boys as well as girls) and they're also much smaller and more closed-off. When I came to college I met a lot of people who'd been to private school for most of their lives, and some of them definitely seem to come from much more sheltered backgrounds - the only people they've ever really mixed with have been wealthy and middle class, and I don't think that's healthy for when they finally have to leave school and go out into the 'real world' and meet people from other backgrounds.

I've gone to private school my entire life and my senior year there's a strong possibility of me moving and having to go to a Public school, how difficult do you think that transition will be?

I went to a private school for kindergarten up until eighth grade and have gone to high school ever since (I'm a senior now). I really, really prefer public school. There are a lot of options both in classes and sports, as well as the opportunity to branch out and find my own way. A lot of the things that I'm doing at my public high school, my old friends at private high schools don't have the opportunity to do--some classes, internships and other things. As for the "better teachers at private schools," I don't think that's true at all. Some of the teachers that I've met at public high school have been the best teachers I've ever had.

It might just be in my area, but the public schools here are better funded than some of our neighboring private schools, anyways.

In the U.S., I feel like private schools are sorta ruling public school systems. I don't think private schools should be leaps and bonds above public school systems. Every child should get an excellent education without having to force their parents into debt.

I have been in public schools all my life. And sure, some teachers suck and you can have wankers in your year but I wouldn't have changed to a private school for all the tea in China.

I think I've been lucky because a lot of public schools have had their art classes and music classes taken away. Though some years are worst than others in the arts/musics classes, we've never taken them away in the schools I've went to. Because of the tight budget for music classes, my chorus teacher had this big event at the end of year featuring all the talent in all his classes. We would have this big show filled with all types of songs from all different Broadway shows, and though some of the student body really didn't like it, there were many who did. Even simply participating in the chorus - which was all the classes in chorus- was simply fun because my teacher had them wave flags, dance, and all sorts of things to enhance the songs. We earned so much money from simply one night, and we earn even more when people decide to give extra money at the end of the night since my teacher has performers go out to collect some. We need all this money for the festival we have each year where all choral students in the county go to participate and get judged, and we also need it to get music sheets. It's also for the students to just have fun!

Besides that, I don't think the education is better in private school than public. Though there are a few teachers that are pretty bad here and there, the rest are amazing. They go above and beyond, and my social studies teacher is one to prove it. Though so many hated her because she had all these requirements, I loved her. She helped us develop a way to write a research paper - let me be honest, I sucked at research papers before her - and it was so much work. We had to write 50 facts on our topic, have 5-7 sources and only two could be websites, and we had to have five pages. It was stressful and hard, but I learned how to make an actual research paper in a way that actually helped me instead of using outlines. Outlines are probably the worst things for me because I simply suck at them. I have to write everything out. Also, the high school I'm going to is amazing. The scores are way beyond the national scores - like my middle school's - and they have so many extra classes like cooking, engineering, nursing, there are so many! To add to that, we have so many language classes besides the usual French and Spanish. We have so many clubs, and the school has just been renovated. This is all from a public school, and I'm lucky. I am very lucky for having schools like these, and I don't think I would be able to fit into a private school anyway.

I have attended Public School all of my life, but I believe that Private would've suited me better. My family cannot afford the cost of Private Schools- we've looked into them. I like how Private schools are more focused on college. Public schools have constantly have to force children to behave in class. It's more about discipline rather than education at public schools. I still learned the needed curriculum. Honestly, I think it doesn't matter what type of school it is. I think it matter how much the child is willing to learn.

@ Leanna Mania
In public school I had the opportunity to apply for and join a college prep program called Upward Bound. It was great. It included about twelve schools and fifty kids who were open minded and usually a little weird.

My opinion on this is kind of strange. I think it all depends on where you live. Where my cousin lives, it's completely looked down upon to send your kid to a public school. Private schools thrive in his town. In my town, it's the exact opposite. The majority of the parents prefer public schools than private schools. I've been going to a public school all my life and I personally have no problem with it. I've looked up the private schools in my area and some of my friends from those schools told me things and from what I've learned, they're doing poorly compared to our public schools.

@ domi823
This is basically exactly how I feel about it. I've gone to private school all my life, and have no problem with it. The education at the public schools is my city was so poor the state had to get involved with the education system, but then if I lived a few towns over I'd probably be going to public school. The area where you live is definitely a factor. I think my school has more a workload than any other school in probably our area of the state, but my parents have tried to convince me that'll work to my advantage in the end haha.

@ Leanna Mania
Yes, I agree. I go to private school and most of the kids are (generally) well behaved. But then, you know our parents pay $12,000 a year to send us to school and most parents would probably pull their kid out if they didn't seem to appreciate it. But I've been in all Honors and AP classes, where people are more focused on learning in the first place.

There were no private schools in my area. Except the one for the trouble kids two towns over.

Private school kids aren't always well-behaved. Where I lived, they acted worse than the students at my school, and I've gone to public school my entire life. In the area, there were two public schools and there were a couple private schools in the next town over, probably about only 45 minutes away. The school I went to was known for its violence and gangs, but the private schools were known for having easy access to drugs, alcohol, and sex. If we wanted any of that and couldn't get it somewhere else, we know to find a private school student to give it to us. They were largely responsible for the drug problems at my school because they kept giving it to us.

They did have better academic scores than us, but their behavior was absolutely atrocious. I'm not sure if their good scores are exactly enough to make up for the selling of drugs and alcohol. But eh, even with how bad my school is, I would never attend a private school. It's far too restrictive for someone like me and there seems to be too many expectations. I was allowed to work at my own pace in my school, which was pretty quick, and it just seems like students in private schools aren't allowed to do that. My mother could never afford private school and I'm fine with that. I just feel like I'd be too restricted and too controlled from what I know about private schools.

My school wasn't very good academically because students and teachers had given up. The majority of the school's students were living in poverty and considered "troubled teens". Even I was considered a "troubled teen" and all I ever got in trouble for was being late or talking in class. A lot of students were also doing drugs or alcohol. Everyone just kind of gave up and stopped trying. The teachers didn't bother to teach, they just handed us worksheets and told us to do it. The students didn't even try, they wouldn't even do the worksheets.

The region you live in is definitely a factor. If your school has more money, than you have more opportunities and your school's academic level will probably be higher because more opportunity gives more motivation. Private schools are so much better because their outrageous tuition gives them more money, public schools would probably be just as good if they had more money, but all we're doing is continuing to cut funding from public schools. It's a shame really.