Did I mention I'm thankful for NY Magazine? They take a break from their parenting snuff genre to do a long, remarkably sensible article on how parents should approach the private kindergarten admissions process in New York City.
Well, it's as sensible as paying $25,000/year for kindergarten, and living in New York City and being determined to send your kid to an Ivy League school [or, and this capitalization was new to me, an "Ivy Equivalent"] can be. [So yes, Rest-Of-World, I'm sure it sounds insane. Next topic.] Welllll, maybe just one more thing:
So go ahead and shoot the moon with a Dalton or Collegiate, but balance that with selections from the cityís many other high-quality schools, preferably ones that fit your kidísóand your ownóstyle.Wow. I mean-- wow. Because it's right and "fits" best for your kid is second only to connections-based admissions and a generalized notion of "top tier" in choosing schools? What is this, the Seventies? There's a major social revolution afoot in NY Magazine-land, mark my words, friends. Er, I mean, comrades.
Cracking the Kindergarten Code [nymag]
And what of the preschool process? The in-utero waitlisting? I'm totally posting about that on my blog right now...
So essentially, what you're saying is that through college admissions it doesn't get better.
Nice.
[yeah, you're apparently on your on for pre-school. And yet, who does NYMag say is the most important person in your K-applying life? the pre-school director. good luck with that -ed.]
Poor kids.
greg, you know i love you, but we're gonna have to agree to disagree on the fabulosity of this story. advising parents NOT to tell schools if their child has a learning problem? (ooh, get that kid into that "top-tier" school at all costs, at the expense of truth, your child's potential classmates' and teacher's needs, and most importantly, your own kid's best education and services!) recommending that parents not ask schools "sensitive" questions? and--even playing by this story's own rules--concluding with the advice to "shoot the moon" by applying to dalton/collegiate (thereby implying, STILL, that yep, that's where you REALLY want your kid to go) but hey, if you do get into one of those *other* places, your kid may actually have a better chance at harvard? the piece bites its own tail, unable to shake the status obsession...and sadder yet, this notion that your kid is better off at harvard than anywhere else. maybe, maybe not. (ps. i went to harvard.) hey, we're in the dread district 1 and looking mainly at public schools (my lack of 50 grand a year for two kids is, i know, unfathomable to new york magazine--what the hell did i go to harvard for???). i live in district 1 for many reasons, but diversity is a biggie. there are (at least) 3 excellent public elementaries here where my kids would learn that the world is multicultural...and ooh, bonus, they'd prolly have fewer playdates with parents who take new york magazine seriously. feh.
[sorry, to disappoint, but I pretty much agree with you; my sarcasm w/r/t the "well, if you can't get him into Collegiate, then you might as well do what's best for him" apparently didn't shine through enough for you. That an article can be practical/realistic AND be based on a set of assumptions that go not only unchallenged but even undetected by the people talking is worth noting, though. ("Ivy Equivalent"?? wtf?) As for my kid, fit is first, and Harvard actually needs to get its act together and straighten out the whole broads thing before I'd ever let her go there. Larry Summers, I'm talking to YOU. -ed.]
Has it become this crazy? Or am I just a sap thinking that my son can follow in his aunt's footsteps (public schools all the way to Penn) or mom's (public schools and massive state u to a Yale Masters). Should I ditch the gladware that has become his current all time favorite toy for Gray's Anatomy?
Oy. Where to begin. How about the $6000 "adviser" cost.