Anxious about private school admissions (Atlanta, Buckhead: house, school district, college)

[FHmom]

Hello I am new to this...We have applied our two children to Westminster and Pace for 2010-2011 school year. Have heard both positive and negative things about both schools. I heard recently that your child can suffer from a low self- esteem in Westminster due to the extreme competition. Also its very difficult to play any sports in W in middle or high school due to high competition. Would love some feedback especially from parents whose kids are attending these schools. We are applying for Pre-first and third grade and are already attending Galloway.

[frances125]

Wow, why leave Galloway?

[motherto1]

My son is applying to both those schools for Pre-first as well as a few others. I have never heard of the concern about Westminster as they try so hard to accept those children that will excel in at least one area. I also did college admission interviews with kids from both schools. The great thing about Westminster is that it is large enough to offer so many different activities and teams freshman, jv and varsity). You are not goingto see that in smaller schools.

[lastminutemom]

Westminster officials will tell you that this is not a nurturing school. While they try to make sure students are a good fit, when they admit in pre-K, they can't always get it right. (They generally do in the later grades.)

The parent population at both those schools is very competitive. It is generally a different type of parent than a Galloway one.

Sports are tricky at W because winning is everything. But this isn't really different at many schools, public and private.

[frances125]

Yuck.

[greenvillereader2008]

You can't go wrong with either one. I went to Pace and had a lot of friends at Westminster.

It basically comes down to what your preference is in regards to size.

At Westminster, your children will have a greater variety of things to choose from - from classes to sports to arts programs. However, at Pace, there is a greater likelihood that your children will be able to participate in those activities because there's a smaller pool of atheletes/artists/students to choose from.

Other than that, the two schools are similar in terms of demographics/parental involvement/etc. In fact, your child may end up hanging out with students from either Westminster, Lovett, or Pace more than those at their own school - lots of intermingling between those three.

[FHmom]

Hello All!
I am obviously so new to this that I didn't realize that all of you had replied to my post, otherwise would have responded sooner. Anyway decision weekend is practically here so lets see what it brings frances 125 to answer your question, we've been at Galloway now since 2005 . While my child has been very happy there and its an "extremely happy " nurturing place, the academics are not up to par with the other 2 we are looking at. Actually truth be told I don't think there is any comparable school at least in Atlanta which is at par with W. While I think we might have waited too long with our older one, Galloway is a great place to start preschool at. Lack of diversity is another concern with Galloway, while W seems very diverse at least judging by the open house and tour.
The one thing I do like about Galloway is the community feel of the school as well as the unpretentiousness of the parents, I get the feeling that Pace might not be like that...seems like a very "blue blood-Buckhead" type of crowd...any thoughts?
The worst scenario for us would be if my preschooler gets in to W and my 3rd grader doesnt!! what to do then? especially if they both get into Pace as well. Our first choice is W and would like to eventually end up there. I don't think it would be fair to my older child to put her into Pace and then apply to W a year later..Help!

[lastminutemom]

First, I think, by far, the most Blue Blood of all the schools is Westminster. Just saying.

Unless your oldest child is waitlisted, do not reapply next year. You need to wait until a natural transition point to apply (ie for 6th or 9th grade) when there are more openings.

Westminster looks for a certain kind of child to enter midstream (and really always). As I have said, they are pretty upfront that they aren't particularly nurturing.

If you don't think you would leave your children at Pace indifintely I wouldn't move them there.

Only you can decide if you can manage having two children at two different private schools -- many families have children at multiple schools but it takes a lot of flexibility. (This from a mom who at one point at three kids at three different schools, one of which was private.)

[FHmom]

Hi Everyone
So both our kids got into Westminster and we are very very happy!!! this is a great ending to months of planning and hard work by all!!

[Lilycharm]

Congratulations, FH! I am glad it all worked out for you and your family!

We decided to stick with public for now, but are considering moving to a different school district. Every county seems to be significantly affected by budget shortfalls, so not sure where we will land.