Quote Originally Posted by eddiedswang View Post
72......it's more than just religion. It's the constant competition each day with kids who actually have to do the work or they get bounced...it's having 80 kids try out for a baseball team because they all are pretty good.....it's being surrounded by those motivated individual kids who win all of those ancillary sport titles every year (tennis, golf, etc)....it's being held accountable for your work in and out of school. It's alot of stuff.

Most of these kids at MUHS won't score 34 or 35 on their ACT, but the average is 27 (which is highest in the state). Last I looked in 2012, 99% went on to college (with the other 1% being drafted to play pro hockey or taking a year off to travel).... I too question the $$$$$ part and do not enjoy the academic struggles, immense competition for playing time and politics, but my kid needs the discipline. It sucks to deal with every day, but I am betting on the future. Images of the vacation we didn't take or the new car I don't have flash in my head. Trust me.

You are lucky. You are not the rule. Your boys will be successful in going to a good college because of good parenting and the fact that they took elevated classes at their high school with the top 15%. Plus, they are great kids! The other 85% of the kids at their school are happy piddling along, playing x-box and hanging out with no homework each night. And it's even worse at the public schools in Milwaukee. You are the exception.

The only comment I will make on this, and believe me I don't mean this as criticism, is that I think it does do kids some good to be in school with "the other 85%." Kids from different backgrounds of all types.

The only criticism I ever had about my experience at MU was that 80% of the people were pretty much the same type of person. Largely middle to upper middle class, white, Christian, etc. Not that it is bad because I pretty much fit that description, but coming from a pretty diverse public school, it was a bit of a culture shock in reverse. I also found that *some* of the people that came from the private schools didn't have a great deal of empathy for those who were different from them.