how much does the popularity of a school matters in the development of a child?

Question

my son is 3 yrs 4 months old.I wanted to send him to a nearby very popular boys school.But I didn't send him for two reasons-1)I want him to attend a co-educational school.2)The fee is too high of this popular school.
The only reason for which I wanted him to send to this school was that affluent class children study there.I am new to the city so I have not much idea about the quality of studies imparted over there.
As a student I attended a very good convent school of my native place.But that was a girls school only.So I know the drawbacks of studying in a pure girls or boys school.But at the same I feel guilty of not sending him to a popular school.Also it is not possible to change the schools again and again in our city.Population is too high and schools are too less.It is difficult to get admission.
How can i let my son never develop the inferiority complex of not attending a popular school when he grows up?
Pls help me.

Answer 1

Popularity does not necessarily mean quality.

The only way you child will feel inferior for not attending a "rich kids" school is if YOU teach him to feel inferior about it. Most people never attended such schools, and feel perfectly fine about themselves.

You want to look for quality instruction, not "image," for his childhood schooling. If he gets quality of instruction, he will be able to attain high enough marks and scores on college admission tests, to be invited to attend colleges and universities that DO matter... Ivy League, or non-Ivy League but an extremely strong program in the career field he ends up interested in. It is at the university level that both the quality of the program AND the image of the college really matters for social status and future job prospects.

Look closely at a variety of private preschools, including those catering to middle class clients. Look for quality... do they provide academic learning through play? Are the children engaged in guided activities through most of the day? Does the school respond to the child's individual developmental levels, both for those that need more time and those that have advanced quickly?

I attended public school, and scored well enough on my college enterance exams to be offered full scholarships to two Ivy League and several other prestigious universities. My mother carefully "shopped" by evaluating the available teachers each year and had me placed with the best ones in each school I attended. Due to a number of factors (one of which was that I was only 14 years old at the time I took my college enterance exams), it was decided that I would stay close to home, but I did get the offers.

Answer 2

The reasons that many people send their kids to a popular school are that the teaching is good, hte teachers are highly qualified, there are many facilities for students, etc. However, the more popular the school is, the less attention the teacher can give to the students as there are normally many students in a well known school. Also, these schools take a high fee. A school that is popular may not necessarily be good for your child and a not-popular school is not necessarily bad. Smaller schools have more time for their pupils, and the latter get more importance and attention by the teachers. There are many pros and cons about each school, however, it is you who decides which one is good for your child. Having just left school, I think that smaller and less popular schools, are better, having studied in both types myself.

Answer 3

mrs x dont compare popularity with study. what will u do if u find that the study level of that school is not good enough to cope with it's name. just try to find out the previous results (students performance)of all the schools in which u can send u r child & then compare with that popular one.remember popularity sometimes create a lot of troubles which r never expected.
just think if u r child fall in the circle of some rich bad boys then his/her demand will grow very high ofcourse to showoff & then u"ll realise what mistake u have done..so just dont go with the name only try to find out the reputation,study environment & the most imp the teacher's behaviour towards the students... best of luck

Answer 4

I was never in the "popular crowd" at school. I had my own set of close friends that I hung out with at school and did not care if I was a popular student.