Customer Reviews

Manhattan Family Guide to Private Schools and Selective Public Schools, 5th Ed. (Manhattan Family Guide to Private Schools & Selective Public Schools)

5 star:		(6)
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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you have a previous edition of this book, save your money. I read a handful of school descriptions and they were-- verbatim-- the same as in the last edition.

If you want to get a survey of private schools in NYC, you probably will need this book. However, I take issue with the idea that this book is an "independent" view of the school. Clearly the authors have relied, to some degree, on the school's own literature-- you can tell if you compare the writeups to brochures. Also, they use a lot of parent interviews, and the parents themselves clearly are biased to a point that their input is not at all useful on some topics. For example, all the parents describe themselves as "an easy going community" and "friendly." Why include this information when it is clearly impossible to do it well?

Another category of information is clearly problematic here. The parents reading this book care a lot about "exmissions." They want to know which colleges the graduates were admitted. The authors often offer up what seems a short list of college acceptances they were able to cull. So one school might say "Yale, Harvard, UVA" and another might say "Oberlin, Princeton, Bard." Clearly this information is anecdotal at best, I just hope the readers realize this. Many parents want hard data about exmissions and they will not find it here.

The best information given is the most concrete-- application procedures, physical location descriptions, etc. This is, of course, the same information you can retrieve for free from the schools themselves, but there is an argument to be made for the convenience of having it all in one place.

While there are many college guidebooks available, unfortunately there are only a few books about NYC private schools. And despite the different titles, these books often contain content written by the schools themselves. Refreshingly, Goldman and Hausman's book is different because it is written by two private school moms. Seeking input from private school parents and students, the two authors offer more inclusive profiles than are available elsewhere. As a local educational consultant, I often recommend this book to my families as a good starting point for their research. Families will learn about the admissions process and about the individual schools.

The Manhattan Family Guide to Private Schools is an absolute GOLDMINE of information!!! The book, written by two parents for all NYC parents, is filled with facts on each individual school. This information was obviously well researched and includes input from parents, teachers, students, admissions directors and other educators. The authors visited each of these schools personally and give details on each school including: birthday cut-off dates, application and admission procedures, school hours and after school care, and a general overview of each school's history, philosophy, curriculum and facilities.

The book is well written and laid out in an easy-to-read format that allows parents to flip back and forth to compare schools.

In addition, the front section has a great overview of what to expect in the process of applying to a private school, which I have heard parents refer to as "playing the game." If one is going to play any game, one should begin by reading the instructions and, from understanding the ERB to how to contact the ISAAGNY, this book has all the instructions!

Every parent raising a child in New York City should own a copy of this book!

This is an amazing resource. Although, guide books for college and graduate schools have been around for some time, before Victoria Goldman there were no usable private school guides. This book has helped to place my children and many more in the school most appropriate for each of them. I would highly recommend anyone considering private schools in New York to buy this book. Goldman out does herself with each new edition, bringing new incite to the mysterious world of private schools.

As a parent and former admissions advisor, I have relied on this book for many years. The author provides key information about each school, along with all the essentials of the admissions process. Every other year, she does a thorough update of the information. If you are applying to a New York City private school, this book is a must-have. You will refer to it over and over again. Make sure you have the latest copy as you go through the process as admissions contacts at the schools change pretty frequently. I highly recommend Victoria Goldman's book. Karen Quinn, author of The Ivy Chronicles

The previous reviewer has it right. Use this book for phone numbers and the most general info--like what the uniform looks like for 8th graders. The parental quotes are the most egregious. And some schools are seemingly damned with faint praise (a school that educates nearly 1000 students pre-k to 12 gets a one page write-up) while others, usually UES and UWS schools, go on for page after page even though the school might only have a couple of hundred students. I have the sense that it's simply because the authors don't happen to have any friends at some schools. There's no real information here that you won't get from the school's own glossy brochures. I have a 3rd edition and a 5th edition and it is updated only on the most basic info such as tuition--even for some of the best known schools in NY. Other NYC guide books to the public schools get the format right. With people spending up to $30K per year on private schools, they deserve a better consumer guide than this one. Borrow this book--don't buy it.

I don't know how you could survive the private school process without this book. I was even wondering if I should hire a consultant. But this book is probably enough for a do-it-yourself-er with a patient streak. The private school mill is exhausting, and you are going to have to do a whole lot more than read this book if you go through with it. But this book is full of good info gathered together, so that you know where to start your search. It only has the hoity-toity schools by the way, there are lots of smaller schools, especially in the boroughs that it doesn't cover. So you still have to do additional homework!

Smart City Kids NYC Educational Advisory service has served the New York City area exclusively longer than any other Advisory Company in NYC. We are The company that schools, non-profit organizations, corporations, and agencies that serve children and families go to in order to get in depth advice on Nursery -12th Grade admissions. Our educational advisors are former Admissions Directors, Nursery School Directors, Placement Directors and Victoria Goldman ran many workshops with our company for several years. Her guide is the most comprehensive resource available as it provides insights into both non-profit and for profit Private Ongoing schools in Manhattan. We highly recommend this very useful tool as a first step to understanding the very complicated world of Private School Admissions.