youshouldstay25

i pretty much agree with your point, but the argument isn't that people move to nashville to go to CPA. the idea is that since nashville has 570,000 (or however many) people, CPA has a huge pool of students to choose from. while that logic is certainly flawed in some respects (everyone in nashville definitely does not want to go to CPA, and some could not attend for commuting or financial reasons, ...), it probably does give some advantage to a school like CPA over a small public school in the middle of nowhere. however, i still believe that the whole argument is really not over public vs. private but rural vs. metro. i'd honestly like to hear an answer to this: i don't know if there are any private schools around Rockwood (using Rockwood just as an example), but if one exists would it have a distinct advantage over the small public school in its area? obviously it depends on attendance somewhat... and i don't want to hear about endless funding unless that is actually probable. i'm really curious as to what you guys from around there (or any other small rural town) think...

valid point. i think everyone should quit whining and play. we can debate all we want, but whining isn't going to get you anywhwere. only problem is that people in 2A will probably be complaining eventually (if these private schools can win) and all of a sudden CPA, fra, dca, and all the other (former)IA privates will be way undermatched in the higher classes. one thing is for sure, if these schools move up and adapt to the competition, then it should embarrass the IA public schools who were more worried about removing the competition than beating them.

count me in

very true... CPA is the favorite because of their schedule strength and their win in a very tough region. it doesn't hurt that they walked all over Temple twice this year and beat fra four times (both tourney teams). anything can happen, you're righ, but CPA has shown throughout the season that they are a real contender.

ok i'll give you that. you might be over-rating some of these private school students because i'm not sure that everyone at these schools is an over-achiever, but the environment created by the teachers, administration, and parents at a school like CPA is probably more advantageous to personal development at your average public school. it seems like that advantage might be the smallest in a small public school, though, where there might (?) be more interest in students on a personal level... but i don't know. i'm just wondering then... since you said that the advantage gets smaller as the schools get larger (i.e. over 500 students), is the advantage still there? would you still give CPA an advantage over Brentwood high school right down the street? i really don't think that's reasonable, but i'd like to hear what you think. (bhs has probably around 1200-1400 students) by the way mathman, do you have an email address where i could contact you?

i can understand both sides of this debate. it may not be perfectly fair, like mathman said, and neither is life. it was a good point to make that nothing is ever "fair." however i do not believe that the advantage of these private schools is that significant, and i think that whatever advantage they may have exists primarily because of their location in a well-populated area rather than because they are private. still, christian schools, like CPA, are not going to be as open to attracting all the top athletes that an mba can. and if you look at the IA private schools, in nashville at least, most happen to be religious... dca, CPA, Goodpasture, ncs, et cetera...