Do public school students perform better in uni than private school students?

[killer_bot]

I've heard that public school students perform better in uni than private school students.

Is this true?

If so, what are some possible explanations for this phenomena?

[aes_999]

Melbourne High / MacRob / GWSC
or other good state school students  .

But seriously, i don't even know
if this is true. I'd expect most students
who go to G8 universities in Australia
to be diligent anyway (sort of).

[Shenz0r]

I've heard people say that many times but I don't think it's exactly true, I've only been to public schools all my life and have never been to a private school.

Some people think that private school students are "spoon-fed" with huge amounts of resources and good teachers, and that when they have to fend for themselves at uni they might struggle more than their public-school counterparts, who lacked the amount of resources and teaching staff.

But in the end it all comes down to your diligence towards your studies in my opinion...

[Mech]

I spoke to a lady coordinating at UoM and she said that students who get in on SEAS generally perform above the average student I think it just goes to show how much effort you put in. 

[lexitu]

I spoke to a lady coordinating at UoM and she said that students who get in on SEAS generally perform above the average student I think it just goes to show how much effort you put in. 

I have heard this too, but there have never been statistics provided to back this claim up...

[ninwa]

No

[lexitu]

Also, I'd criticise the Melbourne Access Program quite a bit. From my school, I knew most of the people chosen quite well and they were by no means disadvantaged, in fact on the other end of the scale.

[Stick]

Studies of student university grades suggest that private school students with the same ENTER scores as public school students achieve lower grades at university.

http://www.buseco.monash.edu.au/eco/research/seminars/chris-ryan.pdf

[Mech]

I have heard this too, but there have never been statistics provided to back this claim up...

I am just going on what I was told.

Also, I'd criticise the Melbourne Access Program quite a bit. From my school, I knew most of the people chosen quite well and they were by no means disadvantaged, in fact on the other end of the scale.

Anecdotal. I know plenty of people who deserved their placements in previous years considering their hardships and demography.

[b^3]

This is my take on this. If you come from a family that struggles to scrape by every months or is not that well off, then you try to do your best, work hard and try to get further in life. That being said that doesn't mean that there are not students form private schools who do not work just as hard when they get to university.

In all schools you will have those who work hard and those who just get lazy and don't try as much as they could, regardless of whether they came from a private or public school. It doesn't depend on what kind of school you come from, it will depend on how hard you motivate yourself resulting in how hard you work.

Also on the access/seas stuff, in some cases I'd say that people I know needed it, otherwise everything would all just be too hard, but then in other cases its just ridiculous. I.e. They can afford two tutors all year and then get in with lower atars because of the area that their school is in.

[lexitu]

I have heard this too, but there have never been statistics provided to back this claim up...

I am just going on what I was told.

Also, I'd criticise the Melbourne Access Program quite a bit. From my school, I knew most of the people chosen quite well and they were by no means disadvantaged, in fact on the other end of the scale.

Anecdotal. I know plenty of people who deserved their placements in previous years considering their hardships and demography.

Sure, we're dealing on an anecdotal level here - just discussing. I think the problem in my school was it was a special MAP  partnership with the school and it didn't feel like there was a lot of consultation/information/opportunity before selection took place. This was before the SEAS applications.

(Sorry for dragging this conversation a bit off-topic by the way.

[TrueTears]

Studies of student university grades suggest that private school students with the same ENTER scores as public school students achieve lower grades at university.

http://www.buseco.monash.edu.au/eco/research/seminars/chris-ryan.pdf

Good journal however I can see some problems.

Firstly, given the large amounts of parameters involved, this study could and should have incorporated a bit more. The assumption they used was where i = catholic, independent. However they could have made it more generalised by incorporating it into some form such as again with being an error term.

Although they did justify this by saying:

the parameters on the school sector (and all other variables) cannot be estimated
consistently. The estimated parameter on the school choice variables will reflect some
combination of the ‘true’ effect of differing school types on the outcomes observed and the
impact of selection effects, to the extent that unobserved factors affect both the school sector
choices made and outcomes achieved by individuals.

So this study isn't a true reflection of the population standard.

Also the hypothesis testing should have been tested at a wider range of significance levels.

So no, this doesn't "prove" that "public school students perform better in uni than private school students". The study illustrates some fact that it is true for significance levels of (which is pretty small imo for a subject like this)

protip: never read journals without verifying details yourself, most of the time studies relating to subjects which require a great deal of assumptions are most likely false for the real world.

[Stick]

Read section 3.

[JellyDonut]

I'd expect most students
who go to G8 universities in Australia
to be diligent anyway (sort of).

Nope. Goes out the window when you're in uni

[kamil9876]

Not sure about the actual statistics to make a wide general claim. But I have seen many examples of A doing a lot better than B in high school but B doing a lot better at uni. I think it mostly depends on how much you are interested in your course/which subjects suit you.