First, understand that your son will not get into the best college he possibly can if he goes to…read moreBellarmine. This is lost in the fine print and is conveniently elided in the promo materials. The school will tout the few grads that end up at MIT or Harvard and act like they pulled those strings, but the truth is those kids are geniuses and would have gotten into those colleges with or without Bellarmine's name. In order to understand this effect, we have to look at the average performers at Bellarmine --- the average kids who work up until 3 AM every night only to get rejected by UC Davis or Cal Poly. A good portion of Bell grads even end up at SJ State. I personally know a grad who ended up at community college.
Allow me to ask a very simple question: if you're paying money for an institution, should you not harvest an advantage from that institution? These types of outcomes are simply unacceptable for the tuition fees that Bellarmine demands (100k). The problem is every student at Bellarmine is ultimately remarkable and intelligent. However, colleges can only accept a certain amount of students per school. Thus, only the geniuses (who are fine on their own) get top acceptances while your reasonably bright son ends up with a disappointing result. This is the dirty secret at Bellarmine. There is a lot of coping built into the culture where people say "Well, at least I'm prepared for college" --- not understanding that their college result would have been much better had they just gone to a public school for FREE. Their grades would be better and their workload would be slashed in half. This outcome is absolutely unacceptable for the dollars spent.
Second, the workload at Bellarmine is huge. Even nearly 12 years later, I am shocked at the inhuman level of work assigned if a student opted for a competitive curriculum (APs, Honors, etc.). It was commonly accepted that the average bedtime was 2 AM. Students walked around with heavy backpacks filled to the brim with books. The library was always crammed with students studying and finishing up presentations. Stress was rampant. During junior year, a classmate ran away from home after scoring a B on an exam. For this level of work, one would expect great rewards upon graduating. This never materialized. Tons of students who worked themselves to the bone found themselves matriculating at unremarkable colleges surrounded by students from public schools who didn't work nearly as hard. Unacceptable.
Third, the academic difficulty at Bellarmine was ridiculous. English classes expected students to write at a college-level and graded as if it was college-level. Presentations were expected to last the entire class period (30-50 minutes). Afterwards, you were picked apart by an open forum like a thesis defense. Exams were incredibly difficult. I distinctly remember a random pop quiz dropped everyone's grades by 10 percent. A's to B's in 10 minutes. This is absolutely UNTHINKABLE in public school. When I finally had gone to college, I was mortified to learn that presentations were 10 minutes max at even upper division level courses. Now, you might think that academic difficulty is fine for a "college-preparatory" high school, but your son bears that price when his war-torn "B" is weighed disadvantageously against an "A" from a kid who didn't nearly work as hard. Colleges do not make that distinction. Bellarmine is only locally recognized, but it likes to think of itself as Philips Exeter. This is a horrific deal.
Fourth, there is a problematic culture of teacher worship at Bellarmine. Now, there are always good & bad apples. But the bad ones had a profound effect on the students. Teachers are very aware of the hyper-academic culture enforced at Bellarmine and understand the power they wield over their students. What results is extremely unprofessional behavior: yelling, berating, inappropriate jokes with underage boys, and deeply personal attacks. I recall a teacher once mocked a student's garage rock band as the reason why he scored a C on a quiz. Such comments upon reflection are incredibly unprofessional and are not befitting of an institution with its hands in your pockets. This culture of teacher worship was perpetuated by students who were afraid of being vindictively graded, and was what allowed controversies like a former English teacher's sexual grooming of female students (visitors from another campus) to be even possible and go unquestioned for years.
In summary --- Bellarmine delivers partly on its promises. Does it have a great facility? Yes. Are the teachers good? Most of them. However, it is also a steward of some deeply problematic issues: it is academically punishing and unforgiving, and it screws over your son when it comes to college admissions. A parent who wants to pay 100k tuition for their son to go to this school should understand two things: he will likely give a great talk on food production rights, and he will also attend USF.
