Maryland's #1 High School ranked Lower than VA's #3

[Anonymous]

Curious.

If you only compare the top 10 Public schools, Virginia definitely have better rankings. (Average of rank 106 for VA, versus average of 178 for MD).

But MD has more ranked schools than VA (VA has 30, then they are simply "recognized", while MD has 45 before being "recognized").

If you look at it as an entire state comparison, MD comes ahead, because 45 out of 201 Public schools are ranked (22.4%), while VA only has 30 out of 308 are ranked (9.7%).

Relevant news to DCUM folks is that almost all the top ranked VA schools are in or near Northern Virginia.

So VA wins for DCUM folks. Did I do that right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Curious.

If you only compare the top 10 Public schools, Virginia definitely have better rankings. (Average of rank 106 for VA, versus average of 178 for MD).

But MD has more ranked schools than VA (VA has 30, then they are simply "recognized", while MD has 45 before being "recognized").

If you look at it as an entire state comparison, MD comes ahead, because 45 out of 201 Public schools are ranked (22.4%), while VA only has 30 out of 308 are ranked (9.7%).

Relevant news to DCUM folks is that almost all the top ranked VA schools are in or near Northern Virginia.

So VA wins for DCUM folks. Did I do that right?

Compare FCPS vs MOCO is what i am interested in and it seems FCPS is ahead

[Anonymous]

It's almost ridiculous to split hairs over HS rankings. But I don't think there's any argument that for college, it's all Virginia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's almost ridiculous to split hairs over HS rankings. But I don't think there's any argument that for college, it's all Virginia.

I'd agree with that. Luckily for us it's probably easier for kids from the top public schools in Md to get into UVA and W&M than for kids in northern Virginia. It just costs us a little more. After those schools I think the colleges are pretty equivalent.

[Anonymous]

Your child actually has a better chance of being admitted to an elite college if he/she is one of the top students (in terms of grades) at a middling school than if he is a middling student at a top school.

[Anonymous]

We can all agree maryland and virginia beat all dc public and charter schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is just nonsense. They count the number of kids taking (or being pushed into) AP classes and then compare it against the student body.

It has nothing to do with test scores, what kids have retained, how prepared they are for college, or whether they even enroll in college.

A huge fraud.

You got it.

[Anonymous]

Great, so based on some relatively meaningless rankings that take into account only absolutely objective measures, Virginia is slightly higher ranked for high schools. What am I supposed to do with this revelation? I still choose to live in Montgomery County based on my preferences in an enormous number of other areas. So what.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Funny WTOP has an article just today on the glorious state of VA

Longer commutes, fewer jobs and expensive housing are combining to have a dramatic impact on Northern Virginia, and many residents are having trouble making ends meet....www.wtop.com to read more

But it is still better than Maryland. Signed, former Marylander who lives in VA.

[Anonymous]

I looked at the charts and there seems to be a difference in the way the two state's schools are evaluated. In Virginia, the third and fourth proficiency columns are Geometry and Reading and in Maryland those columns are Algebra and English. Does anyone know why these are different?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your child actually has a better chance of being admitted to an elite college if he/she is one of the top students (in terms of grades) at a middling school than if he is a middling student at a top school.

Yes, but from what I've seen the kids from the middling schools often struggle for a bit when they hit college, even the ones who were the "A" students in high school. the preparation for college level work just isn't the same.

[Anonymous]

But, yeah for the W schools in MD and congrats to Poolesville too!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But, yeah for the W schools in MD and congrats to Poolesville too!

Why forget Blair? They don't have the demographics of the W schools and still did well. But, is the rating meaningful other than to put $$$ in the US News coffers and the pockets of Realtors???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your child actually has a better chance of being admitted to an elite college if he/she is one of the top students (in terms of grades) at a middling school than if he is a middling student at a top school.

Yes, but from what I've seen the kids from the middling schools often struggle for a bit when they hit college, even the ones who were the "A" students in high school. the preparation for college level work just isn't the same.

Yes, the first poster is correct that because class rank is a major factor in admissions your child might have a better shot if s/he is competing against fewer classmates who are at the top of their game academically. But the second poster is also correct as far as preparation for college being stronger if your child attends a top school. I would also add that your child might be more motivated to do well and work hard in high school if s/he has a high achieving peer group.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Funny WTOP has an article just today on the glorious state of VA

Longer commutes, fewer jobs and expensive housing are combining to have a dramatic impact on Northern Virginia, and many residents are having trouble making ends meet....www.wtop.com to read more

But it is still better than Maryland. Signed, former Marylander who lives in VA.

I wholeheartedly disagree. So what?

Signed,

Grew up in Virginia but choosing as an adult to live and raise my kids in Maryland