TJHSST Class of 2015 College Acceptance Data

[Anonymous]

Acceptances to UVA and W&M both increased significantly

and they go off and study the humanities

[Anonymous]

That is good. We need very bright people in the humanities who understand science.

[Anonymous]

There are essentially no poor students at TJ. They simply aren't admitted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are essentially no poor students at TJ. They simply aren't admitted.

No, but there are a number of middle and upper middle class kids whose families neither qualify for financial aid, nor can afford to pay full freight at name brand private schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That is good. We need very bright people in the humanities who understand science.

+1

And there is no reason a student who does well in STEM in high school should be required or expected to stay on the STEM track in college and beyond.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The thing about these lists is that they may or may not be meaningful. There are many kids at these magnet programs, including Blair, who are qualified for but whose families cannot afford e.g. Harvard or MIT. These kids wind up at "lesser" schools like U.Va, U.Md, or Pitt, with lots of merit aid.

Lumping in UVA with those other schools is absurd. Nice try, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The thing about these lists is that they may or may not be meaningful. There are many kids at these magnet programs, including Blair, who are qualified for but whose families cannot afford e.g. Harvard or MIT. These kids wind up at "lesser" schools like U.Va, U.Md, or Pitt, with lots of merit aid.

This doesn't make sense. The cost is really not an issue for low income families at the very top schools. If you are a stellar student, it is to your advantage to be in the low income status. Harvard will give you a full ride if you qualify.

It's the families in the middle who cannot afford e.g. Harvard or MIT. Our HHI is $230K and with two college-bound kids, we cannot pay $65k/year/kid x 8 years. Not possible. Our kid will wind up at a state school or someplace that gives him merit aid bc Harvard and MIT et al do not give merit or financial aid to families like us.

+1 There are many students whose parents make between $100-$200K. Students whose parents make less get scholarships.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That is good. We need very bright people in the humanities who understand science.

+1

And there is no reason a student who does well in STEM in high school should be required or expected to stay on the STEM track in college and beyond.

+2 And the new admission guidelines accept many non stem students.

[Anonymous]

The number for UVa really jumps out. Why do some people say there is a bias against applicants from nova with impressive numbers like this? Is it because it's such a crapshoot in terms of getting in there from other nova high schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The thing about these lists is that they may or may not be meaningful. There are many kids at these magnet programs, including Blair, who are qualified for but whose families cannot afford e.g. Harvard or MIT. These kids wind up at "lesser" schools like U.Va, U.Md, or Pitt, with lots of merit aid.

Your point falls apart though with respect to the biggest-name schools, including Harvard, Yale and MIT: they are need blind and will pay all expenses for the kids they want whose families cannot afford room AND board. I realize that's not the case with, say, Duke or UCLA, but it is certainly the case with HY Columbia and MIT

Probably Stanford and CalTech too, but I don't know that for fact.

[Anonymous]

It's the families in the middle who cannot afford e.g. Harvard or MIT. Our HHI is $230K and with two college-bound kids, we cannot pay $65k/year/kid x 8 years. Not possible. Our kid will wind up at a state school or someplace that gives him merit aid bc Harvard and MIT et al do not give merit or financial aid to families like us.

Harvard actually does, assuming your FAFSA shows that with $150K after-tax HHI, you can't afford to take out $120K tuition/board out of that $150K.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The thing about these lists is that they may or may not be meaningful. There are many kids at these magnet programs, including Blair, who are qualified for but whose families cannot afford e.g. Harvard or MIT. These kids wind up at "lesser" schools like U.Va, U.Md, or Pitt, with lots of merit aid.

Lumping in UVA with those other schools is absurd. Nice try, though.

The point isn't to lump these together, it is to contrast them with Ivies, reputation and cost wise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

It's the families in the middle who cannot afford e.g. Harvard or MIT. Our HHI is $230K and with two college-bound kids, we cannot pay $65k/year/kid x 8 years. Not possible. Our kid will wind up at a state school or someplace that gives him merit aid bc Harvard and MIT et al do not give merit or financial aid to families like us.

Harvard actually does, assuming your FAFSA shows that with $150K after-tax HHI, you can't afford to take out $120K tuition/board out of that $150K.

FAFSA will often if not most of the time show a higher EFC than what a family can actually pay.

PP here with the $230K gross HHI. FAFSA says we can pay $60k. Impossible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The thing about these lists is that they may or may not be meaningful. There are many kids at these magnet programs, including Blair, who are qualified for but whose families cannot afford e.g. Harvard or MIT. These kids wind up at "lesser" schools like U.Va, U.Md, or Pitt, with lots of merit aid.

Your point falls apart though with respect to the biggest-name schools, including Harvard, Yale and MIT: they are need blind and will pay all expenses for the kids they want whose families cannot afford room AND board. I realize that's not the case with, say, Duke or UCLA, but it is certainly the case with HY Columbia and MIT

Probably Stanford and CalTech too, but I don't know that for fact.

No, it doesn't. FAFSA a assumes that an upper middle class family can afford sticker price or close to it, and these schools use FAFSA's EFC a to gauge need. That is where the shortfall lies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The thing about these lists is that they may or may not be meaningful. There are many kids at these magnet programs, including Blair, who are qualified for but whose families cannot afford e.g. Harvard or MIT. These kids wind up at "lesser" schools like U.Va, U.Md, or Pitt, with lots of merit aid.

Your point falls apart though with respect to the biggest-name schools, including Harvard, Yale and MIT: they are need blind and will pay all expenses for the kids they want whose families cannot afford room AND board. I realize that's not the case with, say, Duke or UCLA, but it is certainly the case with HY Columbia and MIT

Probably Stanford and CalTech too, but I don't know that for fact.

"Afford" is defined by FAFSA and may or may not reflect reality.