the "great schools" vs. the "avoid schools" -- education quality vs. college admissions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Afford" is flexible. We can "afford" the better school, but it is $200K more than other zones. The question is: Is the end result actually better at the "avoid" schools b/c of less competition?

Let's assume the educational experience is better at the "great schools" --- is that more or less important than getting into a better college?

Just for an example -- is the educational experience/peer/teachers at a school like Madison/McLean important enough that you would take that over a school like Edison/Hayfield/Annandale if your child's likely to get into JMU coming from Madison/McLean but might have a better shot getting into WM/VT/UVA from the latter group of HSs?

I have two children, one just finished his first year of college and one is currently a junior in HS. They attend(ed) McLean HS. The college kid was extremely well prepared for college. He got into Tech engineering, but chose to go to another out of state school (it was a better fit for him). He is getting better grades at college than he did at McLean and he studied well at McLean. He took 7 APs and had a weighted GPA of almost 4.0 when he graduated. He took the harder math and science APs and the history ones almost everyone takes. His GPA put him at around the 80th percentile for GPA. (He just missed getting the medal to wear for graduation- the cut off is weighted 4.0 and about 20% of the class got them.- half a grade somewhere would have done it for him.)

I can't speak to the other schools, but would highly recommend McLean.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

On the other hand, I hear that it is really hard to get into our local state schools (i.e. WM, VT, UVA) from these schools b/c your kids are compared to the other high achieving kids. But, supposedly, it is easier to get into these colleges from the lesser pyramids b/c you look better compared to the other kids in the class.

Is this true? Or is this an excuse used to explain why a kid from the "better" school didn't get into UVA.

I think there are informal caps of students admitted to state schools from NoVa. But I don't know if they distinguish between one FCPS high school or another, high-rated or low-rated.

The informal "caps" are generally based by County and not individual high schools.

[Anonymous]

OP, keep in mind that ultra-wealthy kids and the schools that serve them often have their own set of issues. Maybe not the same issues as poor kids, but issues nonetheless. Think drugs, entitlement, lack of diversity, etc., etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, keep in mind that ultra-wealthy kids and the schools that serve them often have their own set of issues. Maybe not the same issues as poor kids, but issues nonetheless. Think drugs, entitlement, lack of diversity, etc., etc.

While I agree that Langley and TJ do not have the economic diversity in other area HS (even Madison and McLean have more economic diversity than people outside the area expect) , all the HS in the area have cultural, ethnic, religious...diversity. This area is one of the most diverse in the country. Fairfax is a minority majority school system.

[Anonymous]

Move to South Arlington. You'll be close to everything, yet have the worst schools in the area. Your kid will shine!

[Anonymous]

How many African-American or Hispanic students are there at Langley?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, keep in mind that ultra-wealthy kids and the schools that serve them often have their own set of issues. Maybe not the same issues as poor kids, but issues nonetheless. Think drugs, entitlement, lack of diversity, etc., etc.

That's probably a better argument against private schools than against area public high schools, almost all of which are at least 40% non-white, at least 10% low-income, etc. But if usually only gets advanced in discussions of public schools, as an indirect way of promoting certain schools that have somewhat more SES diversity than the top-rated publics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Move to South Arlington. You'll be close to everything, yet have the worst schools in the area. Your kid will shine!

Shine cause they are white

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How many African-American or Hispanic students are there at Langley?

Very few. Langley is overwhelmingly white/Asian.

[Anonymous]

Its real op and other posters

Look at it this way

Kid with the same SAT scores and GPA but is the top 1/3 at a great school the top 20% at a good school the top 10% at an average school and the top 10 at a bad school

You have to be an idiot to not think that class rank has a factor into college admissions and all else being equal the only difference here is class rank in this example

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Its real op and other posters

Look at it this way

Kid with the same SAT scores and GPA but is the top 1/3 at a great school the top 20% at a good school the top 10% at an average school and the top 10 at a bad school

You have to be an idiot to not think that class rank has a factor into college admissions and all else being equal the only difference here is class rank in this example

I don't know why people always assume in this hypothetical that the same kid has the same GPA and SATs at every school. Part of what differentiates various schools, and the kids at the higher-ranked scores tend to end up with higher GPAs (more weighted AP and IB courses) and higher SATs (being around smarter kids raises one's game and more likely to view the test prep as normal).

Of course there are kids who thrive in low-performing schools or wilt under the pressure at a high-performing one. But the numbers tell you that, overall, next to no one arbitrages schools based on the hope that going to Mount Vernon or Wakefield is their meal ticket to William & Mary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Move to South Arlington. You'll be close to everything, yet have the worst schools in the area. Your kid will shine!

Shine cause they are white

In my south Arlington neighborhood, all the seniors go to top schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Its real op and other posters

Look at it this way

Kid with the same SAT scores and GPA but is the top 1/3 at a great school the top 20% at a good school the top 10% at an average school and the top 10 at a bad school

You have to be an idiot to not think that class rank has a factor into college admissions and all else being equal the only difference here is class rank in this example

I don't know about Arlington, but FCPS does not have class rank.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, keep in mind that ultra-wealthy kids and the schools that serve them often have their own set of issues. Maybe not the same issues as poor kids, but issues nonetheless. Think drugs, entitlement, lack of diversity, etc., etc.

+1

Definitely something to think about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, keep in mind that ultra-wealthy kids and the schools that serve them often have their own set of issues. Maybe not the same issues as poor kids, but issues nonetheless. Think drugs, entitlement, lack of diversity, etc., etc.

+1

Definitely something to think about.

Totally understand that. I guess I just want teachers that have their act together (not the teachers who couldn't get a job anywhere else or are burned out by disrespectful kids) and a safe place (i.e. not scary).