College admissions data by FCPS HS?

[Anonymous]

The data is self reported. The schools count on the student to provide complete and accurate information and many don't. Some of the gaps - especially for the more popular school - may be filled in by the guidance dept

[Anonymous]

21:52 at our school (GCM) the schools that are "applied to" are known and reported by the counselors (who coordinate all the recommendations and applications), the "accepted to" data are self reported by students and reviewed by the counselors and the "attend" data are also self reported and reviewed. I expect there is some minor data corruption. The data is somewhat helpful to establish appropriate expectations and communicate opportunities. It is clearly not helpful in judging the performance of the school in general or in assessing the particular prospects for any individual student, although it is often used in this manner.

On review of TJ's data, it is interesting to note how many kids attended VA state schools. Consider that TJ senior class is approximately 425 kids - if allocated over the 24 HS in FCPS that is approximately 20 kids from each class, and perhaps closer to 30 from the higher ses schools (e.g. Langley, McLean, Madison, Marshall...) and less from other HS - so roughly the top 10-15% of each HS class may be segregated into TJ (although there are a number of high performing students who choose not to go to TJ - the ethnic segregation at TJ is considerable with 70% identifying as 'Asian', and the focus of the curriculum there is STEM)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:21:52 at our school (GCM) the schools that are "applied to" are known and reported by the counselors (who coordinate all the recommendations and applications), the "accepted to" data are self reported by students and reviewed by the counselors and the "attend" data are also self reported and reviewed. I expect there is some minor data corruption. The data is somewhat helpful to establish appropriate expectations and communicate opportunities. It is clearly not helpful in judging the performance of the school in general or in assessing the particular prospects for any individual student, although it is often used in this manner.

On review of TJ's data, it is interesting to note how many kids attended VA state schools. Consider that TJ senior class is approximately 425 kids - if allocated over the 24 HS in FCPS that is approximately 20 kids from each class, and perhaps closer to 30 from the higher ses schools (e.g. Langley, McLean, Madison, Marshall...) and less from other HS - so roughly the top 10-15% of each HS class may be segregated into TJ (although there are a number of high performing students who choose not to go to TJ - the ethnic segregation at TJ is considerable with 70% identifying as 'Asian', and the focus of the curriculum there is STEM)

Somewhere in the range of 2-3% of FCPS seniors graduate from TJ each year, not 10-15%. Remember that TJ is the regional governor's school. Only 300-350 kids a year are from FCPS. And they may be many of the top STEM kids, but other kids are tops in other things. The other 1/4-1/3 are from other jurisdictions. 14,000 or so HS grads a year, 350 is from FCPS. The math ends up with 2-3% of each senior class graduating from TJ. That makes sense. TJ is by far the smallest HS, often with classes 1/2 the size of other high schools, and a 1/3 if you only consider the FCPS kids. With 22 HSs (kicking out the Alternative HSs which are small), TJ has at most 1/2 of 1/22, or 1/44 of the kids. I consistently see 2%, which seems right.

And the VA Stats are not shocking. TJ kids definately skew affluent, but many are not wealthy. When push comes to shove, many parents cannot pay full freight for an ivy. I have a TJ kid, and he is in the same boat as many of his peers at TJ and in this area. We can pay everything in state. But if ge goes OOS or private, we cannot make up much of the difference. And I do not want him or us taking out loans for undergrad, when graduate school is a real possibility. When the time comes, if he does not get merit money from an engineering school (I suspect he will apply to engineering schools) that is a better fit for him than UVA or VT, then he will go to UVA or VT. And I certainly would not see UVA/VT Engineering as his safety schools as a failure. There are tons of very smart, very high achieving very motivated kids who do not get in to these schools.

That said, I would love for him to go to a Rose Holman or Havvey Mudd. A small environment that focuses on undergrad education. But, without merit money, we can't make it happen. We'll see.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:21:52 at our school (GCM) the schools that are "applied to" are known and reported by the counselors (who coordinate all the recommendations and applications), the "accepted to" data are self reported by students and reviewed by the counselors and the "attend" data are also self reported and reviewed. I expect there is some minor data corruption. The data is somewhat helpful to establish appropriate expectations and communicate opportunities. It is clearly not helpful in judging the performance of the school in general or in assessing the particular prospects for any individual student, although it is often used in this manner.

On review of TJ's data, it is interesting to note how many kids attended VA state schools. Consider that TJ senior class is approximately 425 kids - if allocated over the 24 HS in FCPS that is approximately 20 kids from each class, and perhaps closer to 30 from the higher ses schools (e.g. Langley, McLean, Madison, Marshall...) and less from other HS - so roughly the top 10-15% of each HS class may be segregated into TJ (although there are a number of high performing students who choose not to go to TJ - the ethnic segregation at TJ is considerable with 70% identifying as 'Asian', and the focus of the curriculum there is STEM)

Somewhere in the range of 2-3% of FCPS seniors graduate from TJ each year, not 10-15%. Remember that TJ is the regional governor's school. Only 300-350 kids a year are from FCPS. And they may be many of the top STEM kids, but other kids are tops in other things. The other 1/4-1/3 are from other jurisdictions. 14,000 or so HS grads a year, 350 is from FCPS. The math ends up with 2-3% of each senior class graduating from TJ. That makes sense. TJ is by far the smallest HS, often with classes 1/2 the size of other high schools, and a 1/3 if you only consider the FCPS kids. With 22 HSs (kicking out the Alternative HSs which are small), TJ has at most 1/2 of 1/22, or 1/44 of the kids. I consistently see 2%, which seems right.

And the VA Stats are not shocking. TJ kids definately skew affluent, but many are not wealthy. When push comes to shove, many parents cannot pay full freight for an ivy. I have a TJ kid, and he is in the same boat as many of his peers at TJ and in this area. We can pay everything in state. But if ge goes OOS or private, we cannot make up much of the difference. And I do not want him or us taking out loans for undergrad, when graduate school is a real possibility. When the time comes, if he does not get merit money from an engineering school (I suspect he will apply to engineering schools) that is a better fit for him than UVA or VT, then he will go to UVA or VT. And I certainly would not see UVA/VT Engineering as his safety schools as a failure. There are tons of very smart, very high achieving very motivated kids who do not get in to these schools.

That said, I would love for him to go to a Rose Holman or Havvey Mudd. A small environment that focuses on undergrad education. But, without merit money, we can't make it happen. We'll see.

There are 22 high schools in FCPS and three secondary schools in FCPS that include 9-12 (Hayfield, Lake Braddock and Robinson).

[Anonymous]

Has anyone seen this data for Falls Church HS?

[Anonymous]

12:05 - thanks for that clarification on the numbers - you're correct that I overlooked the regional students (from outside of FFX) and made some simplifying assumptions that were too gross.

I agree that 'value' is a key consideration for many students (us too) considering college. I'm very happy that my student has an opportunity to attend UVA although the more intimate experience at an elite private school would be fantastic.

Thanks for you considerate comments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:12:05 - thanks for that clarification on the numbers - you're correct that I overlooked the regional students (from outside of FFX) and made some simplifying assumptions that were too gross.

I agree that 'value' is a key consideration for many students (us too) considering college. I'm very happy that my student has an opportunity to attend UVA although the more intimate experience at an elite private school would be fantastic.

Thanks for you considerate comments.

Congrats to your kid! That's awesome.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you don't have a kid in HS, then you can't access the data on Naviance. If you do have a kid, log into Blackboard and click on your child's name under Family Connection and then click on the "college" tab once you're there.

It's too much data to post if you want specific stats for each school. The list provided for Marshall tells you how many kids were accepted to each school over a period of years and how many of those kids opted to attend, but not how many applied or what their stats were.

So do I have to have a child at Oakton in order to get the Oakton HS data?

[Anonymous]

What about Madison?

[Anonymous]

so far as I know, the only source for the data is through Blackboard and that is limited to the school with the account you use (your student's). So, unless someone from Oakton or Madison copies the data and posts it we don't have it. I can call our school counselor and see if he can provide a file with the info for all schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don't have a kid in HS, then you can't access the data on Naviance. If you do have a kid, log into Blackboard and click on your child's name under Family Connection and then click on the "college" tab once you're there.

It's too much data to post if you want specific stats for each school. The list provided for Marshall tells you how many kids were accepted to each school over a period of years and how many of those kids opted to attend, but not how many applied or what their stats were.

So do I have to have a child at Oakton in order to get the Oakton HS data?

or a friend with a child at Oakton.