Wouldn't it be easier for your child to stand out in an average/low rated school vs a high rated?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I heard it would be easier for a student with a high GPA graduating from a low rated school than it is the other way around

This can be true, but with a big caveat. The problem with being the kid with a high GPA from a lower performing school is that colleges know that students from lower performing schools are less likely to be prepared for college, even with a high GPA, so the high GPA isn't enough; you need other corroborating achievements to demonstrate a high level of college readiness. A kid with a slightly lower GPA from a more rigorous high school will have already demonstrated college readiness by their performance in the context of their school so they don't need as much corroboration; they will instead have to find other achievements as a way to stand out.

...and they will have a large cohort also competing against them. Yes, schools like Lee and Stuart have small percentages of students going to competitive schools, but it’s easier to be in that group. Any admissions officer will tell you this. Also, they are looking for geographic diversity. The over saturation of competitive students is working against you- really from any high school in nova.

If they are looking for geographic diversity, they aren't going to care if it comes from George Mason or Marshall, rather than Stuart. They probably don't care if it comes from Falls Church, either, rather than Fairfax. It's all NoVa.

It really is BS to think kids at the better schools are disadvantaged. If it were otherwise, you'd see people trying to take advantage of the system by grooming their kid to be the top kid at Lee. Does. Not. Happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I heard it would be easier for a student with a high GPA graduating from a low rated school than it is the other way around

This can be true, but with a big caveat. The problem with being the kid with a high GPA from a lower performing school is that colleges know that students from lower performing schools are less likely to be prepared for college, even with a high GPA, so the high GPA isn't enough; you need other corroborating achievements to demonstrate a high level of college readiness. A kid with a slightly lower GPA from a more rigorous high school will have already demonstrated college readiness by their performance in the context of their school so they don't need as much corroboration; they will instead have to find other achievements as a way to stand out.

...and they will have a large cohort also competing against them. Yes, schools like Lee and Stuart have small percentages of students going to competitive schools, but it’s easier to be in that group. Any admissions officer will tell you this. Also, they are looking for geographic diversity. The over saturation of competitive students is working against you- really from any high school in nova.

If they are looking for geographic diversity, they aren't going to care if it comes from George Mason or Marshall, rather than Stuart. They probably don't care if it comes from Falls Church, either, rather than Fairfax. It's all NoVa.

It really is BS to think kids at the better schools are disadvantaged. If it were otherwise, you'd see people trying to take advantage of the system by grooming their kid to be the top kid at Lee. Does. Not. Happen.

Because people are afraid. Parents are genuinely worried about what happens at a school like Lee. Which is understandable. It’s still easier to be in the top 2% at Lee as opposed to Mclean. It’s not personal. Just Math.
You roll the dice no matter what you do with your kids. The best idea is to pay attention and make a change if needed. Most people aren’t clairvoyant. Looking back many people realize their children would have been fine almost anywhere, but it’s understandable people want assurances when kids are little. Picking a GS 8 is simple and reassuring to people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I heard it would be easier for a student with a high GPA graduating from a low rated school than it is the other way around

This can be true, but with a big caveat. The problem with being the kid with a high GPA from a lower performing school is that colleges know that students from lower performing schools are less likely to be prepared for college, even with a high GPA, so the high GPA isn't enough; you need other corroborating achievements to demonstrate a high level of college readiness. A kid with a slightly lower GPA from a more rigorous high school will have already demonstrated college readiness by their performance in the context of their school so they don't need as much corroboration; they will instead have to find other achievements as a way to stand out.

...and they will have a large cohort also competing against them. Yes, schools like Lee and Stuart have small percentages of students going to competitive schools, but it’s easier to be in that group. Any admissions officer will tell you this. Also, they are looking for geographic diversity. The over saturation of competitive students is working against you- really from any high school in nova.

If they are looking for geographic diversity, they aren't going to care if it comes from George Mason or Marshall, rather than Stuart. They probably don't care if it comes from Falls Church, either, rather than Fairfax. It's all NoVa.

It really is BS to think kids at the better schools are disadvantaged. If it were otherwise, you'd see people trying to take advantage of the system by grooming their kid to be the top kid at Lee. Does. Not. Happen.

For schools like UVA, your kids are competing with their classmates for spots. It's easier to be in the top 10 at a high FARMS school. Hence the teeth nashing.

[Anonymous]

Colleges do compare kids to other kids in the same area, but more importantly they compare kids to others from their specific school. If they get 25 applicants from school A and 2 from school B, your stellar student at school B has a better shot. An average student is probably no better off at either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I heard it would be easier for a student with a high GPA graduating from a low rated school than it is the other way around

This can be true, but with a big caveat. The problem with being the kid with a high GPA from a lower performing school is that colleges know that students from lower performing schools are less likely to be prepared for college, even with a high GPA, so the high GPA isn't enough; you need other corroborating achievements to demonstrate a high level of college readiness. A kid with a slightly lower GPA from a more rigorous high school will have already demonstrated college readiness by their performance in the context of their school so they don't need as much corroboration; they will instead have to find other achievements as a way to stand out.

...and they will have a large cohort also competing against them. Yes, schools like Lee and Stuart have small percentages of students going to competitive schools, but it’s easier to be in that group. Any admissions officer will tell you this. Also, they are looking for geographic diversity. The over saturation of competitive students is working against you- really from any high school in nova.

If they are looking for geographic diversity, they aren't going to care if it comes from George Mason or Marshall, rather than Stuart. They probably don't care if it comes from Falls Church, either, rather than Fairfax. It's all NoVa.

It really is BS to think kids at the better schools are disadvantaged. If it were otherwise, you'd see people trying to take advantage of the system by grooming their kid to be the top kid at Lee. Does. Not. Happen.

For schools like UVA, your kids are competing with their classmates for spots. It's easier to be in the top 10 at a high FARMS school. Hence the teeth nashing.

Top colleges absolutely look at geography down to the high school level. They're not going to pick all kids from two high schools in the entire region.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I heard it would be easier for a student with a high GPA graduating from a low rated school than it is the other way around

This can be true, but with a big caveat. The problem with being the kid with a high GPA from a lower performing school is that colleges know that students from lower performing schools are less likely to be prepared for college, even with a high GPA, so the high GPA isn't enough; you need other corroborating achievements to demonstrate a high level of college readiness. A kid with a slightly lower GPA from a more rigorous high school will have already demonstrated college readiness by their performance in the context of their school so they don't need as much corroboration; they will instead have to find other achievements as a way to stand out.

...and they will have a large cohort also competing against them. Yes, schools like Lee and Stuart have small percentages of students going to competitive schools, but it’s easier to be in that group. Any admissions officer will tell you this. Also, they are looking for geographic diversity. The over saturation of competitive students is working against you- really from any high school in nova.

If they are looking for geographic diversity, they aren't going to care if it comes from George Mason or Marshall, rather than Stuart. They probably don't care if it comes from Falls Church, either, rather than Fairfax. It's all NoVa.

It really is BS to think kids at the better schools are disadvantaged. If it were otherwise, you'd see people trying to take advantage of the system by grooming their kid to be the top kid at Lee. Does. Not. Happen.

For schools like UVA, your kids are competing with their classmates for spots. It's easier to be in the top 10 at a high FARMS school. Hence the teeth nashing.

*gnashing

[Anonymous]

It’s a hard fact to swallow when we all pay so much more to cluster around a few schools. Your umc, high achieving, ambitious, competitive kid; would also be all of those things at ... Annandale, Stuart, TC, Wakefield, Lee...
They aren’t going to join a gang. They will still have the opportunity to be on debate team, or sing in choir. I always assume posters disparaging the lower rated schools, are from elsewhere and just don’t understand that NOVA isn’t Newark.

[Anonymous]

I have no idea. I do know that my children were incredibly well prepared academically for college by their DCUM highly rated HS. They are attending excellent universities. One was around 80th percentile for GPA - so high middlin and the other was at the top (4.0 unweighted, 4.4 weighted). Both had excellent SAT/APscores but not stratospheric.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I heard it would be easier for a student with a high GPA graduating from a low rated school than it is the other way around

This can be true, but with a big caveat. The problem with being the kid with a high GPA from a lower performing school is that colleges know that students from lower performing schools are less likely to be prepared for college, even with a high GPA, so the high GPA isn't enough; you need other corroborating achievements to demonstrate a high level of college readiness. A kid with a slightly lower GPA from a more rigorous high school will have already demonstrated college readiness by their performance in the context of their school so they don't need as much corroboration; they will instead have to find other achievements as a way to stand out.

...and they will have a large cohort also competing against them. Yes, schools like Lee and Stuart have small percentages of students going to competitive schools, but it’s easier to be in that group. Any admissions officer will tell you this. Also, they are looking for geographic diversity. The over saturation of competitive students is working against you- really from any high school in nova.

If they are looking for geographic diversity, they aren't going to care if it comes from George Mason or Marshall, rather than Stuart. They probably don't care if it comes from Falls Church, either, rather than Fairfax. It's all NoVa.

It really is BS to think kids at the better schools are disadvantaged. If it were otherwise, you'd see people trying to take advantage of the system by grooming their kid to be the top kid at Lee. Does. Not. Happen.

Because people are afraid. Parents are genuinely worried about what happens at a school like Lee. Which is understandable. It’s still easier to be in the top 2% at Lee as opposed to Mclean. It’s not personal. Just Math.
You roll the dice no matter what you do with your kids. The best idea is to pay attention and make a change if needed. Most people aren’t clairvoyant. Looking back many people realize their children would have been fine almost anywhere, but it’s understandable people want assurances when kids are little. Picking a GS 8 is simple and reassuring to people.

Not sure about Lee, but the top schools for Annandale HS last year were NoVa and George Mason. For Langley, they were Virginia Tech and JMU. Langley also had 37 kids going to UVA or W&M. Annandale had 13, and only one going to W&M.

Or we can look at the Ivies + Stanford. Langley had eight kids going to those schools; Annandale had none.

So go ahead and tell me it's better to be in the top 2% at Annandale or Lee, but I'm not buying it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s a hard fact to swallow when we all pay so much more to cluster around a few schools. Your umc, high achieving, ambitious, competitive kid; would also be all of those things at ... Annandale, Stuart, TC, Wakefield, Lee...
They aren’t going to join a gang. They will still have the opportunity to be on debate team, or sing in choir. I always assume posters disparaging the lower rated schools, are from elsewhere and just don’t understand that NOVA isn’t Newark.

How many National Merit Semifinalists has Lee produced in the past five years?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s a hard fact to swallow when we all pay so much more to cluster around a few schools. Your umc, high achieving, ambitious, competitive kid; would also be all of those things at ... Annandale, Stuart, TC, Wakefield, Lee...
They aren’t going to join a gang. They will still have the opportunity to be on debate team, or sing in choir. I always assume posters disparaging the lower rated schools, are from elsewhere and just don’t understand that NOVA isn’t Newark.

How many National Merit Semifinalists has Lee produced in the past five years?

Not of consequence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I heard it would be easier for a student with a high GPA graduating from a low rated school than it is the other way around

This can be true, but with a big caveat. The problem with being the kid with a high GPA from a lower performing school is that colleges know that students from lower performing schools are less likely to be prepared for college, even with a high GPA, so the high GPA isn't enough; you need other corroborating achievements to demonstrate a high level of college readiness. A kid with a slightly lower GPA from a more rigorous high school will have already demonstrated college readiness by their performance in the context of their school so they don't need as much corroboration; they will instead have to find other achievements as a way to stand out.

...and they will have a large cohort also competing against them. Yes, schools like Lee and Stuart have small percentages of students going to competitive schools, but it’s easier to be in that group. Any admissions officer will tell you this. Also, they are looking for geographic diversity. The over saturation of competitive students is working against you- really from any high school in nova.

If they are looking for geographic diversity, they aren't going to care if it comes from George Mason or Marshall, rather than Stuart. They probably don't care if it comes from Falls Church, either, rather than Fairfax. It's all NoVa.

It really is BS to think kids at the better schools are disadvantaged. If it were otherwise, you'd see people trying to take advantage of the system by grooming their kid to be the top kid at Lee. Does. Not. Happen.

Because people are afraid. Parents are genuinely worried about what happens at a school like Lee. Which is understandable. It’s still easier to be in the top 2% at Lee as opposed to Mclean. It’s not personal. Just Math.
You roll the dice no matter what you do with your kids. The best idea is to pay attention and make a change if needed. Most people aren’t clairvoyant. Looking back many people realize their children would have been fine almost anywhere, but it’s understandable people want assurances when kids are little. Picking a GS 8 is simple and reassuring to people.

Not sure about Lee, but the top schools for Annandale HS last year were NoVa and George Mason. For Langley, they were Virginia Tech and JMU. Langley also had 37 kids going to UVA or W&M. Annandale had 13, and only one going to W&M.

Or we can look at the Ivies + Stanford. Langley had eight kids going to those schools; Annandale had none.

So go ahead and tell me it's better to be in the top 2% at Annandale or Lee, but I'm not buying it.

Wait. You are telling me the very best school any Annandale student was admitted to was GMU?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Not sure about Lee, but the top schools for Annandale HS last year were NoVa and George Mason. For Langley, they were Virginia Tech and JMU. Langley also had 37 kids going to UVA or W&M. Annandale had 13, and only one going to W&M.

Or we can look at the Ivies + Stanford. Langley had eight kids going to those schools; Annandale had none.

So go ahead and tell me it's better to be in the top 2% at Annandale or Lee, but I'm not buying it.

At least part of this comes down to bad advising and parents not knowing what the possibilities are. A student with an ambitious courseload, good ECs, good scores, and excellent grades has a very strong chance at Lee and Annandale. My kids went to a similarly ranked and similarly disparaged FFX school and were accepted to UVA and W&M, as well as excellent out of state schools. Our experience was that the counseling advice was atrocious and had they not had knowledgeable parents they would not have been encouraged to apply or understood what courseload was needed, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Not sure about Lee, but the top schools for Annandale HS last year were NoVa and George Mason. For Langley, they were Virginia Tech and JMU. Langley also had 37 kids going to UVA or W&M. Annandale had 13, and only one going to W&M.

Or we can look at the Ivies + Stanford. Langley had eight kids going to those schools; Annandale had none.

So go ahead and tell me it's better to be in the top 2% at Annandale or Lee, but I'm not buying it.

At least part of this comes down to bad advising and parents not knowing what the possibilities are. A student with an ambitious courseload, good ECs, good scores, and excellent grades has a very strong chance at Lee and Annandale. My kids went to a similarly ranked and similarly disparaged FFX school and were accepted to UVA and W&M, as well as excellent out of state schools. Our experience was that the counseling advice was atrocious and had they not had knowledgeable parents they would not have been encouraged to apply or understood what courseload was needed, etc.

That's great. Congrats to your kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Not sure about Lee, but the top schools for Annandale HS last year were NoVa and George Mason. For Langley, they were Virginia Tech and JMU. Langley also had 37 kids going to UVA or W&M. Annandale had 13, and only one going to W&M.

Or we can look at the Ivies + Stanford. Langley had eight kids going to those schools; Annandale had none.

So go ahead and tell me it's better to be in the top 2% at Annandale or Lee, but I'm not buying it.

At least part of this comes down to bad advising and parents not knowing what the possibilities are. A student with an ambitious courseload, good ECs, good scores, and excellent grades has a very strong chance at Lee and Annandale. My kids went to a similarly ranked and similarly disparaged FFX school and were accepted to UVA and W&M, as well as excellent out of state schools. Our experience was that the counseling advice was atrocious and had they not had knowledgeable parents they would not have been encouraged to apply or understood what courseload was needed, etc.

This. We experienced terrible counseling (also at a crappy FCPS feeder), but since we're educated, we guided our kids to great schools.