Who sends their kid to Wakefield HS? Is it really that bad?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Last I checked Wakefield was populated by living beings, not data points. The meat of your argument is that you don’t trust your child can rise to the top 5-10% at Wakefield. It’s ok to have fear, but you shouldn’t let it rule your life.

The top 20-40 kids at Wakefield can't even manage to get into UVA or W&M, so why bother with that?

Not every kid is interested in UVA. Not every kid is afraid to be different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is why we lived in the Wakefield zone. We're black, upper middle class, and realized that whatever price premium Yorktown commands does not translate to our children. Black children at Yorktown actually do worse than those at Wakefield.

We spend our money supplementing and supporting our kids. Music lessons, tutoring, etc. We can afford for me to work very part-time (14 hours a week), so I can be more of a presence at home. Wakefield was actually a very positive experience for my kids.

We did all of these things and are kids are thriving. In college now at UVA and W&M.

People make choices for a lot of reasons. Just because someone wants to pay more to live in North Arlington doesn't mean that it's the right choice for everyone.

I appreciate the anecdote but when I see that fewer than a dozen Wakefield students are admitted to each of UVA and W&M, and that the acceptance rate is lower than for Yorktown or W-L (even though we're repeatedly told that it's easier to get into such schools if your kid attends a school like Wakefield), I can't help but think the choice you made wouldn't be the best choice for most in this area.

The acceptance rate is the same

W&M last year:

Yorktown 46.5%
W-L 41.2%
Wakefield 34.4%

And this despite far fewer applications as well.

the difference between 35% and 41% is not a lot given that is what you are hanging your argument. Maybe the guidance folks overestimate the benefit of being from Wakefield on UVA admissions officers and are pushing kids to apply who shouldnt. How was the acceptance for VTech?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here is why we lived in the Wakefield zone. We're black, upper middle class, and realized that whatever price premium Yorktown commands does not translate to our children. Black children at Yorktown actually do worse than those at Wakefield.

We spend our money supplementing and supporting our kids. Music lessons, tutoring, etc. We can afford for me to work very part-time (14 hours a week), so I can be more of a presence at home. Wakefield was actually a very positive experience for my kids.

We did all of these things and are kids are thriving. In college now at UVA and W&M.

People make choices for a lot of reasons. Just because someone wants to pay more to live in North Arlington doesn't mean that it's the right choice for everyone.

URMs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is why we lived in the Wakefield zone. We're black, upper middle class, and realized that whatever price premium Yorktown commands does not translate to our children. Black children at Yorktown actually do worse than those at Wakefield.

We spend our money supplementing and supporting our kids. Music lessons, tutoring, etc. We can afford for me to work very part-time (14 hours a week), so I can be more of a presence at home. Wakefield was actually a very positive experience for my kids.

We did all of these things and are kids are thriving. In college now at UVA and W&M.

People make choices for a lot of reasons. Just because someone wants to pay more to live in North Arlington doesn't mean that it's the right choice for everyone.

I appreciate the anecdote but when I see that fewer than a dozen Wakefield students are admitted to each of UVA and W&M, and that the acceptance rate is lower than for Yorktown or W-L (even though we're repeatedly told that it's easier to get into such schools if your kid attends a school like Wakefield), I can't help but think the choice you made wouldn't be the best choice for most in this area.

The acceptance rate is the same

W&M last year:

Yorktown 46.5%
W-L 41.2%
Wakefield 34.4%

And this despite far fewer applications as well.

the difference between 35% and 41% is not a lot given that is what you are hanging your argument. Maybe the guidance folks overestimate the benefit of being from Wakefield on UVA admissions officers and are pushing kids to apply who shouldnt. How was the acceptance for VTech?

Do you mean the difference between 34% and 41% (or 47%)? That's significant.

As for Tech last year (again with far fewer applicants):

W-L 65.8%
Yorktown 61.6%
Wakefield 44%

[Anonymous]

A Langley's mom here. I don't know what kids at Wakefield HS do in the summer but at Langley, I do know a lot of kids including mine, especially Asians, attend SAT prep class for eight straight weeks from M-F, 9am-4pm in the summer at the cost of around 6K. That probably explains why they have better scores than kids from Wakefield.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:why is everyone so obsessed with trashing schools their kids don't attend?

Because deep down, DCUM is a bastion of insecurity. People have to know they chose the right neighborhood, bought the right house, got their kids into the right school. But most of us don't have kids in their 30s or 40s, where we could realistically assess their lives to see if the investment was actually worth it. So people trash any choice that is "the other" to make themselves feel better about their own.

Seems like people keep starting threads about low-performing schools to try and convince the people they want to send their kids to those schools to do so. I mean, how many Wakefield threads have there been?

Not sure why they get bent out of shape when the facts about those schools are then shared.

And the folks from McLean/Langley/etc etc furiously Googling those said statistics? Proving my point that if you're unsure of your own choice, you simply have to find a way to prove other schools are bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:why is everyone so obsessed with trashing schools their kids don't attend?

Because deep down, DCUM is a bastion of insecurity. People have to know they chose the right neighborhood, bought the right house, got their kids into the right school. But most of us don't have kids in their 30s or 40s, where we could realistically assess their lives to see if the investment was actually worth it. So people trash any choice that is "the other" to make themselves feel better about their own.

Seems like people keep starting threads about low-performing schools to try and convince the people they want to send their kids to those schools to do so. I mean, how many Wakefield threads have there been?

Not sure why they get bent out of shape when the facts about those schools are then shared.

And the folks from McLean/Langley/etc etc furiously Googling those said statistics? Proving my point that if you're unsure of your own choice, you simply have to find a way to prove other schools are bad.

Logic fail.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A Langley's mom here. I don't know what kids at Wakefield HS do in the summer but at Langley, I do know a lot of kids including mine, especially Asians, attend SAT prep class for eight straight weeks from M-F, 9am-4pm in the summer at the cost of around 6K. That probably explains why they have better scores than kids from Wakefield.

I feel sorry for these kids. They have already demonstrated that they can't prep for shit since they didn't get into TJ, and yet this nonsense continues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A Langley's mom here. I don't know what kids at Wakefield HS do in the summer but at Langley, I do know a lot of kids including mine, especially Asians, attend SAT prep class for eight straight weeks from M-F, 9am-4pm in the summer at the cost of around 6K. That probably explains why they have better scores than kids from Wakefield.

It also explains why Harvard doesn't give a crap about high scoring Asians.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A Langley's mom here. I don't know what kids at Wakefield HS do in the summer but at Langley, I do know a lot of kids including mine, especially Asians, attend SAT prep class for eight straight weeks from M-F, 9am-4pm in the summer at the cost of around 6K. That probably explains why they have better scores than kids from Wakefield.

It also explains why Harvard doesn't give a crap about high scoring Asians.

Well then

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A Langley's mom here. I don't know what kids at Wakefield HS do in the summer but at Langley, I do know a lot of kids including mine, especially Asians, attend SAT prep class for eight straight weeks from M-F, 9am-4pm in the summer at the cost of around 6K. That probably explains why they have better scores than kids from Wakefield.

God Bless them if that's what motivates them. But, it sure sounds like mind numbingly miserable way to spend a summer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A Langley's mom here. I don't know what kids at Wakefield HS do in the summer but at Langley, I do know a lot of kids including mine, especially Asians, attend SAT prep class for eight straight weeks from M-F, 9am-4pm in the summer at the cost of around 6K. That probably explains why they have better scores than kids from Wakefield.

You won’t find many kids from Langley spending eight full weeks of their summer at an SAT prep class. Not even the Asians.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A Langley's mom here. I don't know what kids at Wakefield HS do in the summer but at Langley, I do know a lot of kids including mine, especially Asians, attend SAT prep class for eight straight weeks from M-F, 9am-4pm in the summer at the cost of around 6K. That probably explains why they have better scores than kids from Wakefield.

You won’t find many kids from Langley spending eight full weeks of their summer at an SAT prep class. Not even the Asians.

On its face, that does sound like overkill (and over priced!) for your typical academically focused UMC. From what I've seen, some targeted one-on-one tutoring would save 200 hours of time and $3-$4k.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A Langley's mom here. I don't know what kids at Wakefield HS do in the summer but at Langley, I do know a lot of kids including mine, especially Asians, attend SAT prep class for eight straight weeks from M-F, 9am-4pm in the summer at the cost of around 6K. That probably explains why they have better scores than kids from Wakefield.

You won’t find many kids from Langley spending eight full weeks of their summer at an SAT prep class. Not even the Asians.

On its face, that does sound like overkill (and over priced!) for your typical academically focused UMC. From what I've seen, some targeted one-on-one tutoring would save 200 hours of time and $3-$4k.

I am another mom from Langley and my daughter does go to eight weeks summer SAT boot camp. PP, I hope you're smarter than what you wrote here. You can get a Camry for 25k or you can get a Lexus for 80K. People who can afford it prefer Lexus over Camry because of all the safety features and comfort that Camry just does not have. The same goes with SAT prep. You get what you pay for.

If the kid is already smart and motivated, he/she doesn't need SAT boot camp. The kid could have been attending Wakefield and score 1600 on the SAT. Unfortunately, most kids can not do that so therefore they need help. Btw, I think Wakefield is a wonderful school. It is not where you go to school, it's how you make the most of it.

I do have a somewhat idiotic question. Is gang an issue at Wakefield as some in thread mentioned?

[Anonymous]

It’s not idiotic.
I imagine Langley has zero ms 13 presence.

I don’t think you can say that for Wakefield, but I also don’t think it’s a real concern. It’s more like,
“ my cousin has a friend who runs with MS13”

Not a concern for middle class families.