Benefits of being a high school graduate in DC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Smart kids from DC do well in college. Many kids in DC, regardless of intelligence, have the challenges that come from growing up attending inner city schools and are making up for earlier gaps.

DC TAG is great, but it is not going to get you the equivalent of in state tuition. The cost of the UCs with DC tag is around 60K/year, similar for UVA. The cost of Pitt for my kid would have been 35K/ year between DC Tag and a small merit scholarship.

My kid is attending a private LAC (in top 40) with decent merit for about 65K/year.

The calculation is different for different families.

Ok, but for OP (who sounds new at this) - and to clarify - DC TAG gives you only $10K off the sticker price. USC (Cal) is now $92K a year so that brings it to $82K. Pitt is now $51,432 so $41,000+. My SLAC is $86K so $76K (and my slac doesn't give merit). Berkeley is over 70K for OOS (if you are lucky enough to get in). I'm glad your kid got "decent" merit at a SLAC but you usually have to drop down a tier or two in prestige to get that. My kid wasn't offered any merit until he dropped down to small SLACs you've never heard of. So to summarize, you are far better off to move from DC to VA and go in-state than to stay in DC and rely on DC tag.

[Anonymous]

^^ actually I take that back for private universities. I just looked it up. It appears that DC Tag applies only to public universities, HBCUs and private universities (American?) in the district of columbia, so it's not as broad as I said above. So yet another reason to move to Virginia. DC TAG eligible institutions are: all public colleges and universities throughout the US; public and private Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU's) throughout the US; all private colleges and universities in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.
File Size: 411KB

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will only speak to your last point. DCtag gives you something like 10,000 a year for state schools but not the full difference between in school and out of state tuition.

This baffles me every time I see it posted here. I graduated from DCPS back in 2000, the first year of the DC TAG. It was $10k back then. How in the world has it not gone up a single cent in 23 years?

The legislators you vote into office.

Wrong! DCTAG was created by an act of the U.S. Congress. DC residents have absolutely NO vote in the matter!

Yup. Eleanor Holmes Norton regularly tries to get the amount increased; I believe a bump to $15K got through both houses of Congress a couple of years ago but came out in final budget negotiations. That’s the closest we’ve gotten in recent years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^ actually I take that back for private universities. I just looked it up. It appears that DC Tag applies only to public universities, HBCUs and private universities (American?) in the district of columbia, so it's not as broad as I said above. So yet another reason to move to Virginia. DC TAG eligible institutions are: all public colleges and universities throughout the US; public and private Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU's) throughout the US; all private colleges and universities in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.
File Size: 411KB

So actually PP was right that at public universities with decent merit, DCTAG can make a meaningful difference. UVM, for example, regularly gives 16-20K of merit to high-achieving students; with the 10K from DCTAG, tuition would be 11-16K for my kid. I have friends in VA who always assumed their kid would go in-state (they even did the VA state pre-pay)…and then the kid ended up loving UVM and going there. We live in DC and have a kid who loves UVM; we’ll pay less than my VA friend if my kid ends up going there.

Point is, you can move to VA or MD and assume your kid will go to a state school, and then the state schools might not be what they want. If you want to be in VA or MD, you should move. But don’t move just for college (unless your financial situation requires it).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ actually I take that back for private universities. I just looked it up. It appears that DC Tag applies only to public universities, HBCUs and private universities (American?) in the district of columbia, so it's not as broad as I said above. So yet another reason to move to Virginia. DC TAG eligible institutions are: all public colleges and universities throughout the US; public and private Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU's) throughout the US; all private colleges and universities in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.
File Size: 411KB

So actually PP was right that at public universities with decent merit, DCTAG can make a meaningful difference. UVM, for example, regularly gives 16-20K of merit to high-achieving students; with the 10K from DCTAG, tuition would be 11-16K for my kid. I have friends in VA who always assumed their kid would go in-state (they even did the VA state pre-pay)…and then the kid ended up loving UVM and going there. We live in DC and have a kid who loves UVM; we’ll pay less than my VA friend if my kid ends up going there.

Point is, you can move to VA or MD and assume your kid will go to a state school, and then the state schools might not be what they want. If you want to be in VA or MD, you should move. But don’t move just for college (unless your financial situation requires it).

Correct, this is where DC TAG is quite helpful. You get that up to $10k if you pay $1 of tuition to any state university...so if University of Vermont or Nebraska or anyone else gives you in-state tuition/merit aid to induce you to attend, you can still use that $10k from DC TAG. There is no reduction in DC TAG for any grants provided by that State U.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can only speak anecdotally, but it seems like DCPS kids (I only know JR and Walls) seem to punch above their weight in college admissions.

I hear horror stories from parents in VA about how their kid was rejected by VT or UVA and their kids have incredible grades, stats, etc...and then I look at the kids I know from JR and Walls getting accepted into those schools with scores, stats, etc. that are nothing incredible. I don't know what majors kids are applying for which could impact it or what...that is why it is all anecdotal.

We also know a number of parents with kids at SJC and JR and they will make the same comment...that kids that have been friends (or even siblings) and were similar at Deal and have similar classes at JR and SJC and similar test scores...the JR kids seem to get "better" college acceptances.

Perhaps DCPS schools are all considered challenged...I honestly don't know.

One final comment on DC TAG...if you look beyond the expensive state flagships (UVA very expensive OOS...Michigan and Cal schools also expensive OOS), then DC TAG can be meaningful. There are a number of state flagships like University of Nebraska, University of South Carolina and others that offer in-state tuition as merit inducement for OOS candidates. In that instance, you receive in-state tuition, plus DC TAG and can attend those schools for very little out-of-pocket $$$s on a net basis.

Going to a large DC public school creates a different type of student that one who attended SJC. I wouldn’t assume that they are a lesser choice or less qualified. They’ve had a very different experience and bring that with them.

A lot of universities don’t want to deal with students who are NOT able to think critically and thus Catholic school students are often disfavored.

Sorry but did you forget the “not” in that last statement? Having had an inside look at both the SJC curriculum and the JR curriculum, I can only conclude that it is the high performing JR students who engage in much more rigorous critical thinking during their 4 years of high school. Not only do SJC students take fewer courses overall (7 instead of 8 each year), one of those is a religion course which is nothing more than catholic indoctrination. Moreover, the rigidity of catholic schools and the whole “limited world view” of a religious perspective just gets in the way of developing independent thinkers. SJC parents may think their students are learning critical thinking, but they are learning it within some very rigid guardrails.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ actually I take that back for private universities. I just looked it up. It appears that DC Tag applies only to public universities, HBCUs and private universities (American?) in the district of columbia, so it's not as broad as I said above. So yet another reason to move to Virginia. DC TAG eligible institutions are: all public colleges and universities throughout the US; public and private Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU's) throughout the US; all private colleges and universities in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.
File Size: 411KB

So actually PP was right that at public universities with decent merit, DCTAG can make a meaningful difference. UVM, for example, regularly gives 16-20K of merit to high-achieving students; with the 10K from DCTAG, tuition would be 11-16K for my kid. I have friends in VA who always assumed their kid would go in-state (they even did the VA state pre-pay)…and then the kid ended up loving UVM and going there. We live in DC and have a kid who loves UVM; we’ll pay less than my VA friend if my kid ends up going there.

Point is, you can move to VA or MD and assume your kid will go to a state school, and then the state schools might not be what they want. If you want to be in VA or MD, you should move. But don’t move just for college (unless your financial situation requires it).

What happened with the VA state pre-pay? Did they lose it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ actually I take that back for private universities. I just looked it up. It appears that DC Tag applies only to public universities, HBCUs and private universities (American?) in the district of columbia, so it's not as broad as I said above. So yet another reason to move to Virginia. DC TAG eligible institutions are: all public colleges and universities throughout the US; public and private Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU's) throughout the US; all private colleges and universities in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.
File Size: 411KB

So actually PP was right that at public universities with decent merit, DCTAG can make a meaningful difference. UVM, for example, regularly gives 16-20K of merit to high-achieving students; with the 10K from DCTAG, tuition would be 11-16K for my kid. I have friends in VA who always assumed their kid would go in-state (they even did the VA state pre-pay)…and then the kid ended up loving UVM and going there. We live in DC and have a kid who loves UVM; we’ll pay less than my VA friend if my kid ends up going there.

Point is, you can move to VA or MD and assume your kid will go to a state school, and then the state schools might not be what they want. If you want to be in VA or MD, you should move. But don’t move just for college (unless your financial situation requires it).

What happened with the VA state pre-pay? Did they lose it?

No, they can still use it toward any school. It just doesn’t guarantee full-tuition coverage as it would have at a VA school.

[Anonymous]

The only benefit is regional diversity. Of course, that requires you to apply to a UNC, Miami, Rhodes, etc. Schools need that and will give money for it. Kids are getting amazing educations and packages from some great schools outside of this area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ actually I take that back for private universities. I just looked it up. It appears that DC Tag applies only to public universities, HBCUs and private universities (American?) in the district of columbia, so it's not as broad as I said above. So yet another reason to move to Virginia. DC TAG eligible institutions are: all public colleges and universities throughout the US; public and private Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU's) throughout the US; all private colleges and universities in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.
File Size: 411KB

So actually PP was right that at public universities with decent merit, DCTAG can make a meaningful difference. UVM, for example, regularly gives 16-20K of merit to high-achieving students; with the 10K from DCTAG, tuition would be 11-16K for my kid. I have friends in VA who always assumed their kid would go in-state (they even did the VA state pre-pay)…and then the kid ended up loving UVM and going there. We live in DC and have a kid who loves UVM; we’ll pay less than my VA friend if my kid ends up going there.

Point is, you can move to VA or MD and assume your kid will go to a state school, and then the state schools might not be what they want. If you want to be in VA or MD, you should move. But don’t move just for college (unless your financial situation requires it).

Correct, this is where DC TAG is quite helpful. You get that up to $10k if you pay $1 of tuition to any state university...so if University of Vermont or Nebraska or anyone else gives you in-state tuition/merit aid to induce you to attend, you can still use that $10k from DC TAG. There is no reduction in DC TAG for any grants provided by that State U.

You can’t count on any merit aid. That’s a big if and variable. Where you know for sure and it’s guarantee that you get in state tuition in VA.

My nephew went to a VA state school and just graduated 2 years ago. It was a total steal and bargain at about 25k a year all in for tuition, room and board.

[Anonymous]

Are you saying VA is more guaranteed for in state more than MD? If so, why?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ actually I take that back for private universities. I just looked it up. It appears that DC Tag applies only to public universities, HBCUs and private universities (American?) in the district of columbia, so it's not as broad as I said above. So yet another reason to move to Virginia. DC TAG eligible institutions are: all public colleges and universities throughout the US; public and private Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU's) throughout the US; all private colleges and universities in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.
File Size: 411KB

So actually PP was right that at public universities with decent merit, DCTAG can make a meaningful difference. UVM, for example, regularly gives 16-20K of merit to high-achieving students; with the 10K from DCTAG, tuition would be 11-16K for my kid. I have friends in VA who always assumed their kid would go in-state (they even did the VA state pre-pay)…and then the kid ended up loving UVM and going there. We live in DC and have a kid who loves UVM; we’ll pay less than my VA friend if my kid ends up going there.

Point is, you can move to VA or MD and assume your kid will go to a state school, and then the state schools might not be what they want. If you want to be in VA or MD, you should move. But don’t move just for college (unless your financial situation requires it).

Correct, this is where DC TAG is quite helpful. You get that up to $10k if you pay $1 of tuition to any state university...so if University of Vermont or Nebraska or anyone else gives you in-state tuition/merit aid to induce you to attend, you can still use that $10k from DC TAG. There is no reduction in DC TAG for any grants provided by that State U.

You can’t count on any merit aid. That’s a big if and variable. Where you know for sure and it’s guarantee that you get in state tuition in VA.

My nephew went to a VA state school and just graduated 2 years ago. It was a total steal and bargain at about 25k a year all in for tuition, room and board.

You also can’t count on getting into the VA state school(s) you prefer. If the idea is to make your kid go to an in-state school no matter what, sure, this is the more certain plan. But if the kid is going to have choices, it’s worth factoring DCTAG into the equation.

Also, merit aid is guaranteed at many state schools for certain stats. And it’s all but certain at others for OOS kids. If you have a middle schooler who is doing well academically, you can make a pretty good bet that there will be merit aid out there for them and factor that into the equation as you make decisions about where/whether to move.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ actually I take that back for private universities. I just looked it up. It appears that DC Tag applies only to public universities, HBCUs and private universities (American?) in the district of columbia, so it's not as broad as I said above. So yet another reason to move to Virginia. DC TAG eligible institutions are: all public colleges and universities throughout the US; public and private Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU's) throughout the US; all private colleges and universities in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.
File Size: 411KB

So actually PP was right that at public universities with decent merit, DCTAG can make a meaningful difference. UVM, for example, regularly gives 16-20K of merit to high-achieving students; with the 10K from DCTAG, tuition would be 11-16K for my kid. I have friends in VA who always assumed their kid would go in-state (they even did the VA state pre-pay)…and then the kid ended up loving UVM and going there. We live in DC and have a kid who loves UVM; we’ll pay less than my VA friend if my kid ends up going there.

Point is, you can move to VA or MD and assume your kid will go to a state school, and then the state schools might not be what they want. If you want to be in VA or MD, you should move. But don’t move just for college (unless your financial situation requires it).

Correct, this is where DC TAG is quite helpful. You get that up to $10k if you pay $1 of tuition to any state university...so if University of Vermont or Nebraska or anyone else gives you in-state tuition/merit aid to induce you to attend, you can still use that $10k from DC TAG. There is no reduction in DC TAG for any grants provided by that State U.

You can’t count on any merit aid. That’s a big if and variable. Where you know for sure and it’s guarantee that you get in state tuition in VA.

My nephew went to a VA state school and just graduated 2 years ago. It was a total steal and bargain at about 25k a year all in for tuition, room and board.

You also can’t count on getting into the VA state school(s) you prefer. If the idea is to make your kid go to an in-state school no matter what, sure, this is the more certain plan. But if the kid is going to have choices, it’s worth factoring DCTAG into the equation.

Also, merit aid is guaranteed at many state schools for certain stats. And it’s all but certain at others for OOS kids. If you have a middle schooler who is doing well academically, you can make a pretty good bet that there will be merit aid out there for them and factor that into the equation as you make decisions about where/whether to move.

Yes. There are many more options for top 100 schools if you look at OOS flagships (which is why so many students from MCPS and FCPS attend OOS schools). And if you drop down a tier, there’s no appreciable savings to moving.

Consider UMW for a student with a weighted 3.25 and 1100 SAT score. Sticker-price tuition for a Virginia resident is $9,000. (There are many other costs, but only tuition varies by state of residence.) After a $4,000 merit discount, that’s a mere $5,000. Great deal.

Sticker-price tuition for a DC resident is $26,000. Crazy! But then for the same stats there’s a much bigger merit discount, $7,000, plus a bonus $4,000 discount for all OOS students. Then there’s $10,000 from DCTAG. So the DC resident is paying … $5,000.

(All those tuition and merit scholarship numbers are published on the UMW website.)

[Anonymous]

Dumb question, if kid is in school out of DC for a year, can kid just make that state her residence (as of August X prior year, etc.) and family can pay in-state tuition even if core family unit (of an ADULT, right?) lives in DC?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can only speak anecdotally, but it seems like DCPS kids (I only know JR and Walls) seem to punch above their weight in college admissions.

I hear horror stories from parents in VA about how their kid was rejected by VT or UVA and their kids have incredible grades, stats, etc...and then I look at the kids I know from JR and Walls getting accepted into those schools with scores, stats, etc. that are nothing incredible. I don't know what majors kids are applying for which could impact it or what...that is why it is all anecdotal.

We also know a number of parents with kids at SJC and JR and they will make the same comment...that kids that have been friends (or even siblings) and were similar at Deal and have similar classes at JR and SJC and similar test scores...the JR kids seem to get "better" college acceptances.

Perhaps DCPS schools are all considered challenged...I honestly don't know.

One final comment on DC TAG...if you look beyond the expensive state flagships (UVA very expensive OOS...Michigan and Cal schools also expensive OOS), then DC TAG can be meaningful. There are a number of state flagships like University of Nebraska, University of South Carolina and others that offer in-state tuition as merit inducement for OOS candidates. In that instance, you receive in-state tuition, plus DC TAG and can attend those schools for very little out-of-pocket $$$s on a net basis.

Going to a large DC public school creates a different type of student that one who attended SJC. I wouldn’t assume that they are a lesser choice or less qualified. They’ve had a very different experience and bring that with them.

A lot of universities don’t want to deal with students who are NOT able to think critically and thus Catholic school students are often disfavored.

Sorry but did you forget the “not” in that last statement? Having had an inside look at both the SJC curriculum and the JR curriculum, I can only conclude that it is the high performing JR students who engage in much more rigorous critical thinking during their 4 years of high school. Not only do SJC students take fewer courses overall (7 instead of 8 each year), one of those is a religion course which is nothing more than catholic indoctrination. Moreover, the rigidity of catholic schools and the whole “limited world view” of a religious perspective just gets in the way of developing independent thinkers. SJC parents may think their students are learning critical thinking, but they are learning it within some very rigid guardrails.

I think most sane parents would gladly sacrifice one elective class in Catholic school if it means having your kid surrounded by peers who are at grade level for their core classes.