Maryland's #1 High School ranked Lower than VA's #3

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your child actually has a better chance of being admitted to an elite college if he/she is one of the top students (in terms of grades) at a middling school than if he is a middling student at a top school.

Yes, but from what I've seen the kids from the middling schools often struggle for a bit when they hit college, even the ones who were the "A" students in high school. the preparation for college level work just isn't the same.

Yes, the first poster is correct that because class rank is a major factor in admissions your child might have a better shot if s/he is competing against fewer classmates who are at the top of their game academically. But the second poster is also correct as far as preparation for college being stronger if your child attends a top school. I would also add that your child might be more motivated to do well and work hard in high school if s/he has a high achieving peer group.

MCPS doesn't do class rank so might as well go to a top school in the county. I agree that the high achieving peer group, at least for my DC, makes a big difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your child actually has a better chance of being admitted to an elite college if he/she is one of the top students (in terms of grades) at a middling school than if he is a middling student at a top school.

Yes, but [b]from what I've seen [/b]the kids from the middling schools often struggle for a bit when they hit college, even the ones who were the "A" students in high school. the preparation for college level work just isn't the same.

What have you seen? Are you a college professor, an admissions director? Can you be more specific about what you have (actually)(with your own eyes) seen?

RE ranking, ~meh~, who cares. Good enough is good enough, I don't need for my kids to be in the Best of the Best schools, so long as they are in good schools.

[Anonymous]

3:04 -- a key task for a regional admissions rep at a selective college is to suss out class rank, even among applicants from high schools that don't rank.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:3:04 -- a key task for a regional admissions rep at a selective college is to suss out class rank, even among applicants from high schools that don't rank.

Cool. My DC should be in the top 10% of his class so that will be good.

[Anonymous]

00:43 poster again. Yes, of course, colleges care about class rank. An admissions officer at a top liberal arts college once told me that the best predictor of academic success in college is academic success in high school -- i.e., your grades and your class rank. The SATs measure aptitude, not achievement -- and they say nothing at all about your study habits. Chances are that if you manage to reach the top of your class at even a middling school, you know how to learn, how to study, how to organize your time, etc. That translates well in college. It's harder for the admissions officer to tell if the middle-of-the-pack student at a top school who is taking several AP classes is in the middle of the pack because everyone else is so smart, or because their study habits just aren't that great.
The other factor that works to your advantage as a top student at a middling school, and against you if you are the opposite, is that the reality is that any given top college is only going to take so many people from any given high school. Harvard isn't going to take 30 students from Whitman, even if all 30 Whitman applicants to Harvard score higher on the SAT then the valedictorian at some lower-ranked high school. Harvard is going to spread their acceptance letters around, to different schools, different regions of the country, etc. Those 30 Whitman applicants aren't competing against the kids at lesser academic schools for those Harvard slots; they're competing against the other kids at Whitman who want to go to Harvard. Now, it may certainly be true that the middling Whitman grad is still far better prepared to immediately step in to the workload at college than the top 10 student at the middling high school. I'm sure that will be of great consolation to the Whitman grad when they are making quick work of their differential equations assignment at the University of Vermont.

[Anonymous]

In full disclosure. I live in Potomac but would prefer to live in VA for the in state colleges and I've heard that Fall Church is less test crazy than MCPS. The commute is simply much better for us in MC.

I really wish that people would stop focusing on the rankings and test scores. I see the same parents who scream about how awful it is for schools to teach to the test at the same time being obsessed with the rankings. As long as rankings and test scores in the upper 90s with only a a few point variances affect differences in real estate prices , it will continue to drive idiotic politicians and school boards to force test teaching down on principals and teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your child actually has a better chance of being admitted to an elite college if he/she is one of the top students (in terms of grades) at a middling school than if he is a middling student at a top school.

Yes, but [b]from what I've seen [/b]the kids from the middling schools often struggle for a bit when they hit college, even the ones who were the "A" students in high school. the preparation for college level work just isn't the same.

What have you seen? Are you a college professor, an admissions director? Can you be more specific about what you have (actually)(with your own eyes) seen?

RE ranking, ~meh~, who cares. Good enough is good enough, I don't need for my kids to be in the Best of the Best schools, so long as they are in good schools.

I'm a psychologist that counsels students in college around a number of issues, including academic. I'm also a mom of three kids, one of whom is in college at a highly competitive university.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does U.S. News and World Report actually cover news anymore? Or is it just endless meangingless lists?

Signed, Virginia parent.

Yup -- that's pretty much all they do these days, but they're making a ton of money off it. Look at how people jumped on this thread as soon as the listings came out. Nobody ever went broke overestimating the anxiety of American parents.

This!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your child actually has a better chance of being admitted to an elite college if he/she is one of the top students (in terms of grades) at a middling school than if he is a middling student at a top school.

Yes, but [b]from what I've seen the kids from the middling schools often struggle for a bit when they hit college, even the ones who were the "A" students in high school. the preparation for college level work just isn't the same.

What have you seen? Are you a college professor, an admissions director? Can you be more specific about what you have (actually)(with your own eyes) seen?

RE ranking, ~meh~, who cares. Good enough is good enough, I don't need for my kids to be in the Best of the Best schools, so long as they are in good schools.

I'm a psychologist that counsels students in college around a number of issues, including academic. I'm also a mom of three kids, one of whom is in college at a highly competitive university.

Gross generalization. I'm a former high school teacher now college professor and A students from "middling" high schools can certainly do exceptionally well in college, as well as peers from top schools. What matters is that the fundamentals are there and that the student has a strong work ethic and focus when they get to college. Those are the essentials and hold true for students from every high school in the country.

[Anonymous]

It appears Virginia has better public schools than Maryland...not necesarily better students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your child actually has a better chance of being admitted to an elite college if he/she is one of the top students (in terms of grades) at a middling school than if he is a middling student at a top school.

Yes, but [b]from what I've seen the kids from the middling schools often struggle for a bit when they hit college, even the ones who were the "A" students in high school. the preparation for college level work just isn't the same.

What have you seen? Are you a college professor, an admissions director? Can you be more specific about what you have (actually)(with your own eyes) seen?

RE ranking, ~meh~, who cares. Good enough is good enough, I don't need for my kids to be in the Best of the Best schools, so long as they are in good schools.

I'm a psychologist that counsels students in college around a number of issues, including academic. I'm also a mom of three kids, one of whom is in college at a highly competitive university.

Gross generalization. I'm a former high school teacher now college professor and A students from "middling" high schools can certainly do exceptionally well in college, as well as peers from top schools. What matters is that the fundamentals are there and that the student has a strong work ethic and focus when they get to college. Those are the essentials and hold true for students from every high school in the country.

Truth be told, kids from excellent schools do come better prepared with a well-rounded education. I've had students from MoCO schools who were told they were gifted struggle. Then there are kids from magnets who seem to have taken a much more rigorous path and do pretty well. Yes, there are kids from average schools who do well too--but they had taken the hard road.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your child actually has a better chance of being admitted to an elite college if he/she is one of the top students (in terms of grades) at a middling school than if he is a middling student at a top school.

Yes, but [b]from what I've seen the kids from the middling schools often struggle for a bit when they hit college, even the ones who were the "A" students in high school. the preparation for college level work just isn't the same.

What have you seen? Are you a college professor, an admissions director? Can you be more specific about what you have (actually)(with your own eyes) seen?

RE ranking, ~meh~, who cares. Good enough is good enough, I don't need for my kids to be in the Best of the Best schools, so long as they are in good schools.

I'm a psychologist that counsels students in college around a number of issues, including academic. I'm also a mom of three kids, one of whom is in college at a highly competitive university.

Gross generalization. I'm a former high school teacher now college professor and A students from "middling" high schools can certainly do exceptionally well in college, as well as peers from top schools. What matters is that the fundamentals are there and that the student has a strong work ethic and focus when they get to college. Those are the essentials and hold true for students from every high school in the country.

Truth be told, kids from excellent schools do come better prepared with a well-rounded education. I've had students from MoCO schools who were told they were gifted struggle. Then there are kids from magnets who seem to have taken a much more rigorous path and do pretty well. Yes, there are kids from average schools who do well too--but they had taken the hard road.

For the hard road, I guess VA is the only option. Look at this infomercial for the MCPS curriculum http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/superintendent/mcpssuper/.