Culture at McLean High vs Langley High?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Langley is 65% white, less than 2% low-income, and the kids mostly live in McLean and Great Falls. McLean is 55% white, about 10% low-income, and the kids live in McLean, Falls Church, and Vienna. Both schools are over 20% Asian.

The dominant culture at both schools consists of hard-working, ambitious kids taking lots of AP classes and preparing for college, but Langley is a bit more “Type A.” The precincts that are zoned for Langley mostly vote Republican, like Clifton and Fairfax Station, whereas the precincts zoned for McLean tend to vote Democratic, like nearby Arlington and Falls Church City.

Langley used to have more students, but the enrollment at McLean has been larger for the last few years. Langley still beats McLean at most sports, except for gymnastics, tennis, and the occasional basketball game.

A very accurate and unbiased review of the two schools.

OP, both are very good solid options. Just go for the best deal on your house. You honestly can not go wrong with either school.

-Signed a Langley parent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids goto McLean and I've asked them about the differences between McLean and Langley. They joke around that the Langley kids are the drug users, but the McLean kids are the dealers. Again, just a joke but the truth behind it is that the McLean kids seem to be more down to earth while the Langley kids are more about money/looks.

All schools have drug issues. You can't avoid that in any high school.

As far as being down to earth or caring more about money/looks. It really depends on who your group of friends are. My DC is a quite, reserved type who isn't into fashion or money, but has found their way at Langley and found good down to earth friends as well.

[Anonymous]

One last thing to add for those that say Langley has expensive cars in the lot. My DC always laugh when they hear that because DC that they have never seen such cars. IF you see them during games or after school...it most likely belong's to the parents and the kids are just borrowing it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One last thing to add for those that say Langley has expensive cars in the lot. My DC always laugh when they hear that because DC that they have never seen such cars. IF you see them during games or after school...it most likely belong's to the parents and the kids are just borrowing it.

My 2c on this. Both Mclean and Langley are very good public schools, both rank #2 and #3 in the state of VA, respectively. I prefer Langley HS because it is newer than Mclean. I often see kids from both schools try to raise money on weekends at the Intersection of Chain Bridge and Old Dominion for activities like theater, crew, orchestra, baseball, field hockey, just like kids from other public schools. I don't recall kids at Potomac doing that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One last thing to add for those that say Langley has expensive cars in the lot. My DC always laugh when they hear that because DC that they have never seen such cars. IF you see them during games or after school...it most likely belong's to the parents and the kids are just borrowing it.

My 2c on this. Both Mclean and Langley are very good public schools, both rank #2 and #3 in the state of VA, respectively. I prefer Langley HS because it is newer than Mclean. I often see kids from both schools try to raise money on weekends at the Intersection of Chain Bridge and Old Dominion for activities like theater, crew, orchestra, baseball, field hockey, just like kids from other public schools. I don't recall kids at Potomac doing that.

Do the Langley HS kids also try to raise money at the Great Falls Village center? The Chain Bridge/Old Dominion intersection is in the McLean HS district, and I always wonder if the Langley kids have to brace themselves before trying to raise money in "rival territory."

I don't think any private schools, including Potomac, really ask their students to try and raise funds outside the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do the Langley HS kids also try to raise money at the Great Falls Village center? The Chain Bridge/Old Dominion intersection is in the McLean HS district, and I always wonder if the Langley kids have to brace themselves before trying to raise money in "rival territory."

I don't think any private schools, including Potomac, really ask their students to try and raise funds outside the school.

Yes, both Mclean and Langley HS regularly raise money on weekends at the Chain Bridge/Old Dominion intersection. They are friendly rivals. Langley doesn't hate Mclean and vice versa. I do see cross dating between the two schools. My Langley HS son is dating a young lady from Mclean HS.

Potomac students don't do this because their families are wealthier and the school programs are supported by lot of wealthy donors

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One last thing to add for those that say Langley has expensive cars in the lot. My DC always laugh when they hear that because DC that they have never seen such cars. IF you see them during games or after school...it most likely belong's to the parents and the kids are just borrowing it.

My 2c on this. Both Mclean and Langley are very good public schools, both rank #2 and #3 in the state of VA, respectively. I prefer Langley HS because it is newer than Mclean. I often see kids from both schools try to raise money on weekends at the Intersection of Chain Bridge and Old Dominion for activities like theater, crew, orchestra, baseball, field hockey, just like kids from other public schools. I don't recall kids at Potomac doing that.

Do the Langley HS kids also try to raise money at the Great Falls Village center? The Chain Bridge/Old Dominion intersection is in the McLean HS district, and I always wonder if the Langley kids have to brace themselves before trying to raise money in "rival territory."

I don't think any private schools, including Potomac, really ask their students to try and raise funds outside the school.

I. Have seen Potomac teams washing cars in downtown McLean. Not as often as Langley or McLean teams, but I have seen them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where do I send my kids when I want to avoid high percentage of rich kids? Where are the MC and UMC kids?
Don't care for sports or arts. More like STEM and languages.

Woodson, Lake Braddock, West Springfield

[Anonymous]

Oakton and Madison have their fair share of rich kids. I would suggest Lake Braddock, West Springfield or Robinson for a more SES-diverse high school experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A quick scan of the parking lot will tell you otherwise. Plenty of rich people's kids go to Langley.

Those cars don't mean anything. it just tells you they are UCM, not wealthy. I live in 0.5 mile from Langley and I have two full-pay tuition kids at private schools, around 40k/year for each. they have been going there since kindergarten. It costs me about 420k/year for each kid from K-12. That will be 820k for both kids. I can have multiple Benz, Range Rover and Bentley with that kind of money.

Benz, BMW, Range Rover are dime and dozen at Madeira and Potomac schools.

This post tells you plenty about the attitudes you'll encounter in the Langley HS neighborhoods, even if not at the high school itself. There is more conspicuous consumption than you'll find in most of the McLean HS neighborhoods.

I think you missed the PPs point entirely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oakton and Madison have their fair share of rich kids. I would suggest Lake Braddock, West Springfield or Robinson for a more SES-diverse high school experience.

Robinson has its share of rich kids as well from Fairfax Station and Clifton.

West Springfield isn’t really more diverse than McLean - the upper end of the range just starts at lower income levels. But they have about the same percentages of low-income kids.

Lake Braddock is more diverse if that’s a priority.

[Anonymous]

What’s UCM?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What’s UCM?

Probably UMC (Upper Middle Class) with letters transposed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:EXACTLY. The uber-wealthy have kids at privates. Plenty of mini-van families at Langley (I am one). The people who constantly hate on Langley are revealing far more about themselves than about the school.

I live in McLean near Giant food and I take Dolley Madison Blvd and Old Georgetown Pike to go to work in Bethesda. I see a lots of Mercedes, Audi, Porsche and BMW on Old Georgetown Pike make left turn into Langley HS in the morning to drop off their kids but not as much as Madeira school.

There are no condos or apartments in the Langley and Great falls areas. There are expensive apartments like the Ashby and Mclean House Condos in Mclean, right across from Safeway on old chain bridge road.

I'm not sure what your point is. There are wealthy families at Langley, for sure. But they don't comprise the entire school population. Plenty of "regular" types go there too.

And there are no gangs. Fair trade-off, IMO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids goto McLean and I've asked them about the differences between McLean and Langley. They joke around that the Langley kids are the drug users, but the McLean kids are the dealers. Again, just a joke but the truth behind it is that the McLean kids seem to be more down to earth while the Langley kids are more about money/looks.

You're not exactly an unbiased source if your kids go to McLean, are you? You'd want to push the stereotype that your kids are more down-to-earth.

I live in McLean (zoned for Langley), and the reality is that very few wealthy families are sending their kids to Langley. Of all the kids in our neighborhood (which is within a mile of the school), exactly 0 go to public schools. They all go private. People who earn a decent living do, but most families with a lot of money don't. So no need to worry about your classmates jetting of to Gstaad for ski weekends, or whatever the problem is.

A quick scan of the parking lot will tell you otherwise. Plenty of rich people's kids go to Langley.

Again - what is your point?