MCPS competitive college acceptance very poor

[Anonymous]

We're trying to decide whether to start saving for private high school or stay in MCPS. I was very shocked at how bad competitive college acceptance was for MCPS including the four "W" schools. We are not aspiring for Ivy league. Our kids are very smart but normal not gifted. Athletic but not national championship level. I hate the idea of paying for 4 years of private school and then college but I don't want UMD to be the top high stretch goal school and a community college to be the probably choice.

Is there a reason why MCPS grads' acceptances are so incredibly low?

[Anonymous]

What is your data source?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're trying to decide whether to start saving for private high school or stay in MCPS. I was very shocked at how bad competitive college acceptance was for MCPS including the four "W" schools. We are not aspiring for Ivy league. Our kids are very smart but normal not gifted. Athletic but not national championship level. I hate the idea of paying for 4 years of private school and then college but I don't want UMD to be the top high stretch goal school and a community college to be the probably choice.

Is there a reason why MCPS grads' acceptances are so incredibly low?

Where did you get the data on college acceptance for MCPS by school?

There's a lot of information in this report about college attendance and graduation by gender and demographic group:

http://montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/sharedaccountability/reports/2012/College%20Enrollment%20Persistence%20and%20Degree%20Attainment%20final.pdf

but they break it down into four-year colleges and two-year colleges, not "competitive" colleges. And also it's district-wide, not by high school.

Actually Table 1 (p. 12) lists the four-year institutions the most MCPS graduates enrolled in -- not surprisingly, UMCP is at the top of the list.

[Anonymous]

The Washingtonian or Bethesda Magazine recently published this. It was disturbing. Not aiming for Harvard but community college or UMD is not OK.

[Anonymous]

There are multiple recent long threads on this - both in the MD forum and the private school forum.

If your kid is Montgomery College material then going to private school isn't likely to change that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are multiple recent long threads on this - both in the MD forum and the private school forum.

If your kid is Montgomery College material then going to private school isn't likely to change that.

+1 And most of the kids headed to Montgomery College wouldn't be in private school. It's a self-selected group. Believe me, there are plenty of acceptances to top schools at my son's W school -- many Ivies, SLACs, and the tops state universities (Michigan, Virginia, UNC, UCLA, Berkeley). Do not forget that many choose the Maryland state schools for financial reasons.

[Anonymous]

I looked at the list of schools and what struck me was the schools that were not in state were in neighboring states and very large ~ so no wonder more students enroll in those schools. Small, elite liberal arts colleges may get plenty of students from MCPS but there are too many of them and they are too small to show up on such a list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I looked at the list of schools and what struck me was the schools that were not in state were in neighboring states and very large ~ so no wonder more students enroll in those schools. Small, elite liberal arts colleges may get plenty of students from MCPS but there are too many of them and they are too small to show up on such a list.

This is very true. Think of small liberal arts colleges like Kenyon, Bucknell, Carlton ... these are hard to get into but so small that the number of kids from MoCo is very small.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Washingtonian or Bethesda Magazine recently published this. It was disturbing. Not aiming for Harvard but community college or UMD is not OK.

You're putting the University of Maryland at College Park in the same category as Montgomery College? Why?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are multiple recent long threads on this - both in the MD forum and the private school forum.

If your kid is Montgomery College material then going to private school isn't likely to change that.

And it could be financial...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
If your kid is Montgomery College material then going to private school isn't likely to change that.

Also, if you really want to increase your not-necessarily-all-that-fancy child's chances of getting into a fancy college, you should move to Cardwell, Montana. Or even transfer to Wheaton HS. Because there are way too many kids in at the "W" high schools with stellar grades and a thousand outstanding extracurriculars for your kid to stand out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Washingtonian or Bethesda Magazine recently published this. It was disturbing. Not aiming for Harvard but community college or UMD is not OK.

You're putting the University of Maryland at College Park in the same category as Montgomery College? Why?

UMCP is very competitive for in state students AND don't forget some kids don't have the luxury of 4 years at a private college or university. MC provides two years of cost effective instruction and the ability to transfer. I think we will see more and more people choosing the community college option -as costs continue to skyrocket.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Washingtonian or Bethesda Magazine recently published this. It was disturbing. Not aiming for Harvard but community college or UMD is not OK.

You're putting the University of Maryland at College Park in the same category as Montgomery College? Why?

UMCP is very competitive for in state students AND don't forget some kids don't have the luxury of 4 years at a private college or university. MC provides two years of cost effective instruction and the ability to transfer. I think we will see more and more people choosing the community college option -as costs continue to skyrocket.

This might be true, but IMO, it lacks a "true college experience". I wouldn't want my child to go to UMD, and at our private school (not a Big 3) it's considered a failure to go to UMD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Washingtonian or Bethesda Magazine recently published this. It was disturbing. Not aiming for Harvard but community college or UMD is not OK.

You're putting the University of Maryland at College Park in the same category as Montgomery College? Why?

UMCP is very competitive for in state students AND don't forget some kids don't have the luxury of 4 years at a private college or university. MC provides two years of cost effective instruction and the ability to transfer. I think we will see more and more people choosing the community college option -as costs continue to skyrocket.

This might be true, but IMO, it lacks a "true college experience". I wouldn't want my child to go to UMD, and at our private school (not a Big 3) it's considered a failure to go to UMD.

What to you is a true college experience? What is missing at UMCP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

This might be true, but IMO, it lacks a "true college experience". I wouldn't want my child to go to UMD, and at our private school (not a Big 3) it's considered a failure to go to UMD.

This says a lot more about the people at your private school than about UMD.

Why would you not want your child to go to UMD?