What's the stigma: Colleges with a high number of kids from your HS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Help me understand "13th grade"

Just saw this recently in one of the threads.

Why is it seen as a bad thing here at DCUM?

(I grew up overseas where this isn't a bad thing.. in fact, it was seen as a good thing)

It is exactly why most area kids do not want to attend state schools (UVA, VT, WM, UMD) - they want to feel they have lived someone else, and had varying experiences (other than say, spending summer vacations with their grandparents).

+1

College is a great time to branch out.

[Anonymous]

Unless you hang out with the same people you did in HS while going to a state school in a different area of the state where you live, that gives you a different feel than your hometown.

MD and VA both have state schools in very different parts of the state. ODU is near the water, VCU is in a city, JMU, VT and Radford are in the mountains.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son is at a state U where lots of classmates go. He only sees the couple close friends he makes a point of seeing. It wasn't an issue for him at all. My DD prefers schools where she won't run into HS friends. Either way is fine. However, I have encouraged my son to do study abroad, in part, to really get out of his comfort zone.

This is essentially what college should be all about - growth and exploration. It can be achieved anywhere of course but attending school beyond your home state is a significant step towards that goal.

[Anonymous]

I ended up a state school despite desperately wanting to go far, far away for the experience. However due to financial constraints i couldn't. Of course, with my luck, my next door dorm mate (literally our rooms shared a wall) was someone I went to HS with. It sucked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I ended up a state school despite desperately wanting to go far, far away for the experience. However due to financial constraints i couldn't. Of course, with my luck, my next door dorm mate (literally our rooms shared a wall) was someone I went to HS with. It sucked.

My best friend from high school was just a few doors down in my dorm, which got a little awkward as we started to hang with different crowds. Two other girls in our class, who didn’t particularly like each other, got put together as roommates randomly and they wouldn’t change it even though they asked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I ended up a state school despite desperately wanting to go far, far away for the experience. However due to financial constraints i couldn't. Of course, with my luck, my next door dorm mate (literally our rooms shared a wall) was someone I went to HS with. It sucked.

was it a state school that was very close to home?

Again, there are states that are large enough and have different enough regions that you could have a very different experience even within your home state.

Shoot, even Utah has both snowy areas and desert areas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pros and cons depends on situations and kids.

My kids are introverts, but still adventurous and and want to explorer.

VA schools went bottom of the list.

x1000000

All of my kids said an emphatic NO to Northern Virginia High School 2.0.

My son said he ran into a couple of people he knew from HS but they were not friends at school and still no friends in college...

With colleges in VA with 20,000+ students how can you possibly call it Virginia High School 2.0? Besides, Northern VA is pretty diverse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is a ridiculous concern. The number of kids from your high school that you’d meet at college is minuscule.

This.

Our state flagship by far accepts the most kids in one year from my DC's HS. Usually about 30ish out of a graduating class of 1000. It's highly unlikely my kid will know many (or any?) of those 30 kids, let only constantly run into them when the flagship has around 35k students.

[Anonymous]

I know people hate it, but kids in the DC area are actually pretty lucky. I see nothing wrong with being here as a kid and coming back here.

Much more going on here and better opportunities than my hometown/homestate.

[Anonymous]

People don't like to be around people they don't like. There will be people they don't like from high school. Too bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I ended up a state school despite desperately wanting to go far, far away for the experience. However due to financial constraints i couldn't. Of course, with my luck, my next door dorm mate (literally our rooms shared a wall) was someone I went to HS with. It sucked.

This is what keeps most people close to home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is at a state U where lots of classmates go. He only sees the couple close friends he makes a point of seeing. It wasn't an issue for him at all. My DD prefers schools where she won't run into HS friends. Either way is fine. However, I have encouraged my son to do study abroad, in part, to really get out of his comfort zone.

This is essentially what college should be all about - growth and exploration. It can be achieved anywhere of course but attending school beyond your home state is a significant step towards that goal.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is a ridiculous concern. The number of kids from your high school that you’d meet at college is minuscule.

+1

There are over 51,000 students at the University of Minnesota while there are less than 800 HS seniors in HS. That's like 1.5%. It is 2% at GMU. You probably know less than 50 people in HS so the likelihood that you run into someone you know from HS in college is less than 1%.

[Anonymous]

I certainly couldn’t have afford OOS or a far-flung private with token merit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is at a state U where lots of classmates go. He only sees the couple close friends he makes a point of seeing. It wasn't an issue for him at all. My DD prefers schools where she won't run into HS friends. Either way is fine. However, I have encouraged my son to do study abroad, in part, to really get out of his comfort zone.

This is essentially what college should be all about - growth and exploration. It can be achieved anywhere of course but attending school beyond your home state is a significant step towards that goal.

+1

DH and I both decided against top state schools, many years ago, for this very reason. Not much has changed. College is about growing, not staying in one place.