WaPo Story on Marshall Student Accpeted to USC at 16 - Read This if DC Did Not Get Into TJ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't get where people think that Fairfax County is some homogeneous white enclave. It is the largest jurisdiction - 1.2 million - and accounts for 20 percent of the total population of the Washington MSA. The county is 62% white, 17% Asian, 15% Hispanic and 9% black, with a smattering of other ethnicities rounding out the rest.

Over 100 different languages are spoken in Fairfax County, with the top 6 being:

1. Spanish
2. Korean
3. Vietnamese
4. Arabic
5. Urdu
6. Chinese/Mandarin

McLean is hardly representative of Fairfax County.

You mean English is no longer among the top six languages in Fairfax County? Wow. Definitely time to move to Loudoun.

62% white in Fairfax County is still far-and-away a white majority.

The Los Angeles demographics break down 39.7 % white (L.A. still has a lot of the old, multi-generation Angeleno, "Anglo" families with your California stereotype blue-eyes and sun-bleached blond hair), 38.1 % Latino, 13.6 % Asian, and 6.6% African American.

Also, Fairfax County segregates itself A LOT!

McLean, VA, is almost exclusively white and well off. Bailey's Crossroads has many Latinos. If you do not think that this segregation is purposeful and motivated by an inherent bias, please read these message boards more carefully when parents complain about certain school districts being overrun by the Latino immigrants, or about ESOL instruction.

Los Angeles is very ethnically and economically mixed throughout all of its neighborhoods, so that you do not have a majority caucasian school like Langley. Even L.A.'s traditional, old, waspy neighborhoods now have equally large populations of multi-generation, Angeleno Mexican and Chinese families.

Come spend some time out here, and then tell me that Fairfax County even begins to approximate the diversity and interactive mix of cultures that exists here in L.A. I have lived both places, and I love both Fairfax County and L.A., but it does not.

Nothing against Latinos but you do realize that the FARMS percentage almost always reflect the number of hispanics in the schools?

Look at the greatschools.net and the percentages are always almost the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't get where people think that Fairfax County is some homogeneous white enclave. It is the largest jurisdiction - 1.2 million - and accounts for 20 percent of the total population of the Washington MSA. The county is 62% white, 17% Asian, 15% Hispanic and 9% black, with a smattering of other ethnicities rounding out the rest.

Over 100 different languages are spoken in Fairfax County, with the top 6 being:

1. Spanish
2. Korean
3. Vietnamese
4. Arabic
5. Urdu
6. Chinese/Mandarin

McLean is hardly representative of Fairfax County.

You mean English is no longer among the top six languages in Fairfax County? Wow. Definitely time to move to Loudoun.

62% white in Fairfax County is still far-and-away a white majority.

The Los Angeles demographics break down 39.7 % white (L.A. still has a lot of the old, multi-generation Angeleno, "Anglo" families with your California stereotype blue-eyes and sun-bleached blond hair), 38.1 % Latino, 13.6 % Asian, and 6.6% African American.

Also, Fairfax County segregates itself A LOT!

McLean, VA, is almost exclusively white and well off. Bailey's Crossroads has many Latinos. If you do not think that this segregation is purposeful and motivated by an inherent bias, please read these message boards more carefully when parents complain about certain school districts being overrun by the Latino immigrants, or about ESOL instruction.

Los Angeles is very ethnically and economically mixed throughout all of its neighborhoods, so that you do not have a majority caucasian school like Langley. Even L.A.'s traditional, old, waspy neighborhoods now have equally large populations of multi-generation, Angeleno Mexican and Chinese families.

Come spend some time out here, and then tell me that Fairfax County even begins to approximate the diversity and interactive mix of cultures that exists here in L.A. I have lived both places, and I love both Fairfax County and L.A., but it does not.

Nothing against Latinos but you do realize that the FARMS percentage almost always reflect the number of hispanics in the schools?

Look at the greatschools.net and the percentages are always almost the same.

What is your point about Fairfax County diversity? And what is a FARMS percentage?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
USC does not even make the top 100 among "unsafe campuses" in rankings of campus crime and safety. Meanwhile....

#2 Harvard
#[b]16 UPenn - Crappy West Philly neighborhood[/b]
#17 Brown - Providence - the armpit of New England
#18 Columbia - Harlem
#19 Stanford
#25 Yale - New Haven is a real sh*thole

More at: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2010/09/14/most-dangerous-college-campuses-ranked.html

It's not the "campus"that's the problem, it's the neighborhood surrounding it. Stay on campus all the time and you're likely to be safe. If that's how you want to live.

Yep, do those other schools have gang members living and crack houses in the immediate area surrounding the school (ie, right across the street where many students live in off campus housing)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
USC does not even make the top 100 among "unsafe campuses" in rankings of campus crime and safety. Meanwhile....

#2 Harvard
#[b]16 UPenn - Crappy West Philly neighborhood[/b]
#17 Brown - Providence - the armpit of New England
#18 Columbia - Harlem
#19 Stanford
#25 Yale - New Haven is a real sh*thole

More at: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2010/09/14/most-dangerous-college-campuses-ranked.html

It's not the "campus"that's the problem, it's the neighborhood surrounding it. Stay on campus all the time and you're likely to be safe. If that's how you want to live.

Yep, do those other schools have gang members living and crack houses in the immediate area surrounding the school (ie, right across the street where many students live in off campus housing)?

Angeleno here again. Oh, yes, please pull out the well-worn stereotype of crack houses and gang members just surrounding the place. I feel free to walk, with my children, around the USC neighborhood whenever we visit the many museums (Natural History for one) or attend a swim meet there. Am I cautious, yes, but during the day, by-and-large, you have university students walking the campus, museums visitors milling about, local Latino families watching recreational soccer games and enjoying picnics in the park areas, neighborhood kids visiting the pool facilities on a hot day.

No doubt that some of the surrounding areas are not the best, and crime is always around the corner in any large city, so you must be alert, aware of your surroundings, and careful. Use common sense, particularly after dark. The good news is that L.A.'s crime rate and gang activity is way down from its heyday in the late '80s- mid '90s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
USC does not even make the top 100 among "unsafe campuses" in rankings of campus crime and safety. Meanwhile....

#2 Harvard
#[b]16 UPenn - Crappy West Philly neighborhood[/b]
#17 Brown - Providence - the armpit of New England
#18 Columbia - Harlem
#19 Stanford
#25 Yale - New Haven is a real sh*thole

More at: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2010/09/14/most-dangerous-college-campuses-ranked.html

It's not the "campus"that's the problem, it's the neighborhood surrounding it. Stay on campus all the time and you're likely to be safe. If that's how you want to live.

Yep, do those other schools have gang members living and crack houses in the immediate area surrounding the school (ie, right across the street where many students live in off campus housing)?

Angeleno here again. Oh, yes, please pull out the well-worn stereotype of crack houses and gang members just surrounding the place. I feel free to walk, with my children, around the USC neighborhood whenever we visit the many museums (Natural History for one) or attend a swim meet there. Am I cautious, yes, but during the day, by-and-large, you have university students walking the campus, museums visitors milling about, local Latino families watching recreational soccer games and enjoying picnics in the park areas, neighborhood kids visiting the pool facilities on a hot day.

No doubt that some of the surrounding areas are not the best, and crime is always around the corner in any large city, so you must be alert, aware of your surroundings, and careful. Use common sense, particularly after dark. The good news is that L.A.'s crime rate and gang activity is way down from its heyday in the late '80s- mid '90s.

You are probably somewhat okay staying East of Vermont and on Hoover and near Exposition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But, FYI, here are the top 6 languages, other than English, that are spoken in Loudon County:

Spanish
Vietnamese
German
Persian
French
Korean

There's a hell of a lot more Hindi being spoken in Loudoun these days than German or French.

I just go by statistics, not anecdotes. The above comes from the U.S. Census.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The mother lists the daughter as one of her projects on her Linked In profile. No wonder the girl wants to leave home and start college early.

http://www.linkedin.com/in/christinaayiotis?_mSplash=1

You have way to much time on your hands. So, she is just another Washington area uber-Mom like the ones who troll this web forum.

Posters who are posting at 4:10 AM should not worry about people with too much time on their hands. Even if you are the LA poster, it would still be 1:10 AM!

4:10 AM in Washington is 12:10 PM in Moscow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dumb move on her part. With her record, she could get in to a far better school if she applied as a senior.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't get where people think that Fairfax County is some homogeneous white enclave. It is the largest jurisdiction - 1.2 million - and accounts for 20 percent of the total population of the Washington MSA. The county is 62% white, 17% Asian, 15% Hispanic and 9% black, with a smattering of other ethnicities rounding out the rest.

Over 100 different languages are spoken in Fairfax County, with the top 6 being:

1. Spanish
2. Korean
3. Vietnamese
4. Arabic
5. Urdu
6. Chinese/Mandarin

McLean is hardly representative of Fairfax County.

You mean English is no longer among the top six languages in Fairfax County? Wow. Definitely time to move to Loudoun.

62% white in Fairfax County is still far-and-away a white majority.

The Los Angeles demographics break down 39.7 % white (L.A. still has a lot of the old, multi-generation Angeleno, "Anglo" families with your California stereotype blue-eyes and sun-bleached blond hair), 38.1 % Latino, 13.6 % Asian, and 6.6% African American.

Also, Fairfax County segregates itself A LOT!

McLean, VA, is almost exclusively white and well off. Bailey's Crossroads has many Latinos. If you do not think that this segregation is purposeful and motivated by an inherent bias, please read these message boards more carefully when parents complain about certain school districts being overrun by the Latino immigrants, or about ESOL instruction.

Los Angeles is very ethnically and economically mixed throughout all of its neighborhoods, so that you do not have a majority caucasian school like Langley. Even L.A.'s traditional, old, waspy neighborhoods now have equally large populations of multi-generation, Angeleno Mexican and Chinese families.

Come spend some time out here, and then tell me that Fairfax County even begins to approximate the diversity and interactive mix of cultures that exists here in L.A. I have lived both places, and I love both Fairfax County and L.A., but it does not.

My point was not to compare Fairfax County to LA, but simply to point out that it is more diverse than it is made out to be, esp. by DCUM posters who make constant jabs at NoVA from DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
McLean, VA, is almost exclusively white and well off. Bailey's Crossroads has many Latinos. If you do not think that this segregation is purposeful and motivated by an inherent bias, please read these message boards more carefully when parents complain about certain school districts being overrun by the Latino immigrants, or about ESOL instruction.

I don't know when you moved to LA, but you are mistaken if you believe McLean is "almost exclusively white." It has a substantial Asian population and some parts of McLean have up to a 40% minority population. In general, Asians do not appreciate being characterized or treated as "white." I don't think there's any doubt but that some whites and Asians prefer to live in areas with fewer Hispanics and blacks. Maybe many parts of LA areas are more integrated, but I'd bet the "well off" in those areas are more likely to send their kids to private schools than people in NoVa. In either case, the neighborhoods around USC are likely to be a new experience for a 16 or 17-year-old girl raised in NoVa, so I can understand why some posters might have reservations about sending their own kids off to USC at a young age.

[Anonymous]

^ well said. South Central LA is the pits and there is nothing in Tysons/McLean area to compare it to. This will be an eye-opener for the young lady. Personally, I wouldn't let my kid go there, but that's up to the mom and her daughter to decide.

[Anonymous]

The worthwhile undergrad degree from there is the film school. Grad degrees may be better. But the undergrads are there to provide $ and future $ as alumni to support the football program $ making machine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The worthwhile undergrad degree from there is the film school. Grad degrees may be better. But the undergrads are there to provide $ and future $ as alumni to support the football program $ making machine.

I do think it has come up a bit in the academic world though. US News has it at 24, tied with UCLA. The alumni ties inthe LA area are strong esp. in Law, business and public administration. A degree from there doesn't cut a whole lot of ice back here on the east coast, however.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
McLean, VA, is almost exclusively white and well off. Bailey's Crossroads has many Latinos. If you do not think that this segregation is purposeful and motivated by an inherent bias, please read these message boards more carefully when parents complain about certain school districts being overrun by the Latino immigrants, or about ESOL instruction.

I don't know when you moved to LA, but you are mistaken if you believe McLean is "almost exclusively white." It has a substantial Asian population and some parts of McLean have up to a 40% minority population. In general, Asians do not appreciate being characterized or treated as "white." I don't think there's any doubt but that some whites and Asians prefer to live in areas with fewer Hispanics and blacks. Maybe many parts of LA areas are more integrated, but I'd bet the "well off" in those areas are more likely to send their kids to private schools than people in NoVa. In either case, the neighborhoods around USC are likely to be a new experience for a 16 or 17-year-old girl raised in NoVa, so I can understand why some posters might have reservations about sending their own kids off to USC at a young age.

I lived in McLean for over a decade, and left the area a year ago. I would love to see the demographics that demonstrate that McLean is not "almost exclusively white". Could you provide a demographic breakdown of the area? It is undoubtedly almost exclusively affluent.

[Anonymous]

You can look at McLean census tracts on this tool:

http://projects.nytimes.com/census/2010/explorer

The Chesterbrook area near Arlington is almost 90% white, but at least one other section of McLean has close to 40% minority residents. It is indeed affluent, but it is more ethnically diverse than you implied, particularly when you consider that quite a few residents identified as white are Middle Eastern origins. It's certainly not like some town in the Midwest where almost everyone is white and has ancestors who have lived in the same town for generations.