MCPS competitive college acceptance very poor

[Anonymous]

I realize this is veering away from the focus of this thread but wanted to chime in. I went to UMD because it was incredibly affordable and I got into the Honors Program. If I'd attended private colleges and a couple of the out of state schools I was accepted to, I would have taken on enormous loans. My family didn't qualify for financial aid and yet couldn't afford full tuition / board at most of these schools.

I graduated from UMD with absolutely no debt went on to a top 3 graduate school in my field and have a very successful career. The curriculum at UMD was rigorous and the professors very engaged and invested in my success. Moreover, a lot of my professional and social contacts are from my college days. I couldn't ask for more from that perspective.

However, I agree that UMD isn't going to provide the full "college experience" if you're living down the street from your family home. While my parents didn't visit too frequently and were mindful to give me my space (I lived in a dorm; parents in Kensington), I was home virtually every weekend doing laundry, having a meal, visiting family. It was nice to be close to family, but I don't know that I ever established the independence that many of my friends who moved farther away were able to develop.

My hope is that my kids will go to a school farther away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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?

+1. UMD has an outstanding engineering program as well as other programs. This is exactly one reason why I DON'T want my kids in private school. Snotty people who can't see beyond a price tag and entitlement.

[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.

Why not?

[Anonymous]

This is not a new issue. Take a look at Naviance, research the W's and you'll uncover the myth that attending one of these schools gets your kid into an Ivy or highly competitive college. The problem: There is too much competition at these schools. They are crowded with high performing students. You can't accept the entire school; you've got to pick and choose. It has been my experience that a child has a much larger selection of colleges from being a large fish in a smaller pond, but unfortunately, status and egos rule around here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've been a Harvard interviewer in this area for a while. We see a lot of great kids coming out of Whitman and BCC, and of course Blair Magnet. The kids from the other high schools are less competitive for a few reasons. Some don't have the academics (a common refrain among interviewers is "I'd never get in today", where SATs of all 750+, at least 3 APs with 5's as a junior and weighted GPA well over 4 only puts you in the top third of applicants, and Harvard takes the top fourth of that group.) However, a lot of it is the lack of extracurricular distinction. Kids stuck in cul-de-sacs tend to have less involvement In extracurriculars, and don't have the leadership or the independent research projects that we see at the most competitive schools.

]

Do you think a kid who is top of their class at a lesser ranked MCPS school might have a better chance of getting in?

[Anonymous]

DC is going to magnet program at MCPS. Most of DCs peers want to get into medicine, law, engineering etc. While Ivies are affordable for some, most will choose UMD for their undergrad. They will get into top schools for graduate and other professional qualification after that. They will also get a full ride at UMD for their undergrad. These are smart kids who are looking closely at the majors rather than how the schools are ranked.

DC will graduate with upwards of 15 APs, great SAT and GPA, extra curricular activities, hundred of SSL hours. However if DC decides to go for ethnic studies at Harvard...I am not paying for anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've been a Harvard interviewer in this area for a while. We see a lot of great kids coming out of Whitman and BCC, and of course Blair Magnet. The kids from the other high schools are less competitive for a few reasons. Some don't have the academics (a common refrain among interviewers is "I'd never get in today", where SATs of all 750+, at least 3 APs with 5's as a junior and weighted GPA well over 4 only puts you in the top third of applicants, and Harvard takes the top fourth of that group.) However, a lot of it is the lack of extracurricular distinction. Kids stuck in cul-de-sacs tend to have less involvement In extracurriculars, and don't have the leadership or the independent research projects that we see at the most competitive schools.

]

Do you think a kid who is top of their class at a lesser ranked MCPS school might have a better chance of getting in?

I assume (but do not know for a fact) that the number of kids applying to Harvard from Wheaton HS (80% ever FARMS) or Watkins Mill HS (72% ever FARMS) is a lot smaller than the number of kids applying to Harvard from Whitman or Churchill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC is going to magnet program at MCPS. Most of DCs peers want to get into medicine, law, engineering etc. While Ivies are affordable for some, most will choose UMD for their undergrad. They will get into top schools for graduate and other professional qualification after that. They will also get a full ride at UMD for their undergrad. These are smart kids who are looking closely at the majors rather than how the schools are ranked.

DC will graduate with upwards of 15 APs, great SAT and GPA, extra curricular activities, hundred of SSL hours. However if DC decides to go for ethnic studies at Harvard...I am not paying for anything.

I have kids at MCPS magnets, one a recent grad and one still in HS. Although these kids' smarts would probably make OP blush for her own kids, you'd be amazed at the percent of magnet kids who end up at UMD with generous aid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've been a Harvard interviewer in this area for a while. We see a lot of great kids coming out of Whitman and BCC, and of course Blair Magnet. The kids from the other high schools are less competitive for a few reasons. Some don't have the academics (a common refrain among interviewers is "I'd never get in today", where SATs of all 750+, at least 3 APs with 5's as a junior and weighted GPA well over 4 only puts you in the top third of applicants, and Harvard takes the top fourth of that group.) However, a lot of it is the lack of extracurricular distinction. Kids stuck in cul-de-sacs tend to have less involvement In extracurriculars, and don't have the leadership or the independent research projects that we see at the most competitive schools.

]

Do you think a kid who is top of their class at a lesser ranked MCPS school might have a better chance of getting in?

I assume (but do not know for a fact) that the number of kids applying to Harvard from Wheaton HS (80% ever FARMS) or Watkins Mill HS (72% ever FARMS) is a lot smaller than the number of kids applying to Harvard from Whitman or Churchill.

Whereas as many kids as the counselors will permit are applying to Harvard from Sidwell.

[Anonymous]

I can't speak to big picture statistics. However, my Montgomery Blair graduating class of both Magnet AND non Magnet friends included at least one and often more than one friend going to top schools. Off the top of my head just for my circle of friends alone:

Harvard (1)
Brown (4)
Cornell (2)
UVA (1)
Bryn Mawr (2)
Spelman (1)
Princeton (1)
Stanford (2)
UC Berkeley (1)
Pamona (1)
Univ. of Chicago (1)

Several friends went to Towson, St. Marys, UMCP, and smaller privates like Goucher. Obviously, anecdotal but I don't think anyone I knew was limited because of MCPS. Again, these weren't just Magnet kids.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like you know half of the top acceptances from Blair. http://bethesdamagazine.com/College_Chart.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like you know half of the top acceptances from Blair. http://bethesdamagazine.com/College_Chart.pdf

If s/he's in the magnet program that's totally believable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like you know half of the top acceptances from Blair. http://bethesdamagazine.com/College_Chart.pdf

If s/he's in the magnet program that's totally believable.

I wasn't in the magnet program. This was also in 2003, so a while back. But nevertheless, it speaks to the ability of kids within MCPS to get where they want to go including very competitive schools - myself included.

[Anonymous]

Niece went to USC. Coworker's daughter came out of a W and goes to Johns Hopkins. My neighbor's kid goes to Tufts Another friend's kid goes to Wash. U. in St. Louis. Half of them got into honors at UMaryland. All came from "W" schools in the last two years.

I haven't seen a poor acceptance rate coming out of MCPS, in other words.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Me and bro both went to UMD out of W high school. Both got into Ivies like Penn, Cornell, Columbia. Bro got into MIT and wait listed at Harvard. We both chose UMD for scholarships, he got a full ride. Afterwards we both went to top 10 law schools so don't knock it until you try it.

You go girl!