College admissions from APS

[Anonymous]

My DS graduated from an APS high school and is at W&M. Part of the strategy when he applied to colleges was to apply to “lower tier” by DCUM standards colleges where he would be awarded significant merit money so that we could afford the college. He is one of 4 and there was no way we could save $$300K per kid for college. So when you see Denison, St Olaf, beloit, Muhlenberg, college of Wooster and Miami at Ohio and many others on the APS college applications lists, that’s often because parents and students are looking for the very generous scholarships those colleges offer to highly qualified students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DS graduated from an APS high school and is at W&M. Part of the strategy when he applied to colleges was to apply to “lower tier” by DCUM standards colleges where he would be awarded significant merit money so that we could afford the college. He is one of 4 and there was no way we could save $$300K per kid for college. So when you see Denison, St Olaf, beloit, Muhlenberg, college of Wooster and Miami at Ohio and many others on the APS college applications lists, that’s often because parents and students are looking for the very generous scholarships those colleges offer to highly qualified students.

Those schools suck. Good choice staying instate.w

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DS graduated from an APS high school and is at W&M. Part of the strategy when he applied to colleges was to apply to “lower tier” by DCUM standards colleges where he would be awarded significant merit money so that we could afford the college. He is one of 4 and there was no way we could save $$300K per kid for college. So when you see Denison, St Olaf, beloit, Muhlenberg, college of Wooster and Miami at Ohio and many others on the APS college applications lists, that’s often because parents and students are looking for the very generous scholarships those colleges offer to highly qualified students.

Those are all very fine schools, too. Especially Denison and Miami.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DS graduated from an APS high school and is at W&M. Part of the strategy when he applied to colleges was to apply to “lower tier” by DCUM standards colleges where he would be awarded significant merit money so that we could afford the college. He is one of 4 and there was no way we could save $$300K per kid for college. So when you see Denison, St Olaf, beloit, Muhlenberg, college of Wooster and Miami at Ohio and many others on the APS college applications lists, that’s often because parents and students are looking for the very generous scholarships those colleges offer to highly qualified students.

Those schools suck. Good choice staying instate.w

The fuck is wrong with you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS does a great job getting lots of kids into UVA, W&M, Tech, and JMU. They don't care about Harvard. Depending on your needs, this could be great or terrible.

Same is true for FCPS, aside from TJ. The college lists from both school systems are mediocre.

I doubt you'll find many public school systems that do much better. The kids from APS who deserve to go to top 10 USNWR schools get in. APS doesn't hold them back relative to other public systems.

+1

I am an Arlington parent with 1 who just graduated from college and two currently at UVa. I have lived and breathed APS college admissions for the past 5 years.

Have any of you posters who are so critical of what colleges APS and FCPS students are accepted at and attend actually had or have a high school student at any of these high schools? I doubt it or you would not sound so ignorant.

Getting accepted is a very different landscape and much more difficult than when most of us applied to college 20+ years ago for a variety of reasons which you will find out soon enough when your kids are high school juniors.

And then there's the fact that a top college or university costs $65K or more per year for one child. Many parents in Arlington that I know don't even give their child the option of applying to schools that cost that much when their child can go to William & Mary or UVa for less than half of that.

I think this last point is especially key when you're comparing APS to the Bethesda schools someone else cited above. A top student at APS can go to UVa for a fraction of what it will cost to go to an Ivy, and the diploma still has a great reputation. If you're a top student at a Bethesda high school, you're probably not viewing University of Maryland the same way.

I wouldn’t say great. More like good to very good.

But it isn’t like your opinion is valid or anything.

Sure it is.

Really, it's not. You sound like a dotard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS does a great job getting lots of kids into UVA, W&M, Tech, and JMU. They don't care about Harvard. Depending on your needs, this could be great or terrible.

Same is true for FCPS, aside from TJ. The college lists from both school systems are mediocre.

I doubt you'll find many public school systems that do much better. The kids from APS who deserve to go to top 10 USNWR schools get in. APS doesn't hold them back relative to other public systems.

+1

I am an Arlington parent with 1 who just graduated from college and two currently at UVa. I have lived and breathed APS college admissions for the past 5 years.

Have any of you posters who are so critical of what colleges APS and FCPS students are accepted at and attend actually had or have a high school student at any of these high schools? I doubt it or you would not sound so ignorant.

Getting accepted is a very different landscape and much more difficult than when most of us applied to college 20+ years ago for a variety of reasons which you will find out soon enough when your kids are high school juniors.

And then there's the fact that a top college or university costs $65K or more per year for one child. Many parents in Arlington that I know don't even give their child the option of applying to schools that cost that much when their child can go to William & Mary or UVa for less than half of that.

I think this last point is especially key when you're comparing APS to the Bethesda schools someone else cited above. A top student at APS can go to UVa for a fraction of what it will cost to go to an Ivy, and the diploma still has a great reputation. If you're a top student at a Bethesda high school, you're probably not viewing University of Maryland the same way.

I wouldn’t say great. More like good to very good.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DS graduated from an APS high school and is at W&M. Part of the strategy when he applied to colleges was to apply to “lower tier” by DCUM standards colleges where he would be awarded significant merit money so that we could afford the college. He is one of 4 and there was no way we could save $$300K per kid for college. So when you see Denison, St Olaf, beloit, Muhlenberg, college of Wooster and Miami at Ohio and many others on the APS college applications lists, that’s often because parents and students are looking for the very generous scholarships those colleges offer to highly qualified students.

Those are all very fine schools, too. Especially Denison and Miami.

"Very fine"?? I'd go with "perfectly fine if you're getting a full-ride".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS does a great job getting lots of kids into UVA, W&M, Tech, and JMU. They don't care about Harvard. Depending on your needs, this could be great or terrible.

Same is true for FCPS, aside from TJ. The college lists from both school systems are mediocre.

I doubt you'll find many public school systems that do much better. The kids from APS who deserve to go to top 10 USNWR schools get in. APS doesn't hold them back relative to other public systems.

You do if you look in the Northeast. My nephews just went through the college application process and their HS in NJ sends gobs of kids to top 10-25. Same is true for my cousin's kids in MA.

They aren't any brighter than the kids down here. It's bizarre. Are kids just not applying? Are the supersized school systems down here hurting college admissions?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS does a great job getting lots of kids into UVA, W&M, Tech, and JMU. They don't care about Harvard. Depending on your needs, this could be great or terrible.

Same is true for FCPS, aside from TJ. The college lists from both school systems are mediocre.

I doubt you'll find many public school systems that do much better. The kids from APS who deserve to go to top 10 USNWR schools get in. APS doesn't hold them back relative to other public systems.

You do if you look in the Northeast. My nephews just went through the college application process and their HS in NJ sends gobs of kids to top 10-25. Same is true for my cousin's kids in MA.

They aren't any brighter than the kids down here. It's bizarre. Are kids just not applying? Are the supersized school systems down here hurting college admissions?

Yes, many don't apply. Many people opt out early on. The kids are high achievers capable of going to top 10-25 schools but they save their money and go to UVA, W&M, or VA Tech Engineering instead. For many people, the schools in the 10-25 range don't justify the extra cost over in-state. Going to a 10-25 school over UVA is a seen as a luxury, not an need.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS does a great job getting lots of kids into UVA, W&M, Tech, and JMU. They don't care about Harvard. Depending on your needs, this could be great or terrible.

Same is true for FCPS, aside from TJ. The college lists from both school systems are mediocre.

I doubt you'll find many public school systems that do much better. The kids from APS who deserve to go to top 10 USNWR schools get in. APS doesn't hold them back relative to other public systems.

You do if you look in the Northeast. My nephews just went through the college application process and their HS in NJ sends gobs of kids to top 10-25. Same is true for my cousin's kids in MA.

They aren't any brighter than the kids down here. It's bizarre. Are kids just not applying? Are the supersized school systems down here hurting college admissions?

Rutgers isn't comparable to UVA, W&M, or Tech. It's a bad option. So you'll have way more kids NJ with $$$ applying to privates in 10-25 range than you find in VA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS does a great job getting lots of kids into UVA, W&M, Tech, and JMU. They don't care about Harvard. Depending on your needs, this could be great or terrible.

Same is true for FCPS, aside from TJ. The college lists from both school systems are mediocre.

I doubt you'll find many public school systems that do much better. The kids from APS who deserve to go to top 10 USNWR schools get in. APS doesn't hold them back relative to other public systems.

You do if you look in the Northeast. My nephews just went through the college application process and their HS in NJ sends gobs of kids to top 10-25. Same is true for my cousin's kids in MA.

They aren't any brighter than the kids down here. It's bizarre. Are kids just not applying? Are the supersized school systems down here hurting college admissions?

Rutgers isn't comparable to UVA, W&M, or Tech. It's a bad option. So you'll have way more kids NJ with $$$ applying to privates in 10-25 range than you find in VA.

And UMASS sucks, too. So same thing in MA.

[Anonymous]

All of our kids attend or went to unremarkable out of state flagships for free, essentially. Places like Tennessee, South Carolina, and Alabama. All of them got into UVA and passed because they got zero aid.

All of them made this choice because they want to pursue grad school (one is in medical school, one is applying to law school and one wants to be a vet). They are all using 529 money to offset grad school costs so they have less debt. This is the smartest choice when you are trying to balance cost, program, and debt. Not everyone wants to pay 120K for a bachelor's degree.

Honestly, as a Harvard undergrad alum, I found the undergrad experience to be wildly overrated. My kids' experience in their honor colleges seem pretty great and did I mention they are free? Yeah.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All of our kids attend or went to unremarkable out of state flagships for free, essentially. Places like Tennessee, South Carolina, and Alabama. All of them got into UVA and passed because they got zero aid.

All of them made this choice because they want to pursue grad school (one is in medical school, one is applying to law school and one wants to be a vet). They are all using 529 money to offset grad school costs so they have less debt. This is the smartest choice when you are trying to balance cost, program, and debt. Not everyone wants to pay 120K for a bachelor's degree.

Honestly, as a Harvard undergrad alum, I found the undergrad experience to be wildly overrated. My kids' experience in their honor colleges seem pretty great and did I mention they are free? Yeah.

Seems like a good plan. I'm a Stanford alum and I would also encourage my kids to take a full ride somewhere else and save their $$ for grad school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All of our kids attend or went to unremarkable out of state flagships for free, essentially. Places like Tennessee, South Carolina, and Alabama. All of them got into UVA and passed because they got zero aid.

All of them made this choice because they want to pursue grad school (one is in medical school, one is applying to law school and one wants to be a vet). They are all using 529 money to offset grad school costs so they have less debt. This is the smartest choice when you are trying to balance cost, program, and debt. Not everyone wants to pay 120K for a bachelor's degree.

Honestly, as a Harvard undergrad alum, I found the undergrad experience to be wildly overrated. My kids' experience in their honor colleges seem pretty great and did I mention they are free? Yeah.

Odd, if you're paying for graduate school you probably don't deserve to be there (professional degrees excepted).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All of our kids attend or went to unremarkable out of state flagships for free, essentially. Places like Tennessee, South Carolina, and Alabama. All of them got into UVA and passed because they got zero aid.

All of them made this choice because they want to pursue grad school (one is in medical school, one is applying to law school and one wants to be a vet). They are all using 529 money to offset grad school costs so they have less debt. This is the smartest choice when you are trying to balance cost, program, and debt. Not everyone wants to pay 120K for a bachelor's degree.

Honestly, as a Harvard undergrad alum, I found the undergrad experience to be wildly overrated. My kids' experience in their honor colleges seem pretty great and did I mention they are free? Yeah.

Odd, if you're paying for graduate school you probably don't deserve to be there (professional degrees excepted).

Odd that you didn't read that the PP said her children are pursuing professional degrees = medical school, law school, veterinary.

Sounds like they made smart financial decisions.