The normal kid

[Anonymous]

What is a kid called who graduates from college but no
an Ivy?

A college graduate.

The fixation on the Ivy's on this forum is ridiculous.
They don't have good value for the money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is a kid called who graduates from college but no
an Ivy?

A college graduate.

The fixation on the Ivy's on this forum is ridiculous.
They don't have good value for the money.

They do for lower income families who end up going practically for free.

[Anonymous]

Our solidly average FCPS graduate was accepted to her first choice, George Mason. Like her mother so many years ago, she struggled through high school math and science courses.

Now she's made Dean's List and has a higher college GPA than her HS GPA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For public schools

Every VA school except UVA and W&M
Every MD school except College Park
Every FLA school except Gainesville
Every NC school except Chapel Hill

So basically everywhere except maybe 1 school in each state.

Not true any more. Look at the GPAs of the entering classes of 2019 at the Virginia schools. The median 75th percentile at GMU had a high school GPA of 3.94; median 50% at 3.7 and bottom 25th percentile median at 3.43. Same with JMU and others. Insert name of school here and hit update. Remember these are the stats of the students who actually showed up on campus, not those accepted (which are higher stats). http://research.schev.edu//enrollment/B10_FreshmenProfile.asp

[Anonymous]

"The fixation on the Ivy's on this forum is ridiculous.
They don't have good value for the money."

The fixation is ridiculous but the value of Ivies is better than we would have guessed.

Our state school is good enough so that no one "needs" to go anywhere better. Value wise, for Ivy level students they offer enough merit aid so that no school can compete.

But the Ivy's large endowments allowed them to provide us with financial aid that allowed them to match the prices of the top tier of out of state flagships and beat out the "need only" private schools.

Yes, our in-state flagship was better value (as well as certain "safety flagships) but in ranked value order the Ivy's were next.

This is despite a HHI of $250k and enough non-retirement investments to just write the $300k check.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please share where your "normal" kid went to college. 2 years in a non AP school so no weighting but As and Bs. Now in public school where it feels like everyone is loaded with APs. DC is not. So average schedule for this year at least, and a B/A student.

My normal kid went to Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, PA. Very nice camps, under 2500 students, about two hours from our home. He graduated a couple of years ago, easily found a job after and is enjoying his career choice. He was an A/B student, just one AP class and he was in a public HS where APs were offered. Otherwise honors classes. Good SATs and ACTs, but not setting the world on fire. Just one athletic EC and he wasn't at the top of that, mainly benchwarmer.

My other normal kid is in Shippensburg in PA. Another nice small school, great environment for him, he also was an A/B student in HS, no APs, honors, again pretty good SATs and ACTs (but not the scores you see here on DCUMs!). He did have an athletic EC where he was strong and is playing his sport there.

As others have said, there are a lot of schools! I'm not sure where you're located, but PA has a lot of schools. We also looked at York College, West Chester, Slippery Rock, and a number of others in PA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 3.0 GPA kid, 1 AP class, 23 ACT, is happy at McDaniel with good merit aid.

He looked at other small liberal arts schools with similar profiles but got into McDaniel early so he was one and done.

A little surprising someone with a 3.0/23 can get merit anywhere, but good on them.

It’s risky going to a small, little-known school unless the student really takes advantage and turns things around, including getting mostly A’s, doing research and getting internships. But most students at these schools are not like this, and tend to revert to their norm.

And then they get a job, find family and friends and amble on just fine. The career outcomes of these schools are just about the same as anywhere else they get into. And they are often more likely to graduate and get more personalized support to find a job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Something like 40-45% of kids fail out of college, and half that do finish take extra years to earn an easy BA. It’s quite predictable to access who is ready for university - e.g., college track courses, good AP scores, a “college ready” SAT/ACT score.

Outside of the top 50 universities, the rest of the colleges in the US are basically degree mills who admit anyone with a pulse and access to funding. Don’t conflate acceptance with actual capacity to succeed. They want money above all.

This post seems unnecessarily mean.

Many of the "normal kids" described in this thread do try their best, but may not have the aptitude of the top students. It is still OK for them to go to college.

All decent jobs in this economy require at least a college degree. Some of the jobs are not really that taxing, or use skills that are not necessarily correlated with getting an A in math, and can be done by kids of average aptitude.

To have a chance for those jobs, these kids need a college degree. There is a place in this world for these no-name colleges that you so deride as degree mills.

We have the savings to be full pay at a college for our average student, and we plan to support him however he needs it to get a degree. After he graduates, he'll do a great job in the workplace for some employer because he's smart, funny, hard-working, responsible, and even good-looking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Something like 40-45% of kids fail out of college, and half that do finish take extra years to earn an easy BA. It’s quite predictable to access who is ready for university - e.g., college track courses, good AP scores, a “college ready” SAT/ACT score.

Outside of the top 50 universities, the rest of the colleges in the US are basically degree mills who admit anyone with a pulse and access to funding. Don’t conflate acceptance with actual capacity to succeed. They want money above all.

This post seems unnecessarily mean.

Many of the "normal kids" described in this thread do try their best, but may not have the aptitude of the top students. It is still OK for them to go to college.

All decent jobs in this economy require at least a college degree. Some of the jobs are not really that taxing, or use skills that are not necessarily correlated with getting an A in math, and can be done by kids of average aptitude.

To have a chance for those jobs, these kids need a college degree. There is a place in this world for these no-name colleges that you so deride as degree mills.

We have the savings to be full pay at a college for our average student, and we plan to support him however he needs it to get a degree. After he graduates, he'll do a great job in the workplace for some employer because he's smart, funny, hard-working, responsible, and even good-looking.

I think there's one poster who keeps pushing this narrative on this forum. Look at the career outcomes of any school, look at median salary at age 30 for career trajectory. There's actually a lot less variation by college than you might think (the far bigger variations come from major and location).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 3.0 GPA kid, 1 AP class, 23 ACT, is happy at McDaniel with good merit aid.

He looked at other small liberal arts schools with similar profiles but got into McDaniel early so he was one and done.

Little soon to be boasting. Let us know when or if your kid graduates. In 4...or 5 or 6 years. Lots of extra money for extra years. And the job placement after.

NP: doesn’t sound like the PP was boasting. My NoVa kid graduated from McDaniel and is attending med school.

Lots of personal attention at small schools. It was perfect for my kid.

Run your own race.

My DS will be graduating from McDaniel after 4 years with honors. He’s been very happy there. Lots of personal attention. He had an internship and is now tutoring at the writing center. Great fit for him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Something like 40-45% of kids fail out of college, and half that do finish take extra years to earn an easy BA. It’s quite predictable to access who is ready for university - e.g., college track courses, good AP scores, a “college ready” SAT/ACT score.

Outside of the top 50 universities, the rest of the colleges in the US are basically degree mills who admit anyone with a pulse and access to funding. Don’t conflate acceptance with actual capacity to succeed. They want money above all.

This post seems unnecessarily mean.

Many of the "normal kids" described in this thread do try their best, but may not have the aptitude of the top students. It is still OK for them to go to college.

All decent jobs in this economy require at least a college degree. Some of the jobs are not really that taxing, or use skills that are not necessarily correlated with getting an A in math, and can be done by kids of average aptitude.

To have a chance for those jobs, these kids need a college degree. There is a place in this world for these no-name colleges that you so deride as degree mills.

We have the savings to be full pay at a college for our average student, and we plan to support him however he needs it to get a degree. After he graduates, he'll do a great job in the workplace for some employer because he's smart, funny, hard-working, responsible, and even good-looking.

Not just mean but factually wrong. Many colleges outside the top 50 universities, plus many more in the top LAC list, are far from auto-admits. But facts don’t deter dumb people so there’s no point in arguing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:AP/honors = university track. If you’re not in that track you’re not university material. The rigor in non-AP/honors is a flat out joke and several years behind the university bound kiddos.

Of course you don’t want to hear this, you’re in denial, you’ll cling to the fake A’s, and you’ll send junior off to some open door degree mill anyways for your ego. Then you’ll keep it hush hush when he fails out.

Their kid can still go to a pretty good college though, as they should with such good stats. Maybe get an associate degree or even BA and become nurse or medical technician or therapist. We don't need only doctors and lawyers and elitists in any other category, we need skilled people for regular critical jobs. Sheesh, some parents are really living in their own bubble.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 3.0 GPA kid, 1 AP class, 23 ACT, is happy at McDaniel with good merit aid.

He looked at other small liberal arts schools with similar profiles but got into McDaniel early so he was one and done.

Little soon to be boasting. Let us know when or if your kid graduates. In 4...or 5 or 6 years. Lots of extra money for extra years. And the job placement after.

Np that's laughing at you right now. You got a full ride for a life degree in arrogance, no doubt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our 1290 SAT, 3.5 unweighted public school DC with only a couple APs got into 7 out of 7 engineering schools ranked from about #60 to just over #300.

Not URM but did have an EC that might have turned the heads of the #60 school.

My daughter has similar stats. I think she is shooting too high with her preferred schools in the top 100. She does have 5 APs and 4.2 weighted 3.65 uw gpa. Her verbal is 700, math is 600. She does not want a math centered major, so hopefully her 700v will push her over the top.

[Anonymous]

There are tons and tons of colleges. Part depends on your finances. Instate vs out of state fees.

There are plenty of B students out there as well.

Part of this depends on what major they would like. Then make sure school does not have too many limited enrollment majors. In case your child is a 2.7 ish gpa in college super hard to matriculate to some majors. This happens at schools like JMU (just an example). Not as likely at a school like North Carolina State. This is super important.