Any Parents Privately Disappointed with College Placement?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The young man who is going to try to walk on to play Division I football at IU won a prestigious six-figure merit scholarship from the Washington Post. He, and the other young man, had good choices. It is almost too basic to say, but if one doesn't know the individual circumstances, it really does not make a lot of sense to critique any given student's college choice.

The Washington Post offers college scholarships worth over $100,000? Where can I sign up for that?!? Please tell me!

It has been around since the 80s, I think -- a memorial scholarship for a student in the DC area in honor of a beloved editor who died at a relatively young age. We know a young man at Yale who also won this scholarship.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The young man who is going to try to walk on to play Division I football at IU won a prestigious six-figure merit scholarship from the Washington Post. He, and the other young man, had good choices. It is almost too basic to say, but if one doesn't know the individual circumstances, it really does not make a lot of sense to critique any given student's college choice.

The Washington Post offers college scholarships worth over $100,000? Where can I sign up for that?!? Please tell me!

It has been around since the 80s, I think -- a memorial scholarship for a student in the DC area in honor of a beloved editor who died at a relatively young age. We know a young man at Yale who also won this scholarship.

Yes, we know him, too. Just wonderful. He would have been accepted at any school in the country, all around great guy and student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The young man who is going to try to walk on to play Division I football at IU won a prestigious six-figure merit scholarship from the Washington Post. He, and the other young man, had good choices. It is almost too basic to say, but if one doesn't know the individual circumstances, it really does not make a lot of sense to critique any given student's college choice.

The Washington Post offers college scholarships worth over $100,000? Where can I sign up for that?!? Please tell me!

It has been around since the 80s, I think -- a memorial scholarship for a student in the DC area in honor of a beloved editor who died at a relatively young age. We know a young man at Yale who also won this scholarship.

Any other info? I am searching online and cannot find any mention of it. Could it have some other name unaffiliated with the WaPo?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The young man who is going to try to walk on to play Division I football at IU won a prestigious six-figure merit scholarship from the Washington Post. He, and the other young man, had good choices. It is almost too basic to say, but if one doesn't know the individual circumstances, it really does not make a lot of sense to critique any given student's college choice.

The Washington Post offers college scholarships worth over $100,000? Where can I sign up for that?!? Please tell me!

It has been around since the 80s, I think -- a memorial scholarship for a student in the DC area in honor of a beloved editor who died at a relatively young age. We know a young man at Yale who also won this scholarship.

Any other info? I am searching online and cannot find any mention of it. Could it have some other name unaffiliated with the WaPo?

I believe it is the Denton Scholarship, or Denton Memoral Scholarship.

[Anonymous]

Herbert denton Jr. scholarship

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you want facts, you can look up FARMS rates at MoCo high schools here: http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/glance/currentyear/schools/04406.pdf. Here are stats for some of the "richest" MoCo high schools mentioned earlier:

BCC 11% FARMS, 9.3% special ed,
Walter Johnson 7.8% FARMS, 11.7% special ed
Churchill <5% FARMs, 11.2% special ed
Whitman <5% FARMs, 11.9% special ed
Richard Montgomery 20.6% FARMS, 7.7% special ed
Wootton 5.5% FARMs, 7.5 special ed
(You don't want to even ask about the downcounty schools, trust me)

Another important fact to keep in mind: the FARMS income cutoff is LOW. This source (http://febp.newamerica.net/background-analysis/federal-school-nutrition-programs) says the federal subsidized lunch program cutoff is 130% of the poverty line, or $21,000 for a family of four.

So between FARMS and special ed programs, maybe 13-20% of kids at the "richest" public high schools we've been discussing are either (a) very poor or (b) on special ed. And certainly many more kids in these 6 "richest" public high schools have family incomes just above $21,000 but below $50,000.

It's truly difficult to understand how you could expect identical percents of a Sidwell graduating class, and a graduating class at one of these "richest" MoCo high schools, to be applying to the same Ivy League Colleges. Given that 10-30% kids in even the "richest" MoCo high schools live in families with less than $21,000 income, or are in special ed, and many more will have incomes not much above $21,000.

Apart from these documentable facts on parents' income and kids' special needs rates, here are some other likely differences between these MoCo high schools and elite private schools, that we'd expect to lead to difference in Ivy matriculations.
(1) Parents' education. Have the parents been to grad school, or even to college?
(2) Legacy status. I know Harvard parents who send their kids to Blair, but some elite privates ask this question (we were asked 5-6 years ago on one application) and may be selecting for it.
(3) Interest in a school's status. Let's be honest here, some percent of private school parents choose elite privates for the status, and would choose a college for the same reason. Maybe it's a small percent, but it's there.
(4) Private schools select in part based on test scores. This may not be so reliable for kids accepted in K, but for middle school and high school the high SSAT scores are more of a predictor for high SAT scores.

[Anonymous]

I always say the lowest 25% of the matriculation list is FAR more revealing than the top 25%. Indiana in NOT at the bottom of STA's list, but it is not even on Sidwell's list.

It is precisely because of the embarrassment to the school and parents that some schools don't publish these lists.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I always say the lowest 25% of the matriculation list is FAR more revealing than the top 25%. Indiana in NOT at the bottom of STA's list, but it is not even on Sidwell's list.

It is precisely because of the embarrassment to the school and parents that some schools don't publish these lists.

Once again, with feeling: if the kid had a good reason to go to Indiana, who are you to judge?

And your 2nd sentence doesn't make sense when put in the same post as your 1st sentence - Sidwell is the one that doesn't publish.

[Anonymous]

Bates. Tulane. SMU. UC Santa Barbara. Ole Miss. Sewanne. Kenyon. Davidson. Wake. Washington and Lee. USC. U Vermont.

All taken from Big 3 matriculation lists this year.

Which ones would you consider "disappointments"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bates. Tulane. SMU. UC Santa Barbara. Ole Miss. Sewanne. Kenyon. Davidson. Wake. Washington and Lee. USC. U Vermont.

All taken from Big 3 matriculation lists this year.

Which ones would you consider "disappointments"?

I'll play. From a Big 3, disappointments all except maybe USC, UC SB, Kenyon. If it's family tradition to attend Ole Miss or Wake forest, maybe ok. Honestly, for the tuition at a Big 3 - I'll expect Ivy or equivalent like Stanford, Duke, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bates. Tulane. SMU. UC Santa Barbara. Ole Miss. Sewanne. Kenyon. Davidson. Wake. Washington and Lee. USC. U Vermont.

All taken from Big 3 matriculation lists this year.

Which ones would you consider "disappointments"?

I'll play. From a Big 3, disappointments all except maybe USC, UC SB, Kenyon. If it's family tradition to attend Ole Miss or Wake forest, maybe ok. Honestly, for the tuition at a Big 3 - I'll expect Ivy or equivalent like Stanford, Duke, etc.

Then don't send a child. Have you had your head in a bucket for the past decade? College admissions has changed drastically since the 1980s (when presumably you applied). Kids get a wonderful education at these area independents but it is not a 1950s style ticket into the Ivy League. The tuition is a ton of money so if college admissions is your sole or even primary goal you are likely to be disappointed and should save your money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bates. Tulane. SMU. UC Santa Barbara. Ole Miss. Sewanne. Kenyon. Davidson. Wake. Washington and Lee. USC. U Vermont.

All taken from Big 3 matriculation lists this year.

Which ones would you consider "disappointments"?

I'll play. From a Big 3, disappointments all except maybe USC, UC SB, Kenyon. If it's family tradition to attend Ole Miss or Wake forest, maybe ok. Honestly, for the tuition at a Big 3 - I'll expect Ivy or equivalent like Stanford, Duke, etc.

And on the Marty McFly 1980s point, look up Davidson and Wake Forest and Washington and Lee too. All have gotten far more competitive and, yes, prestigious in the past 30 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bates. Tulane. SMU. UC Santa Barbara. Ole Miss. Sewanne. Kenyon. Davidson. Wake. Washington and Lee. USC. U Vermont.

All taken from Big 3 matriculation lists this year.

Which ones would you consider "disappointments"?

I'll play. From a Big 3, disappointments all except maybe USC, UC SB, Kenyon. If it's family tradition to attend Ole Miss or Wake forest, maybe ok. Honestly, for the tuition at a Big 3 - I'll expect Ivy or equivalent like Stanford, Duke, etc.

Then don't send a child. Have you had your head in a bucket for the past decade? College admissions has changed drastically since the 1980s (when presumably you applied). Kids get a wonderful education at these area independents but it is not a 1950s style ticket into the Ivy League. The tuition is a ton of money so if college admissions is your sole or even primary goal you are likely to be disappointed and should save your money.

Shrug. I have nieces and nephews going through the spplication process now and during the past 6 yrs or so. From the West Coast, 2 to Stanford, 3 to various UC schools and 1 to CalTech (chose over Yale and MIT). All from public although they went private for elementary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bates. Tulane. SMU. UC Santa Barbara. Ole Miss. Sewanne. Kenyon. Davidson. Wake. Washington and Lee. USC. U Vermont.

All taken from Big 3 matriculation lists this year.

Which ones would you consider "disappointments"?

I'll play. From a Big 3, disappointments all except maybe USC, UC SB, Kenyon. If it's family tradition to attend Ole Miss or Wake forest, maybe ok. Honestly, for the tuition at a Big 3 - I'll expect Ivy or equivalent like Stanford, Duke, etc.

Then don't send a child. Have you had your head in a bucket for the past decade? College admissions has changed drastically since the 1980s (when presumably you applied). Kids get a wonderful education at these area independents but it is not a 1950s style ticket into the Ivy League. The tuition is a ton of money so if college admissions is your sole or even primary goal you are likely to be disappointed and should save your money.

Shrug. I have nieces and nephews going through the spplication process now and during the past 6 yrs or so. From the West Coast, 2 to Stanford, 3 to various UC schools and 1 to CalTech (chose over Yale and MIT). All from public although they went private for elementary.

Perhaps your knowledge is West Coast centric. Davidson and Wake are great schools, more highly regarded in these latitudes than UCs. Which may be East Coast centric. But people will think you are ill-informed if you trot out your views that Davidson or Wake are disappointments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bates. Tulane. SMU. UC Santa Barbara. Ole Miss. Sewanne. Kenyon. Davidson. Wake. Washington and Lee. USC. U Vermont.

All taken from Big 3 matriculation lists this year.

Which ones would you consider "disappointments"?

I'll play. From a Big 3, disappointments all except maybe USC, UC SB, Kenyon. If it's family tradition to attend Ole Miss or Wake forest, maybe ok. Honestly, for the tuition at a Big 3 - I'll expect Ivy or equivalent like Stanford, Duke, etc.

Then don't send a child. Have you had your head in a bucket for the past decade? College admissions has changed drastically since the 1980s (when presumably you applied). Kids get a wonderful education at these area independents but it is not a 1950s style ticket into the Ivy League. The tuition is a ton of money so if college admissions is your sole or even primary goal you are likely to be disappointed and should save your money.

Shrug. I have nieces and nephews going through the spplication process now and during the past 6 yrs or so. From the West Coast, 2 to Stanford, 3 to various UC schools and 1 to CalTech (chose over Yale and MIT). All from public although they went private for elementary.

Perhaps your knowledge is West Coast centric. Davidson and Wake are great schools, more highly regarded in these latitudes than UCs. Which may be East Coast centric. But people will think you are ill-informed if you trot out your views that Davidson or Wake are disappointments.

I went to an Ivy during the 80ties so while my nieces and nephews are West Coastcentric, I would be disappointed if my kids went to Davidson and Wake Forest. I prefer Williams, Amherst, Wesleyan, Swathmore, etc. Maybe it's b/c I personally don't know anyone who has gone to them and have no familiarity with Southern schools. Just my opinion answering the question posed.