Is my child gifted? In Arlington magazine this month

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hmmm....two of the parents quoted that were unhappy with the program were ASF parents.

What do you mean bu "Hmmm"? I have a rising K student and I am on the fence about sending him there.

"Him" being the operative word. Not a school very conducive to boys.

There is a long history of autocracy, intimidation and secrecy at this school. Teachers were mostly fantastic, but the administrative staff: nightmare.

Glad to be done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If GT services at the elementary school level aren't giving our kids a leg up in the college admissions process, then I don't really get the point. And my kid has been identified as GT. He likes his GT teacher, but I am not convinced the extra "homework" is really doing anything for his longer-term success. As I mentioned in my earlier post, I was really surprised by the college acceptance rates that were reported in that same magazine. I think we are wasting a lot of energy arguing about this stuff, when everyone should be focused on what APS high school looks like in 5-10 years when we are 3,000 high school seats short of what we need. We're arguing over how Ks end up getting selected to do extra math worksheets, and meanwhile all the local ivy league college slots are going to Fairfax and Montgomery County kids.

Outside of TJ I don't think many FCPS kids are going Ivy either (% wise). Does Naviance show if the kids are actually applying to these schools at all? Or maybe many just want to stick in-state for financial reasons and not many are even applying? I know it's way more competitive these days, but all of APS is producing less Ivy grads than my small, podunk HS in another state did 20 years ago. So strange!

The table in Arlington Magazine said that the number of applicants was confirmed as reported by the school, but the acceptance rates were self-reported. That said, I'm not sure why a student would lie and say that they did *not* get accepted when they did, so I would guess the acceptance numbers are pretty accurate? My kids are in ES though, so I can't speak to the process. I was just surprised to read the article when we got our magazine in the mail. I can't find a link to the magazine article on-line, so here are just some sample numbers:

Cornell: HB- 3 applied, 0 accepted; WF- 1 applied, 0 accepted; WL- 22 applied, 3 accepted; YT- 24 applied, 7 accepted
Dartmouth: HB- 2 applied, 0 accepted; WF- 0 applied, 0 accepted; WL- 7 applied, 1 accepted; YT- 13 applied, 0 accepted
Duke: HB- 3 applied, 0 accepted; WF- 3 applied, 0 accepted; WL- 20 applied, 2 accepted; YT- 11 applied, 2 accepted
Harvard: HB- 1 applied, 0 accepted; WF- 1 applied, 0 accepted; WL- 21 applied, 1 accepted; YT- 16 applied, 0 accepted
Princeton: HB- 5 applied, 0 accepted; WF- 2 applied, 0 accepted; WL- 12 applied, 0 accepted; YT- 14 applied, 1 accepted

Top liberal arts colleges are a little better, but still not as high as I would have expected:

Williams: HB- 2 applied, 0 accepted; WF- 0 applied, 0 accepted; WL- 3 applied, 1 accepted; YT- 5 applied, 0 accepted
Wellesley: HB- 0 applied, 0 accepted; WF- 0 applied, 0 accepted; WL- 5 applied, 1 accepted; YT- 3 applied, 1 accepted
Swarthmore: HB- 1 applied, 0 accepted; WF- 0 applied, 0 accepted; WL- 9 applied, 0 accepted; YT- 4 applied, 1 accepted
Oberlin: HB- 1 applied, 1 accepted; WF- 0 applied, 0 accepted; WL- 7 applied, 1 accepted; YT- 4 applied, 1 accepted

And for kicks, here is UVA: HB- 29 applied, 12 accepted; WF- 35 applied, 9 accepted; WL- 140 applied, 48 accepted; YT- 118 applied, 40 accepted

I think you can still get this Arlington Magazine issue at the grocery store if you want the full list. Harris Teeter sells it.

All that to say, please focus your efforts on the HS situation too. The SB says that we don't have land for a 4th high school, so they are going to build out two smaller "choice" programs instead. Right now, Arlington Tech seems to be one of those two programs and the SB is *not* building it out to be an academically focused STEM program like TJ. It is basically a modernized vo-tech program, with courses in basic computer programming to supplement the traditional vo-tech courses. If you wait until your kid is high school age to get involved in this discussion, it will be too late. These decisions are being made now and will determine the high school structure for our entire current elementary school population. All of you arguing about GT ES services are just rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If GT services at the elementary school level aren't giving our kids a leg up in the college admissions process, then I don't really get the point. And my kid has been identified as GT. He likes his GT teacher, but I am not convinced the extra "homework" is really doing anything for his longer-term success. As I mentioned in my earlier post, I was really surprised by the college acceptance rates that were reported in that same magazine. I think we are wasting a lot of energy arguing about this stuff, when everyone should be focused on what APS high school looks like in 5-10 years when we are 3,000 high school seats short of what we need. We're arguing over how Ks end up getting selected to do extra math worksheets, and meanwhile all the local ivy league college slots are going to Fairfax and Montgomery County kids.

Because Arlington County never rewards based on merit--either in its sports programs or its schools. The reason we do not have as many Ivy college acceptances is the same reason down the road we get crushed by the MD teams in sports: Arlington is run by parents brown-nosing and lobbying their kids for the few select spots in school and sports programs. It is a nightmare place to live and raise your kids. The best thing you can do for them is to move.

[Anonymous]

Ivys only accept so many kids from a given city and they take Arlington kids from DC privates and boarding schools. Few "slots" left for public school kids. There are plenty of Arlington resident kids at Ivys, just not APS grads.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ivys only accept so many kids from a given city and they take Arlington kids from DC privates and boarding schools. Few "slots" left for public school kids. There are plenty of Arlington resident kids at Ivys, just not APS grads.

ah, i see, didn't know that.

what about Duke? or other top colleges, same thing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ivys only accept so many kids from a given city and they take Arlington kids from DC privates and boarding schools. Few "slots" left for public school kids. There are plenty of Arlington resident kids at Ivys, just not APS grads.

Time to move to Wyoming.

[Anonymous]

It think Arlington tech should be a vocational school. Look at how few kids apply for top schools out of Wakefiled. Those kids need career/job training. We need that more than another TJ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hmmm....two of the parents quoted that were unhappy with the program were ASF parents.

What do you mean bu "Hmmm"? I have a rising K student and I am on the fence about sending him there.

"Him" being the operative word. Not a school very conducive to boys.

There is a long history of autocracy, intimidation and secrecy at this school. Teachers were mostly fantastic, but the administrative staff: nightmare.

Glad to be done.

I see. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ivys only accept so many kids from a given city and they take Arlington kids from DC privates and boarding schools. Few "slots" left for public school kids. There are plenty of Arlington resident kids at Ivys, just not APS grads.

ah, i see, didn't know that.

what about Duke? or other top colleges, same thing?

College admissions is much, much different than when we applied 20 or 30 years ago. If you want your Arlington kid to go to an Ivy or top SLAC then they should be one or more of the following:
1. a top athlete in a recruitable sport
2. an under-represented minority
3. an Intel science fair finalist
4. a student at TJ or a top private school

In addition to the few slots available to the public school students, the high school counselors in Arlington don't have the kinds of relationships with the admissions officers at these colleges that help get their kids noticed. They also are responsible for 100's of kids - they just don't have the time. Read a book like "The Gatekeepers" to better understand the college admissions game.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

College admissions is much, much different than when we applied 20 or 30 years ago. If you want your Arlington kid to go to an Ivy or top SLAC then they should be one or more of the following:
1. a top athlete in a recruitable sport
2. an under-represented minority
3. an Intel science fair finalist
4. a student at TJ or a top private school

In addition to the few slots available to the public school students, the high school counselors in Arlington don't have the kinds of relationships with the admissions officers at these colleges that help get their kids noticed. They also are responsible for 100's of kids - they just don't have the time. Read a book like "The Gatekeepers" to better understand the college admissions game.

I am the PP above who referenced the college admission stats. Thank you for posting this perspective. My kid is GT, but I would gladly give up ES GT entirely if those resources could be diverted to better guidance counselor attention at the middle and high school level. If we don't address the high school capacity issue, all of our kids-- college bound or not-- are going to suffer for it.

[Anonymous]

So all this carping about Great Schools is about what again?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It think Arlington tech should be a vocational school. Look at how few kids apply for top schools out of Wakefiled. Those kids need career/job training. We need that more than another TJ.

kids who don't apply for "top schools" = kids who need vocational school? huh?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It think Arlington tech should be a vocational school. Look at how few kids apply for top schools out of Wakefiled. Those kids need career/job training. We need that more than another TJ.

Isn't the Career Center a vocational school? Arlington Tech has to be something more than that, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It think Arlington tech should be a vocational school. Look at how few kids apply for top schools out of Wakefiled. Those kids need career/job training. We need that more than another TJ.

Isn't the Career Center a vocational school? Arlington Tech has to be something more than that, right?

Arlington Tech is a track under the Career Center right now, with 40 kids enrolled. The SB thinks they can increase it to the size of a small high school within 5 years. There is $12M in the last CIP to build out the program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It think Arlington tech should be a vocational school. Look at how few kids apply for top schools out of Wakefiled. Those kids need career/job training. We need that more than another TJ.

kids who don't apply for "top schools" = kids who need vocational school? huh?

Yes. Wakefield is full of kids who are not on track to attend any college. They need training. Arlington tech is really needed.