Getting into college based on high school

[Anonymous]

I'm hearing of a bunch of kids at very good Montgomery County high schools getting rejected from schools where you'd think they'd have a good shot. Who knows why, but parents often comment "well, it's harder to get in from XX because they only take so many from each school."

I'm sure this has been asked here before... but if my kid goes to Blair, would it be tougher to get into specific colleges than if they went to say Wheaton?

[Anonymous]

A school like MIT perhaps

[Anonymous]

Unless your kid is in the magnet at Blair, I would think the chances are equal.

[Anonymous]

I think this is only true about the University of Maryland College Park.

So many kids in public school could be accepted, but they can't take everybody.

If you lived in Western Maryland you would have a better chance, but saying coming from Wootton is harder than Blake is silly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unless your kid is in the magnet at Blair, I would think the chances are equal.

That's the point..non-magnet Blair kid has to compete for the 1 ? spot at MIT with the magnet kids. Wheaton kid is not ..thought Wheaton also has an application techy program

[Anonymous]

A good friend's DS graduated from Blair last spring. They were blown aware at how many of the magnet kids were turned down by top schools. Lots of them ended up at Maryland, some because they didn't get into the top schools they applied to and some because of financial reasons. I just remember my friend saying, "They worked that hard for this result..." Any top school is only going to take a certain amount of students from any school and the kids are competing against themselves for those spots. It's very, very tough. They'd have a better shot if they were from North Dakota. No kidding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A good friend's DS graduated from Blair last spring. They were blown aware at how many of the magnet kids were turned down by top schools. Lots of them ended up at Maryland, some because they didn't get into the top schools they applied to and some because of financial reasons. I just remember my friend saying, "They worked that hard for this result..." Any top school is only going to take a certain amount of students from any school and the kids are competing against themselves for those spots. It's very, very tough. They'd have a better shot if they were from North Dakota. No kidding.

1. Lots of magnet kids will end up at MD because either they didn't get in to top tier or (but more likely) financial reasons

2. Saying "they worked for hard for this result" really isn't the right way (or right reason) to attend magnets. If it is, maybe it was the case with your friend, you will be disappointed.

3. Keep in mind, there are smart kids EVERYWHERE. I think magnet parents under estimate how smart/attractive these non-program kids can be. From college stand point, a kid with less achieved from North Dakota can bring a lot more than a kid from blair (or any other magnet) with perfect scores. They already have hundreds of "perfect" kids already.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A good friend's DS graduated from Blair last spring. They were blown aware at how many of the magnet kids were turned down by top schools. Lots of them ended up at Maryland, some because they didn't get into the top schools they applied to and some because of financial reasons. I just remember my friend saying, "They worked that hard for this result..." Any top school is only going to take a certain amount of students from any school and the kids are competing against themselves for those spots. It's very, very tough. They'd have a better shot if they were from North Dakota. No kidding.

1. Lots of magnet kids will end up at MD because either they didn't get in to top tier or (but more likely) financial reasons

2. Saying "they worked for hard for this result" really isn't the right way (or right reason) to attend magnets. If it is, maybe it was the case with your friend, you will be disappointed.

3. Keep in mind, there are smart kids EVERYWHERE. I think magnet parents under estimate how smart/attractive these non-program kids can be. From college stand point, a kid with less achieved from North Dakota can bring a lot more than a kid from blair (or any other magnet) with perfect scores. They already have hundreds of "perfect" kids already.

They worked very hard to be a student who is qualified to attend a highly-ranked school. They worked hard to learn how to learn and succeed. Statistically speaking, they are therefore likely to do equally well as the student who actually does attend a highly ranked school.

http://www.nber.org/papers/w17159

[Anonymous]

Lot of variables, hard to tell.

I think the bottom line is that a Blair non-magnet NMSF who has gotten As in classes with the magnets is a much more known quantity to MIT admissions than a outlier at Wheaton.

[Anonymous]

It is hard to say. Look at actual on this like what is published by Bethesda Magazine to get a better idea.

http://www.bethesdamagazine.com/Bethesda-Magazine/September-October-2015/College-Admissions-Chart/index.php?cparticle=3&siarticle=2#artanc

[Anonymous]

After looking at the above article, pretty much every high-schools listed does very well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:After looking at the above article, pretty much every high-schools listed does very well.

Keep in mind the table shows "applied and accepted" not "applied, accepted, and attending"... Given typical kids apply at least 10 colleges or more, the same smart kids with multiple acceptances are counted many times over.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After looking at the above article, pretty much every high-schools listed does very well.

Keep in mind the table shows "applied and accepted" not "applied, accepted, and attending"... Given typical kids apply at least 10 colleges or more, the same smart kids with multiple acceptances are counted many times over.

Also bear in mind that students from families that won't get need-based aid nor can pay full price will not even apply to schools they cannot afford to attend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A good friend's DS graduated from Blair last spring. They were blown aware at how many of the magnet kids were turned down by top schools. Lots of them ended up at Maryland, some because they didn't get into the top schools they applied to and some because of financial reasons. I just remember my friend saying, "They worked that hard for this result..." Any top school is only going to take a certain amount of students from any school and the kids are competing against themselves for those spots. It's very, very tough. They'd have a better shot if they were from North Dakota. No kidding.

1. Lots of magnet kids will end up at MD because either they didn't get in to top tier or (but more likely) financial reasons

2. Saying "they worked for hard for this result" really isn't the right way (or right reason) to attend magnets. If it is, maybe it was the case with your friend, you will be disappointed.

3. Keep in mind, there are smart kids EVERYWHERE. I think magnet parents under estimate how smart/attractive these non-program kids can be. From college stand point, a kid with less achieved from North Dakota can bring a lot more than a kid from blair (or any other magnet) with perfect scores. They already have hundreds of "perfect" kids already.

UMD just moved ahead of UNC into the 9th smartest public university in the US. Just keeps getting harder and harder.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A good friend's DS graduated from Blair last spring. They were blown aware at how many of the magnet kids were turned down by top schools. Lots of them ended up at Maryland, some because they didn't get into the top schools they applied to and some because of financial reasons. I just remember my friend saying, "They worked that hard for this result..." Any top school is only going to take a certain amount of students from any school and the kids are competing against themselves for those spots. It's very, very tough. They'd have a better shot if they were from North Dakota. No kidding.

1. Lots of magnet kids will end up at MD because either they didn't get in to top tier or (but more likely) financial reasons

2. Saying "they worked for hard for this result" really isn't the right way (or right reason) to attend magnets. If it is, maybe it was the case with your friend, you will be disappointed.

3. Keep in mind, there are smart kids EVERYWHERE. I think magnet parents under estimate how smart/attractive these non-program kids can be. From college stand point, a kid with less achieved from North Dakota can bring a lot more than a kid from blair (or any other magnet) with perfect scores. They already have hundreds of "perfect" kids already.

Where is that list?

UMD just moved ahead of UNC into the 9th smartest public university in the US. Just keeps getting harder and harder.