Are the Northeast colleges not as popular in the DMV?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You are from the NE, so those schools are familiar to you, and your classmates would have attended them. I'm from the midwest, so at my high school most kids chose colleges in the midwest including the midwestern and PA LACS. Same for the South and West. Other than Ivy and big TV sports colleges, most kids never hear of the other schools outside their region.

It is different today as it is all on line now, but the old patterns may remain due to local reputations and legacy decisions, plus the tendency of many to want a school you can drive to fairly easily.

But how does this relate to what OP is asking about? Your experience from Midwest in the past doesn't apply to how DMV kids have had a decent shift from NE to other regions (not dissing you - just a thought).

What you describe would suggest with old patterns and legacy would suggest that DMV kids would stay saturated with NE colleges...but OP is asking about a shift away from NE. (which I also see - they aren't abandoned, but south is far more represented).

I'm sure the online part (from your post) helps, but usually I hear families saying weather......(my kid included).

On a new note - I think many of the big southern state schools have also been generous (and easily transparent) about giving money to solid OOS applicants. So this helps too for someone who wants to go away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They don't give merit scholarships and most people cannot afford them.

This! Southern schools give merit aid - other southern schools are willing to give money to good students. Yes Of course if you can afford it I personally think the more elite schools are in the northeast

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are too expensive. And rightly or wrongly, many parents are categorically opposed to paying $350k for an English degree.

English degree? Nothing wrong with that, but you seem woefully ignorant of the fact that LACs (yes, we know you mean LACs) do teach...other subjects. My DC just graduated from an NE SLAC alongside plenty of students with degrees in neuroscience, biochemistry, biology, economics, environmental sciences and math. And kids who had Wall Street and consutling internships and jobs lined up too. If you're one of DCUM's "only STEM or Wall Street are valid career fields" people, well, you're welcome. Now go forth and stop blathering your ignorant stereotypes.

NP. Why are you so agitated? Appears you are taking this personally.

So what? Are you unfamiliar with DCUM or this college forum? Constant LAC-bashing across many threads, always from the "only STEM and Wall Street/consulting are appropriate careers" posters. Tired of their narrow-minded posts always claiming LACs teach nothing but English. If you're fine with that kind of ill-informed bias, well, I'm not. It downgrades anything like sensible discussion on these threads. If that's all too "agitated" for you, maybe find a site where you can read blathering bias and no one will bother to correct it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I cannot believe that only one poster has commented on the FACT - not fiction - that most kids everywhere tend to go to college closer to home, and all that poster did was disagree with this FACT.

Am I on a Trump website where “alternative facts” are ok?

I just think the posters are in such a bubble and they don't realize it.

No, most families don't send their kids a plane ride away for college. It's only this area that seems to have many students going far away for college.

I grew up in DMV and most of the high achieving students went a plane ride away to college - and mostly to NE and Michigan/Chicago. A few went to UVA, Duke. Others who had money (or aid) stayed closer to home within driving distance: Delaware and smaller schools in PA, OH, NC. And a bunch went to MD. Now, all those kids are skewing far more to warm places in the south and west coast. I see so many more South Carolina, Georgia, Auburn, Ole Miss, Florida than existed in my time. In all cases, they wanted warmer weather.

This is total and 100 percent unadulterated bullshit unless you went to an expensive private school, which again puts you in the minority and doesn’t make you even slightly typical or in any position to talk about the majority of the “high achieving students.”

It’s never been the case - never - where only a “few” high achieving students went to UVA, for example. Many of the top graduates of NOVA high schools have been going there for generations. That’s the most obvious example of what you clearly have gotten wrong.

So - not bullshit - we weren't NOVA. I went to a bottom tier MoCo HS that also happened to have a sizable cohort of very high achieving kids (it was not a magnet). At that time you had to be top 1 or 2 in class (or URM top 20) to be accepted to UVA or Duke. Nobody got into Duke. A couple got into UVA and went. Two went to Stanford & Princeton. The rest of the high stats kids went to places like Wash U, Emory, Carleton, Grinnell, Tulane, Michigan, NY (upstate and NYC), and a bunch went to schools in Boston. The only high achieving kids that didn't go far went to College Park for affordability. Otherwise - kids who were smart (but not elite) or middle of the road went to within the NC, VA, WVA, PA, DE, OH corridor if they could afford to or to UMD-CP if they couldn't (or didn't want to) pay to go away.

Ok, I’ll bite: what percentage of the class do you consider “high stats?” Five percent? Ten? Fifteen? Even at 15 that means the LARGE majority didn’t go to the schools you listed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are too expensive. And rightly or wrongly, many parents are categorically opposed to paying $350k for an English degree.

English degree? Nothing wrong with that, but you seem woefully ignorant of the fact that LACs (yes, we know you mean LACs) do teach...other subjects. My DC just graduated from an NE SLAC alongside plenty of students with degrees in neuroscience, biochemistry, biology, economics, environmental sciences and math. And kids who had Wall Street and consutling internships and jobs lined up too. If you're one of DCUM's "only STEM or Wall Street are valid career fields" people, well, you're welcome. Now go forth and stop blathering your ignorant stereotypes.

NP. Why are you so agitated? Appears you are taking this personally.

So what? Are you unfamiliar with DCUM or this college forum? Constant LAC-bashing across many threads, always from the "only STEM and Wall Street/consulting are appropriate careers" posters. Tired of their narrow-minded posts always claiming LACs teach nothing but English. If you're fine with that kind of ill-informed bias, well, I'm not. It downgrades anything like sensible discussion on these threads. If that's all too "agitated" for you, maybe find a site where you can read blathering bias and no one will bother to correct it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I cannot believe that only one poster has commented on the FACT - not fiction - that most kids everywhere tend to go to college closer to home, and all that poster did was disagree with this FACT.

Am I on a Trump website where “alternative facts” are ok?

I just think the posters are in such a bubble and they don't realize it.

No, most families don't send their kids a plane ride away for college. It's only this area that seems to have many students going far away for college.

I grew up in DMV and most of the high achieving students went a plane ride away to college - and mostly to NE and Michigan/Chicago. A few went to UVA, Duke. Others who had money (or aid) stayed closer to home within driving distance: Delaware and smaller schools in PA, OH, NC. And a bunch went to MD. Now, all those kids are skewing far more to warm places in the south and west coast. I see so many more South Carolina, Georgia, Auburn, Ole Miss, Florida than existed in my time. In all cases, they wanted warmer weather.

This is total and 100 percent unadulterated bullshit unless you went to an expensive private school, which again puts you in the minority and doesn’t make you even slightly typical or in any position to talk about the majority of the “high achieving students.”

It’s never been the case - never - where only a “few” high achieving students went to UVA, for example. Many of the top graduates of NOVA high schools have been going there for generations. That’s the most obvious example of what you clearly have gotten wrong.

NP here. Wow! A little too passionate!!

Yea maybe. I just hate when DCUM posters offer opinions and personal anecdotes as fact. It’s so annoying.

But reading her post a little more closely, the poster is likely from Maryland. That would explain why relative few of her “high achieving” classmates didn’t go to UVA and went elsewhere. Still, the large majority of MCPS graduates don’t and never have hopped on a plane for college either. It’s just inaccurate to suggest that there ever was a time where large numbers of DMV graduates hopped on planes to go to little private colleges in the NE.

bingo

And - at my school it was absolutely the case that the high achievers mostly went far. (And sorry, but I do mean like 90+% most). But our school isn't really like what you are considering MCPS to be like now. It was a very mixed school in every way and there was a defined cohort of the highest achieving students. There were very few in that group who didn't have $$ to start or grades to get generous financial aid to go outside of UMCP. It's been a while I can think of about two that went to UMCP. In the next tier down of really smart kids or average kids - yes - more went to UMD because they didn't have $$ or didn't have quite the grades to get as generous aid packages. But the ones who had money went away (but closer away).

Either way - you seem pretty agitated. I never claimed my anecdote provided "fact", it was just an example. And how is an anecdote any less valid than you sharing your (angry) personal opinion? They are both equally singular and neither provides some sort of definitive answer for the OP.

Again, define “high stats.” Top 15 percent? That still leaves 85 percent of the kids who ain’t hopping on planes.

[Anonymous]

I have yet to live in a state where the residents did not hold some of their public institutions of higher education in high regard. And I've lived in a number of states.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many selective northeast lacs are over $80K per year and don’t generally do merit aid. DMV has a lot of doughnut hole families with kids eyeing grad school.

+1.

+1 Paying for multiple kids to attend an 80k a year school just isn't in the cards unless you are very upper upper middle class or poor enough to get a free ride. If price is a factor, the New England SLACs are probably out of consideration.

Not necessarily true. Our HHI is 140k, and Wesleyan's offer was just slightly more than instant umd.

That's well and good for you but wouldn't happen to someone with HHI around $200K and 3 kids to educate. The schools cost to much to have such terrible weather.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My oldest is only starting high school this fall and I went to college over twenty years ago. It seems like the kids we know from the DMV go to Ivy, UVA, UMD and other publics. We hear of students going to Penn State or UC schools but not so many going to Tufts, Swarthmore, Amherst, Colby, Fordham, Vassar type schools. DH and I are both from the Northeast. My high school had lots of kids going to NYU, Tufts, BC, BU and liberal arts colleges in the Northeast.

Wondering if these Northeast colleges just aren’t popular from the DMV.

Are kids not applying or not getting accepted or not going after being accepted?

The issue is cost. The schools you note are very, very expensive. My child will be looking at those schools but I don't know if we can afford for her to go there.

The issue is both - cost and selectivity.

+1

I suggest focusing on obtaining an acceptance first, and then you can consider the tuition fees. Sometimes, the initial sticker price is not indicative of what you'll actually end up paying. As long as you're not under any binding commitments, there's no need to commit if the expenses are too high.

In our case, we fall into the upper-middle income bracket, which means we don't receive any financial assistance from state schools. However, we were fortunate enough to receive a very generous financial aid package from one of the schools in the Northeast. In fact, we're paying less than what we would for a state school education.

The school is quite far away, but there are options such as taking a nonstop Amtrak train or a flight that conveniently drops you off at a T connection point, which is Boston's subway system.The monthly unlimited T pass priced at $90, and there's a possibility of student discounts that could make it even more affordable.

It makes no sense to apply to schools you have NO intention of going to and my child has NO intention of going anywhere where COA is over $50K. So unless he wins the lottery, applying to those schools make no sense for our HHI level. We plug in info to those calculators, and we get $87 - 98K expected from us. I can almost guarantee those schools are not offering my unhooked kid $37K in merit every year for 4 years no matter his grades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are from the NE, so those schools are familiar to you, and your classmates would have attended them. I'm from the midwest, so at my high school most kids chose colleges in the midwest including the midwestern and PA LACS. Same for the South and West. Other than Ivy and big TV sports colleges, most kids never hear of the other schools outside their region.

It is different today as it is all on line now, but the old patterns may remain due to local reputations and legacy decisions, plus the tendency of many to want a school you can drive to fairly easily.

But how does this relate to what OP is asking about? Your experience from Midwest in the past doesn't apply to how DMV kids have had a decent shift from NE to other regions (not dissing you - just a thought).

What you describe would suggest with old patterns and legacy would suggest that DMV kids would stay saturated with NE colleges...but OP is asking about a shift away from NE. (which I also see - they aren't abandoned, but south is far more represented).

I'm sure the online part (from your post) helps, but usually I hear families saying weather......(my kid included).

On a new note - I think many of the big southern state schools have also been generous (and easily transparent) about giving money to solid OOS applicants. So this helps too for someone who wants to go away.

Not feeling dissed OP was comparing choices she saw/experienced in her NE hometown to choices she is seeing in the DMV. That's what I'm responding to. OP doesn't say or provide any evidence of a shift in the DMV college choices. That may be happening, but OP didn't ask about that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I cannot believe that only one poster has commented on the FACT - not fiction - that most kids everywhere tend to go to college closer to home, and all that poster did was disagree with this FACT.

Am I on a Trump website where “alternative facts” are ok?

I just think the posters are in such a bubble and they don't realize it.

No, most families don't send their kids a plane ride away for college. It's only this area that seems to have many students going far away for college.

I grew up in DMV and most of the high achieving students went a plane ride away to college - and mostly to NE and Michigan/Chicago. A few went to UVA, Duke. Others who had money (or aid) stayed closer to home within driving distance: Delaware and smaller schools in PA, OH, NC. And a bunch went to MD. Now, all those kids are skewing far more to warm places in the south and west coast. I see so many more South Carolina, Georgia, Auburn, Ole Miss, Florida than existed in my time. In all cases, they wanted warmer weather.

This is total and 100 percent unadulterated bullshit unless you went to an expensive private school, which again puts you in the minority and doesn’t make you even slightly typical or in any position to talk about the majority of the “high achieving students.”

It’s never been the case - never - where only a “few” high achieving students went to UVA, for example. Many of the top graduates of NOVA high schools have been going there for generations. That’s the most obvious example of what you clearly have gotten wrong.

So - not bullshit - we weren't NOVA. I went to a bottom tier MoCo HS that also happened to have a sizable cohort of very high achieving kids (it was not a magnet). At that time you had to be top 1 or 2 in class (or URM top 20) to be accepted to UVA or Duke. Nobody got into Duke. A couple got into UVA and went. Two went to Stanford & Princeton. The rest of the high stats kids went to places like Wash U, Emory, Carleton, Grinnell, Tulane, Michigan, NY (upstate and NYC), and a bunch went to schools in Boston. The only high achieving kids that didn't go far went to College Park for affordability. Otherwise - kids who were smart (but not elite) or middle of the road went to within the NC, VA, WVA, PA, DE, OH corridor if they could afford to or to UMD-CP if they couldn't (or didn't want to) pay to go away.

Ok, I’ll bite: what percentage of the class do you consider “high stats?” Five percent? Ten? Fifteen? Even at 15 that means the LARGE majority didn’t go to the schools you listed.

Which is consistent with the statistics from 2019 saying that only ~16% of students will go to college >500 miles from home, while more than 40% will stay within 50 miles of home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I cannot believe that only one poster has commented on the FACT - not fiction - that most kids everywhere tend to go to college closer to home, and all that poster did was disagree with this FACT.

Am I on a Trump website where “alternative facts” are ok?

I just think the posters are in such a bubble and they don't realize it.

No, most families don't send their kids a plane ride away for college. It's only this area that seems to have many students going far away for college.

I grew up in DMV and most of the high achieving students went a plane ride away to college - and mostly to NE and Michigan/Chicago. A few went to UVA, Duke. Others who had money (or aid) stayed closer to home within driving distance: Delaware and smaller schools in PA, OH, NC. And a bunch went to MD. Now, all those kids are skewing far more to warm places in the south and west coast. I see so many more South Carolina, Georgia, Auburn, Ole Miss, Florida than existed in my time. In all cases, they wanted warmer weather.

This is total and 100 percent unadulterated bullshit unless you went to an expensive private school, which again puts you in the minority and doesn’t make you even slightly typical or in any position to talk about the majority of the “high achieving students.”

It’s never been the case - never - where only a “few” high achieving students went to UVA, for example. Many of the top graduates of NOVA high schools have been going there for generations. That’s the most obvious example of what you clearly have gotten wrong.

So - not bullshit - we weren't NOVA. I went to a bottom tier MoCo HS that also happened to have a sizable cohort of very high achieving kids (it was not a magnet). At that time you had to be top 1 or 2 in class (or URM top 20) to be accepted to UVA or Duke. Nobody got into Duke. A couple got into UVA and went. Two went to Stanford & Princeton. The rest of the high stats kids went to places like Wash U, Emory, Carleton, Grinnell, Tulane, Michigan, NY (upstate and NYC), and a bunch went to schools in Boston. The only high achieving kids that didn't go far went to College Park for affordability. Otherwise - kids who were smart (but not elite) or middle of the road went to within the NC, VA, WVA, PA, DE, OH corridor if they could afford to or to UMD-CP if they couldn't (or didn't want to) pay to go away.

Ok, I’ll bite: what percentage of the class do you consider “high stats?” Five percent? Ten? Fifteen? Even at 15 that means the LARGE majority didn’t go to the schools you listed.

Which is consistent with the statistics from 2019 saying that only ~16% of students will go to college >500 miles from home, while more than 40% will stay within 50 miles of home.

Exactly. Not many.

[Anonymous]

I no longer live in the DC area so take this with a grain of salt. But last year I was talking with a friend who said her kid likes the idea of Northeastern LACs, and one element thing they were considering was complexity of transportation: like, is a college close to an Amtrak station? (Say Vassar near Poughkeepsie, Skidmore in Saratoga Springs.) Of course there are million other factors that go into finding a college that's the best fit, but for a student without a car, being in a bucolic isolated locale with limited public transportation (or even Lyft/taxi service) makes things a little more complex.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Southern schools are more popular at the moment, but there are still plenty of kids applying to schools in the northeast.

-Northeast was always most popular and still is in terms of raw numbers of applications, but Southern schools have gotten more popular than they used to be (in part because plenty of kids were shut out of the schools they wanted in the Northeast so looked further afield and now some of those have improved reputations).

+1 I went to Florida in the early 1990s from out of state and it did not have the strong reputation it does now, excluding a few departments. Same with FSU, again excluding programs like music & performing arts. I doubt I could get into UF now.

[Anonymous]

?? You have wrong information.

Northeastern and NYU were the most applied private schools from DMV arealast year.