Is graduating from a title 1 school a hook?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Student A: Langley HS with 1520 on the SAT, 4.25 GPA, and 8 AP classes. Rejection to UVA

Student B: Annandale HS with 1520 SAT, 4.25 GPA, and 8 AP classes. Admitted to UVA

the top 1% student at Annandale HS is the average student at Langley HS. UVA is not going to admit half of Langley HS graduation class.

GPAs and SAT scores don’t tell the whole story. These two students can have the same numbers but incredibly different circumstances. Schools like Langley have many highly resourced families and intense competition. At a school with more ESOL and FARMS students, a kid may have had fewer advantages and had to overcome more to reach the same stats. That will matter to AOs. Schools are also building a class, not just admitting the highest scorers from one wealthy, hyper-competitive school. They’re looking for different perspectives and experiences. A student at a less competitive school might have had more chances for leadership opportunities, to play a sport, or be in a school production, opportunities that are harder to access at another school. It’s not just about numbers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Student A: Langley HS with 1520 on the SAT, 4.25 GPA, and 8 AP classes. Rejection to UVA

Student B: Annandale HS with 1520 SAT, 4.25 GPA, and 8 AP classes. Admitted to UVA

the top 1% student at Annandale HS is the average student at Langley HS. UVA is not going to admit half of Langley HS graduation class.

GPAs and SAT scores don’t tell the whole story. These two students can have the same numbers but incredibly different circumstances. Schools like Langley have many highly resourced families and intense competition. At a school with more ESOL and FARMS students, a kid may have had fewer advantages and had to overcome more to reach the same stats. That will matter to AOs. Schools are also building a class, not just admitting the highest scorers from one wealthy, hyper-competitive school. They’re looking for different perspectives and experiences. A student at a less competitive school might have had more chances for leadership opportunities, to play a sport, or be in a school production, opportunities that are harder to access at another school. It’s not just about numbers.

The best golfer at Annandale HS would not even make the Langley HS golf team, just saying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Student A: Langley HS with 1520 on the SAT, 4.25 GPA, and 8 AP classes. Rejection to UVA

Student B: Annandale HS with 1520 SAT, 4.25 GPA, and 8 AP classes. Admitted to UVA

the top 1% student at Annandale HS is the average student at Langley HS. UVA is not going to admit half of Langley HS graduation class.

GPAs and SAT scores don’t tell the whole story. These two students can have the same numbers but incredibly different circumstances. Schools like Langley have many highly resourced families and intense competition. At a school with more ESOL and FARMS students, a kid may have had fewer advantages and had to overcome more to reach the same stats. That will matter to AOs. Schools are also building a class, not just admitting the highest scorers from one wealthy, hyper-competitive school. They’re looking for different perspectives and experiences. A student at a less competitive school might have had more chances for leadership opportunities, to play a sport, or be in a school production, opportunities that are harder to access at another school. It’s not just about numbers.

The best golfer at Annandale HS would not even make the Langley HS golf team, just saying.

Okay? Most HS athletes don't go onto play college sports. And if they are that good then great, thats a hook for that Langley student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Student A: Langley HS with 1520 on the SAT, 4.25 GPA, and 8 AP classes. Rejection to UVA

Student B: Annandale HS with 1520 SAT, 4.25 GPA, and 8 AP classes. Admitted to UVA

the top 1% student at Annandale HS is the average student at Langley HS. UVA is not going to admit half of Langley HS graduation class.

GPAs and SAT scores don’t tell the whole story. These two students can have the same numbers but incredibly different circumstances. Schools like Langley have many highly resourced families and intense competition. At a school with more ESOL and FARMS students, a kid may have had fewer advantages and had to overcome more to reach the same stats. That will matter to AOs. Schools are also building a class, not just admitting the highest scorers from one wealthy, hyper-competitive school. They’re looking for different perspectives and experiences. A student at a less competitive school might have had more chances for leadership opportunities, to play a sport, or be in a school production, opportunities that are harder to access at another school. It’s not just about numbers.

The best golfer at Annandale HS would not even make the Langley HS golf team, just saying.

That is mostly true. What is also mostly true is that the Langley kid that got cut from the golf team, can always move to the Annandale HS zone and be a stand out on the team, plus have a good chance of being captain. The reverse is not an option though for the Annandale kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Totally FWIW: My child attends a no-kidding low-income, small rural high school. Sure, it's a huge advantage to have educated, employed parents (or just two parents at home, full stop). But it's no freebie for college admissions for the small number of better-off kids. The education is, in fact, much worse than what you'd get in a suburban school. Not just far fewer APs, etc, although that's true. But the plain education is worse. Even the honors student don't read many books, don't write many papers, don't learn much math. I'm sure my child will get *some* preference for college admission. But it really is a greater challenge, even with educated parents. Don't do this as a strategic choice is all I can say!

Yep. My friend who grew up in the rural Midwest says the same thing. A tiny k-12 school that just did not support any sort of higher level academics. She ended up going to boarding school.

A really bright kid arguably could end up in the same place with college admissions, but would enter college much less prepared.

Yes, this is what I was thinking. Not as prepared. Classes aren’t offered and th competition isn’t as hard. Annandale v. Langley student with same stats - Langley is still more prepared and it will be harder for Annandale to keep up.

[Anonymous]

All FCPS follow the same curriculum, to include AP courses. AP exams are standardized. Annandale might only offer two AP Calc BC sections, but those kids will follow the same instruction as those at Langley. They just won’t be stuck with bunch of kids of hyper stressed out competitive parents, AND will have more opportunities to land leadership roles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Totally FWIW: My child attends a no-kidding low-income, small rural high school. Sure, it's a huge advantage to have educated, employed parents (or just two parents at home, full stop). But it's no freebie for college admissions for the small number of better-off kids. The education is, in fact, much worse than what you'd get in a suburban school. Not just far fewer APs, etc, although that's true. But the plain education is worse. Even the honors student don't read many books, don't write many papers, don't learn much math. I'm sure my child will get *some* preference for college admission. But it really is a greater challenge, even with educated parents. Don't do this as a strategic choice is all I can say!

Yep. My friend who grew up in the rural Midwest says the same thing. A tiny k-12 school that just did not support any sort of higher level academics. She ended up going to boarding school.

A really bright kid arguably could end up in the same place with college admissions, but would enter college much less prepared.

Yes, this is what I was thinking. Not as prepared. Classes aren’t offered and th competition isn’t as hard. Annandale v. Langley student with same stats - Langley is still more prepared and it will be harder for Annandale to keep up.

Sometimes but not always.

Top students from my kid’s title I school regularly win state and national competitions in multiple ECs and go on to thrive at top colleges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Totally FWIW: My child attends a no-kidding low-income, small rural high school. Sure, it's a huge advantage to have educated, employed parents (or just two parents at home, full stop). But it's no freebie for college admissions for the small number of better-off kids. The education is, in fact, much worse than what you'd get in a suburban school. Not just far fewer APs, etc, although that's true. But the plain education is worse. Even the honors student don't read many books, don't write many papers, don't learn much math. I'm sure my child will get *some* preference for college admission. But it really is a greater challenge, even with educated parents. Don't do this as a strategic choice is all I can say!

Yep. My friend who grew up in the rural Midwest says the same thing. A tiny k-12 school that just did not support any sort of higher level academics. She ended up going to boarding school.

A really bright kid arguably could end up in the same place with college admissions, but would enter college much less prepared.

Yes, this is what I was thinking. Not as prepared. Classes aren’t offered and th competition isn’t as hard. Annandale v. Langley student with same stats - Langley is still more prepared and it will be harder for Annandale to keep up.

Same SAT scores would tell us they are both just as prepared. Also, if the Langley kid was hyper coached, exposed to more academic settings growing up, and wealthy, similar SAT scores would tell us the Annandale kid has more potential, and should get the nod.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another factor is that your kid probably has more leadership opportunities than they would at a "better" high school.
For example, my kid is captain of a varsity team and probably wouldn't have even made the team if they were in different school. Becoming president of Honor Society or being a officer in SGA isn't as competitive.

What sport? The only sports that anyone cares about, football, basketball, baseball, hockey have tons of talent in almost every school, depending on location.

Softball and golf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Totally FWIW: My child attends a no-kidding low-income, small rural high school. Sure, it's a huge advantage to have educated, employed parents (or just two parents at home, full stop). But it's no freebie for college admissions for the small number of better-off kids. The education is, in fact, much worse than what you'd get in a suburban school. Not just far fewer APs, etc, although that's true. But the plain education is worse. Even the honors student don't read many books, don't write many papers, don't learn much math. I'm sure my child will get *some* preference for college admission. But it really is a greater challenge, even with educated parents. Don't do this as a strategic choice is all I can say!

I don’t think anyone would suggest a student go to a small RURAL school.

But urban T1 schools have the same issue. I’m not slamming the school (my DS is in a T1 MS and some aspects have been wonderful). Just that when a school is T1 it is naturally not focused on higher level academics and college admissions and that does have an impact. The MS teacher PP is likely still right that this doesn’t fundamentally change a kid’s trajectory, but honestly a T1 kid is likely to be less academically prepared in college. Especially with respect to the classes/subjects that are not tracked. I think as a parent it all depends on what you value - some do sincerely value integration, some like where they live and don’t want to move for a “better” school, some see the T1 school as providing other benefits. One huge benefit is that our IB T1 HS isn’t the academic pressure cooker and has a much more open and relaxed vibe than I imagine suburban HS would have. On the other hand the absentee rate is sky high and the fights more serious. The bougie and MC black moms in the neighborhood would not send their kids there …

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That is mostly true. What is also mostly true is that the Langley kid that got cut from the golf team, can always move to the Annandale HS zone and be a stand out on the team, plus have a good chance of being captain. The reverse is not an option though for the Annandale kid.

Who in their right mind would want to move from Langley to Annandale?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Totally FWIW: My child attends a no-kidding low-income, small rural high school. Sure, it's a huge advantage to have educated, employed parents (or just two parents at home, full stop). But it's no freebie for college admissions for the small number of better-off kids. The education is, in fact, much worse than what you'd get in a suburban school. Not just far fewer APs, etc, although that's true. But the plain education is worse. Even the honors student don't read many books, don't write many papers, don't learn much math. I'm sure my child will get *some* preference for college admission. But it really is a greater challenge, even with educated parents. Don't do this as a strategic choice is all I can say!

Yep. My friend who grew up in the rural Midwest says the same thing. A tiny k-12 school that just did not support any sort of higher level academics. She ended up going to boarding school.

A really bright kid arguably could end up in the same place with college admissions, but would enter college much less prepared.

Yes, this is what I was thinking. Not as prepared. Classes aren’t offered and th competition isn’t as hard. Annandale v. Langley student with same stats - Langley is still more prepared and it will be harder for Annandale to keep up.

Sometimes but not always.

Top students from my kid’s title I school regularly win state and national competitions in multiple ECs and go on to thrive at top colleges.

A bunch of my kids' friends from their Title I high school are graduating from college this year. One is heading to grad school and got into several programs, including at a top R1 university. Another had an internship last summer out west at a company everyone would recognize. One is part of a very selective scholars program and is a senior writer for a publication at a flagship university. One is involved in student government and had a selective internship overseas this past summer. And another received a substantial, prestigious grant from their Ivy to do summer research.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We aren’t low income as a family or first generation to attend college, but live in a low income zip code and teen attends large public title 1 school. Will graduate in top 1%, lots of DE and AP classes, expecting SAT to be above 1500 based on PSAT scores. No national awards, but some cool ECs, strong leadership, job, interesting hobby. No one, or rarely anyone, applies to college out of state. He is wanting a school in top 5-20 (which are all out of state). Does coming from a school with limited resources and no one from your high school applying give an admission boost?

Our friend had a kid graduate from a IB program with the IB certificate at a Title 1 last year who had a very similar stats. They applied to Hopkins, NYU and Penn and didn't get into any of them. They ended up at UMD.

My kid is at a Title 1 and I think that it will help with their application but not necessarily at a T20 school.

I agree with some of the PP, one of the challenges at our Title 1 school is that the AP classes are limited and can often get cancelled due to lack of enrollment or staffing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We aren’t low income as a family or first generation to attend college, but live in a low income zip code and teen attends large public title 1 school. Will graduate in top 1%, lots of DE and AP classes, expecting SAT to be above 1500 based on PSAT scores. No national awards, but some cool ECs, strong leadership, job, interesting hobby. No one, or rarely anyone, applies to college out of state. He is wanting a school in top 5-20 (which are all out of state). Does coming from a school with limited resources and no one from your high school applying give an admission boost?

Our friend had a kid graduate from a IB program with the IB certificate at a Title 1 last year who had a very similar stats. They applied to Hopkins, NYU and Penn and didn't get into any of them. They ended up at UMD.

My kid is at a Title 1 and I think that it will help with their application but not necessarily at a T20 school.

I agree with some of the PP, one of the challenges at our Title 1 school is that the AP classes are limited and can often get cancelled due to lack of enrollment or staffing.

If a Title 1 school has an IB program, it likely just barely qualifies as Title. Our school is the other kind of Title 1: limited APs and they often get cancelled. It’s extra problematic because you don’t find it’s cancelled until your kid goes to get their schedule literally a couple days before school starts. Now it’s too late to sign up for dual enrollment for that semester. So your options became pick a regular class or try and take the AP virtually through one of the school’s approved partner. So many hoops.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We aren’t low income as a family or first generation to attend college, but live in a low income zip code and teen attends large public title 1 school. Will graduate in top 1%, lots of DE and AP classes, expecting SAT to be above 1500 based on PSAT scores. No national awards, but some cool ECs, strong leadership, job, interesting hobby. No one, or rarely anyone, applies to college out of state. He is wanting a school in top 5-20 (which are all out of state). Does coming from a school with limited resources and no one from your high school applying give an admission boost?

Our friend had a kid graduate from a IB program with the IB certificate at a Title 1 last year who had a very similar stats. They applied to Hopkins, NYU and Penn and didn't get into any of them. They ended up at UMD.

My kid is at a Title 1 and I think that it will help with their application but not necessarily at a T20 school.

I agree with some of the PP, one of the challenges at our Title 1 school is that the AP classes are limited and can often get cancelled due to lack of enrollment or staffing.

If a Title 1 school has an IB program, it likely just barely qualifies as Title. Our school is the other kind of Title 1: limited APs and they often get cancelled. It’s extra problematic because you don’t find it’s cancelled until your kid goes to get their schedule literally a couple days before school starts. Now it’s too late to sign up for dual enrollment for that semester. So your options became pick a regular class or try and take the AP virtually through one of the school’s approved partner. So many hoops.

This high school is the exception to your rule.
IB is a tiny part of the student body. FARMS rate is 83%

But I hear you on the AP cancellation. My kid is in a different Title 1 school and had 2 AP classes cancelled in the 3rd week of classes because the qualified teacher resigned in August and they couldn't get a replacement. They will graduate with 2 AP classes and no DE. Meanwhile, my other kid is at the flagship high school in the county and will probably graduate with 8 or 9 AP or DE classes.