McLean vs. Arlington Schools
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Anonymous
It's interesting that your opinion assigns McLean an "edge" on intangible things. There really is no edge -- the schools are exactly comparable, and the quality of residential areas? How are you measuring that exactly? The commuting and extended day care things are more easily measured, so yes, Arlington gets the nod. |
Anonymous
All current kids would be grandfathered IF the first recommendation of the task force actually gets implemented. The task force is gathering community feedback so nothing is close to being implemented yet. |
Anonymous
Not quite. Year after year, McLean schools have higher SAT scores and US News ratings than the Arlington schools, and many more students from McLean students are admitted to TJ, the region's best high school. You are less likely to be redistricted in McLean than in North Arlington. And there are far more $1M+ properties in McLean than Arlington. Homes are typically larger than those in Arlington, and on bigger lots. It's definitely more suburban, and less cramped. These are not "intangible things" and McLean gets the nod on each. If you need extended day care, or to be able to dash home from work to deal with an emergency at home, Arlington may be better. We had au pairs when our children were younger, so we did not need extended day care, and the incremental commuting time compared to next-door Arlington is not a big deal. Our commutes downtown range from 15-45 minutes. If someone wants to live in Arlington, that's great. But flatly asserting that it offers a better quality of life is silly. It's like saying the quality of life is better in Queens than in Scarsdale or Summit. |
Anonymous
I'm just wondering if you know how flipping absurd you sound. 1) Re: Higher SAT scores, that's like bragging that you got a cherry on your sundae and Arlington did not. 2) US News ratings don't mean effing squat. They're bought, paid for, and manipulated. No one gives them an ounce of credibility. 3) More McLean kids go to TJ because ... it's a Fairfax County school. The number of slots allocated to Arlington is specifically allocated, so this outcome you're citing is not merit based or a reflection of academic excellence. Moreover, far more kids from Herndon get in than kids from McLean, so does that make Herndon thus superior to McLean? (http://mclean.patch.com/articles/which-middle-school-sends-the-most-students-to-tjhsst-df730f6c). 4) Setting aside the notion that more $1 million homes is better (what the hell?!?!), I'm not even your statement there is true. What's your cite for that statistic? Are you talking number or proportion of the housing stock? |
Anonymous
Right. And the prior, general statement by you or some other Arlington d-bag that the "quality of life" there is better is not arrogant? Wasn't looking for a silly pissing contest, but people from Arlington (when they aren't putting down ACPS) seem to live for this stuff. So here goes: 1) Higher SAT scores reflect a stronger peer group. Yorktown scores are well below those at Langley and McLean. W-L would be considered about average in FFX. 2) US News ratings, while imperfect, are designed to measure students participation and performance on AP/IB exams, as well as performance on SOLs. 3) It is hardly a selling point for Arlington to emphasize caps onenrollment in the region's best high school that do not similarly apply in Fairfax. Longfellow, Carson and Rocky Run all send dozens of kids to TJ every year. Some years Longfellow sends the most students. Some years Carson sends the most students. (http://www.fcag.org/documents/tj/attachment4b.pdf) Arlington schools like Willliamsburg don't send many students to TJ. 4) In 2012 alone, there have been far more $1M+ sales in McLean/22101 than in Arlington/22207. This has been the case for years. Look it up if you need to. People generally pay more money for what they believe are superior accommodations. Enjoy your day care. |
Anonymous
someone just got owned |
Anonymous
Haha- please tell me more about 15 minutes commutes from McLean to downtown DC |
Anonymous
I already owned you, as another pp pointed out, but since you clearly have masochistic tendencies, allow me to continue to beat you down. 1) Both peer groups are strong. Again, you're bragging about a cherry. To keep a fruit metaphor going, Yorktown/McLean is an apples to apples comparison. You may wish to insist yours is a Pink Lady and Yorktown is a Braeburn, but whatever. That's your neurosis and it's immaterial. 2) No one, and I repeat NO ONE takes U.S. News's high school rankings as a reliable arbiter of anything. I guess it makes sense that you do, since you appear to lack any critical thinking skills. 3) No, no, no, no, no, no. We're not talking about "selling points" of Arlington. You initially implied McLean students/schools were better because more of them got into TJ. You were asserting academic superiority. You don't get to change your argument now and say the relatively fewer number of slots is not a "selling" point. Don't forget that Arlington has HB Woodlawn, too, which is equally as desireable as TJ, and not open to anyone but Arlington students. 4) Your peculiar obsession with million dollar homes as a measure of something positive continues. Allow me to put some things in context: 22207 has exactly 6.6 square miles of acreage. It has a total of 12,316 homes and condos. The median household value is $690,782. 22101 has 14 square miles of acreage and a similar number of homes and condos. The median household value is $794,489. Given the value of land around here, the fact that 22101 is more than twice as large as 22207 accounts for the $100,000 differential. The demographics are likewise identical. So, basically you're resting your entire case on a marginal difference in home values that is attributable to the land. Genius. |
Anonymous
| is there really a "right" answer here? Isn't this one giant pissing match of I'm better than you and here's why? |
Anonymous
| And I just want to clarify something: I'm not arguing Arlington is superior to McLean. I'm just taking you down the notches you deserve. They're directly comparable. Any argument to the contrary is silly. |
Anonymous
I think some people who chose McLean regret it and feel the need to justify their choice. Or something. I have no other possible explanation. |
Anonymous
+1 - and in her other response too. SLAM! |
Anonymous
I already owned you, as another pp pointed out, but since you clearly have masochistic tendencies, allow me to continue to beat you down. 1) Both peer groups are strong. Again, you're bragging about a cherry. To keep a fruit metaphor going, Yorktown/McLean is an apples to apples comparison. You may wish to insist yours is a Pink Lady and Yorktown is a Braeburn, but whatever. That's your neurosis and it's immaterial. 2) No one, and I repeat NO ONE takes U.S. News's high school rankings as a reliable arbiter of anything. I guess it makes sense that you do, since you appear to lack any critical thinking skills. 3) No, no, no, no, no, no. We're not talking about "selling points" of Arlington. You initially implied McLean students/schools were better because more of them got into TJ. You were asserting academic superiority. You don't get to change your argument now and say the relatively fewer number of slots is not a "selling" point. Don't forget that Arlington has HB Woodlawn, too, which is equally as desireable as TJ, and not open to anyone but Arlington students. 4) Your peculiar obsession with million dollar homes as a measure of something positive continues. Allow me to put some things in context: 22207 has exactly 6.6 square miles of acreage. It has a total of 12,316 homes and condos. The median household value is $690,782. 22101 has 14 square miles of acreage and a similar number of homes and condos. The median household value is $794,489. Given the value of land around here, the fact that 22101 is more than twice as large as 22207 accounts for the $100,000 differential. The demographics are likewise identical. So, basically you're resting your entire case on a marginal difference in home values that is attributable to the land. Genius. People in Arlington usually work for people who live in DC or McLean. This is just one more example. Consider yourself not just owned, but fired. BTW, no one considers HB Woodlawn as "desireable" as TJ, outside of a few Lab School types in Arlington. And next time, learn to spell. |
Anonymous
People in Arlington usually work for people who live in DC or McLean. This is just one more example. Consider yourself not just owned, but fired. BTW, no one considers HB Woodlawn as "desireable" as TJ, outside of a few Lab School types in Arlington. And next time, learn to spell. There were no misspellings in my post, so that comment was a little weird. You, on the other hand, seem unable to reply to posts here correctly. My Arlington neighbors include the CEOs of Hilton International and Comcast, so your sophomoric retort about working for others is just silly. Did you also chant, "That's all right, that's OK, you're gonna work for us someday" when your alma mater's football team got its ass kicked from here to Beijing? HB Woodlawn is ranked as high as TJ nationally and at times has been ranked higher. It was the No. 1 school in the Challenge Index just a couple of years ago. Oh, and I repeat, it's only for Arlingtonians. Kids excel there. Meanwhile, a third of TJ freshmen are in remedial math this year. You really should quit while you're behind. You're now beyond embarrassing yourself. |
Anonymous
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And, since SAT scores matter so much to you:
Woodlawn Avg SAT score: 1827 (http://apps.washingtonpost.com/local/highschoolchallenge/schools/2011/list/local/h-b-woodlawn-arlington-va/) McLean Avg SAT score: 1768 (http://www.sungazette.net/mclean-greatfalls-vienna-oakton/news/fairfax-sat-scores-dip-slightly-still-well-above-national-average/article_18a2395e-e04a-11e0-ac11-001cc4c002e0.html) BOOM. Now sit down and shut up. |