MCPS competitive college acceptance very poor

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Washingtonian or Bethesda Magazine recently published this. It was disturbing. Not aiming for Harvard but community college or UMD is not OK.

You're putting the University of Maryland at College Park in the same category as Montgomery College? Why?

UMCP is very competitive for in state students AND don't forget some kids don't have the luxury of 4 years at a private college or university. MC provides two years of cost effective instruction and the ability to transfer. I think we will see more and more people choosing the community college option -as costs continue to skyrocket.

Not everyone can afford a 4 yr college. Although I had pretty good grades, I ended up at MC for financial reasons and then transferred to UMCP 2 years later. Guess what- I turned out OK! I have a great job and make a really great salary. MC or UMCP is not going to doom your children, folks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are multiple recent long threads on this - both in the MD forum and the private school forum.

If your kid is Montgomery College material then going to private school isn't likely to change that.

Starr is on record saying that the new curriculum's goal is to prepare students for community college. This would be a huge achievement for a significant percentage of MoCo students. Everyone else can just figure it out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are multiple recent long threads on this - both in the MD forum and the private school forum.

If your kid is Montgomery College material then going to private school isn't likely to change that.

Starr is on record saying that the new curriculum's goal is to prepare students for community college. This would be a huge achievement for a significant percentage of MoCo students. Everyone else can just figure it out.

Please provide this record. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Washingtonian or Bethesda Magazine recently published this. It was disturbing. Not aiming for Harvard but community college or UMD is not OK.

You're putting the University of Maryland at College Park in the same category as Montgomery College? Why?

UMCP is very competitive for in state students AND don't forget some kids don't have the luxury of 4 years at a private college or university. MC provides two years of cost effective instruction and the ability to transfer. I think we will see more and more people choosing the community college option -as costs continue to skyrocket.

This might be true, but IMO, it lacks a "true college experience". I wouldn't want my child to go to UMD, and at our private school (not a Big 3) it's considered a failure to go to UMD.

Lol, in my prestigious doctoral-level field, it's considered a 'failure' to have ridiculous student loans from not going to a strong undergrad state school (like UMD) and paying it off for a loooooong time.... Seriously, many kids don't realize what they are signing up for. If mommy and daddy can swoop in and cover it all without a dent in their retirement plans, sure, but I went to a state school (not UMD but similar) and if anything got even more opportunities that way. And it was dirt cheap.

[Anonymous]

There is a huge difference between choosing UMD or community college versus having no choice because you can not get into any school other than UMD or a community college.

I agree that with soaring tuition more people will opt for state school making it more competitive and harder to gain acceptance. Its already starting but many people who just assume that their B/C kid will be able to go to UMD will be in for a very rude awakening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Washingtonian or Bethesda Magazine recently published this. It was disturbing. Not aiming for Harvard but community college or UMD is not OK.

You're putting the University of Maryland at College Park in the same category as Montgomery College? Why?

UMCP is very competitive for in state students AND don't forget some kids don't have the luxury of 4 years at a private college or university. MC provides two years of cost effective instruction and the ability to transfer. I think we will see more and more people choosing the community college option -as costs continue to skyrocket.

This might be true, but IMO, it lacks a "true college experience". I wouldn't want my child to go to UMD, and at our private school (not a Big 3) it's considered a failure to go to UMD.

That is BS. My daughter goes to Holton and even some of those girls chose UMCP over other private elite schools. Especially girls that needed FA to attend private school to begin with. It is not looked down upon. If my daughter got a full ride there you bet your ass, she is going there. It is a great school with division 1 sports.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is a huge difference between choosing UMD or community college versus having no choice because you can not get into any school other than UMD or a community college.

I agree that with soaring tuition more people will opt for state school making it more competitive and harder to gain acceptance. Its already starting but many people who just assume that their B/C kid will be able to go to UMD will be in for a very rude awakening.

+1. If you check the Naviance results for my kid's high school, a lot of B kids, and most C kids, were rejected by UMCP.

[Anonymous]

My daughter was accepted to a magnet HS and I would be overjoyed if she were accepted to UMD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC, who has been in private and public schools, graduated from a big MCPS this year and has just started at a top Ivy that I'm sure OP would be happy for her kid to attend.

Here's what we have seen:
- Lots and lots of DC's friends got money, including full rides, to go to UMD and other schools like Temple. I don't consider this a "failure" at all. These were middle class families that needed the money to do college at all. It's been discussed here ad nauseum that FA is hard to get if your family earns more than $50K, and almost impossible to get if your family earns over $100K. The Ivies don't offer merit aid or FA for family income under $120K. For these middle class families I'd definitely call the UMD merit aid package a "success."
- 4-5 of DC's close friends turned down top Ivies that OP would probably love for her kids to attend. I've heard of more kids in this position but I don't know the particulars. This is because they got money, including full rides, at places like Fordham and Georgetown. Again, not a failure in the least, more like a big success.
- Going to private high school is no guarantee that your own particular kid will go to an Ivy. DC has kept in touch with classmates who are in local privates like Sidwell, NCS, Landon and Bullis. It's important to realize that these schools select kids for their top test scores and athletic ability. A much larger percentage of these classes will be applying to Ivies, and your kid will be competing directly against NMSFs and athletic recruits. Sidwell asked about legacy status in DC's year, but in general it's likely that your kid will be competing against more legacy kids in any of the top privates. Also, a much higher percentage of private school kids will be applying ED to ivies with the expectation of being full pay there, and being ED and full pay are huge advantages in admissions.

Turning down a top Ivy to go to Fordham seems ridiculous to me when you consider the advantages over the long run.

Not the PP, but what advantages exactly? Fordham is a fantastic school.

I turned down paying a crap ton of money at an ivy for Rutgers (state school) and have never regretted it. Went on to grad school debt-free so it has paid off immensely.

Grad school is pricey and almost a necessity nowadays so to come out of undergrad with 100K in debt versus a free ride to a good school. That is a no Rainer.

[Anonymous]

The irony of this thread is that my friends that went to UMD were by a large more successful than those that went to uber-hip $250k community activist colleges like Oberlin and Wellesley.

For my knowledge kids it is Ivy or Ivy peer (eg, MIT, maybe Amherst) or UMD.

But have fun re-mortgaging your house to send your kid to Colgate so they can major in transgender activism studies. After all, someone needs to be downwardly mobile so that others can be upwardly mobile.

[Anonymous]

U.MD has the 9th highest SAT scores among public universities . It has more national championships and more Nobel, Academy Award, Emmy, Pulitzer, Fields Medal Alumni than any school in the ACC.

U.MD alumni invented :created/founded the following
Google, Oculus Rift, The Hybrid Engine, The Muppets, Seinfeld, The Wire, Sirius Satellite Radio, Underarmour, The implantable defribulator , the first large screen stadium television , Pulse Dopplar Radar, The first oral contraceptives, The Octane System, Linear Programming, the miniature insulin pump, early warning epilepsy device , The Universal Product Code ( the bar code), broke Watergate.

Crap .. U.MD grads even syndicated Baywatch, Founded Outback Steakhouse , wrote Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Apollo 13, created Boondocks and Liberty Meadows.

Not to mention Culture icons like Connie Chung, Boomer Esiason, Scott Van Pelt, Robyn Quivers, Gayle King, Juliana Rancik, Carl Bernstein, Dianne Weist, countless national news anchors and reporters.

U.MD alumni have had more impact on the economy, culture and everyday life in a massive way. I don't see anything close in any other public university in the East.

Not to mention it's located inside the nations capital beltway with soon to be 2 metro lines. It has installations of NOAA,FDA,Homeland Security, National Archives, NSA, NASA, Raytheon, American Physics Insitute on campus and a ten minute metro ride to the national mall. The FBI will be nearby as well. Unparalleled convenient internships.

[Anonymous]

Name 5 things invented by a UVA grad in the last 100 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Name 5 things invented by a UVA grad in the last 100 years.

Name one thing invented by a UVA grad?..

Anybody ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:U.MD has the 9th highest SAT scores among public universities . It has more national championships and more Nobel, Academy Award, Emmy, Pulitzer, Fields Medal Alumni than any school in the ACC.

U.MD alumni invented :created/founded the following
Google, Oculus Rift, The Hybrid Engine, The Muppets, Seinfeld, The Wire, Sirius Satellite Radio, Underarmour, The implantable defribulator , the first large screen stadium television , Pulse Dopplar Radar, The first oral contraceptives, The Octane System, Linear Programming, the miniature insulin pump, early warning epilepsy device , The Universal Product Code ( the bar code), broke Watergate.

Crap .. U.MD grads even syndicated Baywatch, Founded Outback Steakhouse , wrote Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Apollo 13, created Boondocks and Liberty Meadows.

Not to mention Culture icons like Connie Chung, Boomer Esiason, Scott Van Pelt, Robyn Quivers, Gayle King, Juliana Rancik, Carl Bernstein, Dianne Weist, countless national news anchors and reporters.

U.MD alumni have had more impact on the economy, culture and everyday life in a massive way. I don't see anything close in any other public university in the East.

Not to mention it's located inside the nations capital beltway with soon to be 2 metro lines. It has installations of NOAA,FDA,Homeland Security, National Archives, NSA, NASA, Raytheon, American Physics Insitute on campus and a ten minute metro ride to the national mall. The FBI will be nearby as well. Unparalleled convenient internships.

Go Terps! Wow !

[Anonymous]

The trend I am seeing at my DC Magnet HS is that the students will either choose the prestigious schools (Ivy or renowned subject departments in some other schools) or they will go to UMD with generous merit scholarships.

UMD is not easy to get in now (especially for well known departments) because a majority of magnet students will apply for it and the plum courses and programs are filled with magnet students from RM, Blair and Poolsville. Other MCPS students who get into UMD will typically not be offered generous merit scholarships or the desired programs. The state schools do a very aggressive wooing of these magnet students and usually during EA/ED period.

There are a lot of reasons that high performing and magnet students are choosing state schools - Merit scholarships is one of them. These students are saving their own education dollars for Masters. They are also local and have done internships in DMV based organizations during their HS years and want to continue to do that so that they can leverage that after their undergrad. They are assured that that they have a great peer group in class. They also know that they are close to home and that is a significant support structure in place for them if they need it.

I have many friends in Palo Alto in California. Their kids go to Berkeley like it is a community college. And yet, it is not easy to get into Berkeley, is it? UMD is fast getting there.