DC area sucks

[Anonymous]

My DC overheard this conversation between 2 kids

‘The worst thing would be if you ended up at umd’

[Anonymous]

So the whole area sucks. Gotcha.

[Anonymous]

Is this where we post overheard conversations between kids? This could get interesting.

[Anonymous]

Let’s try to put in a different light. UMD is a amazing school. There is absolutely nothing that it does not have and the price is right! That’s why it is so hard to get into now. But my kid doesn’t want to go there because he wants to experience something new. That is probably his top priority for selecting a college. He did not say above quote but could be thinking something like that at some point. If it is the best school he gets into and is half the price, it makes it hard to say no. I think the quote might be out of context.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let’s try to put in a different light. UMD is a amazing school. There is absolutely nothing that it does not have and the price is right! That’s why it is so hard to get into now. But my kid doesn’t want to go there because he wants to experience something new. That is probably his top priority for selecting a college. He did not say above quote but could be thinking something like that at some point. If it is the best school he gets into and is half the price, it makes it hard to say no. I think the quote might be out of context.

Well said. UMD is excellent but we see lots of strong students who get rejected from top twenties and elite LACs and end up at UMD. For some it’s the fact that they busted their tails taking the hardest courses and getting mostly A’s and they end up in a school with kids who didn’t. It’s not the right way to think about it but they’re kids. (That’s not to say they’re aren’t many kids for whom UMD is their dream school and who aren’t perfectly thrilled to be going there.)

[Anonymous]

That is the attitude of wealthy kids. When I grew up in Greenwich Ct the biggest joke would have been to go to UConn, according to most of the HS kids I knew. Whether that was true or not is debatable and doesn't really interest me.

[Anonymous]

My child also said she did not want to run into her high school peers at college. That experience would not feel new enough, it would not feel like she had graduated/moved in. Don’t assume the comment was based on status.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let’s try to put in a different light. UMD is a amazing school. There is absolutely nothing that it does not have and the price is right! That’s why it is so hard to get into now. But my kid doesn’t want to go there because he wants to experience something new. That is probably his top priority for selecting a college. He did not say above quote but could be thinking something like that at some point. If it is the best school he gets into and is half the price, it makes it hard to say no. I think the quote might be out of context.

Well said. UMD is excellent but we see lots of strong students who get rejected from top twenties and elite LACs and end up at UMD. For some it’s the fact that they busted their tails taking the hardest courses and getting mostly A’s and they end up in a school with kids who didn’t. It’s not the right way to think about it but they’re kids. (That’s not to say they’re aren’t many kids for whom UMD is their dream school and who aren’t perfectly thrilled to be going there.)

I thought everyone at UMD got As in their HS classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let’s try to put in a different light. UMD is a amazing school. There is absolutely nothing that it does not have and the price is right! That’s why it is so hard to get into now. But my kid doesn’t want to go there because he wants to experience something new. That is probably his top priority for selecting a college. He did not say above quote but could be thinking something like that at some point. If it is the best school he gets into and is half the price, it makes it hard to say no. I think the quote might be out of context.

Well said. UMD is excellent but we see lots of strong students who get rejected from top twenties and elite LACs and end up at UMD. For some it’s the fact that they busted their tails taking the hardest courses and getting mostly A’s and they end up in a school with kids who didn’t. It’s not the right way to think about it but they’re kids. (That’s not to say they’re aren’t many kids for whom UMD is their dream school and who aren’t perfectly thrilled to be going there.)

I thought everyone at UMD got As in their HS classes.

Not the freshman connection studentS

[Anonymous]

It’s all in the way the parents train their kids to think. I have told my kids since they were babies how great UMD is. They are absolutely thrilled to go there. You gotta start early.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child also said she did not want to run into her high school peers at college. That experience would not feel new enough, it would not feel like she had graduated/moved in. Don’t assume the comment was based on status.

This was true for my kids as well. All five chose very different schools. They are all over the country. One is overseas. I miss them like crazy! But I’m super proud of their independence and their willingness to step out into the unknown. I’m also very grateful they come home several times a year.

[Anonymous]

This is not a DC specific thing. It is all about kids wanting to break out into the world no matter where they are from.

These threads speak highly of a certain excellent school in my home town that was the kiss of death to kids in my high school. My mom, knowing we dreamed of going "away" to college, used to threaten us that we would be sent there as commuter students on the bus if we didn't shape up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let’s try to put in a different light. UMD is a amazing school. There is absolutely nothing that it does not have and the price is right! That’s why it is so hard to get into now. But my kid doesn’t want to go there because he wants to experience something new. That is probably his top priority for selecting a college. He did not say above quote but could be thinking something like that at some point. If it is the best school he gets into and is half the price, it makes it hard to say no. I think the quote might be out of context.

Well said. UMD is excellent but we see lots of strong students who get rejected from top twenties and elite LACs and end up at UMD. For some it’s the fact that they busted their tails taking the hardest courses and getting mostly A’s and they end up in a school with kids who didn’t. It’s not the right way to think about it but they’re kids. (That’s not to say they’re aren’t many kids for whom UMD is their dream school and who aren’t perfectly thrilled to be going there.)

I thought everyone at UMD got As in their HS classes.

Plenty of kids without straight A's get into UMD. Both of my DCs got in and neither had straight A's. MCPS graduates and no special hook other than rigor, very good standardized test scores, and good extracurricular activities. That really should be enough to get into UMD, but we know kids with similar stats who either got Freshman Connection or just rejected which is CRAZY.

Ironically, neither chose to go for many of the reasons other people mentioned above. They wanted to start fresh and experience being in a different environment. The idea of being 30 minutes from home didn't appeal to them though our bank accounts would have liked it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DC overheard this conversation between 2 kids

‘The worst thing would be if you ended up at umd’

THIS is what set you off?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s all in the way the parents train their kids to think. I have told my kids since they were babies how great UMD is. They are absolutely thrilled to go there. You gotta start early.

One would train a pet, not a child. I taught my children to achieve to their highest potential, which was considerably higher than UMD.