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[quote=Anonymous]NP who also grew up less than a 1/2 hour from High Point— which was a HP College at that point. I think it became a University when I was in college, and that in and of itself was kind of a joke at the time. I went to a rural NC public HS— class size about 110. Top 2-3 in the class, myself included, went to Duke, Wake, Davidson, NC State for serious STEM students or UNC as a Morehead Scholar. Top 10-15% went to UNC-CH or NC State . Rest of the top 1/4 went to UNC at Greensboro or Charlotte, Appalachian or maybe East Carolina.  Rich kids in that cohort often looked at Guilford. Top 1/4 to top half looked at lower ranked UNCs (Western Carolina, Eastern Carolina, Wilmington, the HBCUs— my class was half Black—).  High Point was in that top 1/4 to top half mix. Remember that regional private colleges were a lot more affordable back then.

Two thinks to note—

First,  bottom half of my class did not go to a 4 year college— they went to the community college, usually for a skilled trade or something like cosmetology or they enlisted in the military (20-30 kids a class— taking the ASVAB was mandatory at my HS) or went to work in the local furniture factory.  Also, lots of pregnant girls at my HS. Those who managed to graduate often stayed home with kids.

Second, I know one kid in my 4 years who went OOS. It never dawned on any of us that was even a possibility.  Amd there was no college counseling. Guidance counselors were too busy dealing with poverty, pregnant girls and discipline issues. Thank goodness UNC-CH, Duke, Wake and Davidson were all instate great choices.  And college admissions was easier. I applied to all 4 (and only those 4), knew I’d be admitted to all and was. Got full academic merit scholarships from two, and chose one of them. Simpler times for sure.

It’s hard for me to take HP seriously because of the caliber of student I personally knew that they accepted.  And I know it’s not fair to judge them based on 1995, I kind of do. It was barely a step up from community college.

Also, the area around High Point went on to lose furniture and textile factories to off shoring with NAFTA and have never really recovered. It’s a depressing and economically depressed area. It gets better as you head toward Greensboro and Winston-Salem.  But, I  spent a lot of time and effort getting out of that area. I can’t imagine sending kids back there for college. Again, maybe not fair, but…

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