Reply to Pomona Vs Williams

Forum Index » College and University Discussion

Reply to "Pomona Vs Williams"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

The C5 have a bit of a monopoly on smart CA kids who want a LAC while staying on the west coast. Pomona was high on my kids list but she ultimately chose to go east. They all have their vibes but are more academically similar than different. The C5 model is a special resource to those who attend.[/quote]

"The C5 have a bit of a monopoly on smart CA kids who want a LAC while staying on the west coast"- I mean, where else would they go? Reed?

[b]In any case, it is my experience (I live in CA) that [b]most high-achieving students in CA do not want LACs, on the West Coast or not. At our well-known CA private, very few go to WASP, other than athletes. The target is almost exclusively T15 universities[/b].[/quote]. It is very true that high achieving students and parents in wealthy suburban locations are name conscious prestige seekers so would look down their nose at WASP. [/b]Most of the students that choose to attend these schools fortunately aren’t concerned with name recognition and it doesn’t make them lesser than those who attend Ivy's and Stanford. In fact, it’s kind of refreshing to be at a college where everyone is super smart and accomplished but laid back and out of the pressure cooker shark tanks that most private HS’s have become. It pays dividends to do well at WASP-employers and top grad schools more than know and appreciate these students![/quote]

I think that is a very interesting comment that I would only partially agree with.

About 15% of the students at any of the NESCAC LACs along with Swat, Haverford, Vassar, etc. come from CA so they do get many CA students even if you do not see the level of passion that appears on DCUM at times.

In the South bay area there is a huge population of Asian and East Asian families who actually know almost nothing about the US college system yet believe that they know much. They hugely desire the top UCs (UCB, UCLA) and focus on the T10/20 schools in STEM fields. They are prestige focused and I would agree that they predominantly shun LACs because LACs aren't known in their social circles.

If you step beyond that bubble it quickly changes, especially among "those who actually know". The Harker School is a fantastic school, very tech focused and highly desired and populated by the Asian tech community and it sends some to LACs but LACs are not a focus; Harker is really focused on the STEM and the T10. Further up the peninsula things change. Menlo school, Castelleja, and Crystal Springs Uplands (all favorites of Stanford faculty) send huge numbers to SLACS, particularly NE SLACs. Head-Royce in the east bay (popular with Berkeley staff) sends large numbers to NE SLACs. Branson and University High school (a lot of SF Finance and law families) send large numbers to the NE SLACs. All of them also send kids to the C5.

Harvard Westlake in the LA area, is one of the biggest Ivy feeders of all and sends large numbers of kids into NE SLACs.

It comes down to the communities knowledge and focus for the most part but SLACs are very popular for kids from the very top privates who's parents understand the US system. One other thing is very clear at most of these schools and that is that Public Flagships are not top choices for anyone. They are generally very under represented (except for kids from Harker into UCB and UCLA) as destinations for kids from these top schools. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics