Reply to College admissions from low SES

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My kid will get way more opportunity at a “lesser” school because they can thrive in an environment that isn’t a pressure cooker. Can some kids thrive in that kind of environment? Sure. But for most kids it isn’t sustainable. They can play on a variety of sports teams because it isn’t as competitive. They are maybe more middle to top of the pack because they aren’t in a competitive academic environment. and as others have pointed out, there is a higher chance of getting into more competitive/elite universities.[/quote]

There isn’t a higher chance of getting into a more competitive university because most kids in those environments will have been challenged less and will end up with lower scores and less impressive achievements by the time they apply to college.

That’s generally understood in real life, which is why people seek out the top K-12 schools. [/quote]

I hear this a lot -- that children are challenged less in a lower SES school. [b]Are there different maths taught from one school to another? What is geometry like at Langley? And how is it different at Herndon?[/b] Is there Math for Rich People and Math for Poor People? [/quote]

No.  In every FCPS, the curriculum is the same.  The difference is the number of students taking the challenging courses.  At Langley, I would imagine there are multiple sections of AP Calculus.  But at Herndon, maybe there's only two sections of AP Calculus.  The classroom teacher makes a huge impact on the individual classroom experience.  You could have an awful teacher at Langley and a fantastic teacher at Herndon, or vice versa.  In the AP/IB classrooms, you are going to have motivated capable students at the high SES high schools and the low SES high schools.

My children went to one of the low SES IB high schools and they both did the full IB diploma.  One ran into a scheduling issue and was unable to take his first choice in science because there was only one section of IB French.  And it was the same period as the one section of his first IB science choice.  The positives: My children were never in overcrowded classrooms.  In fact, my oldest only had 15 students in his IB math class his junior and senior year.  He had a fantastic teacher and she was really able to give the students more individualized instruction than she would have been able to do if she had a class with 30 students.

Now if you are taking Gen Ed classes, I would imagine that Herndon has significantly more students who are way below grade level than the same Gen Ed course at Langley.  So if I had students that were going to be doing mostly Gen Ed courses, I would be worried about sending my student to one of the low SES schools.  But for a student who is doing all AP/IB courses, I believe any of the FCPS high schools are going to be challenging for any student.
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