I'd focus more on quality of life for all of you than on college prospects. For what it's worth, I grew up a professor's kid in a state not know for the quality of its schools. I attended public schools with a good share of other faculty kids. I was able to get into an excellent (not "fancy") college and excel there. I'm sure it helped that I had involved parents who valued education, and in retrospect I appreciate not being raised in a high-pressure area. (My own teens are doing fine, but I think the expectations for high schoolers in this area can be extreme.) It also helped that my family was happy living in that community, even though it wasn't the sort of place my parents had expected to be. I'd focus on choosing to live in a place where you and your kids are happy with your work/life balance, and worry about college later.

Where do you actually want to live? I would only move if you and your spouse want to move there. Also, you didn't say how old your kids are, but moving is tough on kids.

Stay where you are and have your kid identify as and check the BLACK box, and only the black box.

Anonymous wrote:I have a job offer in a state that is known to be underrepresented in college admissions (think: Mississippi, but not Mississippi. The Mississippi of the North/ West). On one hand, I feel like this will improve my kids' chances of getting into a top college (they will also have legacy status at a top 25 university, but I don't know if it would be a good fit for them, since it wasn't for me). I also feel like it will be fairly easy to be near the top of the class at any high school there.

OTOH, everyone I knew at my fancy college who went to random public high school in a rural state was VERY unprepared to compete with people who went to Exeter or Sidwell (or even a W school). I feel like it was a big hit to their self-esteem to lose their "big fish in a small pond" status. Private school locally would not be an option (would have to go to boarding school, but then would lose the geographical diversity bonus). So what say you, DCUM? Is it worth the tradeoff?

And since someone will inevitably ask (or, this being DCUM, assume), my kids are multiracial (part Asian, part URM, a little bit white, could check multiple boxes or none at all). Not sure if that makes them less or more likely to benefit from geographical diversity (which, after all, was invented to keep colleges mostly white and Christian).

OP, regarding the bolded above in your post: That was your experience...a while ago, right? While it's definitely a valid point to consider big fish/small pond syndrome, your experience at your college with those particular students isn't necessarily directly applicable to your kids a few (? or more?) years from now.

Look into whether the public high schools at your possible new location offer courses in programs like International Baccalaureate or Advance Placement or have other serious and well-regarded advanced programs. Even in places that are not broadly regarded as great for public education, there are indeed some publics offering IB, AP and other advanced programs, and those could make a big difference in your kids' eventual outcomes -- not just getting into college, but how they cope with the workload in college.

You also have some control over prepping your kids for college level work and being a smaller fish in a bigger pond. Summer programs (depending of course on their interests!) where they must leave home and be challenged --that's one good way to give them some experience.

Most of all, I think you're right to consider all this and to do more research on local schools, but take care not to overthink it. A happy and successful parent with a good job she enjoys and a happy, solid home life, plus an emphasis on study skills throughout MS and HS, and genuine involvement in extracurriculars of real interest to the kids, can do a lot to balance out the location issues re: school. I know that from experience, OP!

How big is the high school? As long as there are decent AP classes (e.g. calc and physics) I wouldn't worry about it. Check the AP courses, looking for 5+ that your kid would potentially take. Look at the math track.

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn’t do it for the college bump at all. I would only do it if it is otherwise a desirable move for your family and one of the determining factors would be decent public schools. It doesn’t have to be the best of the best, just pretty good with a few options for a good peer group and some challenging courses. You can supplement to help make sure your kids are prepared, summer programs, online programs, etc

OP here. This is kind of what I think the local high school is there. It's a university town (job is at university), so there are always going to be some professors' kids who aim high, and a few AP classes. But also, my grad school friend who grew up in that state and has family in this specific town described it as "a lot of farmers and people who are into sports".

OP, certain states in the northwest are experiencing a lot of growth right now. I think it would be a great time to do such a move. Just look out for real estate prices.

One angle to consider is airport, how challenging it might be for them to fly to far-off colleges, i.e. whether there are direct flights. Not a deal breaker, just something to bear in mind when they start the college search in a few years.

I wouldn’t do it for the college bump at all. I would only do it if it is otherwise a desirable move for your family and one of the determining factors would be decent public schools. It doesn’t have to be the best of the best, just pretty good with a few options for a good peer group and some challenging courses. You can supplement to help make sure your kids are prepared, summer programs, online programs, etc

I can only give you an anecdote.

My sister had moved to a small town in the upper NE. My niece is very smart, and she was the big fish in a small pond. But, she was not challenged. She was pretty bored.

They eventually moved to a bigger town with a ton of smart kids. My niece was unprepared for the challenge. I think she got really stressed out at one point early on trying to keep up, and of course, felt down that she was no longer the big fish.

Eventually, she did catch up, but it was quite a shock to her and stressful. But this was in HS, where she still had support at home. I would think that if this happened in college, where she had no support and didn't know anyone, it would've been much harder for her.

How far is the next biggest town that has more challenging classes? Can you commute?

Be fair, OP, your original post said nothing about how you felt about the job offer or whether it would be a good move for you or the rest of the family, so PP may have felt that college was the primary factor driving your decision. It's hard to address your question in a vacuum.

Anonymous wrote:You would move to an undesirably state, known for bad education(and probably COVID and everything else), just to TRY to get your child into a more highly ranked school on USNWR??

Now I have heard EVERYTHING. Get some help, to figure out what matters.

OP here. Did you miss the part where I have a job offer there? It's a good job. The pay relative to the cost of living is way better than what's offered in my field in DC or any expensive coastal area (not that I live in any of those areas now). But thank you for listing all the snobby DCUM assumptions that make me want to NOT live in whatever area you live in that has supposedly great schools and no COVID. You're the one who needs help, if you so look down on anywhere that isn't McLean or whatever.

Anonymous wrote:You would move to an undesirably state, known for bad education(and probably COVID and everything else), just to TRY to get your child into a more highly ranked school on USNWR??

Now I have heard EVERYTHING. Get some help, to figure out what matters.

Or, this is one thing that OP is thinking about as she mulls her job offer.

You would move to an undesirably state, known for bad education(and probably COVID and everything else), just to TRY to get your child into a more highly ranked school on USNWR??

Now I have heard EVERYTHING. Get some help, to figure out what matters.

Look up the School Profile for the high school. It should include a list of AP courses offered and perhaps a list of colleges where people have matriculated. This is just a place to start. If you have local contacts who might know more about the high school, explore those. Maybe the level of rigor won't be as low as you are assuming; a medium level might be just fine.

I have a job offer in a state that is known to be underrepresented in college admissions (think: Mississippi, but not Mississippi. The Mississippi of the North/ West). On one hand, I feel like this will improve my kids' chances of getting into a top college (they will also have legacy status at a top 25 university, but I don't know if it would be a good fit for them, since it wasn't for me). I also feel like it will be fairly easy to be near the top of the class at any high school there.

OTOH, everyone I knew at my fancy college who went to random public high school in a rural state was VERY unprepared to compete with people who went to Exeter or Sidwell (or even a W school). I feel like it was a big hit to their self-esteem to lose their "big fish in a small pond" status. Private school locally would not be an option (would have to go to boarding school, but then would lose the geographical diversity bonus). So what say you, DCUM? Is it worth the tradeoff?

And since someone will inevitably ask (or, this being DCUM, assume), my kids are multiracial (part Asian, part URM, a little bit white, could check multiple boxes or none at all). Not sure if that makes them less or more likely to benefit from geographical diversity (which, after all, was invented to keep colleges mostly white and Christian).