East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the PP, If you’re affiliated with DCTAG could you disclose if there’s any talk of increasing the amount? Even the maximum does not get DC students close to In-state prices at many colleges.

+1 I was in the first graduating class that got it. $10k back then was a lot of money. Adjusting for inflation, we should be looking at $18k now, but that'll probably never happen.

This! I was in the 3rd class to qualify and it covered the gap between in-state and OOS tuition for me. Back then, people would just say that DC residents had in-state tuition everywhere. I was absolutely floored as a parent to see how much OOS tuition has grown across the country.

There's no chance Congress will increase DCTAG, too easy for people back in their districts to attack them for giving money to us in D.C. and no real upside politically for doing it.

Temple

Google, people. There have been proposals to increase it to 15k/pa but has to pass Congress.

Anonymous wrote:To the PP, If you’re affiliated with DCTAG could you disclose if there’s any talk of increasing the amount? Even the maximum does not get DC students close to In-state prices at many colleges.

+1 I was in the first graduating class that got it. $10k back then was a lot of money. Adjusting for inflation, we should be looking at $18k now, but that'll probably never happen.

hail to pitt!

To the PP, If you’re affiliated with DCTAG could you disclose if there’s any talk of increasing the amount? Even the maximum does not get DC students close to In-state prices at many colleges.

I have taught and coached in DC. With the good GPA and SAT score you mentioned the list is endless-- especially with DCTAG funds. A lot of DC kids who received DCTAG went to school in California.

i.e. I was the data analyst who worked on DCTAG data for all of DC for several year.

“I have a smart freshman in HS who gets good grades and has average ECs, and I don’t want to pay for/can’t afford full-pay for private school; what are some good options to consider?”

Is this what you’re asking? If so, the answer is:

1. He’s a freshman. Come back in 18 months.
2. Basically any school that offers merit aid. That takes out the highest-ranked/most selective 30+ schools (which offer virtually no merit aid and are the ones that want the shiniest EC profiles), leaving you with literally hundreds of others. As your kid figures out whether he wants a big school or a small school, where he wants to be geographically, and what he wants to study, you’ll be able to narrow that list down.

this is really good information, thanks!

Here are pandemic-era “infographics for 23 of the most popular schools that DCPS students apply to,” including the DCPS GPA associated with each. https://jacksonreedhs.org/academics/college-career-center/popular-schools/.
The DCPS GPA associated with Maryland in this infographic is so low that I assume it’s some kind of typo. Regardless, it seems to me that relatively few kids from DCPS go to College Park. Penn State and Pitt are more popular, I assume because they’re a little farther from home. Other popular schools include Wisconsin, Boulder, Tulane, VT, UVM. DCTAG means DC kids really do go all over, and most flagships are within reach for an A/A- student.

Towson and Bowie depending on their stats and activities. Sometimes College Park in one of the less competitive programs.

They end up at Maryland.

But it does kind of jump out at me that you didn't say what his activities actually are. All you're saying is what you don't like. But he does have to do something more than get A-minuses.

So, I'm a Dad with a selective DCPS high school Freshman with a lot of potential. I'm trying to not overpressure my kid or let him slide, requiring him to keep a GPA that's A to A minus (no report card Bs), get an SAT that's at least 90th percentile, do his community service hours, volunteer and be involved, etc. I'm also not trying to pull bullshit like having my kid "found" a "nonprofit" that lasts two years while he's in high school or get named "captain" of the school X team, spend his summers on some pay-to-play orchestra, get 20 extracurriculars or weekly sessions at some test prep center.

This is pretty achievable with this kid. More is also achieveable, but as it is this kid has enough homework and pressure.

I'm also in favor of a trajectory that's not up into the higher echelons of college, this kid doesn't need an Ivy or similar credential to succeed. I personally also don't like the idea of an expensive private university (or out-of-state schools with similar tuition) for our kids.

Where do kids like this from DCPS end up in college? Hoping to draw on past experiences. Will it all work out? Any thoughts on what to do or not to do?