Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
As someone who's been the big fish (not by choice), there is a cost to it too. When you basically can cruise through school half asleep and writing with your left foot, you are not developing the skills you should be developing. You simply don't know what you don't know. And no one is paying attention because "you'll do fine, no matter what"

Do you feel the same applies to college? Meaning, is it better to go to a top, top school or is it better to go to a lesser ranked school and be the big fish at college?

Like many of the readers, my kid has been going to large, public schools her entire schooling life in MCPS. I view college as her chance to get the smaller, private experience.

It depends on the college. Unless your child is an absolute genius, they will not be a big fish to that extent at Amherst/Williams/Swarthmore... but if you're talking about Goucher or Shenandoah then they are running that risk

99.999% of students at expensive colleges end up with the same salary as students from UMD, UVA or VATech.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
As someone who's been the big fish (not by choice), there is a cost to it too. When you basically can cruise through school half asleep and writing with your left foot, you are not developing the skills you should be developing. You simply don't know what you don't know. And no one is paying attention because "you'll do fine, no matter what"

Do you feel the same applies to college? Meaning, is it better to go to a top, top school or is it better to go to a lesser ranked school and be the big fish at college?

Like many of the readers, my kid has been going to large, public schools her entire schooling life in MCPS. I view college as her chance to get the smaller, private experience.

It depends on the college. Unless your child is an absolute genius, they will not be a big fish to that extent at Amherst/Williams/Swarthmore... but if you're talking about Goucher or Shenandoah then they are running that risk

Anonymous wrote:I have a very shy smart kid and we are zoned for Langley. He has a nice group of friends but I feel he is getting lost in his large classes. I worry he will not shine. We have the means to pay for private school and want my kid to have a positive high school experience.

From a college admissions standpoint, would it be better to be a top kid at a small/medium private compared to a good student at a top public?

Every single kid at Langley seems so similar to one another. Everyone has perfect grades. Everyone plays a sport or two well. Everyone plays an instrument or does some other artsy extracurricular. Everyone is this well rounded carbon copy of one another.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
As someone who's been the big fish (not by choice), there is a cost to it too. When you basically can cruise through school half asleep and writing with your left foot, you are not developing the skills you should be developing. You simply don't know what you don't know. And no one is paying attention because "you'll do fine, no matter what"

Do you feel the same applies to college? Meaning, is it better to go to a top, top school or is it better to go to a lesser ranked school and be the big fish at college?

Like many of the readers, my kid has been going to large, public schools her entire schooling life in MCPS. I view college as her chance to get the smaller, private experience.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Better to be a big fish in a small pond compared with being a small fish in a big pond. I believe that’s been borne out psychological research

As someone who's been the big fish (not by choice), there is a cost to it too. When you basically can cruise through school half asleep and writing with your left foot, you are not developing the skills you should be developing. You simply don't know what you don't know. And no one is paying attention because "you'll do fine, no matter what"

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a very shy smart kid and we are zoned for Langley. He has a nice group of friends but I feel he is getting lost in his large classes. I worry he will not shine. We have the means to pay for private school and want my kid to have a positive high school experience.

From a college admissions standpoint, would it be better to be a top kid at a small/medium private compared to a good student at a top public?

Every single kid at Langley seems so similar to one another. Everyone has perfect grades. Everyone plays a sport or two well. Everyone plays an instrument or does some other artsy extracurricular. Everyone is this well rounded carbon copy of one another.

As the mother of 2 shy kids, please do not undervalue this. We moved one of our boys during covid and he's still doesn't feel like he's made friends at his private school and it's very hard to watch.

And fwiw, this area is competitive. There is no guarantee your kid will "shine" (and I'm assuming you mean more than academically) in private school. There are smart, accomplished, polished, social, outgoing kids at every school.

Anonymous wrote:I have a very shy smart kid and we are zoned for Langley. He has a nice group of friends but I feel he is getting lost in his large classes. I worry he will not shine. We have the means to pay for private school and want my kid to have a positive high school experience.

From a college admissions standpoint, would it be better to be a top kid at a small/medium private compared to a good student at a top public?

Every single kid at Langley seems so similar to one another. Everyone has perfect grades. Everyone plays a sport or two well. Everyone plays an instrument or does some other artsy extracurricular. Everyone is this well rounded carbon copy of one another.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a very shy smart kid and we are zoned for Langley. He has a nice group of friends but I feel he is getting lost in his large classes. I worry he will not shine. We have the means to pay for private school and want my kid to have a positive high school experience.

From a college admissions standpoint, would it be better to be a top kid at a small/medium private compared to a good student at a top public?

Every single kid at Langley seems so similar to one another. Everyone has perfect grades. Everyone plays a sport or two well. Everyone plays an instrument or does some other artsy extracurricular. Everyone is this well rounded carbon copy of one another.

No, everyone is not a carbon copy of each other. My oldest is shy and was not involved in a lot of activities, but he fared just fine. No, he's not at an Ivy or even a T50, but he's doing exactly what he wants to do. He's happy. And he was well-prepared for college. I can't tell you whether a private school would be better, but Langley has some really good extracurricular activities that will allow your child to be part of something meaningful to him. My daughter is there now -- a completely different child -- but has found her own way to shine. Don't fall into that trap of thinking you have to get a 9.0 gpa and go to the "best" school to be successful. There are a ton of kids at Langley who will be going to "regular" schools.[/quote

I am not sure why OP thinks private schools are any better. Private schools are just as hard and competitive as Langley HS. Potomac school is about one mile from Langley HS on the other side of Dolley Madison 123. Potomac school is much more competitive than Langley HS with much smaller class size. It is one of the hardest schools to get accepted into along with STA and Sidwell.