Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:http://www.arlingtonmagazine.com/where-arlington-grads-applied-and-were-accepted-to-college/

The Arlington Magazine stats actually make the situation look BETTER than it really is. The reason is that they report acceptances and not matriculations. This means that, for a given school, the reported acceptances from Dartmouth, Duke, Denison and Davidson could all be attributed to the same student.

I think we're all aware of this. It doesn't answer the original question, though, of how APS compares to other public school systems. If this is simply the pattern for a solid public school system and not a sign that APS is failing compared to comparable school systems, then this data doesn't concern me. If APS is lagging behind peer systems, though, that's cause for concern and we need to identify why.

For at least the last 10 years, HB Woodlawn, Washington-Lee and Yorktown all lag behind McLean HS and Langley and well behind Walt Whitman, BCC and Churchill (in Montgomery Co, MD). Not sure why, but it is disturbing.

Source? This is the kind of data I'd like to see, but I want to see actual data rather than rumor, reputation and speculation.

There has been some discussion of these sorts of questions on the College forum. I think there was a VA-related spinoff to this thread, which discusses results in the Bethesda schools: http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/669618.page

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/669618.page

That's a little hard to compare because they're looking at only select high schools in the system (and some of the strongest at that) whereas the APS data looks at the entire school system.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:http://www.arlingtonmagazine.com/where-arlington-grads-applied-and-were-accepted-to-college/

The Arlington Magazine stats actually make the situation look BETTER than it really is. The reason is that they report acceptances and not matriculations. This means that, for a given school, the reported acceptances from Dartmouth, Duke, Denison and Davidson could all be attributed to the same student.

I think we're all aware of this. It doesn't answer the original question, though, of how APS compares to other public school systems. If this is simply the pattern for a solid public school system and not a sign that APS is failing compared to comparable school systems, then this data doesn't concern me. If APS is lagging behind peer systems, though, that's cause for concern and we need to identify why.

For at least the last 10 years, HB Woodlawn, Washington-Lee and Yorktown all lag behind McLean HS and Langley and well behind Walt Whitman, BCC and Churchill (in Montgomery Co, MD). Not sure why, but it is disturbing.

Source? This is the kind of data I'd like to see, but I want to see actual data rather than rumor, reputation and speculation.

There has been some discussion of these sorts of questions on the College forum. I think there was a VA-related spinoff to this thread, which discusses results in the Bethesda schools: http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/669618.page

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/669618.page

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do folks buy very expansive houses in n Arlington with the hope that their kids can get into JMU, VA Tech, or George Mason?

The people I know in Arlington buy their expensive houses so that they don't spend their lives on I-66.

And yes, at least for UVA, W&M, and Tech Engineering...there are plenty who see the savings in sending their kids to those schools over Tufts.

This. Also, I think people who buy in Arlington in search of a shorter commute also tend to be less uber-focused on the tippy top colleges. Families who are Ivy-league-or-bust types also are more likely to want the separated-out AAP model and so are more likely to buy in close-in Fairfax.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do folks buy very expansive houses in n Arlington with the hope that their kids can get into JMU, VA Tech, or George Mason?

The people I know in Arlington buy their expensive houses so that they don't spend their lives on I-66.

And yes, at least for UVA, W&M, and Tech Engineering...there are plenty who see the savings in sending their kids to those schools over Tufts.

Why not buy in DC then? Or might schools have something to do with it?

Anonymous wrote:Do folks buy very expansive houses in n Arlington with the hope that their kids can get into JMU, VA Tech, or George Mason?

The people I know in Arlington buy their expensive houses so that they don't spend their lives on I-66.

And yes, at least for UVA, W&M, and Tech Engineering...there are plenty who see the savings in sending their kids to those schools over Tufts.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:http://www.arlingtonmagazine.com/where-arlington-grads-applied-and-were-accepted-to-college/

The Arlington Magazine stats actually make the situation look BETTER than it really is. The reason is that they report acceptances and not matriculations. This means that, for a given school, the reported acceptances from Dartmouth, Duke, Denison and Davidson could all be attributed to the same student.

I think we're all aware of this. It doesn't answer the original question, though, of how APS compares to other public school systems. If this is simply the pattern for a solid public school system and not a sign that APS is failing compared to comparable school systems, then this data doesn't concern me. If APS is lagging behind peer systems, though, that's cause for concern and we need to identify why.

For at least the last 10 years, HB Woodlawn, Washington-Lee and Yorktown all lag behind McLean HS and Langley and well behind Walt Whitman, BCC and Churchill (in Montgomery Co, MD). Not sure why, but it is disturbing.

Source? This is the kind of data I'd like to see, but I want to see actual data rather than rumor, reputation and speculation.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:http://www.arlingtonmagazine.com/where-arlington-grads-applied-and-were-accepted-to-college/

The Arlington Magazine stats actually make the situation look BETTER than it really is. The reason is that they report acceptances and not matriculations. This means that, for a given school, the reported acceptances from Dartmouth, Duke, Denison and Davidson could all be attributed to the same student.

I think we're all aware of this. It doesn't answer the original question, though, of how APS compares to other public school systems. If this is simply the pattern for a solid public school system and not a sign that APS is failing compared to comparable school systems, then this data doesn't concern me. If APS is lagging behind peer systems, though, that's cause for concern and we need to identify why.

For at least the last 10 years, HB Woodlawn, Washington-Lee and Yorktown all lag behind McLean HS and Langley and well behind Walt Whitman, BCC and Churchill (in Montgomery Co, MD). Not sure why, but it is disturbing.

Anonymous wrote:
Add into it that the overcrowded schools means the counselors don't exactly have the time to spend a lot of one on one time with all the kids building relationships, getting to know them, helping guide them towards the right schools and so on in the same way that counselors at smaller or private schools do. Not the fault of the counseling staff, it's purely a numbers game.

There are more students but also more guidance counselors. My kid's a senior, so I may change my tune of this, but so far I think his counselor has done a good job of guiding him through the college application process.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here are the same list for APS for class of 2017: http://www.arlingtonmagazine.com/college-admissions-snapshot/

The Arlington Magazine stats actually make the situation look BETTER than it really is. The reason is that they report acceptances and not matriculations. This means that, for a given school, the reported acceptances from Princeton, Williams, Washington University St. Louis and Bucknell could all be attributed to the same student. Never mind all the UVa and William & Mary safety school acceptances for the kids who ultimately chose better schools (although there aren't many of those on this list).

I think we got it the first time you said it.

Anonymous wrote:Here are the same list for APS for class of 2017: http://www.arlingtonmagazine.com/college-admissions-snapshot/

The Arlington Magazine stats actually make the situation look BETTER than it really is. The reason is that they report acceptances and not matriculations. This means that, for a given school, the reported acceptances from Princeton, Williams, Washington University St. Louis and Bucknell could all be attributed to the same student. Never mind all the UVa and William & Mary safety school acceptances for the kids who ultimately chose better schools (although there aren't many of those on this list).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:http://www.arlingtonmagazine.com/where-arlington-grads-applied-and-were-accepted-to-college/

The Arlington Magazine stats actually make the situation look BETTER than it really is. The reason is that they report acceptances and not matriculations. This means that, for a given school, the reported acceptances from Dartmouth, Duke, Denison and Davidson could all be attributed to the same student.

I think we're all aware of this. It doesn't answer the original question, though, of how APS compares to other public school systems. If this is simply the pattern for a solid public school system and not a sign that APS is failing compared to comparable school systems, then this data doesn't concern me. If APS is lagging behind peer systems, though, that's cause for concern and we need to identify why.

Anonymous wrote:http://www.arlingtonmagazine.com/where-arlington-grads-applied-and-were-accepted-to-college/

The Arlington Magazine stats actually make the situation look BETTER than it really is. The reason is that they report acceptances and not matriculations. This means that, for a given school, the reported acceptances from Dartmouth, Duke, Denison and Davidson could all be attributed to the same student.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS does a great job getting lots of kids into UVA, W&M, Tech, and JMU. They don't care about Harvard. Depending on your needs, this could be great or terrible.

Same is true for FCPS, aside from TJ. The college lists from both school systems are mediocre.

I doubt you'll find many public school systems that do much better. The kids from APS who deserve to go to top 10 USNWR schools get in. APS doesn't hold them back relative to other public systems.

This is my suspicion as well. There are probably some, but I'm willing to bet there are also in far more consistently affluent areas.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here are the same list for APS for class of 2017: http://www.arlingtonmagazine.com/college-admissions-snapshot/

Anyone else find that unimpressive?

I do too, but was informed it's self-reported so not every college-bound student is on that list.

Part of the problem is in the numbers. Any given university only needs so many 4.0+, superstar-at-something, well-rounded kids from a given high school or area. Your competition to get into HYP isn't always the kids around the country, it starts by being one of the top 1 or 2 applicants from your school or county.

Add into it that the overcrowded schools means the counselors don't exactly have the time to spend a lot of one on one time with all the kids building relationships, getting to know them, helping guide them towards the right schools and so on in the same way that counselors at smaller or private schools do. Not the fault of the counseling staff, it's purely a numbers game.

Honestly, as a parent, I would massively prefer to send my children to state schools. Because grad school is expensive!

I went to Mary Washington (when it was a college) and then medical school. I'm happy that I only had loans for med school (which were bad enough). I couldn't imagine putting another 200K or so for undergrad on the tab!