Anonymous wrote:There is a definite trend towards urban schools and big state universities.

One of my kids goes to a liberal arts college and the other a huge rah-rah football university. They both have their pros and cons.

I also have a kid at a SLAC and another at a big state school. My SLAC kid graduated HS a few years ago, and there were quite a few kids going to SLACs that year. It does seem like the last couple of years the trend has been toward publics.

I think it’s primarily economic; DCTAG at all but the most expensive state schools really does make a difference, and that’s meaningful to a lot of DCPS parents. And things really do feel more economically precarious overall the last couple of years. Although in my younger kid’s case, they just really wanted the big school environment; we could afford private, but this kid applied almost exclusively to big state schools.

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Anonymous wrote:Too expensive and not good ROI. Being in some rural area or small town doesn’t help either.

They should lower the tuition and/or give lots of merit and financial aid. That might help draw more kids.

The top 30 or so have no merit aid and don’t need to draw more kids. The school I went to has a 7% acceptance rate (and it is not in the top 10). All aid is based on need and all aid is in the form of grants.

In addition to the big full ride named scholarships these places have there’s plenty of more esoteric partial stuff in the top 20- scouting awards, service scholarships, some for kids from certain religious backgrounds, tribal backgrounds, or their parents have certain professions, certain demonstrated interests. But they will tell you and in some cases recruit you if you fit what they need (a few native Hawaiian scholarships still floating around at NESCAC schools).

I’m pretty sure every single one of the top 15 meet full demonstrated aid. The problem is the value proposition for students isn’t compelling.

Anonymous wrote:Too expensive and not good ROI. Being in some rural area or small town doesn’t help either.

They should lower the tuition and/or give lots of merit and financial aid. That might help draw more kids.

The top 30 or so have no merit aid and don’t need to draw more kids. The school I went to has a 7% acceptance rate (and it is not in the top 10). All aid is based on need and all aid is in the form of grants.

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Anonymous wrote:Davidson would love more DCPS and DCPCS but preferences matter, and they just don’t apply. Plenty of private applicants, plenty of athletes. Not a lot of kids from JR, Walls, or Banneker let alone DCI or BASIS. Honestly Dartmouth and Brown feel the same way.

I’ve never heard of Davidson.

Without judgment, I’d just say that is an indicator of your socioeconomic class.

PP, I hadn't heard of it either until a couple years ago, when an NC friend's daughter went there and now their second will be going. (They love it.) I don't think it's as well known as a place like Wake, for example.

Davidson is a fantastic place for a not so bright very rich kid.

Average SAT is 1460, WSJ #1 liberal arts college, #13 USNWR, 12% admission rate, lest someone get the wrong idea (as for the rich kid part… true)

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Anonymous wrote:Davidson would love more DCPS and DCPCS but preferences matter, and they just don’t apply. Plenty of private applicants, plenty of athletes. Not a lot of kids from JR, Walls, or Banneker let alone DCI or BASIS. Honestly Dartmouth and Brown feel the same way.

I’ve never heard of Davidson.

Without judgment, I’d just say that is an indicator of your socioeconomic class.

PP, I hadn't heard of it either until a couple years ago, when an NC friend's daughter went there and now their second will be going. (They love it.) I don't think it's as well known as a place like Wake, for example.

Davidson is a fantastic place for a not so bright very rich kid.

Too expensive and not good ROI. Being in some rural area or small town doesn’t help either.

They should lower the tuition and/or give lots of merit and financial aid. That might help draw more kids.

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Anonymous wrote:Hmm so they are not keeping pace with their financial aid offerings? They did not used to cost more than other schools once offers were made, except for in-state tuition (and the schools I'm seeing kids going to are not in-state).

I went to a small liberal arts college that has gotten extremely expensive - much more expensive than out of state tuition. I would never send my kids there as an upper middle class family. They provide free rides/grants not loans to those who qualify with FAFSA, and those who are very wealthy can afford the ridiculously priced tuition. But for those of us who are in the middle -- priced out from FAFSA, but not able to afford nearly $100k/year to attend college -- they are not a good choice.

I should clarify that while I consider our family UMC, by DCUM standards, we are MC.

Anonymous wrote:Hmm so they are not keeping pace with their financial aid offerings? They did not used to cost more than other schools once offers were made, except for in-state tuition (and the schools I'm seeing kids going to are not in-state).

I went to a small liberal arts college that has gotten extremely expensive - much more expensive than out of state tuition. I would never send my kids there as an upper middle class family. They provide free rides/grants not loans to those who qualify with FAFSA, and those who are very wealthy can afford the ridiculously priced tuition. But for those of us who are in the middle -- priced out from FAFSA, but not able to afford nearly $100k/year to attend college -- they are not a good choice.

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Anonymous wrote:Davidson would love more DCPS and DCPCS but preferences matter, and they just don’t apply. Plenty of private applicants, plenty of athletes. Not a lot of kids from JR, Walls, or Banneker let alone DCI or BASIS. Honestly Dartmouth and Brown feel the same way.

I’ve never heard of Davidson.

Without judgment, I’d just say that is an indicator of your socioeconomic class.

PP, I hadn't heard of it either until a couple years ago, when an NC friend's daughter went there and now their second will be going. (They love it.) I don't think it's as well known as a place like Wake, for example.

SLACS are still really popular in my costal (not dc) city, friends currently have kids at:

Smith
Carleton
Middlebury
Harvey Mudd
Reed
Swarthmore
Wesleyan
Macalester
Vassar

SLACs I know DCPS graduates are at:
Skidmore
St. Olaf
Grinnell
Macalester
Lafayette
Sewanee

I would characterize (some) not all of the students I know at these schools as kids who do not care about the social media posting and feel like they do not need to engage. Where they go is their business.

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Anonymous wrote:I grew up in suburbia. At my high school cities felt a little intimidating to a lot of kids. And a lot didn't want an enormous state school so SLACs were very popular.

But my kids were born and raised in DC, and while it's not a huge city, they think it would be weird to be at a college in the middle of nowhere. So less excited about SLACs.

This, along with costs, are definitely part of it. Not to mention even liberal SLACs are not always in welcoming communities.

Weirdly Coolidge has sent kids to Bucknell the last few years. Would not have been my first guess pairing.

Bucknell is a POSSE school, I’m sure that’s how Coolidge kids (and most DCPS kids) end up at Bucknell. Same with Loyola and a few other schools.

This is true.
Bucknell football’s coach used to be from DC, recruited heavily down here. They have a good brand

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in suburbia. At my high school cities felt a little intimidating to a lot of kids. And a lot didn't want an enormous state school so SLACs were very popular.

But my kids were born and raised in DC, and while it's not a huge city, they think it would be weird to be at a college in the middle of nowhere. So less excited about SLACs.

This, along with costs, are definitely part of it. Not to mention even liberal SLACs are not always in welcoming communities.

Weirdly Coolidge has sent kids to Bucknell the last few years. Would not have been my first guess pairing.

Bucknell is a POSSE school, I’m sure that’s how Coolidge kids (and most DCPS kids) end up at Bucknell. Same with Loyola and a few other schools.

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Anonymous wrote:Davidson would love more DCPS and DCPCS but preferences matter, and they just don’t apply. Plenty of private applicants, plenty of athletes. Not a lot of kids from JR, Walls, or Banneker let alone DCI or BASIS. Honestly Dartmouth and Brown feel the same way.

I’ve never heard of Davidson.

Without judgment, I’d just say that is an indicator of your socioeconomic class.

I think it’s not well known outside of the south.

I never heard of it until I moved to VA.

I grew up in the Northeast and went to a well-regarded private school. We knew of Davidson and it was considered a strong SLAC that a lot of kids applied to, at least among the kids who were considering the south.

I’m not sure it’s as good as it used to be but it was the only SLAC I was looking at with D1 sports- I was looking at Duke, Vandy, Northwestern, or even a UC where I would ride pine (also Yale, but that’s a whole saga where they decided, quite intentionally, to be bad at my sport).

It was in the same set at the Claremont schools and Carleton, but not quite Williams or Smith.

I don’t get the sense that any of the kids I talk to want to go there over Georgetown or Duke and honestly that’s fine.

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Anonymous wrote:Your post just reveals the world you grew up in, which is not generally applicable.

Where I "came from" (UMC suburb public school) everyone aimed for top 10 universities or state schools. I think we had one person in our top 10 percent who went to a SLAC.

When I see a SLAC on a resume I immediately assume you came from a privileged background and won’t try very hard. Sorry!

You should work on your tendency to make assumptions.

I graduated from a top 10 SLAC and worked and paid my own way through with about a 50% scholarship and a whole lot of loans. I was far from the only one.

When? The 1950s? What was tuition then? And did you walk uphill in the snow to classes both way?

The late 90s when tuition and everything was $35k and minimum wage was $5/hr. I also paid off the loans in under 10 years (granted the interest rate was 0.5% because of credits for on-time payments).

You're funny tho.