Anonymous wrote:The Washingtonian or Bethesda Magazine recently published this. It was disturbing. Not aiming for Harvard but community college or UMD is not OK.

I am SO HAPPY that UMD is not OK for you - as I am crossing my fingers that my child get into their engineering program and would appreciate less competition. World-class education with in-state tuition. Yes please.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Me and bro both went to UMD out of W high school. Both got into Ivies like Penn, Cornell, Columbia. Bro got into MIT and wait listed at Harvard. We both chose UMD for scholarships, he got a full ride. Afterwards we both went to top 10 law schools so don't knock it until you try it.

You go girl!

But she can't write proper English grammar!

How does one "write proper English grammar?"

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Washingtonian or Bethesda Magazine recently published this. It was disturbing. Not aiming for Harvard but community college or UMD is not OK.

You're putting the University of Maryland at College Park in the same category as Montgomery College? Why?

UMCP is very competitive for in state students AND don't forget some kids don't have the luxury of 4 years at a private college or university. MC provides two years of cost effective instruction and the ability to transfer. I think we will see more and more people choosing the community college option -as costs continue to skyrocket.

This might be true, but IMO, it lacks a "true college experience". I wouldn't want my child to go to UMD, and at our private school (not a Big 3) it's considered a failure to go to UMD.

I went to UMD on full scholarship. It was great. I went to grad school at Harvard. I had no debt.

Anyone who thinks UMD means failure is stupid.

+1 for affordable state schools. My husband and I went to St Mary's College of Maryland, and then he went to Harvard and I went to Yale for grad school. We saved ourselves and our families a lot of money!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Me and bro both went to UMD out of W high school. Both got into Ivies like Penn, Cornell, Columbia. Bro got into MIT and wait listed at Harvard. We both chose UMD for scholarships, he got a full ride. Afterwards we both went to top 10 law schools so don't knock it until you try it.

You go girl!

But she can't write proper English grammar!

Screw the proper English grammar! Typical DCUM poster - attack the person if you can't attack their position.

It is not proper English grammar to start a sentence with "But".

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Me and bro both went to UMD out of W high school. Both got into Ivies like Penn, Cornell, Columbia. Bro got into MIT and wait listed at Harvard. We both chose UMD for scholarships, he got a full ride. Afterwards we both went to top 10 law schools so don't knock it until you try it.

You go girl!

But she can't write proper English grammar!

Screw the proper English grammar! Typical DCUM poster - attack the person if you can't attack their position.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Me and bro both went to UMD out of W high school. Both got into Ivies like Penn, Cornell, Columbia. Bro got into MIT and wait listed at Harvard. We both chose UMD for scholarships, he got a full ride. Afterwards we both went to top 10 law schools so don't knock it until you try it.

You go girl!

But she can't write proper English grammar!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is going to magnet program at MCPS. Most of DCs peers want to get into medicine, law, engineering etc. While Ivies are affordable for some, most will choose UMD for their undergrad. They will get into top schools for graduate and other professional qualification after that. They will also get a full ride at UMD for their undergrad. These are smart kids who are looking closely at the majors rather than how the schools are ranked.

DC will graduate with upwards of 15 APs, great SAT and GPA, extra curricular activities, hundred of SSL hours. However if DC decides to go for ethnic studies at Harvard...I am not paying for anything.

Hi AP Frank's Mom!
Read The Overachievers or google if you don't get the reference here.

Totally get the reference and my DC's home high school is the lowest ranked HS in MCPS, so not a Whitman parent. Don't worry, not pushing DC into anything. Magnet was DC's idea not ours, and this crazy workload? DC is pretty much following what other kids are doing in the magnet program. I read that book and I call DC the "Stealth Overachiever" ...See? Totally got the reference. The school does not offer these APs that this kid has decided to do...AP in my opinion is a waste of time and effort, cause I believe that kids should do the college courses in college.

And I am also ok if my kid chooses Montgomery college. UMD and other instate colleges...I am all for it. If I was not the mother, I would have wondered where these genes came from. Seriously!

Mom who posted above. Jokes apart, being in the magnet program has made us and DC realize two things -
1) You have to be savvy about where you get the most education for your money - and it is important to have long term goal in mind (Medical school? Law School?) - so these kids are actually looking at other things than the school name when making that decision. And they are debating the pros and cons about these colleges in the school. Class size, how strong is the department, internship opportunities, how many classes being taught by TA etc...
2) Maximize what you are doing in school to improve your chances of getting a full ride ... So taking Magnet math in school but also using that content to take multiple exams - AP, IB, SAT-II .

This is a bunch of really smart kids - not just academically but also in determining how they are going to reach their dreams.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is going to magnet program at MCPS. Most of DCs peers want to get into medicine, law, engineering etc. While Ivies are affordable for some, most will choose UMD for their undergrad. They will get into top schools for graduate and other professional qualification after that. They will also get a full ride at UMD for their undergrad. These are smart kids who are looking closely at the majors rather than how the schools are ranked.

DC will graduate with upwards of 15 APs, great SAT and GPA, extra curricular activities, hundred of SSL hours. However if DC decides to go for ethnic studies at Harvard...I am not paying for anything.

Hi AP Frank's Mom!
Read The Overachievers or google if you don't get the reference here.

Totally get the reference and my DC's home high school is the lowest ranked HS in MCPS, so not a Whitman parent. Don't worry, not pushing DC into anything. Magnet was DC's idea not ours, and this crazy workload? DC is pretty much following what other kids are doing in the magnet program. I read that book and I call DC the "Stealth Overachiever" ...See? Totally got the reference. The school does not offer these APs that this kid has decided to do...AP in my opinion is a waste of time and effort, cause I believe that kids should do the college courses in college.

And I am also ok if my kid chooses Montgomery college. UMD and other instate colleges...I am all for it. If I was not the mother, I would have wondered where these genes came from. Seriously!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is going to magnet program at MCPS. Most of DCs peers want to get into medicine, law, engineering etc. While Ivies are affordable for some, most will choose UMD for their undergrad. They will get into top schools for graduate and other professional qualification after that. They will also get a full ride at UMD for their undergrad. These are smart kids who are looking closely at the majors rather than how the schools are ranked.

DC will graduate with upwards of 15 APs, great SAT and GPA, extra curricular activities, hundred of SSL hours. However if DC decides to go for ethnic studies at Harvard...I am not paying for anything.

Hi AP Frank's Mom!
Read The Overachievers or google if you don't get the reference here.

Different (third) magnet mom here. In the Blair math/science program, a lot of normally year-long AP classes are done in one semester. So a kid takes AP Calc/Stat/whatever in the first semester and is done by Jan, starts a second AP class in the second semester, and takes both AP tests in April.

I agree, lots of magnet kids (Blair and Richard Montgomery) go to UMD.

I should clarify, these are called "magnet Stats" or "magnet whatever" but most kids take the relevant AP tests in the spring.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is going to magnet program at MCPS. Most of DCs peers want to get into medicine, law, engineering etc. While Ivies are affordable for some, most will choose UMD for their undergrad. They will get into top schools for graduate and other professional qualification after that. They will also get a full ride at UMD for their undergrad. These are smart kids who are looking closely at the majors rather than how the schools are ranked.

DC will graduate with upwards of 15 APs, great SAT and GPA, extra curricular activities, hundred of SSL hours. However if DC decides to go for ethnic studies at Harvard...I am not paying for anything.

Hi AP Frank's Mom!
Read The Overachievers or google if you don't get the reference here.

Different (third) magnet mom here. In the Blair math/science program, a lot of normally year-long AP classes are done in one semester. So a kid takes AP Calc/Stat/whatever in the first semester and is done by Jan, starts a second AP class in the second semester, and takes both AP tests in April.

I agree, lots of magnet kids (Blair and Richard Montgomery) go to UMD.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is going to magnet program at MCPS. Most of DCs peers want to get into medicine, law, engineering etc. While Ivies are affordable for some, most will choose UMD for their undergrad. They will get into top schools for graduate and other professional qualification after that. They will also get a full ride at UMD for their undergrad. These are smart kids who are looking closely at the majors rather than how the schools are ranked.

DC will graduate with upwards of 15 APs, great SAT and GPA, extra curricular activities, hundred of SSL hours. However if DC decides to go for ethnic studies at Harvard...I am not paying for anything.

Hi AP Frank's Mom!
Read The Overachievers or google if you don't get the reference here.

DC is also in a magnet and we are likely to send him to UMD for exactly the reasons you state - not going to spend (mostly borrow) $250K for Harvard and MIT and then borrow again for grad school especially if he ends up in a professional program (fewer scholarships). It is too bad that he can't go anywhere he chooses because of our financial situation (we earn too much for financial aid and earn too little to save enough). However, I have no doubt he will get a fine education at UMD. There is a huge difference in price ($80K vs. $240K for four years) and I do not believe these colleges are three times as good!

Anonymous wrote:DC is going to magnet program at MCPS. Most of DCs peers want to get into medicine, law, engineering etc. While Ivies are affordable for some, most will choose UMD for their undergrad. They will get into top schools for graduate and other professional qualification after that. They will also get a full ride at UMD for their undergrad. These are smart kids who are looking closely at the majors rather than how the schools are ranked.

DC will graduate with upwards of 15 APs, great SAT and GPA, extra curricular activities, hundred of SSL hours. However if DC decides to go for ethnic studies at Harvard...I am not paying for anything.

Hi AP Frank's Mom!
Read The Overachievers or google if you don't get the reference here.

Anonymous wrote:Lacking the true college experience = not wanting to see the kids on the weekends or have them come home to do laundry

Most of the local kids I know who go to UMD rarely come home, including my DD. It's no different than if our DD was attending a school which was hours away. On the flip side, my brother's children go to VT and drive home 4 hours home to NoVa at least once a month.

Proximity to home does not factor into one having a "true college experience", IMO. UMD is a great school, and the value for Maryland residents can't be beat!

Anonymous wrote:Lacking the true college experience = not wanting to see the kids on the weekends or have them come home to do laundry

Because UMD is local makes it a lesser desirable school. What sense does that make???