Anonymous wrote:

It’s not news ... that APS has no magnet programs like TJ or Blair.

Hey moron, APS does have a magnet school. It's called TJHSST.

Anonymous wrote:I don't give a fig about Ivy admissions. What freaks me out is that only 30 of 103 applicants from Yorktown (29%) made it in to William and Mary, if these numbers to be believed. That is FAR less than 10% of the class. And 44 our of 160 made it into UVA -- again, well fewer than 10% of the class. It is hard for me to believe that most of the top 10% is not applying to these two excellent state schools. The oft-repeated adage from this forum that UVA and W&M will take everyone in the top 10% just doesn't seem to hold true, at ALL.

I am not sure why you expect better results. Langley and McLean attract more academically oriented families and Yorktown also loses top kids to W-L and HB Woodlawn every year. Some kids at YHS do well, but overall it under-performs relative to the income levels in North Arlington. This is nothing new. If it bothers you, send your kid to another school.

Anonymous wrote:I don't give a fig about Ivy admissions. What freaks me out is that only 30 of 103 applicants from Yorktown (29%) made it in to William and Mary, if these numbers to be believed. That is FAR less than 10% of the class. And 44 our of 160 made it into UVA -- again, well fewer than 10% of the class. It is hard for me to believe that most of the top 10% is not applying to these two excellent state schools. The oft-repeated adage from this forum that UVA and W&M will take everyone in the top 10% just doesn't seem to hold true, at ALL.

What is true is that in order to be accepted, a student is typically in the top 10% but certainly UVA and W&M do not accept everyone in the top 10% and I have never seen that said anywhere. I know many in the top 10% who were not accepted at one or the other, including my oldest who graduated from W-L in the top 10% a few years ago and was rejected by UVA and waitlisted by W&M.

I don't give a fig about Ivy admissions. What freaks me out is that only 30 of 103 applicants from Yorktown (29%) made it in to William and Mary, if these numbers to be believed. That is FAR less than 10% of the class. And 44 our of 160 made it into UVA -- again, well fewer than 10% of the class. It is hard for me to believe that most of the top 10% is not applying to these two excellent state schools. The oft-repeated adage from this forum that UVA and W&M will take everyone in the top 10% just doesn't seem to hold true, at ALL.

Lol only 10 acceptances to Michigan out of 76 applicants, 13% acceptance rate, I'm so confused

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These numbers are all self-reported by students who choose to participate in the survey. Not all choose to participate. These stats are of limited value.

I think they come from the schools, from naviance. That is accurate as to number of applications since the school has to send transcripts, etc. And at least at DCs school (in the Bethesda mag report) the guidance office gets acceptance info from the vast majority of students.

They do come from the schools. But the school asks the kid to fill in the results on everywhere they applied. Obviously the scholl knows where the applications went (because they force kids to use Naviance) but they can only ask them to come back for a final tally.


I know this because I spent some time poking around naviance (with his permission) when my son was applying. I asked him to check off the results. I don’t know if he did so.

I also know that the results report admission, not admission to any particular program. For example, he was rejected from his major program at one school but admitted to liberal arts. Is that an admitted, or a rejection? We’d say the latter, but maybe you wouldn’t.

Anonymous wrote:Looks like APS people started the comparisons to FCPS and MCPS. Why do that knowing APS comes up short?

It’s not news that Yorktown would be considered slightly above average, at best, in FCPS or MCPS, or that APS has no magnet programs like TJ or Blair. The accolades and college admissions are going to reflect that.

That’s some selective reading there. Go see the fourth post in this discussion.

Looks like APS people started the comparisons to FCPS and MCPS. Why do that knowing APS comes up short?

It’s not news that Yorktown would be considered slightly above average, at best, in FCPS or MCPS, or that APS has no magnet programs like TJ or Blair. The accolades and college admissions are going to reflect that.

Anonymous wrote:You have to wonder what compels the FCPS people to come here and try to dump on APS at every turn. Most APS people don't give a shit about FCPS. If we cared, we'd live in Fairfax.

+1

Low self-esteem? General assholery?

APS is weak. That is generally understood.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We all want our children to have better than we did. Somehow that is not happening for this generation.

But if you live in, say, an expensive house in n Arlington, where crime is almost nonexistent, parks are plentiful, and the quality of life is all around good, how is that moving down on the socioeconomic ladder? Maybe it is for some rich people there—and there are some people of vast wealth there—but I just don’t know. The world won’t end if these kids have to go to UVA instead of an Ivy or Wake Forest instead of UVA.

+1 The messages here are so sad. If your kid doesn’t go to a more competitive school than you did, they don’t have a better life?

You have to wonder what compels the FCPS people to come here and try to dump on APS at every turn. Most APS people don't give a shit about FCPS. If we cared, we'd live in Fairfax.

I feel that with APS, because so many pushy parents say the schools are good, people believe it to be so. But these parents — who are generally nerds with attitude and money — would never admit that something they chose is less than great.

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone move to Arlington thinking it's the ticket to an Ivy? That's just ridiculous. No public school is. I'm happy to live here for a short commute, good public services, a house I like, and a good education for my kids. DS wants to go to VA Tech and that's just fine with me, I'm sure he'll be well prepared and do well in life.

The reality is that if you are an Ivy grad from the days when it was relatively easy to get in, your kids are going to have a much, much harder time getting in unless you are donating a building. Doesn't matter where you live, it's just the numbers. It's a totally different game than 20-30 years ago.

Not really a totally different game than 20 years ago.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone move to Arlington thinking it's the ticket to an Ivy? That's just ridiculous. No public school is. I'm happy to live here for a short commute, good public services, a house I like, and a good education for my kids. DS wants to go to VA Tech and that's just fine with me, I'm sure he'll be well prepared and do well in life.

The reality is that if you are an Ivy grad from the days when it was relatively easy to get in, your kids are going to have a much, much harder time getting in unless you are donating a building. Doesn't matter where you live, it's just the numbers. It's a totally different game than 20-30 years ago.

+1. DH and I are both Ivy grads. If that was our only goal for our kid, we'd have them in private school. We are in public school because they are more in line with our values, and because we know that when we to go work every day, some of our colleagues are also Ivy grads, but even more of them graduated from good non-Ivy schools. We are all doing the same kind of work, are held in the same esteem, and are compensated under the same system that does not depend on our school credentials. Ivies aren't the end-all and be-all, and we are more concerned with our children's total well-being than with just the seal on their college diploma.

Good luck with the UVA and other “good non-Ivy” applications.