<p>Good point! From 4 feet of snow to an earthquake to 100+ temps today - 2010 has been kind of bizarre.</p>
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<p>[Hillel</a> rabbi pens guidebook section | New Jersey News | NJJN](<a href=“http://njjewishnews.com/article/statewide/hillel-rabbi-pens-guidebook-section]Hillel”>http://njjewishnews.com/article/statewide/hillel-rabbi-pens-guidebook-section)</p>
<p>I’ve never read the first edition of this book - but wanted to post the link in case it would be of interest to anyone.</p>
<p>The second edition of Jewish U: A Contemporary Guide for the Jewish College Student by Rabbi Scott Aaron was just released by URJ Press.</p>
<p>^^ thanks rockvillemom. I loved this quote:
I am going to share it with a group of parents and clergy at our synagogue who are grappling with how to help our HS kids stay connected to Judaism through high school and beyond. I think the notion of helping kids make that transition from youth to adulthood is key, not just in terms of Judaism but life in general.</p>
<p>okay, that was slightly off topic, but you got me thinking… ;)</p>
<p>rm: thanks for the link; looks interesting…</p>
<p>anyone else dreaming of fall? This summer really stinks…we were actually talking about heading to Canada for a couple of days later in August if this doesn’t break…</p>
<p>Really like that quote. Thanks for posting. </p>
<p>Just want to share that my D picked her classes last week at UDel orientation. Instead of continuing with French, she decided (all on her own) to take Hebrew! </p>
<p>I feel like I have laid the Jewish foundation really well. Now I hope she learned something about time management!</p>
<p>I was looking at Bucknell on our Naviance today - I don’t think S2 has a chance there - but anyway, I noticed something interesting. In 2009, 16 students applied, 7 were accepted (the most in one year ever) , but only 1 matriculated. Then in 2010, 7 students applied and no one was accepted. It almost looks like Bucknell decided to “punish” our hs after a low yield the previous year. I can’t see the Navaince data on the scattergram by year - so I have no way of knowing whether the 7 applicants in 2010 were just lower stat than previous years or whether there really is retaliation involved. Any thoughts?</p>
<p>I think no admission officer would admit any admissions officer would punish a HS–“We are all professionals, above that, etc”. But after all the revelations about how even university presidents have tried to rig the USNWR rankings, I have no doubt that a HS which hurts the yield a school at the level of Bucknell might be retaliated against. </p>
<p>It could even be subconcious, where an admissions officer who advocated for those 7 kids felt embarassed by the low yield.</p>
<p>It just worries me a bit, as our hs seems to have a trend of kids applying to lots of OOS colleges and then ending up at Maryland. For example, in 2010, 5 applied to Gettysburg - all 5 were accepted - but none are going. In 2010, 16 applied to College of Charleston, 8 were accepted, but none are going. I do have those 2 colleges on S2’s list and I just hope that admissions for the coming year and the following year are not adversely impacted by poor yields from the class of 2010.</p>
<p>In this economy, I think colleges should be understanding of kids going to instate publics rather than OOS, especially privates. I think your concern is very reasonable and suggest that tryin gto earn extra “interest points” will counteract it.</p>
<p>Rodney, I was in Toronto yesterday and it was pretty hot there too after the rain stopped.</p>
<p>ShawD and I will be heading to Canada in a little over a week.</p>
<p>Rockville Mom: I don’t have any published statistics or facts to back me up, but I am speculating that many kids are applying to many schools with the hope that one of these name private or OOS schools will give them a great scholarship and/or great financial aid (grants and minimal to no loans) so that the cost of a school such as Bucknell, College of Charleston and the similar small name private schools will either be the same or lower than in state cost. When reality hits, and the kids see that they are not getting spectacular merit aid and/or fantastic financial aid, and large loans enter the picture, the kids end up at an in state school.</p>
<p>I would not worry about yield. Colleges are looking for the best of its applicants.</p>
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<p>Well, I hope you guys are right - this has just given me something new to worry about! On a brighter note - our ACT prep is going well. S2 seems to be pretty consistently scoring 27-28 on the English and reading sections - I think that’s about where he will stay for now. He did make a lot of progress though - started with a 21 in the reading section and could not complete it in the allocated time - now he can. What’s been more “fun” for him are the math and science sections - more variability on his scores on the practice tests - going as high as 32 on math and 34 on science - so he is really focusing on these sections now to see if he can hit those scores more consistently. I think he can really see the progress he has made by doing all of these practice tests - hopefully it will pay off on September 11th.</p>
<p>RVM: Congrats on the ACT progress good luck to your son on the test!</p>
<p>It’s a little funny to see the different ways we can interpret the position of disadvantage of a given HS. Our HS doesn’t have naviance. There really wouldn’t be much point since the majority of students don’t apply to more than 4 schools and generally they are state schools or at least in state schools. It seemed to me that it might be a disadvantage coming from a HS which colleges have no history with. I’ve heard others worry about not being accepted because too many from their very strong school are applying and therefore only the top 2 will be accepted etc. I guess there are pluses and minuses to every situation and these are beyond our control. All we can do is help our kids find some good options and support them in putting their best application out there. You just can’t worry about the circumstances beyond your control. It just helps to have several good options if it is at all possible.</p>
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<p>This was not our experience at all. My son applied to small schools that most people from our district would not have ever heard of in the first place. He was accepted to every one of those schools.</p>
<p>A large number of the graduating seniors are attending in state universities. I also think many are applying to more expensive schools and hoping for scholarships. My guess is the few who attend the private schools either have rich, generous parents or luck out with merit aid.</p>
<p>I think it is very wise not to worry too much about factors you cannot control. I think a college being unfamilir with your HS matters much more at highly selective schools, wher ethey are deluged with excellent applicants. I think less selective schools are pleased to make inroads at new high schools.</p>
<p>In addition, if your SAT/ACT scores are above the college’s norm, they are unlikely to worry too much about an unfamiliar HS, unless they are a top school.</p>
<p>I think many parents who send their kids to private colleges are neither rich nor the recipients of generous aid. They are instead just people willing and able to make sacrifices for their kids and who think the private school is the best fit for their child and worth the sacrifice. Every family has to make its own decision about what sacrifices it can and will make and what is best for their child.</p>
<p>Sadly, much of the middle class has always been in the position of being too affluent to receive financcial aid, but not affluent enough for private college tuition not to entail significant sacrifice.</p>
<p>'I think the students attending private colleges are neither rich nor receiving generous merit aid". I seriously doubt most middle or even upper middle class parents can afford $50,000 X 4 years. The results are kids taking some loans. Given the state of this terrible economy with fewer jobs, and the fact that many college plans and mutual funds have lost huge amounts of money saved over the years, it makes no sense to me for middle class parents to make “sacrifices” for their kids to attend pricey schools. This is also why some states (do not know if all states) provide a variety of state schools of different sizes, different programs, etc. so that parents can provide their kids a college education at an in state price.</p>
<p>I also happen to think that some private schools provide a superior education to in state schools and some parents think it is worth the extra “sacrifice” to pay for it and take loans.
However, with the economy as bad as it is, I would rather my child learn to “adjust” to in state schools than take out loans (toxic debt).</p>
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<p>MD, not all debt is toxic; not every college plan has lost money (some are up in fact- a plan which was aggressively invested in equities two years ago is likely to have bounced back nicely); many kids and parents have worked the numbers and have agreed that the amount of debt they’ve taken on is reasonable.</p>
<p>caveat emptor. My spouse and I paid off every single college and grad school loan. My nieces, nephews, all recent college grads, are happily employed and making their payments every month. All across the country new grads are busy launching their lives and paying their debts-- the reason the stories about the grads who owe 100K and are making minimum wage salaries end up on the front page of the newspapers is that they make good reading but don’t reflect the reality for most new college grads.</p>
<p>I suspect that the dynamic that mdcissp describes is happening to a fair extent. Simple economics are at work. We’ve fully saved for our kids’s college and would pay for professional schools/grad schools (some caveats there – e.g., we’d have to discuss carefully paying for training with a terminal degree that reduces one’s income prospects, but even there, ShawWife went to art school). But, ShawD is applying to 5 or 6 Canadian schools, where tuition for her would be between $3K and $9K for the year and 5 American schools where the tuition ranges from $28K to $41K. I’d have to be persuaded that the experience was that much better and I’d rather save that money for med school if she goes (which is $20K in Canada and $8K for our state med school and $45-50K generally).</p>
<p>Mdcissp is correct, at least in our case there is no way we would have been able to even look at a private at 50+K/year. We never envisioned it even in the good economy. S1’s school however awarded significant grant money and a very managable loan. This wasn’t merit money, it was purely FA. This made thinking about it possible. I think every student is different with different needs. As a parent you want to give your child every chance you can to create the best life for themselves that you can. This isn’t about prestige but environment and resources available at the school. As I have said the vast majority of our HS graduates go to state schools and here in Texas we are blessed with a very strong state university system that goes deeper than the state flagship. Our decision wasn’t because we felt our S would do better than the other kids in his class by going to a private, it simply seemed to be what would be the best path for him. Only time will tell if we were right, but right now it is all we hoped for. The point is that this is a very personal decision that takes a myriad of factors into consideration. There isn’t a right answer to the question. We would have sent him and will send his brother to a state school in a heartbeat if it seems right or if it is the only affordable choice. For some I think the state U can be the best choice. There are definitely lots of times when the sticker price isn’t the actual price at a private. If there are some privates that seem to be a great fit the only way to know if they are doable is to apply. But when you apply the student needs to understand the very real financial limitations before the process gets started.</p>
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