Cobrat, Things have changed markedly. No the international students would not have higher stats at a place like Binghamton U. I’d expect that NY residents would have the highest stats, OOS next and Internationals least. In fact, Binghamton does not even require SATs for international students when English isn’t the primary language. They only require a test of English (TOFEL) which is not a logic or a test of aptitude or achievement and which the publishers warn is not a substitute for the SATs or ACTs. Rather it simply provides information about whether the student has college level command of English. And, while at schools like Columbia and Cornell, the scores for International students may need to be higher than those from the US, schools like Binghamton, relatively unknown and keen to develop a nation and international rep don’t attract the same caliber of international student. And they accept students from countries where institutionalized sanctioned cheating on tests is rampant. Further, while not required, many do submit scores which I believe did not used to be included in the schools stats. Same for EOP and those for other groups.
International students today are very different from those 15 years ago. A US college degree is seen as a way to get ahead in some schools. Families sometimes arrange for tests and grades to be developed by professionals. There are tons of articles published by respected newspapers like the NYTiems that are accessible on the web.
Actually, there is a group of parents in my school right now trying get the number of AP classes REDUCED because some kids may feel pressured to take APs that they can’t handle. Also, they are trying to get the district to standardize homework. I think this is ridiculous. There are many different levels of classes in my school, something for everyone. Everyone does not have to take the top everything, some are just not ready. When their kids struggle because they don’t belong in AP or honors classes, they want the teachers to tailor the class so it is easier for them, but have the prestige/weighted gpa of an upper level class.
I assumed that californiaa was saying that helicopter parenting of Stanford students is pretty far down the list of serious problems. I agree with that.
Well, actually, the Bureau of Justice Statistics state that at the end of 2014, we had “the smallest total prison population since 2005 and the second largest decline in more than 35 years.”
Won’t name names, but some of us think certain posters are helicopter parents. And we do sometimes know, over time, which ones tend to easily scorn certain sorts of kids they don’t think are as competitive and snowflake-y as their own.
I think there are a few towns in this country (and Palo Alto is likely one of them) where all the students are above average. (Lake Woebegones?) According to US News & World Report, 75% of the students at Gunn High School take an average of 5 AP exams. 96% pass. Palo Alto High School’s scores are similar. Both are Gold level high schools. The SAT average for Gunn is 1955, for Palo Alto it’s 1935. That represents the 91st and 90th percentile on the SAT.
I don’t live in Palo Alto. From what I can find online, though, it is an outlier. The high schools are filled with smart students from wealthy, educated families. Many of the families probably have ties to influential people. Parents thus can pay for a host of extracurricular activities. Unfortunately, each high school has one varsity team per sport (and gender), one student newspaper, one class president, etc.
So I’d assume the competition for extracurriculars is intense. In other high schools, many of the students would be stars. They would have been stars in their parents’ high schools. A friend living in a similar community near us observes students who counted as “mediocre” in the local public high school go off to colleges in the top 50 and end up on the dean’s list.
That being said, we about 4-5 percent of the world’s population, but yet the US has 25% of the global incarcerated population–consider that for a couple of seconds—breathtaking.
I read about the lawlessness in Angola, the Taliban, ISIS, Boko Haran, etc. so the low level of incarceration of violent rapists and murderers in other parts of the world do not particularly impress me. Women are executed for having been raped- the rapist goes free and the woman is dead?
Not really. Last I read, I think over 50% of those in prison are in for drug offenses. Normalize for the kind of offenses we expect criminals to be in prison for and I bet the numbers get much more realistic.
In short, after adjusting for inflation, state general fund spending on prison-related expenses increased over 140 percent between 1986 and 2013. During the same period, state spending on K-12 education increased only 69 percent, while higher education saw an increase of less than six percent…sorry, numbers are rather hard to manipulate at this high a number and for such an extended period of time.
In the recent past, society has felt pretty strongly about those drug laws. I think they were more under the influence of fear when they did that than anything. Maybe, in the future they will employ a rational approach to making laws.
@ScreenName48105 Normalize?/ Brother, when you are in lock-up there is no dance of semantics, of why you are there–further, our sentencing laws for drugs are incredibly tough, making for some of the longest stretches of incarceration in the world. How, do I know? I have represented folks from SQ, Folsom, Pelican Bay, so, I’m not giving you some slice of life article from the Atlantic (although I do love the Atlantic)…
What percent of violent sex offenders in Pakistan are ever prosecuted, let alone incarcerated? How many murderers in ISIS have ever been held accountable for their crimes? How many leaders in the Afghan police force and military have used their position to exploit young boys- knowing that there will be zero punishment or penalty?
If you are going to form a counter, best to actually do it with real numbers in the context of the global community–here, I will help you–http://www.prisonstudies.org/country/pakistan
@boolaHI, first of all, as my partner would say, I’m not your brother. But I am a mother of a black son and a partner of a black man raised in Detroit, so there’s no need to lecture me on prison statistics.
I believe the subject of this thread is how helicopter parents are ruining their children.
@Screename48105 If then, why do you think it wise to place a comment about “normailize”. So, is that sort of like, its ok if you comment, but, not ok, when I do the same…?