<p>I’m looking at a list of where the class of 2014 from my old public high school is headed and I have to admit I’m a bit “disappointed.” I’m not suggesting that it’s a bad list, but I don’t know that it’s one worth celebrating either. Of 500 graduating seniors, a handful are going to “top” (per USNews and the major rankings scales) schools – 5-6 going to Penn; 1 to Gtown; 1 to Stanford; 1 to Dartmouth. The rest – the list consists of the College of NJ, Rutgers, Mulhenberg, Millersville, Temple, Drexel, Penn State etc. None going to top (or any) LACs.</p>
<p>Before I get flamed for picking on people because of money – this is a public HS in a wealthy part of NJ where many kids routinely drive 50k vehicles to school; and those who are going to the PA state schools and to private schools like Drexel are paying quite of bit of money still because they are either going out of state or private. Sure some of the kids staying in NJ may be giving up better schools elsewhere for a full ride at Rutgers or TCNJ but lots of them are still spending 40-50k+ on mediocre schools. </p>
<p>Is about 2% of the class at the top schools “normal”? It could be that the top 10 in the class are going to the above mentioned schools. Is that how results are at most other “good” suburban high schools in the northeast? I’m not suggesting that it’s make or break where you go to school or that anyone should go into major debt for school, but I do believe that the top school names stick with you – saying you’re an MIT grad has a certain credibility for life that a Millersville grad just doesn’t get. I almost feel like people don’t “try” for top schools . . . . </p>
<p>The vast majority of high school students in the US don’t go to college at all or go to one of the approximately 4,000 or so colleges we don’t talk about here on CC (including community colleges). And no, most don’t “try” for top schools. Not sure why it matters what happens to everyone one else from your high school, it only matters what you decide to do.</p>
<p>You are making a lot of assumptions. You don’t know what people “try for,” or whether they are as much as you do about status. Nor do you know what their families’ financial situations really are, or what they are paying for the schools they have chosen.</p>
<p>As you get older you will likely learn that it’s better to not speculate about others’ lives, and to just focus on your own.</p>
<p>Less than 10% of the world has a college degree. Going to any college is a good thing. I never understand why some people on CC are so obsessed with prestige; it’s about finding the right fit for you, not about the name brand of the school. Especially now, going to a good school doesn’t guarantee you a good job (or a job at all.)</p>
<p>I agree with the above. Your high school’s list is very impressive. Many of the students at my school have not ever gotten into Stanford and at most have gotten one acceptance from schools like Penn. Furthermore, I wouldn’t judge the people’s capabilities based off where they are going. For instance, two people turned town Cornell last year to attend our state flagship. This year many students took similar offers over higher “ranked” schools. To put it into perspective, many students from schools in the midwest, the valedictorians and most of the students attend either their state school or their local community college, with some not attending at all.</p>
<p>Just worry about yourself. Keep in mind that it is much more competitive to get into some of these schools and what may have been considered a “shoo-in” a few years ago may get turned down due to the sheer number of applicants. It certainly happened to a couple of my friends this year. And if you are reffering to the really selective schools it is normal that only the top 2% go to if you are from a competitive public. You don’t know if other people try, in fact applications for top schools rose at my school this year, yet less people got in.</p>
<p>Ranking and prestige don’t determine who you are or what you are destined to do. Hard work does that. So just work hard and let the chips fall where they may. </p>
<p>Since the parents drive 50k vehicles but send their kids to public school, instead of sending them for 40k/yr to Hun or Lawrenceville, seems like the parents appreciate value for money. In any case, a 50k car is not that big a deal; it’s not like they’re driving a Bentley. </p>
<p>Those “top” colleges you list do not give merit aid, and those parents driving 50k vehicles may be too rich to qualify for FA but too poor/ unwilling to pay 60k full-freight for Penn, Gtown, Stanford, Dmouth. The other “mediocre” private schools you scorn provide an excellent education & give generous merit scholarships. </p>
<p>If these parents expect their kids to continue on to med/law/bz/grad school, then it would be imprudent to drop a quarter of a million dollars for an undergraduate degree, for the sake of bling.</p>
<p>Being rich doesn’t mean being intellectual. Many businessmen (women) make a lot of money but value that more than academic achievement as a sign of success (I was disappointed by the wealthy vacation condo owners we encountered years ago, they had money but were not interested in the same things we were). I will add that many physicians aren’t as intellectual as you might think (from personal experience as one knowing others). </p>
<p>btw- I thought around 25% of Americans used to have a bachelors or greater education. MOST Americans do not finish college. It may have changed with all of the junky online degrees available. </p>
<p>I wonder how many college professors live in the district. They typically have more brains than money- not living in the uber rich areas.</p>
<p>Community average wealth and student cars are not what gets kids into a top school. You want to look at performance details on the School Profile. If most kids have middling stats, there you have it. If most skipped rigor and settled for founding the pie club-- well, top colleges don’t have a universal policy of accepting X% from each high school. Think about it. </p>
<p>Since you mentioned that this is your old public high school, a j725, I am curious whether you think that the admissions profile of this year’s graduating class was different from the profile for your class.</p>
<p>Over a long time span, schools in our area have waxed and waned in admissions outcomes. I think it might be tied to where the faculty can afford to live in fairly large numbers, thought it might also be connected with faculty and GC turnover.</p>
<p>:) I cannot resist adding, “Go, pie club founders! Most universities need more people like you!” Apologies in advance for the tweaking.</p>
<p>Is the entire community wealthy? Our community is pretty diverse, but I’d say at least the top 5% can go to the “selective” colleges. (My youngest was 6% and went to Tufts. I know a kid who was 4% or so who went to Brown.) But there were kids who had better grades than he did who went to public colleges, and nothing wrong with that. </p>
<p>The real change I noticed was in the private girls school I attended. In my class of 80 - 6 went to Harvard, 4 to Yale, 2 to Princeton and the top half of the class went to other well-known schools. They went through some hard times with bad publicity, the schools like Andover and Exeter went co-ed and siphoned off top girls and they now only get one or two girls into HYP. </p>
<p>@mathmom, everything is also now more competitive. Back in your day, your school was probably a feeder for the elite colleges. Now, those colleges are looking for more diversity – not just ethnicity-wise but also economically.</p>
<p>This is my guess…A lot of those families are in the donut hole. They make too much money to qualify for FA, but do not have enough money to be full pay because of high cost of living around NJ. Top students are taking merit aids from schools like Mulhenberg or opt for Rutgers due to finance. I would be more interested to see where students were accepted.
Students from private schools, where parents are accustom to pay 30k+ on tuition already, tend to opt for schools like Hamilton, Lehigh, Lafayette for the next tier down from top 20s.</p>
<p>Re: “The real change I noticed was in the private girls school I attended. In my class of 80 - 6 went to Harvard, 4 to Yale, 2 to Princeton and the top half of the class went to other well-known schools.”</p>
<p>How many top prep schools in US have such a high percentage of students go to these well-known colleges?</p>
<p>We could not afford it and/or our child was not capable of getting into such a high caliber prep school. So we do not have the experience and may imagine the grass on the other side of the fence is greener.</p>
<p>At DS’s public high school in the second wealthiest area in our city, likely only top 6 or 7 kids out of the graduation class of 600 students get into such a college. However, the definition of such an elite school in the south may be somewhat different. (Some may regard some “elite” southern colleges as the best.)</p>
<p>However, I notice some kids were sent to some NE prep school but then get in as an applicant from our state. (An alumnus from one of the colleges DS got in had an open house during Christmas time for students who had got in in the SCEA cycle so we knew.)</p>
<p>Re: Donut hole. In DS’s year, we were full pay, even with a modest “slightly less than 100k” income in that base year! That 529 account really hurt us. (We actually looked at the need-based FA we had received from UG as well as grad. We actually received more for the graduate one than the UG one - even though we paid for the UG and the graduate likely equally. The difference is that DS started to accumulate student loans after college while he did not have any debt for his UG.)</p>
<p>Not necessarily bad. It depends on the school and community culture, too. When I was growing up, not many people left the state, even the NMS. It was just unthinkable. Now I live in a different state and it is the same! Kids will get accepted to Ivies and still go to the state school. When I was a kid people stayed put due to not having the imagination to leave. Now I think it is price driven. Kids know they can leave, but it is more expensive and in many cases they just don’t think it is worth it. </p>
<p>@VeryHappy, My high school is also a lot more diverse than it used to be. But I don’t disagree with you. I just think it’s funny because it’s such a huge difference - I don’t think it’s nearly as noticable at places like Andover and Exeter which went coed.</p>
I just think it’s funny because it’s such a huge difference - I don’t think it’s nearly as noticable at places like Andover and Exeter which went coed.</p>