<p>I was asking around recently about college/career choices and I was amazed at all the blank stares I got. Out of all my senior friends, only one friend and myself are actually actively searching. I have noticed the trend of waiting until the last minute and just going to MTSU(Middle Tennessee State). Do you guys see this in your schools, because in the bubble of CC, it seems as though every senior is wildly searching?</p>
<p>we are from a good middle class area in Long Island, NY and college searching is a major priority in our district. In fact, it can go too far-parents of middle schoolers are having their kids tutored on things to give them a "leg up" for better schools. It is a major focus and discussed pretty heavily among parents (students to a lesser degree) starting in freshman year. Kids are pushed to take harder courses as early as possible (honors track rather than regular, or AP classes if possible) and everything-even EC's are often looked upon as "good for college". When my S's were in 11th grade, it started to become an important topic for the kids and now that my youngest is going into his senior year, the kids are heavily talking about it-SATs, where have they visited, public vs private etc. etc. It seems so odd to me that your friends don't seem to show much interest and will just apply at the last minute to any school and not really care. It is funny how certain regions can vary.</p>
<p>Im from central California, and my school seems exactly like yours, jusgimmethegun. Out of our senior class of 716, probably only about the top 10 are seriously thinking about college. The rest of my class is either just going to a CSU or city college. </p>
<p>When I look at CC, it seems that everyone attends a really competitive school, but when I look around at my school, its just not the case for me. Maybe I am lucky because its easier for me to get a better rank (Im ranked 5), and the classes are easier. The only down side to a non-competitive school, is that we are very poorly prepared for that SATs, and SATIIs. Either way you have to deal what you are dealt. I am kinda curious, to how many people attend a non-competitive high school and actually get into top schools? ie HYPSM</p>
<p>Same in our district Audi. It is really unfortunate bcs parents put kids into sat tutoring classes beginning in the 4th grade! I am not talking about Kaplan, but there are these private tutoring businesses that have opened all over and parents send kids there after school and all summer. The kids try to learn algebra apparently before they learn to divide! These kids for the most part do not go to summer camp. They do not play baseball, go fishing, experience a campfire, etc. There is a onetrack work ethic. It is sad and I feel that it requires me to get my kid some tutoring (not even a fraction of what they get) just to keep up in school. My kid has his childhood. I am not taking that away, and my older son tells me how grateful he is that I allowed him to have his childhood. I felt that this atmosphere did hurt my older son's gpa, but not his sat scores. The reason for all of this tutoring is to get into the most competitive programs at the most competitive schools. Some kids get rejected by their families if they do not get into them. It is very sad.</p>
<p>yes you are operating in a bubble on this site. That's not a bad thing though. Most people put little to no thought (or certainly not enough) into where they will go to college. People who come to a site like this are obviously motivated and seeking to find the best schools, the right schools, the right fit etc. It is an effort to do all this and most people either don't want to bother or just don't appreciate the value and opportunity in making an "educated choice" for their college years or just the number of choices that may be available to them.</p>
<p>Yes, to an extent. When I ask I get about 1/2 blank stares and 1/2 people excited to talk about it. It's sad because I have friends whose parents make them take the hardest classes available but who don't give a damn about college. Most people from my school go to OSU (oregon state) cause they did it last minute like you said.</p>
<p>CC is definitely a bubble. You all have to realize that most people in the US don't go to college (if not a majority, a good chunk of the population). Even within the college-bound population, the majority of those are concerned with community colleges and public and private colleges which are not competitive. Only a small percentage of people are very active in the college search process, and it seems that most of them have congregated here.</p>
<p>When I was in high school, I was like those "others" you all are talking about. Most people in my high school went to either to Alabama or the local community college (aptly named "the 13th grade"). Only a small number of people went to another college. </p>
<p>In my own case, I always sorta assumed I would go to Alabama, too. I didn't put a whole lotta thought into the college admission process while I was applying and I was fine; I got into every college I appled to. I didn't even find this site until I was freshman at Vanderbilt.</p>
<p>well in my school students generally don't research for colleges (except for me and a few others). we just go where there's name and reputation, more's the pity. some people wonder why am i going through so much fuss to pick a college. "Just get a few well-known ones and apply, that's it!"</p>
<p>The closest thing to a well-known that people apply to around here usually is UT(Tennessee), of which they only know about the football record. makes me sad.</p>
<p>I get blank stares from most people at school and in my grade when mentioning things college. There are maybe 2-3 in my year (~275) who know about LACs (and some of the more obscure ones) in other regions of the US (which greatly surprised me). And maybe 4 people, at most, apply to any Ivy League (or Ivy-caliber) schools, each year (and these people are usually the valedictorian(s) and persons who do it "just to see"). For those that go to college from my school, (which is a relatively small number), they go to our flagship state U or one of the JCs. Oh, and it's good to note that my school has a ~64% graduation rate.</p>
<p>Hmmm my school has about the same graduation rate. I suppose that makes sense. And I do believe I am the only one(counselors included) that has a clue about LACs. The top people in my school generally just go to Vanderbilt, and would never consider any other option.</p>
<p>Large suburban public high school here. Generally speaking, if it isn't University of (fill in the blank state name), you get blank stares. If it's out of state, you get blank stares. If it's a LAC, you get blank stares. </p>
<p>What does this mean? It means that most people know only what falls within their limited range of experience. They have not needed nor chosen to research the college opportunities available.</p>
<p>I go to a small DC private school. Everyone attends a four-year university, but there is very little pressure or competition for the first two years of high school. I'm a rising junior, and I'm guessing that it'll get worse this year, but until now no one has really seemed concerned about it. Finding CC was probably the best thing that could've happened to me in this regard--before I came here I had no idea that it was so competitive. I used to be the kind of kid who coasted through with A-'s instead of working hard for A+'s, but CC has helped me become more motivated.</p>
<p>The short answer: People care, but fool around as much as they can get away with. Then panic.</p>
<p>At my S's public school in the NW there was knowledge, interest, and planning, but little obsession. There was no maniacal EC planning, no frantic attempts to make a national splash in anything, or the desperate search for a hook. It all kind of fell into place with 190 plus kids (out of about 405) going to top Universities and LAC's around the country, including Harvard, UChicago, Princeton, Brown, Amherst, Reed, Univ. of Wash, WashStl, Stanford, UC Berkeley, Duke, Rice, MIT etc. to give some idea of the geographic spread.</p>