<p>HImom, I would love to start a thread here but there is a minor issue with that. You can message me about it and I will explain it in detail.</p>
<p>I hope my son’s small graduating class isn’t reperesentative of what’s going on out there. Two kids were kicked out for disciplinary reasons. Three kids left a school saying it was too much like our high school. Two left a school saying it was too “ghetto”. Two kids flunked out (One ended up getting a medical pardon, allowing him to get into another school, and the other did a semester at our local cc and was able to return to his original school). One girl quit her terrific LAC when her boyfriend got kicked out of his school. One girl, accepted spring semester at school in MA, decided it was too far away after that first semester. Another girl quit a highly regarded art academy because she didn’t like all the work. And one kid did really well his first year and was able to transfer to a school that originally rejected him.</p>
<p>“For example, you will never see a six-year graduation rate of 97% at Swarthmore or Caltech. The academic programs are simply to rigorous for EVERYONE to make it.”</p>
<p>I find it hard to believe that these elite schools wouldn’t tailor their rigor to match the students they accept. (And that is why they only accept such excellent students.) The only thing I know about Swarthmore is that after accepting such amazing students they are committed to ensuring these students don’t just flunk out. If they need help the professors will personally ensure they get enough tutoring to understand the material.</p>
<p>However, at least for CalTech, I wouldn’t be surprised that some number of students leave because they reconsidered what they would like to study, and their new choice might not be offered there. My daughter started at a state flagship with the intent to study engineering. One quarter of engineering convinced her that wasn’t really what she wanted to do. She started taking various other classes, found she loves psychology and will be graduating with that degree. Those big state flagships have that option, which is probably why their retention rates are so high.</p>
<p>for those discussing Franklin and Marshall…anecdotedly, we have heard that it is easier to be admitted than to necessarily do well there; add to that fact, a large majority is pre-professional (pre-med, pre-law)…you may have kids transferring out because they view their GPA’s as too low for med or law school…finally, F&M takes a huge # of kids ED to protect their yield (and economic situation) as discussed on other threads; it’s possible that some of those kids just can’t hack the rigor (especially in the sciences)…all speculation on my part, but have heard stories…</p>
<p>When you are talking about a school of 2,000 students total though a difference between a 79% 6 yr grad rate and an 88% 6 year grad rate doesn’t really amount to many kids imo…yes, it’s a difference, but one can’t really determine what happened with such a small sample size of students…</p>
<p>I would be more concerned, actually, as a prospective parent, if the freshman retention rate was low…F&M is not on our list; no idea what that is…</p>
<p>“I find it hard to believe that these elite schools wouldn’t tailor their rigor to match the students they accept.”</p>
<p>Isn’t it the other way around, that they accept only students who have proven they can handle the rigor?</p>
<p>It all probably depends on the pressures of your kids’ graduating class, public vs private, & how closely you & your kid are able to track what happened to different kids. As far as I know, the kids who graduated from my son’s HS (about 200+) are all on track to complete whatever college they attended or transferred to, either after 4 years or thereabouts. The HS probably weeded out many of those who might otherwise not stick through to get their BA/BS & beyond, as it was a competitive private prep school.</p>
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<p>I’ve never seen broader and deeper student support systems, academic and otherwise. They are a national leader in programs like their peer writing center, science study group programs, etc. I believe that anyone accepted can graduate and the college goes out of its way to put a climbing rope on 'em and get 'em to the top of Everest (so to speak). Nevertheless, there is no “gut track” and you ultimately have to produce the work in an interactive/discussion oriented format where there are few big lecture halls in which to avoid participation if you haven’t done the reading. A 97% graduation rate would mean that, over the course of six years, no more than 11 of each incoming group of freshmen decide to transfer or climb a somewhat easier mountain. This from a student body that has very high diversity. They get to 92%, but I don’t see 97% or 98% in the cards. Frankly, I think any college that gets to 98% needs to ask if their program is challenging enough.</p>
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<p>Among the US News top-ranked LACs and research universities, the ONLY school that claims a 98% six-year graduation rate is Harvard—though Yale (97%), Princeton (96%), and Williams (96%) come close. Are you suggesting these schools aren’t “challenging enough”?</p>
<p>Well, he did say 98%. 
That’s 50% more not finishing at 3% vs. 2%. :)</p>