<p>yeah - I kind of thought sour grapes,too. But it was a novel theory . . .</p>
<p>blossom, I understand your point, but what I'm trying to say is that I don't think colleges should make assumptions about a kid's home environment based on factors like the education of the parents, their income, or even their marital status. Not all single moms are created equal, not all divorces result in the same complications, not every well-educated parent is a good academic influence, and so on. I remember sitting in a school goals committee meeting and hearing the principal blame the town home residents for low test scores at the community school. I asked if there had been a study which showed that the children living in town homes actually had lower test scores than children living in single family homes? He got a little flustered and had to admit that he didn't have hard statistics, but everyone knows that socio-economic factors impact test scores. Well, that may be true statistically, but does that mean if my kid got a 1600 on his SAT's that the accomplishment is all the more commendable given our socio-economic status since we live in a town home? Hogwash. My kid received the same education as wealthier children in town. </p>
<p>Similarly, I fail to understand how URM children who live in a larger home than we do and who have attended the same public schools as my children have should be viewed any differently based on the color of their skin. </p>
<p>I think it's fair to consider the schools attended by the student. Beyond that, it's too much guesswork.</p>
<p>PS: If we look at career success and economics, Britney Spears should be an exemplary mother and her children may be expected to have all of the best in life.</p>
<p>GFG- interesting example (townhome). We've had the same experience, except it's living on the 'mainland' rather than 'oceanfront'. Somehow people believe that living on the ocean raises your IQ. :confused: Another interesting one is the general concensus at the private hs my kids attended- that the kids who matriculate from public elementary school bring the level of academics down. Funny thing, this just came out recently- the public school kids' math AND reading scores are higher. Boy did that little revelation raise some eyebrows (as well as ire- all those years paying for private school for naught).</p>
<p>I've told this story before, but, in a similar vein to the above post, my colleague was surprised when my son did very well in his freshman year at a selective university, because "public school students aren't usually well prepared for work at such a difficult college!" :eek:</p>
<p>And even within private schools, using the student's parents' jobs as an indicator of possible academic success is off base. The full and partial scholarship private HS students uniformly out do many students with massively more economically well-off parents. </p>
<p>Case in point is Tommy Lee Jones, Gore's roommate at Harvard. Jones was an oilfield roughneck's kid and only attended a toney private preparatory HS in Dallas because of full scholarships. His HS class mates included sons of the most wealthy and influential in Dallas. Jones graduated cum laude from Harvard in 1969.</p>
<p>Motheroftwo-
At our private hs, I believe the demands in any given class might be greater than the nearby public. HOWEVER, the level of support given to the students (after school tutoring, extra chances, counseling, and general hand-holding) was MUCH higher at our school. So in the final analysis, I don't think the kids were 'better prepared' for a competitive sink-or-swim college environment. What they might have gained in terms of more demanding curriculum was more than offset by the huge amount of support that went along with it. And the outcomes bear witness to this. Quite a few stellar students from our school end up washing out when they try it on their own.</p>
<p>My friend and I would often marvel at the fact that all the children we knew whose parents were teachers seemed to be very poor students. How could that be? Surely these teachers value education, they have some didactic skill with which to help their children with homework, they have a better understanding of the content on standardized testing, they tend to have shorter work hours including summers off, and they have great health benefits. Familiarity breeds contempt maybe?? Of course, we were making a generalization based on a small sample. But it just goes to show that you never know. </p>
<p>Several years later, this same friend got her teaching certificate and actually admitted to an irrational fear that somehow now her kids' academic performance would mysteriously decline, lol.</p>
<p>You don't get to be a senior level career civil servant by working 9-5, unless you mean 9-5 7 days a week. And, btw, the salaries of senior career people at the Federal level, and in some cities and states, are high enough that they can afford to send their children to the same private schools as the children of CEOs. This is especially true in DC and some, if not all of the suburbs, where two-person incomes are the norm.</p>
<p>Doubleplay - I am sure that many students from both private and public schools are well prepared for the demands of rigorous college work. Top private schools offer more advanced coursework than our public school did, so students who can excel at these are very well prepared. However, all students (public and private), such as my son, who aspire to top colleges need to attain top scores on tests such as the SAT 2. At our high school, the physics and chemistry courses (and maybe others which I am not familiar with) do not cover huge segments of the material on these tests and very few students take these tests. So in order to get the score needed for admission to a top school, the student needs to learn this material on his own (as my son did). A student who can successfully do this, as my son did, is obviously well prepared for rigorous college work. That is what my colleague did not realize when she made her remark about how unprepared she believed my son was for his rigorous university.</p>
<p>My GS14 supervisor is married to another GS14. I don't know what step they are but I'm sure they make over 200K between them. </p>
<p>I'm a measly GS11 (up from a GS3 in 1991) and I have no college at all. FWIW, my parents were an engineer and a teacher. I guess higher education skipped a generation in my family.</p>
<p>Do I think the fact that my son is considered a 1st generation student (because I didn't go to college) and the fact that he has never met his dad, have any influence in his acceptance at college? Probably, he wrote about it in his essays. But he had the stats to warrant acceptance and the fact he got mega merit aid put him somewhere I could have never done on my own.</p>
<p>I'm tempted to make a pithy comment, but I'll try something really serious instead:</p>
<p>"For every misperception there are dozens of exceptions."</p>
<p>We were a GS-29. Other than the fact that my wife was always at work (she was the 15) we did very well. We are now retired with two very good civil service pensions and nice retirement jobs with the Wisconsin state government and the University. Plus we now have cheaper housing and THE BELTLINE IS NOT THE BELTWAY.</p>
<p>I know this is not what the OP was driving at but I resented the insult to government employees many of whom are much better educated than the general population.</p>
<p>In our case, D has already gone way beyond her mom's background. Thank goodness!</p>
<p>Federal government employees/retirees have amazing benefits including the health plan, and since many family members have worked for the government, they've been able to take advantage of this wonderful program.</p>
<p>DS has been a gov't EE for the past ten years. Two Ivy degrees and works longer hours than he did when he was at a law firm. Trust me, you all get your money's worth out of him! :) </p>
<p>We know a number of extraordinarily intelligent people who work for the gov't. Some wanted to have a more balanced life, some want to make a difference through their work. DH found it a terrific way to integrate his various skill sets into a position that he finds intellectually challenging and useful to society. The 9-5 hours, they ain't happening.</p>
<p>I will admit I am grateful for his medical coverage. </p>
<p>There are some slackers, but I think one finds them in every place of employment, private, gov't or non-profit.</p>