<p>Well, Shanidar, I think you have made your point very, very clear…and though you are clearly very angry still, it is good to hear your view point.
I talked to another graduate (from 2011 I believe)recently. He loved it. Said that for all the negatives he had a lot of positives and actually found the vast majority of his teachers helpful and his classes challenging and informative. That being said, he was not running the race to be at the top and had no illusions that the experience would be the end all and be all of things. He loved the ‘scene’ of the NCSSM high school. He loved the mentorship he did. He loved being able to be on a Varsity sport though he had never been on a team in his life. He loved meeting kids from all over the state and making life long friends. He loved the clubs. He loved the diversity. He loved (most of the time) the residential part (though he did envy those who lived closer who could head home for an evening or go out to dinner with a parent just to get away). He is happy with where he is attending college and with the scholarship he received. He and is friends look forward to Alumni events already.
He did NOT like the work load (the amount of work constantly on his plate), his lower GPA, the fact that he felt tired far too often and the mandatory work service. But, in the balance of things…he would do it again. He DID go for the friendships, residential experience, diverse school, interesting clubs and activities AND the academics…but not only the academics.</p>
<p>Yes, I agree that you have to go in with your eyes WIDE open. But that includes knowing that some student do in fact have a good experience…while others have that of Shadinar’s. No place works for everyone. Some do leave before graduating and nothing is wrong with that. If it does not fit you, you should be willing to make a change. Hear the warnings, then make your choice.
I am ‘pro Shadinar’s psots’ because I am pro information. Hearing his story is as important as hearing from those that do not regret going to NCSSM one bit and count it as one of the best experiences of their lives.
T
p.s. Would LOVE to know the counselor and Math teacher you loved!!!</p>
<p>I wasn’t looking for the be all/end all at NCSSM. I was looking for the “greater challenge”. I was expecting the school to deliver what it promised. I know I held up my end. The school failed to uphold theirs. Period. </p>
<p>Yes, you can have a fabulous time at the school. You can re-take classes you took in your sophomore year. You can seek out the low pressure classes and the low pressure teachers. You can socialize to your heart’s content and no one will mind in the least. I don’t know why a person needs to attend a boarding school for that though. I had diversity at my high school, clubs, sports, friends. I certainly didn’t need NCSSM for that. </p>
<p>I and the people I hung out with were looking for more academically. We were looking for the highest level of instruction, student support, personal achievement, guidance, a path to excellence - which should exist at NCSSM but does not. </p>
<p>The situation will be different for everyone. Students with influential parents who have guided them and positioned them well come in to the school with such a huge advantage over students who simply bring potential, that the students who simply offer the school potential, no matter how tremendous, will be treated like they are second class. </p>
<p><strong>There is a range of students who are better off at their base high schools and you would do very well to figure out if you are in that range.</strong></p>
<p>Thanks for the insight, shanidar. Really, I was about to walk blind into that school thinking it was going to be the greatest experience ever. Although I’m still not totally convinced of not going, it really is eye-opening coming from your view. </p>
<p>Well, the actual decision of whether to go or not is still months away, and getting in is still an obstacle.</p>
<p>Can someone help clear this for me- 1st semester grades just came back and I have all A’s except for a 92.32% in HN PreCalc and 92.02% in AP Chem. I thought my grades were pretty solid but I got about 90 on both the midterms and there goes my A…</p>
<p>I’m getting really worried now because NCSSM will see that I have B’s only in my science and math classes. Other kids from applying from my school aren’t taking as challenging courses as me but I know of quite a few from my county who are taking AP Chem and Calc AB/BC (they got to skip precal) and are making A’s. My student rank is down because the top ones took honors bible history just to get the top ranks, and I feel like my chances just went down the drain. Is this really going to affect me?</p>
<p>Does anyone have a perspective on NCSSM Online? It seems pretty good, and you don’t have to include the NCSSM grades (unless you choose) in your transcript. It sounds like the best of both worlds—home school sports/friends plus a couple of classes of NCSSM caliber rigor.</p>
<p>Well, NCSSM online is free to non-public school kids as well as public school kids, unlike NCVPS. Also, NCSSM online seems to offer more specialized courses, especially in math and science, like Medicinal Chemistry, Computational Chemistry and Applied Finite Mathematics. It is true, however, that they also offer several of the same courses.</p>
<p>NCVPS was not a good experience for my kid. Hopefully, NCSSM online is better—more motivated kids, being able to actually meet your classmates, etc.</p>
<p>SECTION 7.20.(d) . . . . . . . . . . NCVPS shall be available at no cost to all students in North Carolina who are enrolled in North Carolinas public schools, Department of Defense schools, and schools operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The Department of Public Instruction shall communicate to local school administrative units all applicable guidelines regarding the enrollment of nonpublic school students in these courses.</p>
<p>So I applied, and just got my discovery date. I’ve always had straight A’s, and did very well on the SAT, but have very few clubs (my school doesn’t have many). Does coming from the red-headed-step-school help or hinder?</p>
<p>FYahbolt…The district you comes from seems to matter more than anything else.
You may not have ‘clubs’, but do you have sports or community service or orchestra, etc.? I would ‘guess’ it would matter only in terms of being compared to other straight A students with solid SAT scores who also managed to juggle activities.</p>
<p>@Shanidar
Sorry for the delay and returning to this, I didn’t see that you had responded.
That doesn’t say that NCVPS is offered at no cost to kids who are not enrolled in public school, i.e. private or home school kids. Check the NCVPS site if you feel that what I pointed out was invalid or splitting hairs</p>
<p>I am a current junior at NCSSM. In response to your qualms about top NC schools not accepting NCSSM classes, I think that the fact that they are the TOP NC schools answers that in itself. Those schools which you mentioned expect you to go to there and learn MORE, rather than go and exempt all of their classes. It makes since for them not to let you exempt anything because they expect such a high level of intelligence from all of their students. Also, I assume that they want the students to stay at the school for as long as possible. (The tuition is expensive for a reason)</p>
<p>Here’s what you wrote: Well, NCSSM online is free to non-public school kids as well as public school kids, unlike NCVPS.</p>
<p>That kind of implied NCVPS was not free to public school kids.</p>
<p>If you continued your sentence: unlike NCVPS which is not free to non-public school kids as well as public. </p>
<p>Just wanted to be certain public school kids know their options. </p>
<p>And the thing about NCSSM classes not receiving widespread acceptance - this conversation has been going on for years. Here’s the scoop - ask ANYONE at State or Carolina who graduated from NCSSM - if you’re planning to go to either of those schools (as most NCSSM grads do) you’d be far, far better off staying at your high school (if you can load up on AP’s there) than attending NCSSM. </p>
<p>So many people in my year are really angry because kids from their old high schools start Carolina a semester or even a year ahead of them because of AP credits. Believe me, the luster of NCSSM wears off real quick once you get to college and start paying that tuition. Maybe it was all okay when NCSSM grads got free tuition. Now, it’s a real rip-off. </p>
<p>I’m not talking about Ivy league schools. They don’t accept much of anything from anybody, but then again, very few NCSSM grads attend Ivy league as a percentage of the graduating class.</p>