@DCNatFan Interesting to see the results from a Maryland DC suburb. Our VA DC suburb school (similar size) will sometimes list everyone’s college destination in the final magazine of the year. Very few kids opt out (usually fewer than 10). I think 225 (out of 500 or so) stayed in-state last year. 30 to 40 usually start out at the local CC.
I like that they mention every kid - some kids in a class of 500 likely feel invisible all four years, especially with so many overachievers in their class. It’s nice to see everyone get a little attention if they want it.
At open-admissions schools, particularly those with a large number of part-time students, there isn’t really a big drop-off after 6 years. After 8 years, sure, but 6 years doesn’t really capture that population well.
Also, one has to remember that graduation rates count students who transfer out as failures in the graduation rate for the original school even if they successfully graduate wherever it is they transferred to, and those transfers in don’t count either way for the second school. It’s useful in its own way, but it’s ultimately a ridiculous measure, because it’s based in the utterly outdated idea that the vast majority of students are “traditional” non-mobile full-time college students—and that’s now a clear minority of degree-seekers.
So really in some ways, if one is only measuring traditional full time non mobile for these purposes it would seem that arguably, the % that graduate of those who return after year 1 (versus the original cohort) may be a more meaningful number.
@eh1234 Her school is so uber competitive it is a bit out of control in my opinion. They (combination school and parents) would lead you to believe everyone goes to an ivy or other top school. I did a summary to show D19 that are many more students like her (3.4 SAT and 1300 SAT) that are going to state flagships and other smaller schools.
In total her school is sending 16 kids to Ivy league schools, about 3%. None are going to Stanford or MIT. Only 55 kids total (12%) are attending schools ranked in the top 25 of USNWR.
Approx. 100 students selected a MD state school, 22% of total.
D19 avoided the pressure cooker the past 3 years, enjoyed her HS experience, found friends with similar interests and will still be able to attend a fine school upon graduation.
My D1 attends a medium selective university (around 60% acceptance). Not highly ranked etc. I was a bit concerned about the graduation rate so we did research, talked to people, and read as much as we could. We determined that the factors that led to the lower rate did not pertain to her specific situation. So, while we didn’t ignore the number, but we ultimately decided that it didn’t apply. I think this is a good policy for any potentially negative information. For example, for one school, we were warned that the level of students in the class would be low and D would be unhappy with class discussions. She sat in on a class, loved the professor, found plenty of bright engaged students and decided to ignore that particular criticism. Others may have a problem with a school, but the only thing that matters is if its right for each individual student.
@DCNatFan surprised that i did not see GW or American on the list and that in the 2nd tier Georgia had the most. as opposed to GA Tech. Our school has a senior board where kids write where they are going in the Counseling Center, but nothing printed. i know a private school here that published on its facebook page where everything was going. My Nieces Smallish public HS in NJ does print in their in house paper where everyone is going. Based on what i know for our area and HS, most top kids try to get into UGA or GA Tech. The 2nd most popular is Kennesaw State after that as far as staying in state. All the other southern schools then come into play . Bama, Clemson, Auburn, univ of SC. Other 2nd tier schools in GA as well, such as GA Southern.
But at the private school list I saw, very few were staying in State. Afriends son at a different private school did not get into UGA but got in Tulane. Last year a girl also did not get into any state flagships but got into NYU.
@DCNatFan Super interesting list. The number to Michigan popped at me. My wife grew up in Montgomery County (Churchill) and even a generation ago they sent a large number to Michigan (which is a great school). Also interesting is the UMD number…which I’m suspect has been increasing as college costs increase and as the stature of UMD continues to rise.
I’ll try to get my son to share the similar list which they typically publish it in the student newspaper.
On school graduation rates, it seems like a lot of it correlates to money. Many of those who fail to graduate in 4 or 6 years seem to also have the fewest resources available. Which (sadly) makes sense. If everything has to go exactly right to make the finances work, it is a lot more likely someone would fail to graduate.
(As it is with many things. The correlation between most college ranking systems and endowment per student is astonishing. Why? Because a lot of what those things measure are actually effectively measures of university wealth, which correlates tightly—with some very few exceptions—with student household wealth.)
Curious if anyone here has a plan/timeline going into the summer. Our D19 does not like to be constantly bombarded with college talk so we are thinking about outlining a plan. Give us a list of schools by x date, Common App essay complete by y date, etc. Has anyone done or plan to do something similar. Also thinking about maybe setting up a set time each week to discuss progress, answer questions, etc.
@DCNatFan Friday is our last day of school and I promised to wait one week until mentioning college. Now, I’m not sure I can hold out that long! ACT boot camp starts one week later and then the test. When we get the results, we will come up with a structured weekly study plan for test weaknesses, and revisit college choices based on GPA and test scores.
As for starting applications, my understanding is that we can fill out basic profile information before August 1, but any essays specific to colleges should not be filled out until after that (I think those questions are not even available yet). The basic Common App questions are already available and my D will be working on outlines for those asap, with a deadline of August 1, since that is the first day of school (gee, it feels like summer is over before it even starts!)
@DCNatFan we have a loose timeline. One rolling app opens in June, it’s self reporting and he is an auto admit so whenever he feels like doing it, is fine. We have college visits early august and will start after that. School gets out so late in June and he has a week long mission trip in July that I plan to give him that month entirely off. August will see XC, summer AP homework and app stuff.
Once back from touring in August the plan is:
August:
Set up Common App Account.
Link to Naviance
Complete All sections except essays and activities.
Start rough draft of main essay and outline plan and calendar for supplements.
Start rough draft of activities
Set up Coalition Account.
Same as above
Apply to rolling school (1) if not already done.
September.
Ask LOR writers, Request via Naviance.
Work on Essays. Outline plan for completion.
Refine Activities list.
Schedule off campus interview for one RD school.
October.
Refine Activities section to reflect actual fall engagements.
All supplements done for 11/1 schools.
Possible visit to one school (unlikely).
11/1 schools submitted by mid month (3).
November.
All supplements done for 11/15 schools.
Submit 11/15 schools by 11/1 (3).
December.
All supplements done for 1/14 school.
Submit 1/14 schools by 12/15 (1).
This assumes no additional schools fall off. Or get added. We will likely have a weekly status update meeting starting in August until all are in. That works well for me and sets clear deliverables each week. The essay stuff may be adjusted based on when they are doing what in class.
In August I’ll start digging around for additional scholarships.
Where do you plan to dig for scholarships @eandesmom ? I have looked halfheartedly at a few places mentioned by the GC but I got the distinct impression that the scholarships in the big clearinghouse websites are for the typical CC overachiever not for my B student.
@fxtxfxtx agreed, we will not look at those. School specific supplemental ones and local ones only. We had some sucess with S17 that way and every little bit helps.
@eandesmom Great timeline. I think we are going to try to fully get the personal statement done during the summer. Having that off the plate will ease S19’s anxiety a bit. Most of his schools are straight common app…very few have supplemental essays…at least based on the current list. At this point I’m letting him focus on the last month of school…little to no college talk. We’ll see if I’m able to keep my mouth shut for a whole month.
You can have some success with the national scholarships as an average student. My DD’17 (who had a 25 ACT) applied for one we found on Sallie Mae which was the Printing & Graphics Scholarship Foundation. She is in Graphic Design. She won $1500 renewable. She is at community college, so she will get it two years.
So I’m not saying there is a shot at Coca-Cola Scholars or anything, but there may be some more targeted scholarships that are possible. If they know their major, try searching on that.
She also had decent luck with the local ones (another $2250) so definitely go for any and all of those you can find. She has been awarded $1500 from the college’s foundation scholarships so I would also recommend applying for those every year/semester as applicable for continuing students.
So S is receiving all kinds of recruiting email from colleges because he checked a box allowing that from the College Board. I know they all mean nothing and so does he but it seems a little unfair to court students so aggressively when the college has no idea if they are a good applicant or not. Most of them urge students to “explore us” and so forth but one S received recently asked him to update his contact info because “You’re one of the students I’m most looking forward to considering for admission.” It’s a pretty selective university and I sincerely doubt he could even be admitted there. The aggressive marketing is just . . . ugh. And for what? This particular school has PLENTY of applicants.
