@katliamom that is quite a bad ending for the first kid lol
@paul2752 It happens. There are no guarantees in life, save for the proverbial taxes and death. Even for top students.
Our val for class of 2018 is going to Vanderbilt, as did the valedictorian from class of 2017.
The sal for class of 2018 is going to Baylor, I think.
Top 10 at our public California bay area HS (not high ranked school) going to Stanford (2), USC, UCLA (2), UC Berkeley (2), Duke, Wellesley, Columbia
Our sal is going to Emory, whoops!
Vandy
Val: Duke
UMich which is common at my school
All top students at all three high schools in my hometown went to U-Mich way back then as well as today. Why go anywhere else? 
My DS’s school top grad(no official Val or Sal named) UC Berkeley - NorCal high school. The rest of the top 10-ish went to UCLA, Notre Dame, and ASU
The top two here are headed to UCSC and UCI (my DS). Just found out tonight.
The co-valedictorians at my kid’s HS are headed to Harvard and MIT.
Congratulations to your son! @TheGreyKing what a wonderful school!
Headed to Yale
Val: Colorado School of Mines (Most of our vals go here or to CU-Boulder)
Sal: USeattle and Embry-Riddle
Often val/sal and many other top ORM students don’t get accepted for admission or for enough financial aid while lower ranking URM or low income students see more favorable results. Just because someone picks a lower ranking school, it doesnt mean they weren’t qualified for higher ranking schools. Most schools don’t publish which colleges students were accepted at, just where they are sending their final transcript.
Worth noting that where students go isn’t always where they end up: The valedictorian of my D17’s class last year initially went to the University of Alaska Fairbanks (the in-state flagship), but has finalized a transfer to Colorado State University (thought I don’t know whether it’s Fort Collins or Pueblo).
The valedictorian last year is going to a SUNY and the salutatorian to Harvard. This year, the valedictorian is going to Lafayette and idk about the salutatorian
Val: UC Berkeley (OOS so no merit)
Sal (me!): University of Nevada, Reno (full ride!)
Last year:
Val- Harvard
Sal- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
(Note: Rank 4 went to Columbia)
This Year:
Val- Stony Brook
Sal- Syracuse
(Note: Some other people who’s rank I don’t know are going to MIT (1), Cornell (2), and UPenn (1) )