George Will's "The Last Word" on College "Acceptance"

[PITTM]

okay, just pretend i said 14 years then.

[UMTerp]

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I also grew up in Montgomery County (and still live there), and went to the somewhat well-known math/science magnet program.

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Blair?

I grew up in Southern Maryland (Calvert County for those in the area), which is extremely rural compared to the suburbia that is Montgomery County. My parents were/are both teachers, and stressed the importance of education to me growing up, so I did enough to get A's and make them happy. I graduated top of my HS class, had great SAT's, got in everywhere I applied, and ended up at Maryland on a full ride. When I got there, I was stunned at how much smarter some of the top Montgomery County kids were than me. And not in an aptitude sense; I could still pick new concepts up more quickly than just about any of them, but it was so obvious that the Montgomery County kids were like 100x better prepared for college than me. And through no fault of my own - I learned what I was taught. These kids knew 2 years of physics before they got to college, they all came in with 20-30 AP credits, etc. I was actually a bit jealous of the opportunities they had that I didn't. Why did I deserve to be so far behind the curve? That's probably a result of all the competition they had among each other in high school.

I could only imagine how far behind I'd have been if I wasn't near the top of my high school class, or if I grew up in an area with really inferior high schools.

Of course when I got to college, I liked my new-found freedom too much and drank every night and rarely went to class. Made it through OK though.

And I live in Montgomery County now too.

[The Ocho]

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Rick,

I went to a public school with over 2,000 students, so all that stuff is very foreign to me! I'm sure we have many prep school kids here who had experiences just like that.

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yep. holy [censored] the drama at my prep school during the college acceptance time was insane/awesome.

for example, one legacy kid got waitlisted at princeton or something and went AWOL for 5 days or so.

another superoveracheiverchick got waitlisted at harvard and pretty much every teacher at my school bombarded the admissions department at harvard with letters of recommendation who then let her in

lots of backbiting and bitterness

also, plenty of rich kids getting into ivy league schools based pretty much on family ties alone gave me great insight into the workings of the uppercrust world

[Hellmouth]

Well I did't grow up in Montgomery Co but I grew up in the similarly competitive Fairfax Co in Virginia. This county is located to the east and south of the DC beltway. It was pretty nuts. I remember the AP classes, SAT (and for those so inclined) PSAT prep courses!

I think that things were pretty competitive but you really had a choice about how much you wanted to compete. You could take advanced courses or regular courses. You could apply to magnet schools or not bother. You could try for college credit or not bother. I would say that 70%+ of the school did not bother. I remember being shocked at how many people did not even bother applying to college.

I ended up at a VA state school (William and Mary) after applying early admissions and getting in. I did my graduate degree at UMD. I ended up living in Montgomery county and feel right at home. If we stay in this area this is where I would prefer to raise my kids. Hopefully they will get a good education. I do hope to instill a better sense of the value of money than most kids in this area (or my old town for that matter) seemed to have.

Greg

[kidcolin]

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this sounds like pretty much the exact opposite of my high school experience. iirc, no one at my high school was even remotely like this. then again, I am pretty sure no one went to an ivy for undergrad either.

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Sorta same here. I went to a small public school. Total of 600 or so students; my graduating class was 135ish. Two people near the top of the class were sort of like this. A guy and a girl. They were boring and actually not too bright. I think the guy took the SATs something like 4 or 5 times, and had been practicing since 8th grade. I think he eventually squeaked out a high 1300s score (maybe 1400 even). He went to Notre Dame, the girl went to Rensselaer (I got in there (didn't go) trying much less than her and having way more fun, but se la vi). She was smarter than him and pretty smart in general (though no common sense), I just think she invested way more time than necessary.

Most of the rest of the top 10% of the class went to UMass Dartmouth, just 20 minutes down the road. I think this is a problem, too, though. For one girl, it made sense (wanted to be a nurse, they have a great nursing program). For the rest, it shows a lack of "guidance" from our administration. Don't get me wrong, UMass Dartmouth is a decent school, nothing to be a ashamed about. But 7 of the top 10 students going there? 2 of which got a 1580 and 1600 on the SAT and could go pretty much anywhere? Something is wrong with your education system if the brightest kids you're churning out are settling for a small state school.

[MaxPower]

I don't consider myself one of the younger people, but this kind of thing is very familiar to me.

I went to high school in the 80s on Long Island. My community way made up of largely Jewish Nouveau Riche families whose parents had group up in Brooklyn and moved out to the 'Paradise" of Long Island. The parents and children were all obsessed with attending the best college followed by law school or medical school. My family and myself didn't really fit in. I ended up attending a decent school, but not because I strived very hard. I remember going over to my friends house. I would say, "lets go play some baseball". He would say, "lets take a practice SAT". The kids in my school talked incessantly about what they got on the SAT, what after-school activities they had for their college applications, what schools they were applying to, and what their "safety schools" were.

At that time, this type of attitude was probably somewhat rare, but now it seems to be the norm among middle class families.

[El Diablo]

Rick,

I dated a girl for a bit who went to Exeter. Those places are crazy.

[divides_by_zero]

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Something is wrong with your education system if the brightest kids you're churning out are settling for a small state school.

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This happened in my graduating class, too. ('04) Almost everyone ended up going to UW or UPS (I love those initials). Not that UW is a bad school, but a lot of kids didn't even bother trying for something grander. I think a lot of it was a) fear of not getting aid (which is odd to me because it ended up being almost the same cost for me to attend my private school as UW - the aid packages are great) and b) not wanting to go East, especially after 9/11. A lot of families were/are concerned about being broken up.

Also, I think it should be noted that unless you're going to essentially a "brand-name" school, the difference in education may not be worth the difference in price. Except for the big schools, where you got your degree doesn't matter much after you graduate. Paying 40K a year for BU just doesn't seem worth it compared to UW.

[The DaveR]

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Rick,

I dated a girl for a bit who went to Exeter. Those places are crazy.

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Oh yeah, my parents made me apply to Exeter and Andover but I didn't go. Thank the Lord.

[kidcolin]

dbz,

Jerk.. I went to BU! However, with financial aid, it pretty much cost me the same to go there (or Rensselaer or NYU) as it would have to go to UMass Amherst. In general you're probably right, though.

I don't think fear of not getting aid had anything to do with most of 'em. It's just complacency, IMO, and I don't think that's a great value to encourage in students.