2008-2009 Schools chosen by local top 2 high school graduates (Dallas: top schools, universities)

[FarNorthDallas]

Originally Posted by wolsmr

Thanks very much for the info. We find the data extremely useful to us.
Do you also have last few years' data?

Why, yes, yes, I do. Well, last year's anyway.
2008 Schools chosen by Valedictorians and Salutatorians by high school

Quick glance looks like more kids stayed close to home this year compared to last year.

[$DFW8$]

Originally Posted by JS1

Who cares? I'm sorry, but I don't see the value in this data whatsoever.

And why is that?

[Grainraiser]

I guess I am naive but why does Brigham Young have so many.

[Big G]

Originally Posted by Grainraiser

I guess I am naive but why does Brigham Young have so many.

Much like Notre Dame attracts a lot of the top Catholic kids, BYU is the preferred destination for Mormons. Even more so, really. There is a bit of an expectation in the LDS church that, if you can swing it personally and financially, the top kids SHOULD attend BYU. Also, attending BYU is an acceptable alternative to immediately doing your 2-year mission right after high school.

[TurtleCreek80]

Yup- and I didn't look at the list of which high schools are sending top grads to BYU, but I know there is a heavy concentration of Mormons in Flower Mound & Lewisville. Probably 100 of them work for Bain Consulting's Las Colinas office (Mitt Romney having been a partner @ Bain).

[Grainraiser]

Thanks for the information. I learn something new everyday.

[hsw]

Always interesting data on where smartest and/or highest-achieving kids in HS are moving for college

Saw in Harvard Crimson that ~40% of Harv Class of '09 remains w/o a single job offer at graduation...perhaps illustrating importance of both attaining entry to an elite college...and achieving high grades in a career-relevant major like computer science or finance (both majors not available at lib arts Harv or Yale; and Prince has a mediocre engineering school)

Perhaps more strategically relevant for Dallas economy is % of grads (esp top 10% of class) of top 5 colleges who choose to come to Dallas to pursue their careers...

[theloneranger]

Originally Posted by Big G

Much like Notre Dame attracts a lot of the top Catholic kids, BYU is the preferred destination for Mormons. Even more so, really. There is a bit of an expectation in the LDS church that, if you can swing it personally and financially, the top kids SHOULD attend BYU. Also, attending BYU is an acceptable alternative to immediately doing your 2-year mission right after high school.

You have to be 19 to go on a mission in the LDS church, so those that don't go to the Y end up going to another college for a year or else working for a year. BYU definitely makes going on your mission much easier to accomplish without bureaucratic nightmares than any non-LDS school. Also, it is one of only a few LDS schools, unlike Notre Dame, so those that want a Mormon school are most likely going to end up there, and also the fact that Mormons tend to be much more religious on the whole than Catholics and thus more likely to want an environment that follows the Word of Wisdom rathern than the "sinful" lives of most college students.

Originally Posted by FarNorthDallas

Why, yes, yes, I do. Well, last year's anyway.
http://www.city-data.com/forum/dallas/359974-2008-schools-chosen-valedictorians-salutatorians-high.html

Quick glance looks like more kids stayed close to home this year compared to last year.

I think this has a lot to do with the economy--UT had a higher yield than normal--many kids who wouldn't have picked Texas in most years are ending up at Texas because $8k tuition a year is a lot cheapter than $50k.

[momof2dfw]

Originally Posted by loves2read

and I wonder how many students have parental ties to some of these colleges...

Not only that but you also have to factor in other decisions that make these their top picks for their continuing education:
1. State school = less out of pocket expenses in tuition for mom & dad
2. Close by = commuter most likely
3. Religious affiliation
4. Following friends, boyfriend/girlfriend (I always lecture kids on this if they are following a boy/girl relationship as it never stays the same once at the big school).

Based on all of that I'm pretty sure most of the kids in the top 2 spots could probably have picked any school in the country they wanted but chose to stay closer to home due to other factors over prestige. With the finances related to college being the top reason for staying closer to home.

[Grainraiser]

My guess is those kids on that list are getting a free ride.