High schools in Sugarland, Katy (Houston, Dallas: real estate, low crime, houses)

[descovy]

Originally Posted by LocalPlanner

Yes, unless you're one of those parents who's obsessed with having your child achieve auto-admit status to A&M or UT. Then, if you do pick certain schools, you have no choice but for your child to engage in the competitive craziness.

Nah- even then you can chill out on the competitive craziness. Plenty of kids go to Blinn or satellites of TAMU (Kingsville, Corpus Christi, etc) for a year and then transfer to College Station. They have a whole program called “PSA” to do this. Still graduate an Aggie if that’s your thing.

I don’t have a kid in the UT system so I can’t speak to that- but I bet they do something similar.

And all the enlightened parents know UT and TAMU are not the end all be all to success.

[Texas Ag 93]

Originally Posted by descovy

Nah- even then you can chill out on the competitive craziness. Plenty of kids go to Blinn or satellites of TAMU (Kingsville, Corpus Christi, etc) for a year and then transfer to College Station. They have a whole program called “PSA” to do this. Still graduate an Aggie if that’s your thing.

I don’t have a kid in the UT system so I can’t speak to that- but I bet they do something similar.

And all the enlightened parents know UT and TAMU are not the end all be all to success.

Agree. My Bill and SIL have homeschooled their 5 kids for many years. Our oldest nephew got into A&M provisionally but had to spend the first year in Galveston. He then transferred to College Station his last 3 years and graduated. His younger sister is in grad school in the Northeast in a STEM field on a full scholarship.

I also know a lot of people with very bright and high achieving kids who don't get auto admit into UT or A&M and instead choose to go to out of state flagships like Indiana, Mizzou, OU, Arkansas etc and do very well. Some of them don't bother to return to Texas, which is unfortunate, because it's a brain drain. I've even heard that some other states will waive out of state tuition to try and get high achieving Texas students, but I can't confirm where and in what circumstances.

[WRM20]

Originally Posted by Texas Ag 93

Agree. My Bill and SIL have homeschooled their 5 kids for many years. Our oldest nephew got into A&M provisionally but had to spend the first year in Galveston. He then transferred to College Station his last 3 years and graduated. His younger sister is in grad school in the Northeast in a STEM field on a full scholarship.

I know a lot of people with very bright and high achieving kids who don't get auto admit into UT or A&M. They choose to go to out of state flagships like Indiana, Mizzou, OU, Arkansas etc and do very well. Some of them don't bother to return to Texas, which is unfortunate, because I think a brain drain. I've even heard that some other states will waive out of state tuition to try and get high achieving Texas students, but I can't confirm where and in what circumstances.

LSU offers either in state tuition or full scholarships to high graduating Texas students. I think Mississippi does as well, and Arkansas.

[Texas Ag 93]

Originally Posted by WRM20

LSU offers either in state tuition or full scholarships to high graduating Texas students. I think Mississippi does as well, and Arkansas.

As someone with a 9th grader and Middle schooler, this is good to know.

[LocalPlanner]

Originally Posted by descovy

Nah- even then you can chill out on the competitive craziness. Plenty of kids go to Blinn or satellites of TAMU (Kingsville, Corpus Christi, etc) for a year and then transfer to College Station. They have a whole program called “PSA” to do this. Still graduate an Aggie if that’s your thing.

I don’t have a kid in the UT system so I can’t speak to that- but I bet they do something similar.

And all the enlightened parents know UT and TAMU are not the end all be all to success.

I'm not approving of the auto-admit obsession, but there seems to be a fair share of parents who do it and don't chill out as you describe. And if you're at a Seven Lakes or Clements sort of school, I can't imagine how you go for auto-admit without your more circuitous route and somehow avoid the competitive madness.

[Htown2013]

Originally Posted by LocalPlanner

I'm not approving of the auto-admit obsession, but there seems to be a fair share of parents who do it and don't chill out as you describe. And if you're at a Seven Lakes or Clements sort of school, I can't imagine how you go for auto-admit without your more circuitous route and somehow avoid the competitive madness.

For being such a "conservative" state, the auto-admits are one of the least conservative admission policies I've seen anywhere in the country.

IMHO it is a terrible punishment for hardworking families who wanted to live in a nice area. Something is terribly wrong with the system if it is so much easier for a student to get accepted to a similar level private or out of state school. Problem is those schools cost 4-5x as much as the public schools. That is a terrible unfair punishment.

I find this state to be ridiculously expensive with the insanely high property taxes, insurance, and now this.

[WRM20]

Originally Posted by Htown2013

For being such a "conservative" state, the auto-admits are one of the least conservative admission policies I've seen anywhere in the country.

IMHO it is a terrible punishment for hardworking families who wanted to live in a nice area. Something is terribly wrong with the system if it is so much easier for a student to get accepted to a similar level private or out of state school. Problem is those schools cost 4-5x as much as the public schools. That is a terrible unfair punishment.

I find this state to be ridiculously expensive with the insanely high property taxes, insurance, and now this.

The auto admit law was put in place to allow students from all districts to have the chance to get into UT, TAMU, and Texas Tech.

[LocalPlanner]

Originally Posted by Htown2013

For being such a "conservative" state, the auto-admits are one of the least conservative admission policies I've seen anywhere in the country.

IMHO it is a terrible punishment for hardworking families who wanted to live in a nice area. Something is terribly wrong with the system if it is so much easier for a student to get accepted to a similar level private or out of state school. Problem is those schools cost 4-5x as much as the public schools. That is a terrible unfair punishment.

I find this state to be ridiculously expensive with the insanely high property taxes, insurance, and now this.

There are many neighborhoods that are perfectly fine places to live that have decent schools and are likely less expensive for the same quality home as neighborhoods zoned to the ultra-competitive, perceived A+ schools. This is such an obvious way to save money, I don't understand why people choose to ignore it.

[gwarnecke]

Appreciation rates tend to correlate somewhat with school ratings/perceived school quality, so while you may save some $ on the purchase price and annual tax bill by going with lower-rated suburban or near-suburban schools, your total cost of ownership might not be as much lower as you think.

I do agree that the greater Houston area as a whole would be better-off if more families were willing to put down roots in solid older near-suburban neighborhoods between 610 and Hwy 6/1960, rather than racing out to the shiny-new houses and schools in the far suburbs. But as long as people can either work remotely 1-2 days a week and/or are willing to put up with 1+ hour commutes, we'll continue to face the stagnation of many older neighborhoods.

[LocalPlanner]

Originally Posted by gwarnecke

Appreciation rates tend to correlate somewhat with school ratings/perceived school quality, so while you may save some $ on the purchase price and annual tax bill by going with lower-rated suburban or near-suburban schools, your total cost of ownership might not be as much lower as you think.

I do agree that the greater Houston area as a whole would be better-off if more families were willing to put down roots in solid older near-suburban neighborhoods between 610 and Hwy 6/1960, rather than racing out to the shiny-new houses and schools in the far suburbs. But as long as people can either work remotely 1-2 days a week and/or are willing to put up with 1+ hour commutes, we'll continue to face the stagnation of many older neighborhoods.

Perhaps there is opportunity cost to purchasing in a less trendy neighborhood in terms of foregone wealth generation. But for people to choose the trendy neighborhood option, especially because of school reputation and / or anticipated wealth generation, and then to complain about purchase price, property taxes, insurance cost, commute time and competitive class rank for public university purposes, strikes me as myopic at best, and at worst hypocritical, selfish, and immature at worst.