Which high schools are the two best? (tuition, engineering)

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by hts

Well, where I come from (northern VA suburbs of DC), I'm used to a little diversity, lol.

At the BASIS school our sons currently attend here in Phx, the student demographics are probably more like 50% Asian/Indian, 50% other (I could be wrong, but that's what it seems to me at awards ceremonies, drop-off/pick-up, etc.). Not that there's anything wrong with it.

Nothing wrong with that at all. I attended schools in Fairfax before moving to Texas some time ago.

[austinnerd]

Originally Posted by hoffdano

All three schools have competitive academic environments, perhaps a bit more so at Westwood. College bound kids in Texas care a lot about being in the top 10% of class rank because that guarantees admission into any state school except UT (which received a waiver from that rule to reduce the number of automatic admissions).

This brings up an excellent point about getting one's head on straight about what the "real" goal is. Next year UT will be doing top 8%, in 2014 it goes down again to 7%. In addition, they will only be filling 75% of all in state slots with automatic admissions and they will start with the highest rankings and work there way down. What this means is that while being in the top 7% in 2014 gets you to eligibility status, you may still not get in (automatically) if you were at say 7% and they filled up at 6%.

So, if your end game is to get your kids into UT, sending them to a school like Westwood is actually tactically a riskier bet. I've mentioned this in a (long ago) previous post, but a couple of years ago, when they (UT) was admitting top 10%, in order to be in the top 10% of the class at Westwood required you to have an academic average of something like 5.2 (on a 5 point unweighted scale, 6 point weighted). That means that a student MUST take preAP/AP courses and ace many/most of them to even have a hope of making it. Given that it's going down to 7% will make matters worse. Ditto for LASA and Westlake.

Now if your kiddo is Harvard or Stanford bound (or is a genius and doesn't mind/notice/care about the pressure), this all of that may not matter an iota to you. But like I said, one really should consider the broader picture when making a determination of "best", esp since the predominant attitude is to take a very sterile numbers only approach to defining that term academically.

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by austinnerd

This brings up an excellent point about getting one's head on straight about what the "real" goal is. Next year UT will be doing top 8%, in 2014 it goes down again to 7%. In addition, they will only be filling 75% of all in state slots with automatic admissions and they will start with the highest rankings and work there way down. What this means is that while being in the top 7% in 2014 gets you to eligibility status, you may still not get in (automatically) if you were at say 7% and they filled up at 6%.

So, if your end game is to get your kids into UT, sending them to a school like Westwood is actually tactically a riskier bet. I've mentioned this in a (long ago) previous post, but a couple of years ago, when they (UT) was admitting top 10%, in order to be in the top 10% of the class at Westwood required you to have an academic average of something like 5.2 (on a 5 point unweighted scale, 6 point weighted). That means that a student MUST take preAP/AP courses and ace many/most of them to even have a hope of making it. Given that it's going down to 7% will make matters worse. Ditto for LASA and Westlake.

Now if your kiddo is Harvard or Stanford bound (or is a genius and doesn't mind/notice/care about the pressure), this all of that may not matter an iota to you. But like I said, one really should consider the broader picture when making a determination of "best", esp since the predominant attitude is to take a very sterile numbers only approach to defining that term academically.

Absolutely true....the key issue here if UT is the goal though is to understand "there is a way" even if you don't make the automatic cut. Lots of automatic qualifiers wash out after their freshman year. It is clear that many of these kids just can't cut it. So UT has a well established path for sophomore transfers, especially from other UT schools like UTSA.

I don't think anyone makes top 10% at Westwood, Westlake, or Lake Travis without the grade point boost of pre-AP and AP classes.

[LakeTravisAlum]

I have personal experience with the Top 10% rule. I took mostly AP classes at LT and had a 3.7 GPA (on a 4.0 scale) and was still not in the Top 10%. I had classmates that had 100+ grades in their classes and were barely in the Top 10%. It's very difficult to be at the top of your class at the competitive schools in this area.

[Idlewile]

Originally Posted by LakeTravisAlum

I have personal experience with the Top 10% rule. I took mostly AP classes at LT and had a 3.7 GPA (on a 4.0 scale) and was still not in the Top 10%. I had classmates that had 100+ grades in their classes and were barely in the Top 10%. It's very difficult to be at the top of your class at the competitive schools in this area.

I'm curious, not to hijack here but, LTA and others, what do those who are still extremely high achievers, like LTA, (but don't make the 10% because everyone else is a high achiever) do college-wise and how do they and their parents feel about the rule?

Were they banking to make the 10% (or 9% or 8% -- whatever the mandate is now) so they could go to a TX school?

Do they apply anyway?

Were they surprised they did not make the 10% or if you go to a school like LT, Westwood or Westlake do you have a decent idea you won't make it unless you have a 3.9+?

What do parents and students at these schools, especially those without a ton of cash for out of state tuition elsewhere feel about the top 10/9/8% rule?

Seems incongruent that those who attend the most academically rigorous public schools AND do well are then penalized by being precluded from a program solely based on academic merit and reward.

[austin-steve]

Originally Posted by Idlewile

I'm curious, not to hijack here but, LTA and others, what do those who are still extremely high achievers, like LTA, (but don't make the 10% because everyone else is a high achiever) do college-wise and how do they and their parents feel about the rule?

Were they banking to make the 10% (or 9% or 8% -- whatever the mandate is now) so they could go to a TX school?

Do they apply anyway?

Were they surprised they did not make the 10% or if you go to a school like LT, Westwood or Westlake do you have a decent idea you won't make it unless you have a 3.9+?

What do parents and students at these schools, especially those without a ton of cash for out of state tuition elsewhere feel about the top 10/9/8% rule?

Seems incongruent that those who attend the most academically rigorous public schools AND do well are then penalized by being precluded from a program solely based on academic merit and reward.

From what my family experienced, and from hearing the same from other Eanes families I know, the "high achievers" (aka Average Westlake Students) who don't make the cut for top 10% for UT or A&M do very well with other colleges. My daughter was at the top 1/3 cutoff (if there were to be such a thing) with a 97.5 GPA. In her graduating year, the top 10% cutoff was a 104 GPA.

She received acceptance with scholarships from multiple colleges including Baylor, SMU, TCU, Trinity. She was accepted to USC, but no scholarship. Her TCU scholarship covers 1/2 tuition making the net cost comparable to what we'd be paying at UT with no scholarship. She didn't want to go to UT or A&M anyway, and we're extremely happy with TCU.

Steve

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by Idlewile

I'm curious, not to hijack here but, LTA and others, what do those who are still extremely high achievers, like LTA, (but don't make the 10% because everyone else is a high achiever) do college-wise and how do they and their parents feel about the rule?

Were they banking to make the 10% (or 9% or 8% -- whatever the mandate is now) so they could go to a TX school?

Do they apply anyway?

Were they surprised they did not make the 10% or if you go to a school like LT, Westwood or Westlake do you have a decent idea you won't make it unless you have a 3.9+?

What do parents and students at these schools, especially those without a ton of cash for out of state tuition elsewhere feel about the top 10/9/8% rule?

Seems incongruent that those who attend the most academically rigorous public schools AND do well are then penalized by being precluded from a program solely based on academic merit and reward.

The kids outside the top 10 first of all don't have to go to UT! A&M is an excellent school and even better in some fields. I know quite a few kids that enrolled at UTSA and transferred to UT after their freshman year. It is almost a "program" of its own. A very similar program exists for A&M - take 4 classes at Blinn, 1 on the A&M campus, transfer as a sophomore.

At these high schools you will know as a sophomore if you are in range of finishing top 10%. If you are 15% in 10th grade you will not make it.

I know LTHS kids also choose TCU, SMU, Trinity, Texas Tech, other UT campuses, UH in addition to the achievers that choose Ivy, Rice, etc. It is easier in general to get admitted to many selective private schools in Texas and elsewhere because the top 10 rule is irrelevant. My oldest son was not top 10 but was accepted by Emory.

[centralaustinite]

Texans provide "geographic diversity" to colleges all over the country! The "sticker price" of nearly all schools is reduced by scholarships, grants, etc especially for strong students who went to strong schools! No one outside of TX cares about 10% rule, in fact some ISDs have stopped ranking kids outside of the 10% at all.

[Idlewile]

Steve, hoff and central, all really great info, thank you. And, no, I know not everyone must be interested in attending UT, or any TX school be it A&M or Baylor etc. etc., but I guess I wanted to take the temperature, so to speak, given the mandate.

Remember, to an outsider like me, all you see, everywhere you go, on every driveway or car bumper is a longhorn or Aggie -- the solidarity of alumni for TX schools here is stronger than any other place we've been --rightfully so as TX has great schools, but I think those who've been here a while may take that UT/A&M, even Baylor high profile-ness as a normal level of support for schools within your state -- but it's not! I was just curious how many have an expectation of going to a TX school because of it.

[GreenPlastic]

A lot of kids from high income/high performance schools have been going to SEC schools in the last 10-15 years as top 10(and dropping) has squeezed them out of UT and A&M.