Lamplighter vs. St. Mark's Lower School (Happy: private schools, live, stats)

[Taub201]

I went to a SM soccer game last night. It was senior night.

Of the four graduates that mentioned colleges, they included Penn, Columbia, Johns Hopkins and one of Fordham/Miami/UT. The other five or so were undecided because regular decision results don't come out until the end of March.

I wonder if many other senior nights in early February mention where the graduate is attending college.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by Taub201

I wonder if many other senior nights in early February mention where the graduate is attending college.

I think with the huge increase in Early Action / Early Decision applications in the past 5 years, it is pretty common that a good number of seniors know where they’re matriculating by January / February.

Also, considering you were at an athletic event, there have been 3 rounds of signing days so far this school year so if they are recruited athletes, they would likely have committed by now. St Marks has alumni currently playing sports at MIT, Stanford, Harvard, UCLA, Vandy, Penn, Dartmouth, Johns Hopkins, etc.

[debtex]

Originally Posted by Taub201

I wonder if many other senior nights in early February mention where the graduate is attending college.

A lot of them. The calendar for applications/admissions has functionally moved back; most competitive universities accept half or more of their new class in early rounds.

If you're curious, most of these schools have Instagram accounts where they announce school commits. Do a search for the school name and the class year to find them.

[rabbit33]

Originally Posted by Taub201

I went to a SM soccer game last night. It was senior night.

Of the four graduates that mentioned colleges, they included Penn, Columbia, Johns Hopkins and one of Fordham/Miami/UT. The other five or so were undecided because regular decision results don't come out until the end of March.

I wonder if many other senior nights in early February mention where the graduate is attending college.

Well, the usual mix is probably about 25% Ivy/nearIvy/Rice/MIT/Stanford level, about 50% local as in UT, A&M, other southern universities (these are the fellows who are going to go into daddy's business) and 25% the rest.

[DFWGuy422]

Originally Posted by rabbit33

Well, the usual mix is probably about 25% Ivy/nearIvy/Rice/MIT/Stanford level, about 50% local as in UT, A&M, other southern universities (these are the fellows who are going to go into daddy's business) and 25% the rest.

That’s a bit of an over generalization. At a school like St. Mark’s, a lot of the people going to SMU, TCU, A&M, UT, and so on probably could have gotten into Ivy+ schools or did get into them and decided they wanted a different experience. Or, they could have picked it for the cost difference, especially if graduate school of some sort is on the table.

[debtex]

Originally Posted by DFWGuy422

That’s a bit of an over generalization. At a school like St. Mark’s, a lot of the people going to SMU, TCU, A&M, UT, and so on probably could have gotten into Ivy+ schools or did get into them and decided they wanted a different experience. Or, they could have picked it for the cost difference, especially if graduate school of some sort is on the table.

Can confirm this is true. Many of these families don't have $300k lying around for undergrad, and schools like SMU, Tulane and Baylor can offer lots of merit aid to really good candidates.

[Taub201]

https://www.smtexas.org/academics/college-counseling

UT and A&M are a bit higher than usual, same with Santa Clara. No UTD last year and seemed like more breadth into Alabama, ACC, St John's, Samford, etc. No Cornell. <Sad> But all the rest of the Ivy League + MS represented.

Last year's enrollment:
13. University of Texas, Austin
6. Southern Methodist University
5. Harvard University
5. Texas A&M University
4. Santa Clara University
4. University of Chicago
3. Brown University
3. Georgetown University
3. Vanderbilt University
2. Twelve colleges
1. 32 colleges

[DFWGuy422]

Originally Posted by debtex

Can confirm this is true. Many of these families don't have $300k lying around for undergrad, and schools like SMU, Tulane and Baylor can offer lots of merit aid to really good candidates.

+1.

Especially with multiple kids and/or grad school on the table. St. Mark's could make a lot of financial sense given the all but guarantee that a graduate would be able to get heavy merit aid at some good schools.

[DFWGuy422]

Originally Posted by Taub201

https://www.smtexas.org/academics/college-counseling

UT and A&M are a bit higher than usual, same with Santa Clara. No UTD last year and seemed like more breadth into Alabama, ACC, St John's, Samford, etc. No Cornell. <Sad> But all the rest of the Ivy League + MS represented.

Last year's enrollment:
13. University of Texas, Austin
6. Southern Methodist University
5. Harvard University
5. Texas A&M University
4. Santa Clara University
4. University of Chicago
3. Brown University
3. Georgetown University
3. Vanderbilt University
2. Twelve colleges
1. 32 colleges

That's a very impressive list for sure. Most schools would be thrilled to have roughly 1/4 of their graduates going to SMU, UT, or A&M, let alone all of the Ivy admissions.

[Taub201]

https://www.smtexas.org/admission/tu...-financial-aid

Apparently, only 120 families receive financial aid at SM. However, it's impressive that "donut hole" families with $140K to $225K in household income receive $21K, or 66%, of a tuition break. With average class sizes of around 15, great resources and lots of competition, SM grads should be well prepared for success at top universities.