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I can tell you that being Valedictorian doesn't matter when it comes to college acceptances, especially at the highest level. Harvard, Princeton and other Ivy's will flat out tell you that when you visit. They will each tell you they turn down hundreds of them every year.
What matters is the "fit": Is that student the type which will thrive and contribute at a particular college. A kid who fits at more artsy Brown might not at another Ivy. A kid who loves writing will do well at Princeton which requires 50 page Junior and 100 page Senior papers.
If a student has very good grades in the most challenging courses available at his school - 90 and above, good SAT's - high 600's to mid 700's, plus shows a genuine interest in learning for learning's sake and doesn't appear to be just a rote learner devoted to blind memorization, that kid has a chance to get into a top college. My proof is my own kid at Columbia and a cousin's at Brown. Neither were straight A students at their schools and neither went to top ranked schools. My son's school was quite low on the list, in fact. Neither was a valedictorian or ranked near the top of their class, either, but both showed genuine sparks of intellect - which teachers evaluations backed up, and an interest in learning as much as possible while in college which showed through in their essays. They also had long running, extra curricular projects of their own which they did outside of school.
Too many kids concentrate on school based activities and end up looking very vanilla on their applications. Thousands apply with good grades and scores and a long list of clubs and activities, but look very much like each other. They have nothing to set themselves apart from the others, nothing to catch an admissions person's interest. Sure, they could do the work, but what else would they bring to the table? That's the catch. Colleges are trying to build classes with a wide variety of students so that each can learn from the other. They are looking for different backgrounds, different skills and interests, different ways of thinking about everything.
A friend visiting Harvard with his daughter (she became Valedictorian when she graduated from 12th grade) was happy to hear from her interviewer that the college was looking for a very diverse class as he and his daughter were Black. He was astonished and had to laugh when the very next words the person said were, "By diverse, I mean, we are thrilled to have just accepted the Junior Juggling Champion of the World". Good grief! Not many of them around! But just think of the work and concentration and drive that must have gone into that kid's achievement. Imagine what the kid could do in school and beyond. In the end, my friend's daughter decided to go to a state school so that she wouldn't graduate with a mound of debt. Smart girl!
My son told me that when Freshman began comparing their high school experiences it became apparent that while a lot had gone to magnet or top ranked schools, many more had not. They did come from all over the country and from every possible background, rich, poor, middle class, city, suburban and even remote native American reservations. Each brought something unique, a Texas farm boy played a mean jazz piano, a future scientist was a world champion Rubic's Cube player.
The kids from around the world were the most amazing. The sheer hours kids in Asia were expected to put into their school and homework, plus the high pressure after school tutoring programs they went to were astonishing. American kids have no idea how hard school can be. These international kids were expected by their families and friends to produce top grades like clockwork. A's only were acceptable, no B's ever. That seemed to be true for kids from Africa, India and Europe too. The international students I have met are exceptionally bright, focused and mature beyond most American kids. They have high expectations for themselves at school and for their lives after college, and are willing to work hard to achieve them. Very impressive.
Last edited by hortense1919; 12-21-2011 at 11:22 AM..
I can tell you that being Valedictorian doesn't matter when it comes to college acceptances, especially at the highest level. Harvard, Princeton and other Ivy's will flat out tell you that when you visit. They will each tell you they turn down hundreds of them every year.
What matters is the "fit": Is that student the type which will thrive and contribute at a particular college. A kid who fits at more artsy Brown might not at another Ivy. A kid who loves writing will do well at Princeton which requires 50 page Junior and 100 page Senior papers.
If a student has very good grades in the most challenging courses available at his school - 90 and above, good SAT's - high 600's to mid 700's, plus shows a genuine interest in learning for learning's sake and doesn't appear to be just a rote learner devoted to blind memorization, that kid has a chance to get into a top college. My proof is my own kid at Columbia and a cousin's at Brown. Neither were straight A students at their schools and neither went to top ranked schools. My son's school was quite low on the list, in fact. Neither was a valedictorian or ranked near the top of their class, either, but both showed genuine sparks of intellect - which teachers evaluations backed up, and an interest in learning as much as possible while in college which showed through in their essays. They also had long running, extra curricular projects of their own which they did outside of school.
Too many kids concentrate on school based activities and end up looking very vanilla on their applications. Thousands apply with good grades and scores and a long list of clubs and activities, but look very much like each other. They have nothing to set themselves apart from the others, nothing to catch an admissions person's interest. Sure, they could do the work, but what else would they bring to the table? That's the catch. Colleges are trying to build classes with a wide variety of students so that each can learn from the other. They are looking for different backgrounds, different skills and interests, different ways of thinking about everything.
A friend visiting Harvard with his daughter (she became Valedictorian when she graduated from 12th grade) was happy to hear from her interviewer that the college was looking for a very diverse class as he and his daughter were Black. He was astonished and had to laugh when the very next words the person said were, "By diverse, I mean, we are thrilled to have just accepted the Junior Juggling Champion of the World". Good grief! Not many of them around! But just think of the work and concentration and drive that must have gone into that kid's achievement. Imagine what the kid could do in school and beyond. In the end, my friend's daughter decided to go to a state school so that she wouldn't graduate with a mound of debt. Smart girl!
My son told me that when Freshman began comparing their high school experiences it became apparent that while a lot had gone to magnet or top ranked schools, many more had not. They did come from all over the country and from every possible background, rich, poor, middle class, city, suburban and even remote native American reservations. Each brought something unique, a Texas farm boy played a mean jazz piano, a future scientist was a world champion Rubic's Cube player.
The kids from around the world were the most amazing. The sheer hours kids in Asia were expected to put into their school and homework, plus the high pressure after school tutoring programs they went to were astonishing. American kids have no idea how hard school can be. These international kids were expected by their families and friends to produce top grades like clockwork. A's only were acceptable, no B's ever. That seemed to be true for kids from Africa, India and Europe too. The international students I have met are exceptionally bright, focused and mature beyond most American kids. They have high expectations for themselves at school and for their lives after college, and are willing to work hard to achieve them. Very impressive.
But: Do test scores REALLY define how good a school district is?
Location: An Island off the coast of North America
449 posts, read 1,132,811 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Crookhaven
Is Amityville SD really THAT bad that you think you grew up Rich lol.(Doesent N Amity go to Copiague anyway?)
Middle to Upper Middle yes....Rich, no.
FWIW theres some fairly big dollar areas in AV too.
Beautiful stuff.
Crooks
PS
I think Lindys a damn good value.
I didn't grow up rich-from when I was 0-12, my mom lived in a 3-family home in Amityville, my Dad lived in an apt under his parents in Mass Park (East Massapequa CDP). I went to school in Massapequa, spent most of my time in that area, but my real "home" was in A-ville. School hired detectives, caught me on camera living in Amityville, and tried to get me into Miles Middle School, the Amityville Horror School. but my Mom "outwitted" them by moving into a basement studio in Massapequa. That became my home-no room, no bed. 14 months like that, got sick of massapequa, moved to a 3-family home in N-Lindy.
Massapequa is rich-median household income: $107,000-that's twice the national median. LINDENHURST is upper middle class: $83,000. Amityville could be solid to upper middle class ($71,000). You have to remember-what we consider ghetto on LI is still middle class on a national average.
Oh and North Amityville is 40% A-ville SD, 50% Copiague SD, and 10% F-Dale SD.
TBH, I would NOT send my kids to Lindy SD-there's something off if there is a sprouting rap group in the HS. But thats the middle/elementary schools' fault if kids are entering the HS like that. The HS is fine, hasn't been bad at all, lots to offer, however, it is quite dangerous in terms of constant bomb threats. That's my main problem.
But back to my point...I don't trust Massapequa SD after they spent tax dollars hiring a detective to make my life miserable....
Razor never said HE grew up rich. Is the area rich? Some parts are certainly up there. Is RVC rich?
South of Merrick rd in the pequas across the board compares very closely to house prices/niceness in RVC and many North Shore towns. The bulk however is solid middle to upper middle, with a relatively low poverty rate. I'd agree with that.
I could see though how that is rich to an apt dweller, or say , someone living in Rocky Point?
I kinda see your POV and even agree with it to an extent. I think there should be a lite tracking program - not like NYC though where they pull the best from 90% of the schools, put them in magnet programs and leave the rest for dead. Maybe that's why so many parts of NYC are so shi4tty?? One other thing I noticed though is in the RVC example link you posted, detracking actually lifted ALL students' performance in that High School (Southside). Did you notice that?
I also noticed though that the top 10 percentile did not improve as much as the rest of the cohort. Do you think detracking was the cause of that? They did still improve though, across the board. Kinda interesting.. and that goes against logic IMO.
Good point.
Im just saying Middle Class is Middle Class my friend.
There's some stunning homes on the water in Rocky Point, Lindenhurst and Amityville too....but Massapequa is still a solidly Middle Class town.
Nicer than Lindy? Perhaps, but not necessarily worth the premium in all cases.
I will say this, Massapequa Park is a steal of late considering the quality of the schools.
I just think Lindy and AV have some real value too.
710 words, race tossed in, international students added to the mix -- it was way OT and not relevant to the thread's question which focused on whether test scores make a district as many people do rely on them when deciding to move to an area.
perhaps your definition of "middle class" is VERY inclusive...but the prices in Massapequa vs. those other areas tell a different story.
I do, the majority of this Island is Middle Class.
Perhaps your definition if "Rich" is VERY cratered.
Last time I checked you could get in the door in the Pequas in the 3-4 range. That sure the hell dont sound like Muttontown to me?
Are you really suggesting that Massapequa is something other than Middle (or Upper Middle Class) Nassau? If that be the case then the bottom has completely fallen out of the county.
No offense, nice town, good schools, good value, but be realistic.
Remember you can find big dollar homes just about anywhere on the water here (and people with money who occupy them).Yes, in AV and even Lindy too.
Crooks
Last edited by Crookhaven; 12-22-2011 at 02:55 PM..
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