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It's not. I spent quite a bit of time in Lexington working with middle and high school kids. It's stressful for those kids because it's still so competitive. This line from the article says a lot: For their children, that means ending up in schools in which everyone is super bright and hypercompetitive. It’s hard to feel special.
I knew top kids there that were wait listed or simply not accepted at their preferred schools because they simply the same as all the other top kids at LHS. Kids that weren't up to rigors often feel even worse - they are going to be fine in life but were often judged/pitied by other parents as they didn't have the chops to compete for those top schools. When Syracuse, Ithaca, or Trinity is considered failure, there's something wrong.
I knew kids that left LHS to go to other towns and - horror of horrors - go to Minuteman Tech. They are doing just great in college.
I recall one Asian parent - child of immigrants - make jokes about the cultural emphasis on grades:
P = "What's wrong son?
C = "I got stung by a bee."
P = "A 'B'?? Why didn't you get stung by an 'A'?"
One could argue the pressure also stems from discrimination of Asians by Ivy league schools. Getting the top or best scores still does not gain entrance because of racial quotas... major pressure to stand way way way out academically
Even worse, employers politically now have diversity quotas they must meet and Asians(males) are no longer politically considered as diverse
One could argue the pressure also stems from discrimination of Asians by Ivy league schools. Getting the top or best scores still does not gain entrance because of racial quotas... major pressure to stand way way way out academically
Yes, in a town like Lexington this is likely a contributing factor. Also, despite the recent press highlighting the lawsuit, Asian students aren't the only group impacted by racial quotas.
I knew top kids there that were wait listed or simply not accepted at their preferred schools because they simply the same as all the other top kids at LHS. Kids that weren't up to rigors often feel even worse - they are going to be fine in life but were often judged/pitied by other parents as they didn't have the chops to compete for those top schools. When Syracuse, Ithaca, or Trinity is considered failure, there's something wrong.
My wife is in admissions consulting and we chat about her work often. It gets harder by the day to get into the top tier schools. It's not enough to just be smart and have good grades anymore. The schools also don't want to be too heavily populated by students from one part of the country or too many kids with the same major. Some majors are much more competitive than others for sure. I'm just blown away by how competitive this has become.
Far better on average - agree completely there. When we relocated to PA 8 year ago we only considered 3 school districts. For MA we are looking at top 25 or so and then working on commuting, housing, etc form there
And yes, I think we will presume I get something in Boston so that is a factor too
Keep in mind there's really no truly accurate/comprehensive way to do a cross-state comparison of school systems (yes, I get that there's data on things like SATs, or the NAEP, or AP placement, etc. etc. but tests are but one (often flawed) measure of a multitude of factors in determining school quality; not to mention test scores only measure student performance, not class instruction quality; also not to mention the many qualitative factors, such as the extent to which teachers connect with their students socially, or the general learning environment).
Native Pennsylvanian here actually (SEPA), and I've largely gotten the sense that (from having many friends/acquaintances in tony towns like Concord to much less affluent towns), the amazing school v. not-quite-as-amazing school dynamic and proportion is the same everywhere and entirely based on local funding. Also, in my experience going to a Top 100 university from a decent but certainly not "upper echelon" school district, my peers from the supposedly "creme de la creme" public schools weren't exactly all geniuses. Bright kids, sure, but not "God's gift to the world" because they went to a Lexington High or whatever other fancy suburban high school.
Essentially, if you find a relatively wealthy/well-off town that has the means to fund its facilities well, with a solid curriculum and attract talented teachers with respectable salaries, you're golden.
PS--since I'm savvy on all things Philly area, I'm happy to help possibly point you in the right direction based on potential town analogues.
Keep in mind there's really no truly accurate/comprehensive way to do a cross-state comparison of school systems (yes, I get that there's data on things like SATs, or the NAEP, or AP placement, etc. etc. but tests are but one (often flawed) measure of a multitude of factors in determining school quality; not to mention test scores only measure student performance, not class instruction quality; also not to mention the many qualitative factors, such as the extent to which teachers connect with their students socially, or the general learning environment).
Native Pennsylvanian here actually (SEPA), and I've largely gotten the sense that (from having many friends/acquaintances in tony towns like Concord to much less affluent towns), the amazing school v. not-quite-as-amazing school dynamic and proportion is the same everywhere and entirely based on local funding. Also, in my experience going to a Top 100 university from a decent but certainly not "upper echelon" school district, my peers from the supposedly "creme de la creme" public schools weren't exactly all geniuses. Bright kids, sure, but not "God's gift to the world" because they went to a Lexington High or whatever other fancy suburban high school.
Essentially, if you find a relatively wealthy/well-off town that has the means to fund its facilities well, with a solid curriculum and attract talented teachers with respectable salaries, you're golden.
PS--since I'm savvy on all things Philly area, I'm happy to help possibly point you in the right direction based on potential town analogues.
I disagree, it’s not about spending money, Cambridge spends more than 2x what Belmont spends per student. The highest performing districts don’t spent more than others, and often spend less. It’s about the demographics of the students. Move a well off kid from Belmont to Cambridge and they will thrive just as well, maybe better. But Belmont doesn’t have the low income kids that Cambridge has so they rank better on Greatschools. These “top districts” literally ride on the coat tails of their residents.
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