2011 NoVa SAT Scores (McLean, Oakton, Mount Vernon: how much, neighborhood, school district)

[JD984]

It's not uncommon for parents of students who did well on SATs but attend schools with lower averages to assert their kids have a leg up in the college admissions process over students with similar scores who attend schools with higher averages.

I wonder how people would react if counties ceased to disclose the scores at all for individual schools. I assume it would be viewed as a lack of transparency.

[OrangeFish]

Originally Posted by JEB77

I assume it would be viewed as a lack of transparency.

Exactly.

Thanks for posting these again this year, JEB77. It's a valuable resource/thread for the C-D community.

[saganista]

We're a little spoiled in this area. Despite all the carping from some about bloated bureaucracies, corrupt school boards, self-serving teachers' unions, and of course, all these intolerable (LOL!) taxes, FCPS et al. do a very good job across the board. Any kid attending any school in the region is going to have access to a very good education.

Many people moving into the area are not coming from places like here. Many are coming from places that really do have rather spotty school systems...where it really does matter which side of the tracks or street or whatever particular dividing line you might live on. Can't be too down on folks for fearing or assuming that FFX might be the same sort of setup...

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by saganista

Many people moving into the area are not coming from places like here. Many are coming from places that really do have rather spotty school systems...where it really does matter which side of the tracks or street or whatever particular dividing line you might live on. Can't be too down on folks for fearing or assuming that FFX might be the same sort of setup...

However, it's our jobs as locals to disabuse them of such notions. We often don't do a very good job of it.

[shamrock847]

Originally Posted by JEB77

It's not uncommon for parents of students who did well on SATs but attend schools with lower averages to assert their kids have a leg up in the college admissions process over students with similar scores who attend schools with higher averages.

On the other hand, there are also a lot of parents who would argue being in one of the highest scoring/best known high schools gives a leg up in the admissions process for the most elite colleges (Ivy league, Stanford, MIT etc). They would argue that with the same scores, a student applying from a school that consistently sends several students a year to elite university x will be better positioned because their high school is a known quantity to the admissions folks and the student will have access to older peers, guidance counselors, teachers etc who have navigated the process for admission to those elite schools before.

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by shamrock847

On the other hand, there are also a lot of parents who would argue being in one of the highest scoring/best known high schools gives a leg up in the admissions process for the most elite colleges (Ivy league, Stanford, MIT etc). They would argue that with the same scores, a student applying from a school that consistently sends several students a year to elite university x will be better positioned because their high school is a known quantity to the admissions folks and the student will have access to older peers, guidance counselors, teachers etc who have navigated the process for admission to those elite schools before.

They would like to think it; however, it's really not true. Kids are in almost all cases judged on their test scores, grades, essays (in some cases), extra-curriculars and, at some schools, their family connections.

[JD984]

Originally Posted by CAVA1990

They would like to think it; however, it's really not true. Kids are in almost all cases judged on their test scores, grades, essays (in some cases), extra-curriculars and, at some schools, their family connections.

I think you and Shamrock847 are making different points. His goes largely to whether some high school environments are more likely than others to facilitate a child's application to certain schools, while yours goes to how two equally situated candidates from different high schools will be evaluated by the same college or university.

[shamrock847]

Exactly, I agree with CAVA on how applications are evaluated, but my point was that a student from a certain high school may have an advantage in crafting those essays or choosing the "right" extracurricular activities because they have better access to other students and staff who have cracked the code with successful applications to certain colleges in the past. They may even get a little "boost" if they have a very high class rank from a school known for being exceptionally rigorous or competitive academically.

One one hand I like to think a student would perform no differently in say two different FCPS high schools, but the fact that there is a significant price difference for houses a few blocks apart but zoned to different high schools says a lot of parents think the school they put their kid in matters a lot.

[Denton56]

Originally Posted by stpickrell

Montgomery County:
Whitman 1857
Poolesville 1846
Churchill 1825
Wootton 1800
Richard Montgomery 1770
Walter Johnson 1744
Bethesda-Chevy Chase 1742
Blair 1725
Damascus 1642
Quince Orchard 1621
Einstein 1607
Sherwood 1592
Magruder 1576
Northwest 1561
Clarksburg 1546
Rockville 1524
Gaithersburg 1502
Watkins Mill 1501
Blake 1474
Paint Branch 1469
Springbrook 1643
Northwood 1450
Seneca Valley 1435
Kennedy 1413
Wheaton 1344

Isn't this the NOVA forum? You might want to post that list on a Maryland forum.

[Denton56]

Originally Posted by CAVA1990

They would like to think it; however, it's really not true. Kids are in almost all cases judged on their test scores, grades, essays (in some cases), extra-curriculars and, at some schools, their family connections.

And race. With Affirmative Action alive and well at nearly all universities, race matters.