"One of the most competitive high schools in the State"

9,259 Views | 24 Replies | Last: 2 yr ago by SteveA
Charpie
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AG
Does that term make you laugh? It seems that every kid says, "Oh I'm not top 10 percent BUT I DO ATTEND ONE OF THE MOST COMPETITIVE HIGH SCHOOLS IN THE STATE!"

What constitutes a competitive high school anyway?
WhoHe
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AG
Every school has its own academic profile it uses to compare itself to other schools, and universities like TAMU use those profiles to help establish quartile ranks from students from non-ranking high schools, amongst other data.

Here's an interesting link ... I guess some of these kids could be using resources like this when they are making their claims ...

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/search?state-urlname=texas&public=true
94chem
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The ranking criteria are skewed toward the early college high schools. Those places are usually pretty gimmicky. More like early junior college.
94chem,
That, sir, was the greatest post in the history of TexAgs. I salute you. -- Dough
Ag9701
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Westwood in Austin (RRISD) had approx 78 National Merit Semifinalists....which is more than 10% of the graduating class. Multiple NMFs from this school get capped at UT. That fits for for competitive imo.
Charpie
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AG
I am aware. My daughter is graduating from there in May.

I just laugh because I see every parent say this about their kids high school. And I sit back and think, "but are they competitive compared to Westwood?"
AgOutsideAustin
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AG
Good for her, where is she going next year ?
Charpie
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Hopefully to Aggieland. We are still waiting
AgOutsideAustin
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Charpie said:

Hopefully to Aggieland. We are still waiting


Yeah I was wondering. Good luck to her !
kota
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Ag9701 said:

Westwood in Austin (RRISD) had approx 78 National Merit Semifinalists....which is more than 10% of the graduating class. Multiple NMFs from this school get capped at UT. That fits for for competitive imo.


This blows me away. My son was one of two at Vista Ridge.
Charpie
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My daughter's freshman year, 60 percent of the kids had a 4.0 GPA or higher.

The top 10 percent at Westwood is CUT THROAT. She basically said, "I have two choices. I can kill myself and make awesome grades. Or I can work hard, do band and cross country and track and enjoy my high school life." With our support, that's exactly what she did.

I don't regret supporting her decision. She's a great kid and would be top 10 percent at any other school in this district. And if it means that she doesn't get into A&M as a result, then so be it. I'd rather have a well rounded kid who can manage lots of things than a kid who thinks school is the most important thing in the world.
HECUBUS
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HECUBUS
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We're in Eanes. They score highly on tests here too. They're National AP Scholars plus and most enter college with a ton of credit.

The kids that were successful are killing it in college and can tell you their high school was much more competitive.

People not familiar with these high schools have no idea. I didn't until my kids went through it. Ours was bumped up two years in STEM classes in elementary school, so top ten was possible without any extra effort. Non GT kids took STEM classes in the summers during middle school just to be in position to get enough APs in high school. There was one kid taking 8 APs at the same time, no lunch. Lots of parents hire academic consultants in middle school, many pay professional essay writers and private ACT/SAT tutors. A score below 1500 isn't brag worthy. Shame. Sports here are beyond crazy, academics are much, much more competitive.

Yeah, these schools are worth a laugh. Laugh at the crazy parents, but the kids have no chance at top ten if they didn't kill it in elementary and middle school.
Charpie
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Indeed. So many kids from Westwood that have come back tell you that tu and A&M is a breeze compared to Westwood.
Buck Turgidson
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Why would you put your kid through that when there are such high odds it will cost them a spot at A&M due to the ill conceived 10% rule? Even if you are not targeting A&M, don't most good colleges look at class rank?
Ag9701
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I agree. My son goes to WWHS. If your child is in the top 6% for UT or top 10% for A&M, it works out well but if not, it can be a big disadvantage from an admission standpoint b/c I don't think most Universities take into acct how "hard" your HS is.

It also hurts for admission to other schools. Most kids getting into Ivy League schools or even Rice based on their academic record (not an athlete, etc) are usually in the Top 10 or 15 kids in a big public high school. It is very hard to do that at schools like LASA, Westlake and Westwood. I was told for Fall 2020, more than 50 kids applied to Duke for example. They were all for the most part probably qualified but competing against another 50 really smart kids from your same HS is big disadvantage IMO.

I do think the education my son is getting is excellent and I also think he is well prepared for TAMU, UT and most other universities. I can't say though if he was a motivated kid at another RRISD, he wouldn't be prepared either. I would assume all of the top kids who are motivated at the other RRISD high schools will also do well in college.

WhoHe
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Ag9701 said:

I agree. My son goes to WWHS. If your child is in the top 6% for UT or top 10% for A&M, it works out well but if not, it can be a big disadvantage from an admission standpoint b/c I don't think most Universities take into acct how "hard" your HS is.

I don't think this is accurate for TAMU - I actually think the non-ranking helps students outside the top 10% at tougher schools. I know for a fact our daughter was not in the top 25% of her class - the schools know the kids' rankings even if they don't publish them - but she was ranked in the top quartile by TAMU when they ranked her, and that had much to do with the academic standing of her high school.

I can only speak for TAMU, but there's no question they evaluate the academic quality of the school and your student's comparison to other students in their class at the school, in addition to how successful students from your high school have been at TAMU, when they assign a quartile rank.

The problem with this year is that the test optional offer made it more difficult to evaluate these kids because there was even less direct-comparison data available.
Charpie
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I've been assured that they do take the competitiveness of high schools into account.

Westwood stopped ranking outside of the top 10 percent. What happened? Lots of kids outside of the top 10 got into to tu and A&M compared to years past. They also were awarded triple the scholarship money as in years past.

Will the academic rigor of Westwood prepare my kid for college? Likely so.
Will it help her get into A&M? Perhaps not.
Ag9701
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We listened to a lecture with a UT counselor/advisor about this last summer. He said after a school stops ranking, it benefits the students at that school the most in the next 1-2 years. After that, UT has had enough time to adjust. I agree test optional hurt some of the top 10-15% kids this year at WW...kids ranked high at other schools taking AP classes might not look that different from a WW kid with high SAT scores.
Traveler
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Charpie said:

My daughter's freshman year, 60 percent of the kids had a 4.0 GPA or higher.

The top 10 percent at Westwood is CUT THROAT. She basically said, "I have two choices. I can kill myself and make awesome grades. Or I can work hard, do band and cross country and track and enjoy my high school life." With our support, that's exactly what she did.

I don't regret supporting her decision. She's a great kid and would be top 10 percent at any other school in this district. And if it means that she doesn't get into A&M as a result, then so be it. I'd rather have a well rounded kid who can manage lots of things than a kid who thinks school is the most important thing in the world.
Good for you and your daughter.

This is the type of person that is successful no matter what school they go to ... and the type of student that good oos schools (UF, ou, etc, etc) will throw money at.
Charpie
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Trust me, it was hard to toss the money to someone else for her.

She got into A&M on Friday.
Aggie71013
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Why go to one of these schools versus the second or third best high school in a district? Seems miserable.
Charpie
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For us? She has been going to school with these kids since she was 5. It was about the continuity. It also helps that we live behind the high school's softball/baseball fields.
alvtimes
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https://www.google.com/amp/s/foxbaltimore.com/amp/news/project-baltimore/city-student-passes-3-classes-in-four-years-ranks-near-top-half-of-class-with-013-gpa

Top 10% anyone????????
94chem
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Buck Turgidson said:

Why would you put your kid through that when there are such high odds it will cost them a spot at A&M due to the ill conceived 10% rule? Even if you are not targeting A&M, don't most good colleges look at class rank?


I'd be more concerned that they never had time to learn how to think. Creative people need time to sit around doing nothing. If they want to be automatons, there are plenty of Asian countries that can help them with that.
94chem,
That, sir, was the greatest post in the history of TexAgs. I salute you. -- Dough
94chem
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Buck Turgidson said:

Why would you put your kid through that when there are such high odds it will cost them a spot at A&M due to the ill conceived 10% rule? Even if you are not targeting A&M, don't most good colleges look at class rank?


The real problem is that you end up like Oskar Schindler, wandering around at the end of the movie, thinking if you had just spent one more hour, taken one more class, stayed up a little later.. this is doing exactly the opposite of preparing kids for life. Guess what? Being a stud at multi-variable calculus doesn't make you special. By the time you're 21, there will be 50 people in your class who are good at it. Who cares that you stayed up all night learning it when you were 17? You made a 1550. So what? The engineer that designed our reactor never talks about his SAT score. I love smart kids too. I've got a quiver full of them. I went to A&M on a PES/NMS. But Lord, if only our best and brightest could solve problems and be kind to others. If my kids, in spite of me, can somehow be in the top 10% at those things, I will tapdance on the freeway.
94chem,
That, sir, was the greatest post in the history of TexAgs. I salute you. -- Dough
SteveA
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My son is a freshman at Allen, with an enrollment of 6,000. I'm pretty sure too 10% will be quite difficult. He makes all a's in all AP classes and scored in the 95th percentile on his psat. If that doesn't get him in th A&M, then they don't deserve him.
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