Dickerson vs. Dodgen Middle Schools

[jym626]

Agree, lastminutemom. The instate schools, IMO, that have benefitted from getting the students that didn't get into or didn't want to attend UGA or Tech are Kennesaw, Ga State, Ga Southern, and to some degree, Southern Poly, Ga College and State and West GA. The big nearby State U's you mention also will also often match the HOPE in terms of giving $4k in aid to help defray the out-of-state tuition, which makes them attractive to GA students. Some Ga students also like to head to FL, and some are going to FSU and UCF. UF is tough to get into, especially from out of state. They used to offer a full tuition to National Merit scholars, but no more.

By the way, anyone who claimed they got a "full ride" from the ivies in the past was probably blowing smoke (or had a sports scholarship). All the Ivies did was meet demonstrated need. NO merit scholarship $$.

As an aside to Rainyday-
I reread my earlier post about the JFR traffic, and was describing both the horrible traffic we had before the initial widening of the Cobb side of JFR in the mid-1990's as well as the anticipated improvement with Fulton's current widening efforts. (It took a long time for Cobb and Fulton to work out their issues and ultimate agreement to widen the road, and to get the air/emissions standards to an acceptable level to meet the Federal clean air act standards in order to proceed). I can see where that can be confusing. Did you have to commute on JFR before or during the initial widening on the Cobb side? It was awful!!

[CToGA]

This is quite interesting. I'm curious, however, where everyone there in ATL draws the line between lower/middle/upper class. Up here due to the high cost of living, the lines are very vague and unclear at best - HH incomes in the 250-350k range up here would definitely qualify as middle class and will not buy a very large house nor a very luxurious lifestyle. In our neighborhood, for example, a five bedroom colonial can cost around $1 million.

I do agree with lastminutemom that the general attitude up here (across all classes) is that if your child can get admitted into a top university (particularly Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, MIT or HYPSM as we call it), it is the parents' obligation to find a way to fund their child's education at that university since the child has done what is perceived as the hard work necessary to get into a university of that caliber. Having said that, I think it is wonderful that UGA/Georgia Tech have so much support from GA residents and if either one of our children expresses a desire to attend those schools (the older one doesn't currently but who knows in a few years) we would be happy to support their decision.

As an aside, lastminutemom, I read some of your prior posts and you seem to know a lot about the Dunwoody area. We're looking into that area as well and I would love to have your input. (I have another thread title Atlanta Newcomer Questions so as to not divert from this thread) I'm curious why the elementary schools score so highly but the middle/high schools do not - do a lot of people go private in that area?

[kaday]

This is quite interesting. I'm curious, however, where everyone there in ATL draws the line between lower/middle/upper class. Up here due to the high cost of living, the lines are very vague and unclear at best - HH incomes in the 250-350k range up here would definitely qualify as middle class and will not buy a very large house nor a very luxurious lifestyle. In our neighborhood, for example, a five bedroom colonial can cost around $1 million.

I think they payscale in the Notheast is structured differently. Depending on the field, generally professionals make less money here. Its great to transfer in as you bring your NE slary with you. But, the housing cost is much lower. With an income of 250-350 you can live extremely well here. If you chose to live in a grand home in Buckhead and send your kids to private schools well it won't go quite as far.

In some areas in the Atlanta area you can live very well on $120,000. That might be tough in afluent areas but still some middle to upper middle class areas I think you could make it work on that income. In East Cobb you can live in a million dollar plus home or a $300K home (or even less) in still a very desirable area. For example we have an older subdivision in East Cobb called Chimney Springs that has nice sized homes, walking trails, swim and tennis and very nice old growth trees. You can buy a house here for about $300K (or less haven't looked lately) and have access to fantastic schools. Or you buy buy a trimmed out huge, new Mcmansion for a million and have access to the same schools.

I probably didn't answer your question too well. I do have many friends in Northern NJ who took years to buy their starter home based on prices and taxes. Our house if located in NJ would easily be worth a million or more. We paid around 500K a few years ago and we have been kicking ourselves having looked around a bit realzing we could have spent much less. Our "starter" home in NJ about 9 years ago cost more.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by RainyRainyDay

pulmcc, I think you're imagining the above. I've lived in East Cobb over seven years, and I just don't see this big distinction. The Walton area has a bit richer population and correspondingly higher average test scores, but the difference is not significant. A good student will do about the same in any of these schools, because the schools are pretty similar - individual performance will depend on the student's abilities and how he or she uses them.

By the way, the majority of contributors to this thread are northern transplants. You don't need to "y'all" us.

Perfectly said.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by lastminutemom

I guess I use to hear about kids getting full rides to the Ivies.. but back then I wasn't paying so much attention.

I agree with much of what you said. I still think that percentage wise people from the Northeast chase prestige far more than southerners do.

UGA has benefited a ton from the hope. I can't tell you the number of tippy top students I know who are or who did attend UGA in the last decade or so. What I haven't seen quite as much as I think many expected is the trickle down effect. That is, good students couldn't get into UGA so they go to the second tier state schools and those schools start to "rise up." (Although I think Kennesaw State has benefitted some and GSU too).

It seems to me that these students still head out of state to places like Bama, Auburn, Clemson, UTenn etc. What do you think?

I think that it true...many who are upper-middle/middle class who don't get into UGA choose Auburn, Bama, or Clemson...with many students Appalachian State.

However, I do think other state schools have benefitted, just not as much (or as rapidly) as people predicted. Like you said, I think GSU, Kennesaw State, and Georgia College and State University have benefitted the most. Those schools are really on the up and up.

(And...I think Georgia College and State University should be renamed Central Georgia University.)

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by lastminutemom

Do you know that very few ivies and many top 20 private schools give merit based scholarships anymore? Most have gone to need based only and are very generous with families that have lower incomes. However, that means that most middle class families are stuck.

It is not surprising that Walton would have more students end up at private colleges and universities. There are more upper income parents who can more easily afford the tuition at such schools. There are examples like this across the metro area.

In GA, students with a 3.0 earn the HOPE scholarship which waives tuition and some (a shrinking some) fees. (a little book money has been thrown in as well, but I expect that will be gone soon) For most middle class families, the cost of college matters a lot.

Many, many top students in GA now end up at UGA or Tech (they have always ended up at Tech, even before the HOPE.) Some are even venturing to the honors programs at places like Georgia College and University. Given the number of students that want to go to graduate school, it is hard to turn down the HOPE for most families.

My experience, as a parent who has gone through the college process with a child, is that much of this process is numbers driven. GPA matters, the rigor of the courses matter, standardized test scores matter. For some schools rank does matter. Ever since US News started ranking colleges, colleges and universities have had to care a little more about class rank because that is one of the factors in the US news formula.

I actually think that what admissions officers are looking for is whether your student took the most rigorous coursework available at their high school and how they did in those classes. I can't tell you how many times we have heard this from admissions representatives.

People in the Northeast often think about college differently than many southerners. In my experience, southerners are less likely to chase prestige. (I am a lifelong southerner.) When my oldest was going through this process, I can't tell you the number of people I met who didn't want their kids going further away then X number of hours. I know many kids who won't consider schools outside the south because of the weather and these are good students.

Yes.