A question for every parent in the Dallas area (and something helpful for every parent thinking about moving here)

[4Movingeast]

Originally Posted by turf3

Well, there's no question that there is a certain population of rich kid frat boys majoring in booze and chicks and minoring in bidness (till they flunk out) at SMU.

For real majors, and real students, it's a fine university of the middle rank.

Agree and would add TCU to that category. Plenty of rich a**holes, but some fine students go through there and go on to achieve great things. I know more than a handful personally! Many have gone on to grad school or been recruited by the likes of Goldman Sachs etc.

[As Above So Below...]

Originally Posted by 4Movingeast

Agree and would add TCU to that category. Plenty of rich a**holes, but some fine students go through there and go on to achieve great things. I know more than a handful personally! Many have gone on to grad school or been recruited by the likes of Goldman Sachs etc.

Oh yeah. TCU is too, but in California (where I came from) SMU is the one that really has that reputation.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by turf3

Well, there's no question that there is a certain population of rich kid frat boys majoring in booze and chicks and minoring in bidness (till they flunk out) at SMU.

For real majors, and real students, it's a fine university of the middle rank.

Or they’ve gotten the prestigious Hunt Leadership Scholarship, a $176,000 scholarship with unparalleled access to faculty and alumni. This scholarship is not just academic but a program that develops students into leaders who will not only lead but give back to their communities.

A quick glance at SMU’s website shows current Hunt scholars matriculated from ESD (3), St Marks, Hockaday (3), Greenhill, Cistercian, & Ursuline. There are 86 Hunt Scholars on campus and 10 are from Dallas’ top private schools. 700 students applied for 2020 and 20 were selected.

It’s kind of hard to think about paying full tuition at an East Coast school and being middle of the pack (along with every other kid who scored 1500+ )....that’s around $320k for UPenn for example. Or be the cream of the crop at SMU with every connection possible for around $100-110k (plus any other merit scholarships available to tack on to Hunt). It’s not as black and white as Ivy v SMU as 75214Dad thinks...


Plus, if you care about the city of Dallas, you WANT the best and the brightest to live here after they graduate. Of all of my high school friends who left Texas for college, not one of them has ever returned to Texas in the past 20+ years. Talent gone.

[75214Dad]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

Or they’ve gotten the prestigious Hunt Leadership Scholarship, a $176,000 scholarship with unparalleled access to faculty and alumni. This scholarship is not just academic but a program that develops students into leaders who will not only lead but give back to their communities.

A quick glance at SMU’s website shows current Hunt scholars matriculated from ESD (3), St Marks, Hockaday (3), Greenhill, Cistercian, & Ursuline. There are 86 Hunt Scholars on campus and 10 are from Dallas’ top private schools. 700 students applied for 2020 and 20 were selected.

It’s kind of hard to think about paying full tuition at an East Coast school and being middle of the pack (along with every other kid who scored 1500+ )....that’s around $320k for UPenn for example. Or be the cream of the crop at SMU with every connection possible for around $100-110k (plus any other merit scholarships available to tack on to Hunt). It’s not as black and white as Ivy v SMU as 75214Dad thinks...


Plus, if you care about the city of Dallas, you WANT the best and the brightest to live here after they graduate. Of all of my high school friends who left Texas for college, not one of them has ever returned to Texas in the past 20+ years. Talent gone.

That's sales, not merit

ETA: the yield rate (the % of admissions offers that are accepted) reveals the "prestige" of the school. SMU has a 23% yield rate, Brown is 63%, Northeastern (a commuter school in Boston) has a yield rate of 27%! SMU offers "scholarships" to 70% of enrolled undergrads-- what would the yield rate be if they didn't discount tuition to a supermajority of the students?

Admissions officers are making an educated guess that if they offer a certain scholarship an admit will enroll and then SMU can move up the rankings.

SMU is a fine school. It is hardly the best school, though, and it's filled with public school grads from all over DFW. Why spend $300K+ on ESD when you can get into SMU pretty easily from Rockwall? Is rushing the right sorority that important to you? What are the tangible advantages of spending that money on private school? All I've heard is keeping them in the christian/catholic/republican worldview...

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by 75214Dad

That's sales, not merit

ETA: the yield rate (the % of admissions offers that are accepted) reveals the "prestige" of the school. SMU has a 23% yield rate, Brown is 63%, Northeastern (a commuter school in Boston) has a yield rate of 27%! SMU offers "scholarships" to 70% of enrolled undergrads-- what would the yield rate be if they didn't discount tuition to a supermajority of the students?

Admissions officers are making an educated guess that if they offer a certain scholarship an admit will enroll and then SMU can move up the rankings.

SMU is a fine school. It is hardly the best school, though, and it's filled with public school grads from all over DFW. Why spend $300K+ on ESD when you can get into SMU pretty easily from Rockwall? Is rushing the right sorority that important to you? What are the tangible advantages of spending that money on private school? All I've heard is keeping them in the christian/catholic/republican worldview...

There’s more to choosing private school than the rank of the college where your child will matriculate. If you want to game the system, move your rich/ educated family to the Spruce or Samuel HS zones in DISD and let your bright kid waltz his way to be Valedictorian, captain of everything, President of everything, etc. Pad that resume because an Ivy acceptance is the “be all, end all” in your book.

Some of the many reasons to choose private K-12:
-small class sizes, no way to get lost in the crowd
-curriculum that isn’t state or federally dictated
-family-like setting yields close relationships with faculty & other families
-religious instruction / education (important to many Catholic & Jewish families)
-better arts, STEM, etc facilities & opportunities
-your zoned public school sucks
-you’re seeking out a more diverse environment/classmates


Some of the many reasons a private school kid might choose a school in Texas over East Coast schools even though it’s ranked lower:
-closer to home, don’t want to go far away or don’t want to live outside Texas/region
-want a traditional college experience with competitive NCAA sports, Greek system, etc.
-price / loans / need to save for grad school too
-want to go to a huge school after being in a small one for K-12
-family tradition / legacy
-athletic opportunities
-want to major in Petroleum Engineering (UT #1 program in country), Architecture (Rice #1 program in country), Engineering (Rice top 5), Business (Rice top 5, UT top 10 undergrad business program), Film
(SMU one of the only top film programs housed in a comprehensive university vs strictly arts schools), BFA Dance (SMU top 10 national program).
-building local network for career
-just want to live in Austin



You may not “approve” of the reasons on above lists, but they are all valid reasons why families and students make the decisions they do. FWIW, I chose a state school over a much more expensive liberal arts college for a combo of reasons on the list, but the biggest one was ROI. It made no sense to take out 4-5X as many loans when I reached the same career goals (including moving to & starting my career in NYC where my industry is largely headquartered). In fact, having that kind of debt would have sunk me in my 20’s living in NYC while my $200/mo loan payment was perfectly manageable.

[numbersguy100]

Originally Posted by 75214Dad

That's sales, not merit

ETA: the yield rate (the % of admissions offers that are accepted) reveals the "prestige" of the school. SMU has a 23% yield rate, Brown is 63%, Northeastern (a commuter school in Boston) has a yield rate of 27%! SMU offers "scholarships" to 70% of enrolled undergrads-- what would the yield rate be if they didn't discount tuition to a supermajority of the students?

Admissions officers are making an educated guess that if they offer a certain scholarship an admit will enroll and then SMU can move up the rankings.

SMU is a fine school. It is hardly the best school, though, and it's filled with public school grads from all over DFW. Why spend $300K+ on ESD when you can get into SMU pretty easily from Rockwall? Is rushing the right sorority that important to you? What are the tangible advantages of spending that money on private school? All I've heard is keeping them in the christian/catholic/republican worldview...

You continue to conflate and confuse all private schools in DFW with the very top, elite/expensive private schools. The private schools that exist in DFW to reinforce a specific worldview are not the ones that regularly come up on this board as being great schools. ESD and Parish, as well as the top Catholic schools, are religious but push a diverse worldview, acceptance of differences, and personal growth through questioning the world around them (SMS/Hock/GH do this too, but they aren't religious). There are plenty of religious private schools that are rigid in their beliefs where the primary reason for selection is based on religion. To answer your question, yes, it is worth it to those parents to pay for a private school that will reflect the family's religious beliefs. That much should have been obvious from their decision to enroll and stay there and represents a tangible benefit to them. That you ascribe no value to it doesn't really matter.

[20Hope20]

SMU, Baylor, Rice, TCU and Trinity colleges are similar to Greenhill, St. Mark’s, St Johns, Hockaday. State universities like UT, A&M, UH have more in common with large public schools. If you can qualify for aid, academic, athletic or other talent based scholarship or if parents can afford then it’s worth it to consider these smaller private colleges for undergraduate programs.

If you want kids to stay in state for undergrad, these colleges are Texas’s alternative for Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, Amherst, U Chicago type schools. Rice is actually as difficult to get into. I would recommend against picking a school too close to your home, give them some space to learn to be more independent and be exposed to new things. It’s healthier to put a few hours drive between college and home, not too close for dependence and not too far for logistics, visits or emergencies.

Once kids finish undergrad, they are better prepared to go out of state/country for graduate/professional schools or work. They are more mature to make their decisions to spread their wings and handling the flight then 17-18 year old high school seniors.