Personally UT isn't on the list for my daughter (shooting a little higher). But I wonder what the breakdown is of kids from better districts not getting in because they fell short of the top 10%. I'm not sure how getting into other schools affects the point. Kids in the top 10% from lesser districts will have other options as well.
IMO the right is equal. Does a kid in a better district have to work harder? Yes. Is a kid in a better district equipped to meet that challenge? Yes.
I agree. But artificially knocking out a kid that achieved in a 'harder' environment because they are in that environment seems unfair IMO. I'm not unsympathetic to the plight of an achiever in a 'lesser' district, I just don't know that the 10% rule is the proper solution. For me this is similar to the immigration issue - I say 'open the borders.' Hey no joke!
one more thought here...the whole achievement society thing freaks me out. the whole pressure to get your kid in a kick ass school...yeah, that really creeps me out. i think it's pretty empty. that is all.
Take that Bellaire kid with a 1600, put him in a time machine, let him grow up and attend Madison. Does he get a 1500? After all according to you he is intelligent and factoring in his environment (lack of test prep etc.) his score should go down only 100 points.
None taken. As an alumni, I'm just kind of curious as to what you've heard or what you think the experience would be.
it wasn't sarcastic. i think there is sometimes such an emphasis on achievement that we forget to live. that our kids don't grow up to be people. i'm very concerned about my kids' education. but it's not the part of their development i'm MOST concerned with. heaven forbid they go to someplace like UT...or even UH...or Texas Tech...or Baylor!!! (gasp). they won't be anything in the eyes of others, then!!! they'll never accomplish anything. their lives will be empty!!! (now THAT was a sarcastic wink! )
it's a little more insulated than i'd like. and i pay an assload of money in taxes each year to live in SBISD. my son goes to a GREAT elementary school. i'm fine with it. frankly, i think he's too sheltered as it is.
If he has the same parents, then yeah I think so. Of course that's pure speculation, just my opinion.
Don't do it, Max. Where in Houston do you live? Education is what you do with available resources, and every high school in Houston(Yes, even those dreaded HISD schools) provides kids with adequate resources. Private school kids live in a bubble, and most of them do not have real-life experience until they leave. And most of the private school kids that come to UT join a huge fraternity/sorority and live in a similar bubble throughout college. Save some money, let him go to public school. Oh yeah, 10% applies at public schools too. So if your son is shooting for UT, private school will only make it that much harder.
i feel largely the same way. i live on the west side of houston...the area i grew up in. he is zoned to go to stratford high school eventually. of course, he's only 6.
Why is the 10% rule any more artificial than setting an SAT requirement? I would argue that it is more "organic" because it systemically takes into consideration the different life experiences of kids from all socioeconomic levels. An SAT requirement systemically rewards kids from higher income families that go to school in better districts. That sounds pretty artificial to me.
Well, take one parent away ...only the mother is active in the kids life. Then imagine that the mother never went to college either and is working at Walgreens often in the evenings when the kid gets home from school. Then imagine that kid lives in SW Houston where all the gang fighting is currently occuring where there are killings, litterally, everyday. Do you think that same kid would still get 1500 on their SAT?
