Big C said:concordtom said:Big C said:calumnus said:concernedparent said:I don't think you're actually advocating for this, but I think there's something to unpack here. The name on the degree is just a proxy for the skills and traits employers and grad schools are looking for, but it is not a 1:1.calumnus said:BearBoarBlarney said:
The Mission High School article from the SF Comical is in line with UC Berkeley's stated institutional priorities for undergraduate enrollment. Cal has a task force in place to apply for the "Hispanic Serving Institution" ("HSI") designation by 2027. The designation means that 25% or more of enrolled undergraduate students are members of the Latinx/Chicanx community.
As of now, 6 of the 9 UC undergraduate campuses already have received the HSI designation, and the other 3 campuses -- UC Berkeley, UCLA, and UCSD -- are in the process of trying to achieve the designation.
https://chancellor.berkeley.edu/task-forces/hispanic-serving-institution-task-force
If you want your kid to get in to Berkeley, sending them to a highly competitive high school is the toughest route. The best route is to excel in a rural public high school where few apply.
Students in those rural (or poor performing urban) settings have to deal with all the distractions and disadvantages that come with it (disinterested peers, gangs, chaotic drug use, violence, lack of academic resources/challenging classes, minimal cultural stimulation etc.). It really isn't easy to succeed academically in that environment. At a challenging high school they'll at least get into some reputable college, have the academic skills to succeed there, have a leg up with interfacing with professors and eventually employers, have a peer group pushing them to succeed, etc.
The kid who went to a competitive high school, and only went to UCSC or similar, but got a 3.7, has multiple internships, figured out how to network (learning through their ambitious peers, or networking through their peers parents' or schools' circles) has a huge leg up in life on the kid who went to a lower performing high school, gets overwhelmed by the rigor at Berkeley, gets a 2.7, spends the summer making up classes, feels alienated by their ambitious peers at Cal and also by their hometown friends, who they are increasingly less able to relate to.
My "actual" preference is large, diverse public high schools that have a full slate of AP classes and extracurriculars, where your child can have a cohort of high achieving college bound friends, but also know and be friends with people who are headed to the military, CC, minor league baseball, plumbers, auto mechanics, hair dressers, kids who become digital nomads or even end up in prison. It gives kids a better perspective about life, society…reality.
My kids went to a school where the kids all thought your life was over if you didn't get into a Top 10 school out of high school. It is not realistic. Far too much stress, anxiety and depression, competitiveness, bullying, lack of compassion, even suicide and self-mutilation.
100%. I have taught at two such large, diverse public high schools (both California Distinguished Schools in the greater Bay Area) and it is a good experience for the kids. They have plenty of chances to take honors and AP classes with the "academic" kids, but also plenty of chances to brush shoulders with kids from all walks of life. The end result is positive.
OTOH, the high school I went to and the high school my kids go / will go to is a smaller "academic" school. The advantage is that everybody gets swept along with the tide (into college). However, there can be a sense of entitlement that you wouldn't believe, along with a lack of empathy for people who are different from them (especially financially).
Athenian?
? ? ? ? ? ?
Sorry, you told me previously where you were at but now I forget.