Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums THINKING BIG About Gifted Education Rapid Acceleration

From Harvard law school site. Here's a list of the undergraduate institutions of students currently in the law school. http://www.law.harvard.edu/prospective/jd/apply/undergrads.html
Lots of schools you'd expect and lots you might not such as Arizona State, Valdosta State, Calvin College, University of Alabama, University of Mississippi, Westmont College, and many more.

From the Harvard med school site: "What undergraduate institution should I attend? Do Ivy League students have an advantage over other students?
Harvard Medical School is looking for people with broad interests and talents, not for students from particular academic institutions. Attend an undergraduate college that will challenge you both academically and personally." http://hms.harvard.edu/admissions/default.asp?page=admissions

Case in point.
Harvard Med SAYS they want diversity. Having gone there, and still interviewing for them, etc., I can that this is not strictly true. By and large, the people who were there and from lesser known schools tended to be- my friend from U. of Missouri whose dad graduated from there and she was a nationally ranked runner. Several African-American students from Spelman or Morehouse who were the first person in their family to go to college, that type of thing.
It's harder to get into top schools coming from lesser known schools. That doesn't mean it's impossible or can't be done.

If it is better to go instate if you aspire to local politics, what was Bill Clinton thinking when going to Yale since he wanted to become governor of Arkansas?

And like Jack'smom says: not that you cannot get in, but you were probably the first in the class, did something special.

Also, rapid acceleration must be very fashionable. Disney's new show is about 11 year olds in high school. Move over Hannah Montana, bring in the highly gifted.

Ren

Hello,

In response to a post from much earlier, for the amount of graduates The Davidson Academy has had, only a few have gone on to attend the University of Nevada, Reno. For a list of universities Academy students have gone on to attend, click here: http://www.davidsonacademy.unr.edu/Articles.aspx?ArticleID=249&NavID=0_40. Of course the 2011 class will be announced this week, so a few more colleges will be added to this list.

Again, we are talking out top students. Students who could get into highly selective schools but instead chose their state universities. Of course we aren't talking about the average graduate - these are top students.

What do you make of the Harvard Law list. There are a wide variety of schools represented. I think there is actually a strong argument that you may be better off coming out of obscure state university than being yet another Ivy applicant pile.

I hope so. �Does that mean the the mainstream teachers will become more supportive of educationally eager students?! �(and more tolerant of the kid that noticesz every mistake on the blackboard �well, <blushes> �maybe they wouldn't notice every little mistake if there was something more productive to do in a school day than read a book while writing and doodling and listening to the teacher. �(smaller) �which makes the kid be treated kind of like nothing more than a bother at times.)))Yay! �Yeah. �Too late for my childhood but just in time for my kids. �I vaguely remember being told at least twice not to do all the answer in the textbook for the year ahead in the first couple of weeks, just so it was already done. �And to stay in my seat and quit talking because I was done in ten minutes every paper they gave you thirty to do. �I'm not trying to race my kid to colleg or out of the house I'm just tickled pink that I see more options. Eta: I'm excited that I can do more than just tell my kid "be quiet and listen to the teacher because you're a kid and that's what kids do.". Which is fine, and of course I'll do that too. But this "teaching in the zone of proximal development" just feels so much more just.

I think the point, thank you Mark, is not the list of schools but percentages. If one kid in 1000 goes to U of Mississippi but 200 go to MIT, that is very different, even though they are both represented.

And, my question was, how they did. Did they enter college early, how early, what was their path after? Maybe you don't have longitudinal data yet. But those questions are interesting and would be helpful as we try and earn support for our children following.

Ren

DA told us the average age of their graduates is 15/16 years old.
We were not told what percentage went directly into college.

I've re-read your posts, and I'm not sure what you're looking for. You talked about "when are where," in reference to college and grad school, and I've seen a lot of references to the Ivy League.

Are you primarily interested in moving to a place with schools whose graduates go to the Ivies in high numbers? If this is the case, pick any of the older prep schools back East. Emma Willard (girls; 9-12). Choate (co-ed; 9-12). Exeter NH. Andover MA. New Jersey is full of exclusive private K-12 schools. Etc. Just do a google search. If you want to go out west, try Harker. I expect that kids who do well at the DA will have a good shot at admission to their schools of choice.

I completely understand wanting to get out of the New York City public school system and all its insanities. But at the same time, your daughter is only in kindergarten or 1st grade, right? It seems early to be digging this deep into college admissions statistics. What if she wants to go to the Colorado School of Mines to study geology? Or film studies at UCLA? Paths and ambitions can change a lot in 11 or 12 years.