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Welcome to Laurie Goodman's blog. I use this space to share news and opinions about education and schools in Ridgewood, the state of New Jersey and the nation, in addition to other issues I'm personally interested in. I invite you to share your thoughts, feelings, questions or opinions, too, by posting comments on any blog entry. Please observe basic courtesy -- keep your comments focused on issues, no personal attacks or bullying, please. Contact me directly at: lauriegood@mac.com

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Class of 2012 is "sick" (or looking good)!

The early college acceptances are starting to come in and, to quote my son, "the class of 2012 is sick!" He meant that in a good way. As in, the Class of 2012 is going to be impressive in where its graduates get accepted for college. He may be right...

This week some Ridgewood High School students got their Early Action and Early Decision answers, plus some got answers from rolling admission schools to which they applied early. Just anecdotally, my son has told me about two of his friends accepted ED at Stanford, three accepted at Cornell, two at Amherst, two at Colgate, plus some Columbia, Boston University, Lehigh, Duke, UNC... Keep in mind, these are all Early Decision or Early Action, which tends to be more competitive. (My own son was accepted to Penn State...really proud of him!)

The college process is a crazy whirlwind in Ridgewood. We've tried to keep things sane for our family. My philosophy is that there is not one single "best" school for every child. There are a lot of good schools and each student's success depends a lot on what he/she puts into it. Colleges are different than back in my day (not so long ago...30 years). They compete, with services and marketing. Students have become more savvy and more demanding. I get frustrated when people outside the school system complain that Ridgewood "isn't sending enough kids to the Ivy League." I've got news for you: not very many students want to go to the Ivy League. And why should they? Should they incur those high costs and high pressure environments for the name on the diploma? Today's students have learned to shop hard for their schools, and demand the education, the facilities and the services that feel right for them, personally. Maybe it's an Ivy...probably it's not. But if they work hard and make the most of it, they'll get an excellent education.

I can't wait to watch these young people embark on the next stage of their lives...the rest of their lives. The application and acceptance process will be rolling on through May, so let's remember this is a marathon and not a sprint. When the final list is complete, I'll update you here.