Irvine vs Surrounding Cities?

[eyephone]

Honestly some schools are overrated. Take Berkely for example, if all you get is far left brainwashed education like the poster above that are easily manipulated and controlled  by the media (aka sheeple) then it is pretty sad.

Stay on topic. This isn?t Facebook.

Rofl, education in Irvine no joke. For real tho

 

[sleepy5136]

I personally think you should prioritize where you feel comfortable living and what your goals are before worrying about the kids education. While education is important, it's not like you can't help your kids with HW and explain certain concepts while they are in K-12. And from what you mentioned about the other school, it's not all that bad.

School can only do so much TBH, it's really on the parents on how to guide their kid when they are young. Being able to also put them in situations to make decisions will also help their ability to learn and grow. That's how you will prepare them for the real world.

 

[irvinehomeowner]

If your kid can graduate from an IUSD high school with decent grades + 4 yr athlete they will be competitive for college admissions.

This. Maybe the IUSD part is a bit overblown... but high scoring academics and sports/other seem to do well for college admits based on informal polls of my friends (many non-IUSD).

 

[CalBears96]

Honestly some schools are overrated. Take Berkely for example, if all you get is far left brainwashed education like the poster above that are easily manipulated and controlled  by the media (aka sheeple) then it is pretty sad.

Stay on topic. This isn?t Facebook.

Well, uneducated people tend to shit on top universities.  ;D

 

[Nani]

Great feedback and discussion here. Thank you! It's hard to assess how smart my 2 yr old and unborn child are but if my wife and I are examples, they will have potential. Wife is a book worm and Dentist. I have a graduate degree but much less book smart than the wife... more of a go getter. Honestly, I'm not even interested in my kids going to IVY's, unless that's what they desire. I'd be more than happy with the top UC's, like Berkeley, LA, SD, etc... and being an IUSD product myself, I didn't see it as an unhealthy environment, as far as pressure. I grew up with great friends, safe environment, great education, loads of extracurricular activities. My friends actually helped me try harder. I would never think about volunteer work or joining clubs like amnesty international... but my friends joined because it would look good on college admissions (maybe they cared as well)... and I followed what they did. I guess... I'm leaning towards Irvine then. Dream house can wait for retirement then...

With the inflation of college prices over time and the advent of youtube and coursera, it is less and less clear that going to a 'top-tier' college will give you better education. I went to a top school and even I learned most of the AI/Machine-learning I use in my job by watching youtube and coursera videos and tinkering. Imagine 10-15 years from now, how much information will be available for those who want it. I live in Irvine so my kids will probably go to IUSD but I will encourage them to start a business over going to college. Much like Uber did to taxi medallions, youtube and coursera are doing to college degrees (at least in technology). If my kid wants to be a doctor though, they'll probably still have to go to college if medical school still cares about undergrad

 

[OCtoSV]

In surveying our other friends with college freshmen UC has serious funding/staffing issues - kids at UCSD waiting 1 hr in line at the dining hall, UCSB with a serious housing crunch putting kids in random apts. They're all staying home for their "remote" beginning of the semester. Ours and another friend who sent their kids to Big 10 schools have been very pleased with the level of facilities and classroom instruction. Life at the underfunded UCs seems much more stressful than at other major public/private universities.

Stanford had a winter formal for the undergrads - like a prom, which was cool considering none of those kids had one.

 

[mightybluff]

Interesting data point. Curious if any of this is COVID related? Either way, my kids won't be college age for another 16+ years... so will have to assess the situation down the road. All good talking points here. My inclination has always been to move back to Irvine, given all of the points we've all made. My slight hesitation was only in realizing how much more house and lot size I can get 15 miles away and still be in a "good" school district. Thanks everyone.

 

[eyephone]

But that seems due to covid related.

In surveying our other friends with college freshmen UC has serious funding/staffing issues - kids at UCSD waiting 1 hr in line at the dining hall, UCSB with a serious housing crunch putting kids in random apts. They're all staying home for their "remote" beginning of the semester. Ours and another friend who sent their kids to Big 10 schools have been very pleased with the level of facilities and classroom instruction. Life at the underfunded UCs seems much more stressful than at other major public/private universities.

Stanford had a winter formal for the undergrads - like a prom, which was cool considering none of those kids had one.

 

[BlackKnight]

In surveying our other friends with college freshmen UC has serious funding/staffing issues - kids at UCSD waiting 1 hr in line at the dining hall, UCSB with a serious housing crunch putting kids in random apts. They're all staying home for their "remote" beginning of the semester. Ours and another friend who sent their kids to Big 10 schools have been very pleased with the level of facilities and classroom instruction. Life at the underfunded UCs seems much more stressful than at other major public/private universities.

Stanford had a winter formal for the undergrads - like a prom, which was cool considering none of those kids had one.

My nephew at UCLA has the option to attend class in person or go virtual in first 2 weeks.  He never had problem getting dorm food last quarter and so far this quarter which just started.

No way I would send my kids to snow burden Big 10 schools and so far away.  I remember how much my parents complained about driving up north to visit my sister at UC Berkeley. UC is still the best option for Cali kids.

 

[OCtoSV]

You would be very very surprised at how much nicer the facilities are at the upper tier B10 schools compared to UCLA/Cal, even USC (my alma mater). I had no idea until we moved our child in last fall. These schools seem to benefit from much better state funding than the UCs. It was also great for the kid to be kind of far away where a weekend trip home to seek familiar comforts in trying times wasn't an option. When rejected from USC they gave the TTP option for soph year but the kid has zero interest and loves being in the great white north. Hell, they have snowboarding for PE.

 

[BlackKnight]

You would be very very surprised at how much nicer the facilities are at the upper tier B10 schools compared to UCLA/Cal, even USC (my alma mater). I had no idea until we moved our child in last fall. These schools seem to benefit from much better state funding than the UCs. It was also great for the kid to be kind of far away where a weekend trip home to seek familiar comforts in trying times wasn't an option. When rejected from USC they gave the TTP option for soph year but the kid has zero interest and loves being in the great white north. Hell, they have snowboarding for PE.

Last time i check, midwest houses are nice and much cheaper than Irvine.  Sounds like you need to make a move.

 

[irvine buyer]

In surveying our other friends with college freshmen UC has serious funding/staffing issues - kids at UCSD waiting 1 hr in line at the dining hall, UCSB with a serious housing crunch putting kids in random apts. They're all staying home for their "remote" beginning of the semester. Ours and another friend who sent their kids to Big 10 schools have been very pleased with the level of facilities and classroom instruction. Life at the underfunded UCs seems much more stressful than at other major public/private universities.

Stanford had a winter formal for the undergrads - like a prom, which was cool considering none of those kids had one.

I have heard similar stories about the UC schools.  My son goes to University of Michigan and I have been very pleased with his college experience through this pandemic.  The school president seems to have a good head on his shoulder and has made many good decisions imo.  Very pleased with the level of the classroom instruction and facilities.

 

[sleepy5136]

You would be very very surprised at how much nicer the facilities are at the upper tier B10 schools compared to UCLA/Cal, even USC (my alma mater). I had no idea until we moved our child in last fall. These schools seem to benefit from much better state funding than the UCs. It was also great for the kid to be kind of far away where a weekend trip home to seek familiar comforts in trying times wasn't an option. When rejected from USC they gave the TTP option for soph year but the kid has zero interest and loves being in the great white north. Hell, they have snowboarding for PE.

USC has nice facilities. It's also my alma mater. But I do not agree that it's required to listen into lectures and do lab work. It's a waste of $ and I would rather have that money be used to make tuition less expensive. They even have a sailing course which lots of my classmates took. I laugh and think that class is probably the #1 most useless class in the university. Funding could be used in other areas.

 

[bkimxmd]

Any opinions on the military academies?  I?d be thrilled if my twins ended up going to one of them, preferably Navy or Airforce.

 

[qwerty]

4 year universities will eventually become 2 year universities and will get rid of the GE requirement. 2 years and you get your degree in major.

Law school and medical schools should allow kids straight out of high school as well.

 

[CogNeuroSci]

The reason why I moved to Irvine was not specifically schools but rather that the schools were passable. I was previously from Cerritos in an area with 10/10/10 rated elementary/middle/high schools and also access to Whitney High School which at one point was rated #1 in the nation. I think the rating slipped to something like 9/10/10 but still my point is that Cerritos has higher rated school neighborhoods. I don't think there is a single neighborhood in Irvine that is even all 9+. (Just searched Irvine does not have a single 10 rated school).

I moved to Irvine because of the newness of homes, planned community and parks for my kid, and the amount of younger like-minded kid and education focused families.

The best schools we have close to Irvine are, in order of rank, Troy, Whitney, and Oxford Academy. All three schools are superior to University HS in Irvine, which is the flagship of the IUSD high schools (the rest, in order of rank, are Northwood, Woodbridge, Irvine (for the pot smokers), and Portola (so far a nesting spot for poor souls wandering in circles).

The best schools in southern California are in San Diego, which has incredible high schools that no one who's not actually there would ever believe could possibly be true, such as Del Norte, Westview, and Canyon Crest Academy. Did you know the top students at Canyon Crest will take over 20 AP classes? Did you know in 2013 (or 2014?), Caltech (the center of the universe) admitted 6 students from Canyon Crest but was suspicious and so sent a guy over to investigate? After his research, for which he concluded that everything was kosher, Caltech added 6 more acceptances (12 total for that year)!

The only thing comparable to the San Diego stuff is in the Silicon Valley area, the particulars and rumors of which I don't have firsthand knowledge but totally believe to be true.

The Irvine high schools are shells of their former selves from 15-20 years ago. Dumbing down the math and science curriculum to the point that many angry veteran teachers chose to leave the district in the last 5 years. Not even allowing international students to at least take a math placement exam and instead forcing them to start at super-low tier "integrated" math that no one knows how to precisely describe!

Things are so bad now that Beckman in Tustin surpassed University HS a few years ago. Just one example is about 4 years ago, Northwood sent only 2 students to take the AIME math competition test (eligible only to students who get a qualifying score on the AMC competition test) while Beckman sent a bunch. One of the Northwood students, whom I know personally, exclaimed in shock to me back then, "What the hell is wrong with this picture!"

So, parents who are looking to move to a brand new place because of educational reputation need to beware of information gotten from "the grape vine" and from rankings websites (like US News and World Report and Niche). Some examples: Harvard Westlake isn't better than Troy (not even close), University of Chicago isn't #3 or even #6 (it's really 15-21), University of Pennsylvania isn't #3 and will always remain a 2nd tier Ivy League, and UCI and UCSB are NOT a couple of spots better than UCSD (even though in the last 3 years, plenty of students have gotten rejected by UCI but accepted by UCSD). Caltech is not #9: it's #1. The hardest colleges to get into AND survive are, in order, Caltech, Harvey Mudd, and then MIT (all STEM schools, although MIT spreads its arms into the social sciences).

 

[CogNeuroSci]

Honestly some schools are overrated. Take Berkely for example, if all you get is far left brainwashed education like the poster above that are easily manipulated and controlled  by the media (aka sheeple) then it is pretty sad.

Did you ever consider the possibility that Caltech, Harvard, Amherst, and even Berkeley students might in large part be conditioned early on in their intellectual lives to be extremely skeptical of "far left brainwashed education"? So the fact that you regurgitate that stereotyped cliche notion (or propaganda) might indicate more your own susceptibility to being brainwashed, don't you think? Did you ever think about how smart those students might be at the top colleges? That they might be very, very immune to brainwashing and propaganda? To the point that even famous professors want to wring some of their necks?

 

[irvine buyer]

Honestly some schools are overrated. Take Berkely for example, if all you get is far left brainwashed education like the poster above that are easily manipulated and controlled  by the media (aka sheeple) then it is pretty sad.

Did you ever consider the possibility that Caltech, Harvard, Amherst, and even Berkeley students might in large part be conditioned early on in their intellectual lives to be extremely skeptical of "far left brainwashed education"? So the fact that you regurgitate that stereotyped cliche notion (or propaganda) might indicate more your own susceptibility to being brainwashed, don't you think? Did you ever think about how smart those students might be at the top colleges? That they might be very, very immune to brainwashing and propaganda? To the point that even famous professors want to wring some of their necks?

Critical thinking is what is lacking in a lot of people, both young and old.  Hence the stereotype that many people are like sheep.  As for really smart people being immune to brainwashing and propaganda, I have known the opposite to be true when it comes to politics.  I have witnessed extremely intelligent people on both sides of the aisle cling to their side of the political aisle with blinders on regurgitating narratives and propaganda.

Any idea why IUSD decided to dumb down the math and science curriculum?

 

[CogNeuroSci]

Yes, others and I have a leading hypothesis as to why IUSD wanted to dumb down its math and science. We have evidence from several angles.

 

[irvine buyer]

Yes, others and I have a leading hypothesis as to why IUSD wanted to dumb down its math and science. We have evidence from several angles.

Care to share your hypothesis with us?  Feel free to PM me if you prefer.