92% of 2011 Chatham Grads Prefer 4-Yr. Colleges

Julie Patterson, the director of School Counseling at , gave her presentation on the class of 2011 to the Monday.

Of the 245 most recent graduates from the high school, Patterson said, 98 percent went into two- or four-year colleges. The remainder, a total of five students, went into technical schools or straight into employment.

Of the 98 percent who went to colleges and universities, 92 percent chose to attend four-year institutions.

Of the classes of 2010 and 2011, 68 percent stayed in the eastern U.S. for college but only 10 percent stayed in New Jersey. "We were thinking that number might increase somewhat. There are lots of perks for students to stay in our state, especially our top students, but we find that our students are pretty mobile," Patterson said.

About 80 percent of last year's seniors went to colleges rated most, highly or very competitive by the Barron's Profile of American Colleges. "We continually find that many of our students enter some of the most competitive programs," Patterson said.

"We use this data to make some program decisions," Patterson said, and to inform parents and incoming seniors about various options available to them after high school.

Students from 2010, 2011 and 2012 also exceeded national averages in PSAT scores. Last year 90 percent of students from Chatham High took the PSAT. Of those students, 19 were commended, four were semi-finalists and three were finalists for National Merit Scholarships based on their scores. SAT scores in Chatham were also above the national average last year.

Participation in Advanced Placement (AP) classes rose drastically in Chatham between 2010 and 2011, from 54 percent to 67 percent of juniors and seniors. Last year, Patterson said, 363 students took a total of 657 AP tests.

AP tests are graded on a 1 to 5 basis, with 5 being the highest. Many colleges will accept a score of 3 or higher as class credit, depending on the school and the subject. In 2011, 91 percent of the scores Chatham High students earned on AP tests were at a 3 or higher.

A full copy of Patterson's presentation to the board can be found attached to this article.