Are magnets worth it for college admission?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. I think for our children magnets were absolutely worth it for college admissions.

The pathway for both of my kids -> PHS SMCS -> UMD. We are Asian-American first gen immigrants. Our kids chose STEM careers. Both had perfect stats in GPA and SAT, NMS, ECs, Internships and research papers etc. We knew that they would not get into top private schools based on the fact that many of their peers in PHS look and achieve like them.

Apart from that, they also did not apply extensively. They applied to 6 schools in all. Since UMD was in-state and great for CS, Physics and Math (both did double majors, both had Math in common), that was their lowest bar in terms of where they wanted to apply. This did not leave very many colleges for them that were ranked higher for these majors. This is not a drawback but a boon. Imagine having a college like UMD as your safety. To be honest, UMD was very much their dream school, target and safety all rolled in one.

Having done STEM research internships during PHS (It is a SMCS requirement) and having written a paper based on that - they also found it easy to get future internships @ UMD right from the get go. Having been through the rigor, pace, and curriculum of SMCS and having so many AP and post-AP credits transfer, allowed them to juggle two hard majors, internships, and socializing in college with ease. They watched many of their college classmates - either do very poorly in hard courses or study very hard to stay afloat or do well but without any outside interests. In other words, the training and exposure they got at PHS made college seem easy.

The kind of professional training that the SMCS teaches these students in terms of advocating for oneself, building a network of peers, acquiring skill sets, acquiring credentials, creating and seeking opportunities, time management and organization is invaluable for college and professional life. They also were hugely networked at UMD with other area students from DMV because they had either competed with them in other arenas or had crossed paths with them.

Last, but not the least - since they are already in-state in a public university and the cost is already low. Therefore, even a small merit aid usually covers a significant amount of tuition if not all. This merit $$$ was like a payday for the work that they did in magnet HS.

For us, magnet STEM schools was worth it for succeeding in college and professional life. It made the college admission process easy too.

Of course, I don't mean to be glib and say that it was all easy. To be in the magnet track meant that my kids were performing academically at very high levels from ES. They were acing all kinds of tests that was being administered by MCPS- Raven, TerraNova, MAPS - and tests like JHU-CTY outside of school.

They were consistent from K-12, and also worked hard to have a well rounded resume - ECs, volunteer work, competitions, honor societies, internships, research papers, no discipline issues, consistent performance, no absenteeism, juggling leadership responsibilities, self advocating etc.

This is my child's experience as well. Finishing up SMACs now with a UMd presidential scholarship and direct admit to CS. Will now be paying very low tuition for a top-ranked CS school.

I'd say the magnet helped a lot with UMd admissions. I am not sure helped elsewhere but will never know. I am sure my child does not stand out as much as they would at home HS. Also I do not think the school profile that gets sent to colleges does the magnet students any favors.

If you don’t mind, Could you elaborate on this further?

Sure. Still in the middle of college admissions since I have a current senior. I assume you are wondering about the shool profile comment. My understanding is that without a school ranking, some colleges will try to guess based on the GPA bands. For Poolesville, the top bands are 78% for unweighted GPA and 58% for weighted. So after 4 years of hard work and taking all the hardest math classes (functions etc), my 4.0 UW 4.7W GPA kid only appears to be in the top 58% of their class. UMd will understand this, but other schools may not.

Different poster. This might as well have been in a different language. What do you mean by “GPA bands”? Can you explain to me like I’m an idiot?

+1 Isn't it true that most T20 colleges tear apart the GPA calculation anyways, and re-calculate based on their own scale. But, I don't know what they might do with the SMCS's specialty classes like, Analysis 2, Quantum Physics, Organic Chemistry, etc.?? Do those get weighted more in the re-calculation??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is kind of ironic that this county's parents fight so hard to get into magnet high schools, have endless battles over admissions standards, which test to use or not, and then realize four years later that they've put themselves into a worse position than if they'd just let their kid be a great student at their home school.

Only do the magnet if it has something your kid can't get at the neighborhood school. Don't do it for "the cohort"

Not at all. My DC wanted and needed the Blair magnet classes, and excelled in them. It was a fantastic high school experience he would never have had anywhere else.

"Worse position"? In what way?

When 30-50 IB graduates from RMIB all apply to the same Ivies with the same high stats and ECs. All are qualified but there is no way Yale is going to take all of them but reject a similar cohort from another IB school in Deleware or Michigan

yes, this is part of the problem, and why I started the thread. They're all applying to the same top colleges, but those colleges don't want more than one or two from the same cohort. But, they are also super high achieving kids. So, it's disappointing for the ones that don't win the lottery. Yes, there are plenty of great schools to go around, but when you are in a tight knit cohort, it still is a very disappointing for those kids.

But, I do think that they will all go on to do well as they are all high achievers and used to rigor.

You know, no admissions officer has confirmed this urban myth, don’t you? Apparently parents have claimed this for decades but there isn’t much evidence to prove it.

+1

There is evidence that they want a broad mix of geography, but no evidence that they scrutinize at that level. In other words, they may only want a certain number of kids from MCPS, but they aren't looking at specific school or program and splicing that way.

Following up here, I haven't seen this linked so far in this post: https://www2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/siteassets/schools/high-schools/r-w/rmhs/ib/ib-colleges-20-22.pdf

If somebody really wants to do the work, they can compare this to the overall acceptance list on Bethesda Magazine or wherever. I would bet you'd find that the overall proportion of students admitted to top schools from the RMIB is significantly higher than that of non-magnets--thus indicating that they aren't "capped", or at least that any theoretical cap is much higher than for a non-magnet.

For example, 5 of ~130 were admitted to Harvard in 2022. What is the proportion at nonmagnets?

The issue isn't whether RMIB students are more likely to go to top schools--certainly they are. The issue is whether those specific students have a better chance coming out of RMIB vs their home school. In my mind, almost all of the students admitted from RMIB should be admitted to a top school. Certainly there are a few kids who falter in HS. But by and large, these are the most talented kids in the county. So all of them are qualified for Ivy admission. If you compare them with kids from their same middle school who had similar profiles but chose to go to their home HS, I'd guess that the kids who opted out of the magnet do better in the college admissions game. They are big fish at their home school rather than of middling rank at RMIB. (I also think they are less prepared than RMIB students, but that isn't the question at hand.)

As much as I love magnet programs and as much as I want to believe that, I am not sure if that's true. I highly doubt if my kids would've been able to achieve same achademic success w/o rigor of magnet program, dedicated teachers, and the environment that allowed kids to succeed without looking over their shoulders. Yes kids deserve credit but a lot of it comes from other factors - peers, teachers, rigor...etc.

We should probably start with not calling them the most talented students in the county. They are a subset of talented students who chose to go to RMIB. Others chose different magnets or other HS special programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. I think for our children magnets were absolutely worth it for college admissions.

The pathway for both of my kids -> PHS SMCS -> UMD. We are Asian-American first gen immigrants. Our kids chose STEM careers. Both had perfect stats in GPA and SAT, NMS, ECs, Internships and research papers etc. We knew that they would not get into top private schools based on the fact that many of their peers in PHS look and achieve like them.

Apart from that, they also did not apply extensively. They applied to 6 schools in all. Since UMD was in-state and great for CS, Physics and Math (both did double majors, both had Math in common), that was their lowest bar in terms of where they wanted to apply. This did not leave very many colleges for them that were ranked higher for these majors. This is not a drawback but a boon. Imagine having a college like UMD as your safety. To be honest, UMD was very much their dream school, target and safety all rolled in one.

Having done STEM research internships during PHS (It is a SMCS requirement) and having written a paper based on that - they also found it easy to get future internships @ UMD right from the get go. Having been through the rigor, pace, and curriculum of SMCS and having so many AP and post-AP credits transfer, allowed them to juggle two hard majors, internships, and socializing in college with ease. They watched many of their college classmates - either do very poorly in hard courses or study very hard to stay afloat or do well but without any outside interests. In other words, the training and exposure they got at PHS made college seem easy.

The kind of professional training that the SMCS teaches these students in terms of advocating for oneself, building a network of peers, acquiring skill sets, acquiring credentials, creating and seeking opportunities, time management and organization is invaluable for college and professional life. They also were hugely networked at UMD with other area students from DMV because they had either competed with them in other arenas or had crossed paths with them.

Last, but not the least - since they are already in-state in a public university and the cost is already low. Therefore, even a small merit aid usually covers a significant amount of tuition if not all. This merit $$$ was like a payday for the work that they did in magnet HS.

For us, magnet STEM schools was worth it for succeeding in college and professional life. It made the college admission process easy too.

Of course, I don't mean to be glib and say that it was all easy. To be in the magnet track meant that my kids were performing academically at very high levels from ES. They were acing all kinds of tests that was being administered by MCPS- Raven, TerraNova, MAPS - and tests like JHU-CTY outside of school.

They were consistent from K-12, and also worked hard to have a well rounded resume - ECs, volunteer work, competitions, honor societies, internships, research papers, no discipline issues, consistent performance, no absenteeism, juggling leadership responsibilities, self advocating etc.

This is my child's experience as well. Finishing up SMACs now with a UMd presidential scholarship and direct admit to CS. Will now be paying very low tuition for a top-ranked CS school.

I'd say the magnet helped a lot with UMd admissions. I am not sure helped elsewhere but will never know. I am sure my child does not stand out as much as they would at home HS. Also I do not think the school profile that gets sent to colleges does the magnet students any favors.

If you don’t mind, Could you elaborate on this further?

Sure. Still in the middle of college admissions since I have a current senior. I assume you are wondering about the shool profile comment. My understanding is that without a school ranking, some colleges will try to guess based on the GPA bands. For Poolesville, the top bands are 78% for unweighted GPA and 58% for weighted. So after 4 years of hard work and taking all the hardest math classes (functions etc), my 4.0 UW 4.7W GPA kid only appears to be in the top 58% of their class. UMd will understand this, but other schools may not.

Different poster. This might as well have been in a different language. What do you mean by “GPA bands”? Can you explain to me like I’m an idiot?

Sure, this is the Poolesville poster again. Its confusing.

Not sure if this link works, but here is the school profile https://drive.google.com/file/d/15Xud1EJPqcIeE3uuVS14jfg2m8Aa_UCu/view
The GPA bands are listed on page 2.

I believe most MCPS HS do it this way. College admissions is a tricky business so it's hard to say the impact of this. As I said, I think it helped my kid at UMd. If I was a betting person, I think my kid's odds would be better non-magnet for Ivys. Especially for the SMACs kids, I don't think it is clear the rigor of some of these classes. There are plenty of kids getting into top schools. It just feels a bit harder.

That said, even with many things lost due to Covid, my kid said they would do the magnet over in a heartbeat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. I think for our children magnets were absolutely worth it for college admissions.

The pathway for both of my kids -> PHS SMCS -> UMD. We are Asian-American first gen immigrants. Our kids chose STEM careers. Both had perfect stats in GPA and SAT, NMS, ECs, Internships and research papers etc. We knew that they would not get into top private schools based on the fact that many of their peers in PHS look and achieve like them.

Apart from that, they also did not apply extensively. They applied to 6 schools in all. Since UMD was in-state and great for CS, Physics and Math (both did double majors, both had Math in common), that was their lowest bar in terms of where they wanted to apply. This did not leave very many colleges for them that were ranked higher for these majors. This is not a drawback but a boon. Imagine having a college like UMD as your safety. To be honest, UMD was very much their dream school, target and safety all rolled in one.

Having done STEM research internships during PHS (It is a SMCS requirement) and having written a paper based on that - they also found it easy to get future internships @ UMD right from the get go. Having been through the rigor, pace, and curriculum of SMCS and having so many AP and post-AP credits transfer, allowed them to juggle two hard majors, internships, and socializing in college with ease. They watched many of their college classmates - either do very poorly in hard courses or study very hard to stay afloat or do well but without any outside interests. In other words, the training and exposure they got at PHS made college seem easy.

The kind of professional training that the SMCS teaches these students in terms of advocating for oneself, building a network of peers, acquiring skill sets, acquiring credentials, creating and seeking opportunities, time management and organization is invaluable for college and professional life. They also were hugely networked at UMD with other area students from DMV because they had either competed with them in other arenas or had crossed paths with them.

Last, but not the least - since they are already in-state in a public university and the cost is already low. Therefore, even a small merit aid usually covers a significant amount of tuition if not all. This merit $$$ was like a payday for the work that they did in magnet HS.

For us, magnet STEM schools was worth it for succeeding in college and professional life. It made the college admission process easy too.

Of course, I don't mean to be glib and say that it was all easy. To be in the magnet track meant that my kids were performing academically at very high levels from ES. They were acing all kinds of tests that was being administered by MCPS- Raven, TerraNova, MAPS - and tests like JHU-CTY outside of school.

They were consistent from K-12, and also worked hard to have a well rounded resume - ECs, volunteer work, competitions, honor societies, internships, research papers, no discipline issues, consistent performance, no absenteeism, juggling leadership responsibilities, self advocating etc.

This is my child's experience as well. Finishing up SMACs now with a UMd presidential scholarship and direct admit to CS. Will now be paying very low tuition for a top-ranked CS school.

I'd say the magnet helped a lot with UMd admissions. I am not sure helped elsewhere but will never know. I am sure my child does not stand out as much as they would at home HS. Also I do not think the school profile that gets sent to colleges does the magnet students any favors.

If you don’t mind, Could you elaborate on this further?

Sure. Still in the middle of college admissions since I have a current senior. I assume you are wondering about the shool profile comment. My understanding is that without a school ranking, some colleges will try to guess based on the GPA bands. For Poolesville, the top bands are 78% for unweighted GPA and 58% for weighted. So after 4 years of hard work and taking all the hardest math classes (functions etc), my 4.0 UW 4.7W GPA kid only appears to be in the top 58% of their class. UMd will understand this, but other schools may not.

Different poster. This might as well have been in a different language. What do you mean by “GPA bands”? Can you explain to me like I’m an idiot?

+1 Isn't it true that most T20 colleges tear apart the GPA calculation anyways, and re-calculate based on their own scale. But, I don't know what they might do with the SMCS's specialty classes like, Analysis 2, Quantum Physics, Organic Chemistry, etc.?? Do those get weighted more in the re-calculation??

I don't think they do. Also, some of the SMACs classes are not even listed properly on the transcripts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. I think for our children magnets were absolutely worth it for college admissions.

The pathway for both of my kids -> PHS SMCS -> UMD. We are Asian-American first gen immigrants. Our kids chose STEM careers. Both had perfect stats in GPA and SAT, NMS, ECs, Internships and research papers etc. We knew that they would not get into top private schools based on the fact that many of their peers in PHS look and achieve like them.

Apart from that, they also did not apply extensively. They applied to 6 schools in all. Since UMD was in-state and great for CS, Physics and Math (both did double majors, both had Math in common), that was their lowest bar in terms of where they wanted to apply. This did not leave very many colleges for them that were ranked higher for these majors. This is not a drawback but a boon. Imagine having a college like UMD as your safety. To be honest, UMD was very much their dream school, target and safety all rolled in one.

Having done STEM research internships during PHS (It is a SMCS requirement) and having written a paper based on that - they also found it easy to get future internships @ UMD right from the get go. Having been through the rigor, pace, and curriculum of SMCS and having so many AP and post-AP credits transfer, allowed them to juggle two hard majors, internships, and socializing in college with ease. They watched many of their college classmates - either do very poorly in hard courses or study very hard to stay afloat or do well but without any outside interests. In other words, the training and exposure they got at PHS made college seem easy.

The kind of professional training that the SMCS teaches these students in terms of advocating for oneself, building a network of peers, acquiring skill sets, acquiring credentials, creating and seeking opportunities, time management and organization is invaluable for college and professional life. They also were hugely networked at UMD with other area students from DMV because they had either competed with them in other arenas or had crossed paths with them.

Last, but not the least - since they are already in-state in a public university and the cost is already low. Therefore, even a small merit aid usually covers a significant amount of tuition if not all. This merit $$$ was like a payday for the work that they did in magnet HS.

For us, magnet STEM schools was worth it for succeeding in college and professional life. It made the college admission process easy too.

Of course, I don't mean to be glib and say that it was all easy. To be in the magnet track meant that my kids were performing academically at very high levels from ES. They were acing all kinds of tests that was being administered by MCPS- Raven, TerraNova, MAPS - and tests like JHU-CTY outside of school.

They were consistent from K-12, and also worked hard to have a well rounded resume - ECs, volunteer work, competitions, honor societies, internships, research papers, no discipline issues, consistent performance, no absenteeism, juggling leadership responsibilities, self advocating etc.

This is my child's experience as well. Finishing up SMACs now with a UMd presidential scholarship and direct admit to CS. Will now be paying very low tuition for a top-ranked CS school.

I'd say the magnet helped a lot with UMd admissions. I am not sure helped elsewhere but will never know. I am sure my child does not stand out as much as they would at home HS. Also I do not think the school profile that gets sent to colleges does the magnet students any favors.

If you don’t mind, Could you elaborate on this further?

Sure. Still in the middle of college admissions since I have a current senior. I assume you are wondering about the shool profile comment. My understanding is that without a school ranking, some colleges will try to guess based on the GPA bands. For Poolesville, the top bands are 78% for unweighted GPA and 58% for weighted. So after 4 years of hard work and taking all the hardest math classes (functions etc), my 4.0 UW 4.7W GPA kid only appears to be in the top 58% of their class. UMd will understand this, but other schools may not.

Different poster. This might as well have been in a different language. What do you mean by “GPA bands”? Can you explain to me like I’m an idiot?

+1 Isn't it true that most T20 colleges tear apart the GPA calculation anyways, and re-calculate based on their own scale. But, I don't know what they might do with the SMCS's specialty classes like, Analysis 2, Quantum Physics, Organic Chemistry, etc.?? Do those get weighted more in the re-calculation??

I don't think they do. Also, some of the SMACs classes are not even listed properly on the transcripts.

They were on ours at least when we got a copy of it last year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. I think for our children magnets were absolutely worth it for college admissions.

The pathway for both of my kids -> PHS SMCS -> UMD. We are Asian-American first gen immigrants. Our kids chose STEM careers. Both had perfect stats in GPA and SAT, NMS, ECs, Internships and research papers etc. We knew that they would not get into top private schools based on the fact that many of their peers in PHS look and achieve like them.

Apart from that, they also did not apply extensively. They applied to 6 schools in all. Since UMD was in-state and great for CS, Physics and Math (both did double majors, both had Math in common), that was their lowest bar in terms of where they wanted to apply. This did not leave very many colleges for them that were ranked higher for these majors. This is not a drawback but a boon. Imagine having a college like UMD as your safety. To be honest, UMD was very much their dream school, target and safety all rolled in one.

Having done STEM research internships during PHS (It is a SMCS requirement) and having written a paper based on that - they also found it easy to get future internships @ UMD right from the get go. Having been through the rigor, pace, and curriculum of SMCS and having so many AP and post-AP credits transfer, allowed them to juggle two hard majors, internships, and socializing in college with ease. They watched many of their college classmates - either do very poorly in hard courses or study very hard to stay afloat or do well but without any outside interests. In other words, the training and exposure they got at PHS made college seem easy.

The kind of professional training that the SMCS teaches these students in terms of advocating for oneself, building a network of peers, acquiring skill sets, acquiring credentials, creating and seeking opportunities, time management and organization is invaluable for college and professional life. They also were hugely networked at UMD with other area students from DMV because they had either competed with them in other arenas or had crossed paths with them.

Last, but not the least - since they are already in-state in a public university and the cost is already low. Therefore, even a small merit aid usually covers a significant amount of tuition if not all. This merit $$$ was like a payday for the work that they did in magnet HS.

For us, magnet STEM schools was worth it for succeeding in college and professional life. It made the college admission process easy too.

Of course, I don't mean to be glib and say that it was all easy. To be in the magnet track meant that my kids were performing academically at very high levels from ES. They were acing all kinds of tests that was being administered by MCPS- Raven, TerraNova, MAPS - and tests like JHU-CTY outside of school.

They were consistent from K-12, and also worked hard to have a well rounded resume - ECs, volunteer work, competitions, honor societies, internships, research papers, no discipline issues, consistent performance, no absenteeism, juggling leadership responsibilities, self advocating etc.

This is my child's experience as well. Finishing up SMACs now with a UMd presidential scholarship and direct admit to CS. Will now be paying very low tuition for a top-ranked CS school.

I'd say the magnet helped a lot with UMd admissions. I am not sure helped elsewhere but will never know. I am sure my child does not stand out as much as they would at home HS. Also I do not think the school profile that gets sent to colleges does the magnet students any favors.

If you don’t mind, Could you elaborate on this further?

Sure. Still in the middle of college admissions since I have a current senior. I assume you are wondering about the shool profile comment. My understanding is that without a school ranking, some colleges will try to guess based on the GPA bands. For Poolesville, the top bands are 78% for unweighted GPA and 58% for weighted. So after 4 years of hard work and taking all the hardest math classes (functions etc), my 4.0 UW 4.7W GPA kid only appears to be in the top 58% of their class. UMd will understand this, but other schools may not.

The hardest math track is starting Algebra in 6th. I don't think there is any advantage, which is why we choose to remain at the home school and we didn't like how the curriculum didn't seem that well rounded for kids with a variety of interests. Kids can still do accelerated math at their home schools. And, if the goal is UMD, what's the point of the magnet then? (I'd love for mine to go to UMD as we can afford it).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. I think for our children magnets were absolutely worth it for college admissions.

The pathway for both of my kids -> PHS SMCS -> UMD. We are Asian-American first gen immigrants. Our kids chose STEM careers. Both had perfect stats in GPA and SAT, NMS, ECs, Internships and research papers etc. We knew that they would not get into top private schools based on the fact that many of their peers in PHS look and achieve like them.

Apart from that, they also did not apply extensively. They applied to 6 schools in all. Since UMD was in-state and great for CS, Physics and Math (both did double majors, both had Math in common), that was their lowest bar in terms of where they wanted to apply. This did not leave very many colleges for them that were ranked higher for these majors. This is not a drawback but a boon. Imagine having a college like UMD as your safety. To be honest, UMD was very much their dream school, target and safety all rolled in one.

Having done STEM research internships during PHS (It is a SMCS requirement) and having written a paper based on that - they also found it easy to get future internships @ UMD right from the get go. Having been through the rigor, pace, and curriculum of SMCS and having so many AP and post-AP credits transfer, allowed them to juggle two hard majors, internships, and socializing in college with ease. They watched many of their college classmates - either do very poorly in hard courses or study very hard to stay afloat or do well but without any outside interests. In other words, the training and exposure they got at PHS made college seem easy.

The kind of professional training that the SMCS teaches these students in terms of advocating for oneself, building a network of peers, acquiring skill sets, acquiring credentials, creating and seeking opportunities, time management and organization is invaluable for college and professional life. They also were hugely networked at UMD with other area students from DMV because they had either competed with them in other arenas or had crossed paths with them.

Last, but not the least - since they are already in-state in a public university and the cost is already low. Therefore, even a small merit aid usually covers a significant amount of tuition if not all. This merit $$$ was like a payday for the work that they did in magnet HS.

For us, magnet STEM schools was worth it for succeeding in college and professional life. It made the college admission process easy too.

Of course, I don't mean to be glib and say that it was all easy. To be in the magnet track meant that my kids were performing academically at very high levels from ES. They were acing all kinds of tests that was being administered by MCPS- Raven, TerraNova, MAPS - and tests like JHU-CTY outside of school.

They were consistent from K-12, and also worked hard to have a well rounded resume - ECs, volunteer work, competitions, honor societies, internships, research papers, no discipline issues, consistent performance, no absenteeism, juggling leadership responsibilities, self advocating etc.

This is my child's experience as well. Finishing up SMACs now with a UMd presidential scholarship and direct admit to CS. Will now be paying very low tuition for a top-ranked CS school.

I'd say the magnet helped a lot with UMd admissions. I am not sure helped elsewhere but will never know. I am sure my child does not stand out as much as they would at home HS. Also I do not think the school profile that gets sent to colleges does the magnet students any favors.

If you don’t mind, Could you elaborate on this further?

Sure. Still in the middle of college admissions since I have a current senior. I assume you are wondering about the shool profile comment. My understanding is that without a school ranking, some colleges will try to guess based on the GPA bands. For Poolesville, the top bands are 78% for unweighted GPA and 58% for weighted. So after 4 years of hard work and taking all the hardest math classes (functions etc), my 4.0 UW 4.7W GPA kid only appears to be in the top 58% of their class. UMd will understand this, but other schools may not.

The hardest math track is starting Algebra in 6th. I don't think there is any advantage, which is why we choose to remain at the home school and we didn't like how the curriculum didn't seem that well rounded for kids with a variety of interests. Kids can still do accelerated math at their home schools. And, if the goal is UMD, what's the point of the magnet then? (I'd love for mine to go to UMD as we can afford it).

For my kid, it was worth it for the classes offered at the magnet and the peer group. More kids out of the magnets may be getting into honors and getting scholarships. Again, hard to say.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. I think for our children magnets were absolutely worth it for college admissions.

The pathway for both of my kids -> PHS SMCS -> UMD. We are Asian-American first gen immigrants. Our kids chose STEM careers. Both had perfect stats in GPA and SAT, NMS, ECs, Internships and research papers etc. We knew that they would not get into top private schools based on the fact that many of their peers in PHS look and achieve like them.

Apart from that, they also did not apply extensively. They applied to 6 schools in all. Since UMD was in-state and great for CS, Physics and Math (both did double majors, both had Math in common), that was their lowest bar in terms of where they wanted to apply. This did not leave very many colleges for them that were ranked higher for these majors. This is not a drawback but a boon. Imagine having a college like UMD as your safety. To be honest, UMD was very much their dream school, target and safety all rolled in one.

Having done STEM research internships during PHS (It is a SMCS requirement) and having written a paper based on that - they also found it easy to get future internships @ UMD right from the get go. Having been through the rigor, pace, and curriculum of SMCS and having so many AP and post-AP credits transfer, allowed them to juggle two hard majors, internships, and socializing in college with ease. They watched many of their college classmates - either do very poorly in hard courses or study very hard to stay afloat or do well but without any outside interests. In other words, the training and exposure they got at PHS made college seem easy.

The kind of professional training that the SMCS teaches these students in terms of advocating for oneself, building a network of peers, acquiring skill sets, acquiring credentials, creating and seeking opportunities, time management and organization is invaluable for college and professional life. They also were hugely networked at UMD with other area students from DMV because they had either competed with them in other arenas or had crossed paths with them.

Last, but not the least - since they are already in-state in a public university and the cost is already low. Therefore, even a small merit aid usually covers a significant amount of tuition if not all. This merit $$$ was like a payday for the work that they did in magnet HS.

For us, magnet STEM schools was worth it for succeeding in college and professional life. It made the college admission process easy too.

Of course, I don't mean to be glib and say that it was all easy. To be in the magnet track meant that my kids were performing academically at very high levels from ES. They were acing all kinds of tests that was being administered by MCPS- Raven, TerraNova, MAPS - and tests like JHU-CTY outside of school.

They were consistent from K-12, and also worked hard to have a well rounded resume - ECs, volunteer work, competitions, honor societies, internships, research papers, no discipline issues, consistent performance, no absenteeism, juggling leadership responsibilities, self advocating etc.

This is my child's experience as well. Finishing up SMACs now with a UMd presidential scholarship and direct admit to CS. Will now be paying very low tuition for a top-ranked CS school.

I'd say the magnet helped a lot with UMd admissions. I am not sure helped elsewhere but will never know. I am sure my child does not stand out as much as they would at home HS. Also I do not think the school profile that gets sent to colleges does the magnet students any favors.

If you don’t mind, Could you elaborate on this further?

Sure. Still in the middle of college admissions since I have a current senior. I assume you are wondering about the shool profile comment. My understanding is that without a school ranking, some colleges will try to guess based on the GPA bands. For Poolesville, the top bands are 78% for unweighted GPA and 58% for weighted. So after 4 years of hard work and taking all the hardest math classes (functions etc), my 4.0 UW 4.7W GPA kid only appears to be in the top 58% of their class. UMd will understand this, but other schools may not.

Different poster. This might as well have been in a different language. What do you mean by “GPA bands”? Can you explain to me like I’m an idiot?

+1 Isn't it true that most T20 colleges tear apart the GPA calculation anyways, and re-calculate based on their own scale. But, I don't know what they might do with the SMCS's specialty classes like, Analysis 2, Quantum Physics, Organic Chemistry, etc.?? Do those get weighted more in the re-calculation??

I don't think they do. Also, some of the SMACs classes are not even listed properly on the transcripts.

They were on ours at least when we got a copy of it last year.

Well i thought so too at first. Example of this would be the SMACS 9th grade computer class listed on transcript as "Foundations of Computer Science". Unless someone is familiar with SMACS they would not not know that this is actually also AP Computer Science.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. I think for our children magnets were absolutely worth it for college admissions.

The pathway for both of my kids -> PHS SMCS -> UMD. We are Asian-American first gen immigrants. Our kids chose STEM careers. Both had perfect stats in GPA and SAT, NMS, ECs, Internships and research papers etc. We knew that they would not get into top private schools based on the fact that many of their peers in PHS look and achieve like them.

Apart from that, they also did not apply extensively. They applied to 6 schools in all. Since UMD was in-state and great for CS, Physics and Math (both did double majors, both had Math in common), that was their lowest bar in terms of where they wanted to apply. This did not leave very many colleges for them that were ranked higher for these majors. This is not a drawback but a boon. Imagine having a college like UMD as your safety. To be honest, UMD was very much their dream school, target and safety all rolled in one.

Having done STEM research internships during PHS (It is a SMCS requirement) and having written a paper based on that - they also found it easy to get future internships @ UMD right from the get go. Having been through the rigor, pace, and curriculum of SMCS and having so many AP and post-AP credits transfer, allowed them to juggle two hard majors, internships, and socializing in college with ease. They watched many of their college classmates - either do very poorly in hard courses or study very hard to stay afloat or do well but without any outside interests. In other words, the training and exposure they got at PHS made college seem easy.

The kind of professional training that the SMCS teaches these students in terms of advocating for oneself, building a network of peers, acquiring skill sets, acquiring credentials, creating and seeking opportunities, time management and organization is invaluable for college and professional life. They also were hugely networked at UMD with other area students from DMV because they had either competed with them in other arenas or had crossed paths with them.

Last, but not the least - since they are already in-state in a public university and the cost is already low. Therefore, even a small merit aid usually covers a significant amount of tuition if not all. This merit $$$ was like a payday for the work that they did in magnet HS.

For us, magnet STEM schools was worth it for succeeding in college and professional life. It made the college admission process easy too.

Of course, I don't mean to be glib and say that it was all easy. To be in the magnet track meant that my kids were performing academically at very high levels from ES. They were acing all kinds of tests that was being administered by MCPS- Raven, TerraNova, MAPS - and tests like JHU-CTY outside of school.

They were consistent from K-12, and also worked hard to have a well rounded resume - ECs, volunteer work, competitions, honor societies, internships, research papers, no discipline issues, consistent performance, no absenteeism, juggling leadership responsibilities, self advocating etc.

This is my child's experience as well. Finishing up SMACs now with a UMd presidential scholarship and direct admit to CS. Will now be paying very low tuition for a top-ranked CS school.

I'd say the magnet helped a lot with UMd admissions. I am not sure helped elsewhere but will never know. I am sure my child does not stand out as much as they would at home HS. Also I do not think the school profile that gets sent to colleges does the magnet students any favors.

If you don’t mind, Could you elaborate on this further?

Sure. Still in the middle of college admissions since I have a current senior. I assume you are wondering about the shool profile comment. My understanding is that without a school ranking, some colleges will try to guess based on the GPA bands. For Poolesville, the top bands are 78% for unweighted GPA and 58% for weighted. So after 4 years of hard work and taking all the hardest math classes (functions etc), my 4.0 UW 4.7W GPA kid only appears to be in the top 58% of their class. UMd will understand this, but other schools may not.

The hardest math track is starting Algebra in 6th. I don't think there is any advantage, which is why we choose to remain at the home school and we didn't like how the curriculum didn't seem that well rounded for kids with a variety of interests. Kids can still do accelerated math at their home schools. And, if the goal is UMD, what's the point of the magnet then? (I'd love for mine to go to UMD as we can afford it).

For my kid, it was worth it for the classes offered at the magnet and the peer group. More kids out of the magnets may be getting into honors and getting scholarships. Again, hard to say.

I think it is hard to say. And yes, there are several kids from magnets who get full or partial merit aid to UMD honors.

Would the same kid at the magnet get the same offer if they stayed at the home school? That's not really knowable. But one thing is for sure, the magnet kid is used to the rigor of a magnet program, and they should do well in college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. I think for our children magnets were absolutely worth it for college admissions.

The pathway for both of my kids -> PHS SMCS -> UMD. We are Asian-American first gen immigrants. Our kids chose STEM careers. Both had perfect stats in GPA and SAT, NMS, ECs, Internships and research papers etc. We knew that they would not get into top private schools based on the fact that many of their peers in PHS look and achieve like them.

Apart from that, they also did not apply extensively. They applied to 6 schools in all. Since UMD was in-state and great for CS, Physics and Math (both did double majors, both had Math in common), that was their lowest bar in terms of where they wanted to apply. This did not leave very many colleges for them that were ranked higher for these majors. This is not a drawback but a boon. Imagine having a college like UMD as your safety. To be honest, UMD was very much their dream school, target and safety all rolled in one.

Having done STEM research internships during PHS (It is a SMCS requirement) and having written a paper based on that - they also found it easy to get future internships @ UMD right from the get go. Having been through the rigor, pace, and curriculum of SMCS and having so many AP and post-AP credits transfer, allowed them to juggle two hard majors, internships, and socializing in college with ease. They watched many of their college classmates - either do very poorly in hard courses or study very hard to stay afloat or do well but without any outside interests. In other words, the training and exposure they got at PHS made college seem easy.

The kind of professional training that the SMCS teaches these students in terms of advocating for oneself, building a network of peers, acquiring skill sets, acquiring credentials, creating and seeking opportunities, time management and organization is invaluable for college and professional life. They also were hugely networked at UMD with other area students from DMV because they had either competed with them in other arenas or had crossed paths with them.

Last, but not the least - since they are already in-state in a public university and the cost is already low. Therefore, even a small merit aid usually covers a significant amount of tuition if not all. This merit $$$ was like a payday for the work that they did in magnet HS.

For us, magnet STEM schools was worth it for succeeding in college and professional life. It made the college admission process easy too.

Of course, I don't mean to be glib and say that it was all easy. To be in the magnet track meant that my kids were performing academically at very high levels from ES. They were acing all kinds of tests that was being administered by MCPS- Raven, TerraNova, MAPS - and tests like JHU-CTY outside of school.

They were consistent from K-12, and also worked hard to have a well rounded resume - ECs, volunteer work, competitions, honor societies, internships, research papers, no discipline issues, consistent performance, no absenteeism, juggling leadership responsibilities, self advocating etc.

This is my child's experience as well. Finishing up SMACs now with a UMd presidential scholarship and direct admit to CS. Will now be paying very low tuition for a top-ranked CS school.

I'd say the magnet helped a lot with UMd admissions. I am not sure helped elsewhere but will never know. I am sure my child does not stand out as much as they would at home HS. Also I do not think the school profile that gets sent to colleges does the magnet students any favors.

If you don’t mind, Could you elaborate on this further?

Sure. Still in the middle of college admissions since I have a current senior. I assume you are wondering about the shool profile comment. My understanding is that without a school ranking, some colleges will try to guess based on the GPA bands. For Poolesville, the top bands are 78% for unweighted GPA and 58% for weighted. So after 4 years of hard work and taking all the hardest math classes (functions etc), my 4.0 UW 4.7W GPA kid only appears to be in the top 58% of their class. UMd will understand this, but other schools may not.

The hardest math track is starting Algebra in 6th. I don't think there is any advantage, which is why we choose to remain at the home school and we didn't like how the curriculum didn't seem that well rounded for kids with a variety of interests. Kids can still do accelerated math at their home schools. And, if the goal is UMD, what's the point of the magnet then? (I'd love for mine to go to UMD as we can afford it).

For my kid, it was worth it for the classes offered at the magnet and the peer group. More kids out of the magnets may be getting into honors and getting scholarships. Again, hard to say.

I think it is hard to say. And yes, there are several kids from magnets who get full or partial merit aid to UMD honors.

Would the same kid at the magnet get the same offer if they stayed at the home school? That's not really knowable. But one thing is for sure, the magnet kid is used to the rigor of a magnet program, and they should do well in college.

Blair grad here. Don't go to a magnet if your end-all be-all is an Ivy admission. That itself is a problematic expectation.
But if you truly enjoy the math and sciences, like project based learning, and like major challenge - if it doesn't stress you out but you actually find it fun - then it's a good place.
I hate to be cheesy but it's the journey, not the destination. I remember taking classes that I'm not sure many take in high school (Thermodynamics, Genetics, History of Science) which just made me THINK (I am not now a physicist, geneticist, or historian) and sparked questions. That's kind of the point of education.
I do think there were too many kids there because their parents wanted them to be. Too many who thought it was a golden ticket to an Ivy. The program would be better served by choosing more students who really want to be there (and who maybe have a slightly lower test score - IME interest + hard work can totally override genius in the workplace, and it was no different at the magnet).

[Anonymous]

Last 2 posts are spot on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. I think for our children magnets were absolutely worth it for college admissions.

The pathway for both of my kids -> PHS SMCS -> UMD. We are Asian-American first gen immigrants. Our kids chose STEM careers. Both had perfect stats in GPA and SAT, NMS, ECs, Internships and research papers etc. We knew that they would not get into top private schools based on the fact that many of their peers in PHS look and achieve like them.

Apart from that, they also did not apply extensively. They applied to 6 schools in all. Since UMD was in-state and great for CS, Physics and Math (both did double majors, both had Math in common), that was their lowest bar in terms of where they wanted to apply. This did not leave very many colleges for them that were ranked higher for these majors. This is not a drawback but a boon. Imagine having a college like UMD as your safety. To be honest, UMD was very much their dream school, target and safety all rolled in one.

Having done STEM research internships during PHS (It is a SMCS requirement) and having written a paper based on that - they also found it easy to get future internships @ UMD right from the get go. Having been through the rigor, pace, and curriculum of SMCS and having so many AP and post-AP credits transfer, allowed them to juggle two hard majors, internships, and socializing in college with ease. They watched many of their college classmates - either do very poorly in hard courses or study very hard to stay afloat or do well but without any outside interests. In other words, the training and exposure they got at PHS made college seem easy.

The kind of professional training that the SMCS teaches these students in terms of advocating for oneself, building a network of peers, acquiring skill sets, acquiring credentials, creating and seeking opportunities, time management and organization is invaluable for college and professional life. They also were hugely networked at UMD with other area students from DMV because they had either competed with them in other arenas or had crossed paths with them.

Last, but not the least - since they are already in-state in a public university and the cost is already low. Therefore, even a small merit aid usually covers a significant amount of tuition if not all. This merit $$$ was like a payday for the work that they did in magnet HS.

For us, magnet STEM schools was worth it for succeeding in college and professional life. It made the college admission process easy too.

Of course, I don't mean to be glib and say that it was all easy. To be in the magnet track meant that my kids were performing academically at very high levels from ES. They were acing all kinds of tests that was being administered by MCPS- Raven, TerraNova, MAPS - and tests like JHU-CTY outside of school.

They were consistent from K-12, and also worked hard to have a well rounded resume - ECs, volunteer work, competitions, honor societies, internships, research papers, no discipline issues, consistent performance, no absenteeism, juggling leadership responsibilities, self advocating etc.

This is my child's experience as well. Finishing up SMACs now with a UMd presidential scholarship and direct admit to CS. Will now be paying very low tuition for a top-ranked CS school.

I'd say the magnet helped a lot with UMd admissions. I am not sure helped elsewhere but will never know. I am sure my child does not stand out as much as they would at home HS. Also I do not think the school profile that gets sent to colleges does the magnet students any favors.

If you don’t mind, Could you elaborate on this further?

Sure. Still in the middle of college admissions since I have a current senior. I assume you are wondering about the shool profile comment. My understanding is that without a school ranking, some colleges will try to guess based on the GPA bands. For Poolesville, the top bands are 78% for unweighted GPA and 58% for weighted. So after 4 years of hard work and taking all the hardest math classes (functions etc), my 4.0 UW 4.7W GPA kid only appears to be in the top 58% of their class. UMd will understand this, but other schools may not.

Different poster. This might as well have been in a different language. What do you mean by “GPA bands”? Can you explain to me like I’m an idiot?

+1 Isn't it true that most T20 colleges tear apart the GPA calculation anyways, and re-calculate based on their own scale. But, I don't know what they might do with the SMCS's specialty classes like, Analysis 2, Quantum Physics, Organic Chemistry, etc.?? Do those get weighted more in the re-calculation??

The MCPS course catalog treats them as APs in terms of classification.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm seeing some students from the various magnets not getting into the very top colleges. I'm wondering if the long bus ride, and work load are worth it now. Would it be better to stay at the home school and just focus on extra curricular activities? So many colleges now going test optional. Obviously you have to have the grades, but great grades from non magnets + great extra curriculars seem to be the way to go.

WDYT?

It was absolutely worth it for our kids. Would do it again in a heartbeat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. I think for our children magnets were absolutely worth it for college admissions.

The pathway for both of my kids -> PHS SMCS -> UMD. We are Asian-American first gen immigrants. Our kids chose STEM careers. Both had perfect stats in GPA and SAT, NMS, ECs, Internships and research papers etc. We knew that they would not get into top private schools based on the fact that many of their peers in PHS look and achieve like them.

Apart from that, they also did not apply extensively. They applied to 6 schools in all. Since UMD was in-state and great for CS, Physics and Math (both did double majors, both had Math in common), that was their lowest bar in terms of where they wanted to apply. This did not leave very many colleges for them that were ranked higher for these majors. This is not a drawback but a boon. Imagine having a college like UMD as your safety. To be honest, UMD was very much their dream school, target and safety all rolled in one.

Having done STEM research internships during PHS (It is a SMCS requirement) and having written a paper based on that - they also found it easy to get future internships @ UMD right from the get go. Having been through the rigor, pace, and curriculum of SMCS and having so many AP and post-AP credits transfer, allowed them to juggle two hard majors, internships, and socializing in college with ease. They watched many of their college classmates - either do very poorly in hard courses or study very hard to stay afloat or do well but without any outside interests. In other words, the training and exposure they got at PHS made college seem easy.

The kind of professional training that the SMCS teaches these students in terms of advocating for oneself, building a network of peers, acquiring skill sets, acquiring credentials, creating and seeking opportunities, time management and organization is invaluable for college and professional life. They also were hugely networked at UMD with other area students from DMV because they had either competed with them in other arenas or had crossed paths with them.

Last, but not the least - since they are already in-state in a public university and the cost is already low. Therefore, even a small merit aid usually covers a significant amount of tuition if not all. This merit $$$ was like a payday for the work that they did in magnet HS.

For us, magnet STEM schools was worth it for succeeding in college and professional life. It made the college admission process easy too.

Of course, I don't mean to be glib and say that it was all easy. To be in the magnet track meant that my kids were performing academically at very high levels from ES. They were acing all kinds of tests that was being administered by MCPS- Raven, TerraNova, MAPS - and tests like JHU-CTY outside of school.

They were consistent from K-12, and also worked hard to have a well rounded resume - ECs, volunteer work, competitions, honor societies, internships, research papers, no discipline issues, consistent performance, no absenteeism, juggling leadership responsibilities, self advocating etc.

This is my child's experience as well. Finishing up SMACs now with a UMd presidential scholarship and direct admit to CS. Will now be paying very low tuition for a top-ranked CS school.

I'd say the magnet helped a lot with UMd admissions. I am not sure helped elsewhere but will never know. I am sure my child does not stand out as much as they would at home HS. Also I do not think the school profile that gets sent to colleges does the magnet students any favors.

If you don’t mind, Could you elaborate on this further?

Sure. Still in the middle of college admissions since I have a current senior. I assume you are wondering about the shool profile comment. My understanding is that without a school ranking, some colleges will try to guess based on the GPA bands. For Poolesville, the top bands are 78% for unweighted GPA and 58% for weighted. So after 4 years of hard work and taking all the hardest math classes (functions etc), my 4.0 UW 4.7W GPA kid only appears to be in the top 58% of their class. UMd will understand this, but other schools may not.

The hardest math track is starting Algebra in 6th. I don't think there is any advantage, which is why we choose to remain at the home school and we didn't like how the curriculum didn't seem that well rounded for kids with a variety of interests. Kids can still do accelerated math at their home schools. And, if the goal is UMD, what's the point of the magnet then? (I'd love for mine to go to UMD as we can afford it).

Kids cannot take anything remotely like Blair SMACS classes at any other high school in the county (and probably at few other high schools in the country). "Accelerated math" is not magnet math.

The goal of the magnet is to challenge and inspire high-performing students, regardless of where they eventually go to college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. I think for our children magnets were absolutely worth it for college admissions.

The pathway for both of my kids -> PHS SMCS -> UMD. We are Asian-American first gen immigrants. Our kids chose STEM careers. Both had perfect stats in GPA and SAT, NMS, ECs, Internships and research papers etc. We knew that they would not get into top private schools based on the fact that many of their peers in PHS look and achieve like them.

Apart from that, they also did not apply extensively. They applied to 6 schools in all. Since UMD was in-state and great for CS, Physics and Math (both did double majors, both had Math in common), that was their lowest bar in terms of where they wanted to apply. This did not leave very many colleges for them that were ranked higher for these majors. This is not a drawback but a boon. Imagine having a college like UMD as your safety. To be honest, UMD was very much their dream school, target and safety all rolled in one.

Having done STEM research internships during PHS (It is a SMCS requirement) and having written a paper based on that - they also found it easy to get future internships @ UMD right from the get go. Having been through the rigor, pace, and curriculum of SMCS and having so many AP and post-AP credits transfer, allowed them to juggle two hard majors, internships, and socializing in college with ease. They watched many of their college classmates - either do very poorly in hard courses or study very hard to stay afloat or do well but without any outside interests. In other words, the training and exposure they got at PHS made college seem easy.

The kind of professional training that the SMCS teaches these students in terms of advocating for oneself, building a network of peers, acquiring skill sets, acquiring credentials, creating and seeking opportunities, time management and organization is invaluable for college and professional life. They also were hugely networked at UMD with other area students from DMV because they had either competed with them in other arenas or had crossed paths with them.

Last, but not the least - since they are already in-state in a public university and the cost is already low. Therefore, even a small merit aid usually covers a significant amount of tuition if not all. This merit $$$ was like a payday for the work that they did in magnet HS.

For us, magnet STEM schools was worth it for succeeding in college and professional life. It made the college admission process easy too.

Of course, I don't mean to be glib and say that it was all easy. To be in the magnet track meant that my kids were performing academically at very high levels from ES. They were acing all kinds of tests that was being administered by MCPS- Raven, TerraNova, MAPS - and tests like JHU-CTY outside of school.

They were consistent from K-12, and also worked hard to have a well rounded resume - ECs, volunteer work, competitions, honor societies, internships, research papers, no discipline issues, consistent performance, no absenteeism, juggling leadership responsibilities, self advocating etc.

This is my child's experience as well. Finishing up SMACs now with a UMd presidential scholarship and direct admit to CS. Will now be paying very low tuition for a top-ranked CS school.

I'd say the magnet helped a lot with UMd admissions. I am not sure helped elsewhere but will never know. I am sure my child does not stand out as much as they would at home HS. Also I do not think the school profile that gets sent to colleges does the magnet students any favors.

If you don’t mind, Could you elaborate on this further?

Sure. Still in the middle of college admissions since I have a current senior. I assume you are wondering about the shool profile comment. My understanding is that without a school ranking, some colleges will try to guess based on the GPA bands. For Poolesville, the top bands are 78% for unweighted GPA and 58% for weighted. So after 4 years of hard work and taking all the hardest math classes (functions etc), my 4.0 UW 4.7W GPA kid only appears to be in the top 58% of their class. UMd will understand this, but other schools may not.

The hardest math track is starting Algebra in 6th. I don't think there is any advantage, which is why we choose to remain at the home school and we didn't like how the curriculum didn't seem that well rounded for kids with a variety of interests. Kids can still do accelerated math at their home schools. And, if the goal is UMD, what's the point of the magnet then? (I'd love for mine to go to UMD as we can afford it).

What an odd thing to say PP. If your education goal for your kid is UMD acceptance, then I guess that makes sense. I don't think that's how magnet kids/families think though. You sign up for magnet because it provides you something your home school can't. If you don't understand there are kids who need that, you will never understand magnet programs.