Does Whitman offer good STEM program?

[Anonymous]

We're zone for Whitman High School in Bethesda. My DS (8 yrs) has shown a lot of interest in STEM. I did some research on this forum and it looks like the best route would be going to Blair's magnet program for high school. He has a lot of neighbor friends and also since Blair's far and transportation takes too much time, we may just stay at Whitman. Does Whitman offer good STEM program? Is it a big difference between what Blair offers and what Whitman offers? If anyone has experience I would love to hear. Thank you.

[Anonymous]

I know nothing about Blair but yes, Whitman has a strong program including bio-medical focused classes for those gunning for medicine, and engineering focused classes for those gunning for engineering.

Have you looked at the course catalogues for each school? Available on their websites via the counseling pages.

[Anonymous]

He is so far from HS it is impossible to predict if them STEM Magnets will even exist when he is the right age. Whitman has the standard MCPS offerings with lots of AP classes since there are many high performing college bound students. MCPS also offers dual enrollment at local community colleges if he cannot find what he is looking for at Whitman.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't worry about it at all. Whitman is a great school and there is no need to go to Blair to get a very strong STEM education. Plenty of kids go through multivariate calculus by senior year, and there are more AP computer science and science courses than your child will be able to complete.

https://coursebulletin.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/SchoolCourseCatalogs/School/04427/top

Blair is a fantastic and unparalleled STEM program but first enrollment is extremely limited and highly competitive so you absolutely cannot guarantee your kid will get there. And as you say, the commute is a significant downside.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't worry about it at all. Whitman is a great school and there is no need to go to Blair to get a very strong STEM education. Plenty of kids go through multivariate calculus by senior year, and there are more AP computer science and science courses than your child will be able to complete.

https://coursebulletin.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/SchoolCourseCatalogs/School/04427/top

Blair is a fantastic and unparalleled STEM program but first enrollment is extremely limited and highly competitive so you absolutely cannot guarantee your kid will get there. And as you say, the commute is a significant downside.

Whitman offers very similar STEM programs as most other HS in MCPS. There's nothing special about Whitman and STEM.

Having stated that, of course, you can get a great education at Whitman, and Blair magnet is very difficult to get into.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're zone for Whitman High School in Bethesda. My DS (8 yrs) has shown a lot of interest in STEM. I did some research on this forum and it looks like the best route would be going to Blair's magnet program for high school. He has a lot of neighbor friends and also since Blair's far and transportation takes too much time, we may just stay at Whitman. Does Whitman offer good STEM program? Is it a big difference between what Blair offers and what Whitman offers? If anyone has experience I would love to hear. Thank you.

It offers the same curriculum all MCPS HS offer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're zone for Whitman High School in Bethesda. My DS (8 yrs) has shown a lot of interest in STEM. I did some research on this forum and it looks like the best route would be going to Blair's magnet program for high school. He has a lot of neighbor friends and also since Blair's far and transportation takes too much time, we may just stay at Whitman. Does Whitman offer good STEM program? Is it a big difference between what Blair offers and what Whitman offers? If anyone has experience I would love to hear. Thank you.

It offers the same curriculum all MCPS HS offer.

Not every curriculum is offered every year by every school. For instance Whitman "offers" Arabic but the year my kid wanted to take it, it wasn't being taught. This is far less likely with Stem subjects, obviously. But other schools may indeed have certain left-field STEM classes on their official curriculum but not be teaching them.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, sorry, just not the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're zone for Whitman High School in Bethesda. My DS (8 yrs) has shown a lot of interest in STEM. I did some research on this forum and it looks like the best route would be going to Blair's magnet program for high school. He has a lot of neighbor friends and also since Blair's far and transportation takes too much time, we may just stay at Whitman. Does Whitman offer good STEM program? Is it a big difference between what Blair offers and what Whitman offers? If anyone has experience I would love to hear. Thank you.

It offers the same curriculum all MCPS HS offer.

Not every curriculum is offered every year by every school. For instance Whitman "offers" Arabic but the year my kid wanted to take it, it wasn't being taught. This is far less likely with Stem subjects, obviously. But other schools may indeed have certain left-field STEM classes on their official curriculum but not be teaching them.

Just 95%

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know nothing about Blair but yes, Whitman has a strong program including bio-medical focused classes for those gunning for medicine, and engineering focused classes for those gunning for engineering.

Have you looked at the course catalogues for each school? Available on their websites via the counseling pages.

If you are into bio-medical, you'd be better off at Wheaton. Their bio-med program is lightyears beyond anything Whitman has to offer.