Selective tech and engineering magnet high school
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Anonymous
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Trying to decide what would be best for college. DC got accepted into magnet, but currently goes to private.
Magnet: Pros - selective, < 25% acceptance rate - funded by the state, a lot of resources being poured into this school - one out of three magnets in the state - variety of tech and engineering classes - very well equipped - small school and small classes - internships offered, strong connections with aerospace and DoD companies - tech/engineering clubs Cons - a minimum number of liberal arts and science classes offered - a little less rigorous than private - will not stand out as tech kid Current college prep private Pros - the best private in our area, secular, selective - very rigorous - small class sizes - academically strong peer group - easy to standout as tech kid - college advisor (although we can afford our own if we stop paying for the school) Cons - has a bio med focus, most classes offered in sciences - almost none tech/engineering classes offered - because the classes are rigorous, there is little time to pursue other interests outside of school - social environment is not great Which one would you pick? |
Anonymous
| I recommend your child pursue their interests and abilities, not hollow out their soul to woman trophy for their parents. |
Anonymous
| *Win a trophy |
Anonymous
| Go private. Save the magnet for kids who don't have elite parents who can give them the best, and protect your kid from the rough and tumble of the general public. |
Anonymous
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"Social environment is not great"
Why do that to your kid? |
Anonymous
| I had two go through a competitive STEM magnet. The biggest advantage I saw was the internships available and relationship with DOD. They were able to get real world engineering experience during the internships (and several continue these internships during college) and most of the kids at the school (if they did well at the internship) have job offers with the DOD upon college graduation. |
Anonymous
The kid is OK with it, as weird as it sounds. You know kids take everything as it is because they don’t know how it could be different? This is the case. They have several cliques at school and kids don’t talk to kids from other cliques. There is this unspoken taboo. Most of DC’s friends are Indian and their parents don’t let kids hangout with non-Indian friends outside of school. The kids are not in charge of their social life at all. So DC is alone on weekends and made peace with it. It is conducive to extra studying. DC is also an introvert and is afraid it’ll be hard to make new friends at new school. |
Anonymous
Sounds like your kid is in an awful current situation and neither options above are particularly good for your kid. I don't understand how it is truly a friend group if the parents won't let them hang out with non-Indian friends even on weekends. I would find new friends...so I guess send your kid to the school where they will be forced to meet new people vs. this group. What is option #3? |
Anonymous
I would look into how collaborative the STEM magnet is. Most require several group projects and offer engineering, math, chemistry, robotics, etc clubs. This type of education greatly reduces cliques since everyone is forced to work together. Also, many projects and clubs require the kids getting together on the weekends which turns in to fun hang out time too |
Anonymous
| OP - the situation you describe at your kids private sounds... not good. Frankly, a change of scenery might be just what your kid needs to come out of his shell. Why not give him an opportunity to find a new peer group - one that may want to hang out with him on a weekend, or have a study group together? I say this as the parent of an academically talented, tech/science-focused introvert kid (and a former one myself) - Academic skills will only get you so far in life. At some point you really need to have leadership and relationship skills in order to succeed. |
Anonymous
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What's your commute to sounds-like-TJ vs. that of your private, sounds-like-Basis. Those commute hours do add up.
If it's indeed Basis vs TJ, I would probably pick TJ, even with the latter is on the downswing. My impression is that Basis is a bit better, but maybe not a hundred thousand dollars of tuition better. What's better for college OMG please stop. The question should be: what is going to give your child a better education/high school experience. College is wildly oversold. |
Anonymous
DC considers them a friend group. They do get together once every month or two outside of school for birthday and holiday parties orchestrated by parents, but they don’t casually hang out at home, even though some of them live 5 minutes away. They do have classes together and sometimes eat lunch together so there is that. I do think maybe hanging out with kids from less privileged families will be better, but DC is worried because of introversion. |
Anonymous
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Option #3 is another magnet school that has different tracks - tech, engineering and biomed.
Kids are nicer there we hear, but it’s not as rigorous. |
Anonymous
Sounds like a better option. Not sure why you care about more rigorous...as long as it is "rigorous enough". As long as kids have good standardized test scores, have good college outcomes, etc....that it is "rigorous enough". I don't know where you are, but around these parts I am not aware of any mediocre Magnet programs. TJ, Blair and Poolesville all have good outcomes. |
Anonymous
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The magnet school 100% your private is not as good.
No private in the DMV is as good as any magnet, especially for a motivated kid. |