DCC Wheaton/Blair Question

[Anonymous]

DS is an engineering/bio kid. We live in Takoma Park, home school is Blair. He's applying to Wheaton Magnets (both Engineering and Biomedical) and Blair SMACS. Wondering how to rank DCC. If he ranks Blair 1st, he'll get it. We're guessing if he ranked Wheaton first, he would also probably get it, as Blair is crowded.

If a kid is super into engineering, robotics, etc., is it worth it to trek from Takoma Park to Wheaton for the Engineering Academy? We like the idea of attending Blair and doing STEM Academy there because he would go to school with kids in the neighborhood. But, we're wondering how similar the Engineering opportunities are in the Academies at each school?

[Anonymous]

I thought the academies are pretty minimal compared to either magnet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS is an engineering/bio kid. We live in Takoma Park, home school is Blair. He's applying to Wheaton Magnets (both Engineering and Biomedical) and Blair SMACS. Wondering how to rank DCC. If he ranks Blair 1st, he'll get it. We're guessing if he ranked Wheaton first, he would also probably get it, as Blair is crowded.

If a kid is super into engineering, robotics, etc., is it worth it to trek from Takoma Park to Wheaton for the Engineering Academy? We like the idea of attending Blair and doing STEM Academy there because he would go to school with kids in the neighborhood. But, we're wondering how similar the Engineering opportunities are in the Academies at each school?

If he's into Engineering /bio, Wheaton magnet is definitely the place. That is their focus.

[Anonymous]

Wheaton is also extremely overcrowded.

[Anonymous]

Here's how I would think about the prioritization:

1) Blair magnet
2) Wheaton magnet
3) Regular Blair
4) Everything else

For that reason, I'd rank Blair in the DCC lottery and secure that spot and then take the Wheaton magnet if that's the best magnet option.

However, at regular Blair I'd recommend upending the recommended science sequence. "Honors" Biology and "Honors" Chemistry are on-level at best, so I'd recommend talking to parents of older kids and mapping out a pathway that makes sense and replicates the Wheaton program to the degree possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought the academies are pretty minimal compared to either magnet.

I am not sure what you mean by minimal. But my kid went to TPMS Magnet and then only got waitlisted for Wheaton magnet, so he did the Wheaton engineering academy instead. It was great for him and as far as well could tell he took most of the same PLTW engineering, math and science courses the Magnet kids did. Still took BC Calc junior year (got a 5) and multivariable calculus his senior yet. Also took both AP English options and several AP social sciences (mix of 4s and 5s). 35 on ACT. He did not take the AP Comp Science the magnet takes, but he could have if he'd wanted to. I think he got an excellent engineering/STEM education at Wheaton.

The writing instruction was next to nonexistent, unfortunately, despite taking as high level English and Social Science classes as he could. I don't know if Blair has more writing.

I do think there is a big plus to staying in your home district if it's easier commuting wise. For us Wheaton and Blair are about the same commute so that was a non issue.

[Anonymous]

OP, I've got a kid at Blair SMCS now (who was in the TPMS magnet). We are zoned for Einstein (which has minimal STEM programming) so this process was tough for us. My kid is interested in engineering but also compsci, and we went to all of the open houses and thought hard about how to rank. We did not have the Blair home option that you have, but we ranked Blair/Wheaton/Northwood/Einstein/Kennedy and were assigned Northwood. This was not a great outcome, but then he got into all of the magnets so we shifted our focus to that. Blair SMCS was not a slam dunk (we knew it would be intense and very math-heavy), but it is the closest school to our house, our kid knew many kids going there from TPMS because it's their home school (most friends who applied did not get into SMCS), and because of the extra class period it offered the most flexibility for exploring all of his interests and continuing with foreign language. We also have friends at Wheaton engineering. Getting to Wheaton from Takoma Park is a hike, so that's definitely a consideration, and if your kid is going to be doing after school activities you need to consider whether there's a way they can get themselves home or if you will be able to carpool or pick them up. But I do think it seems like a great program, especially for a kid who is already focused on engineering. For us, the program was too limiting. Because of the course sequence, and the standard 7-class schedule, there was very little time left to take electives, continue foreign language, and also do compsci. At SMCS, you can do all of these. If you don't get into SMCS, my understanding is that all of the SMCS electives that are offered junior and senior year are still available to you, as long as you have the necessary prerequisites. So that's something to consider. But you wouldn't get the comprehensive engineering instruction that you will get at Wheaton engineering, including in the PLTW academy program. Also, as you can see with what happened with us, ranking Wheaton high doesn't guarantee you a spot. But we do know kids who ranked it #1 and got it (who were zoned for Einstein) so it does happen. If you are set on engineering, and willing to do PLTW if you don't get into the magnet, you could rank Wheaton/Blair, and then if you don't get Wheaton at least you've got Blair. There's also a second round of the choice lottery, which we didn't do but is an option. Basically, you're in a good position compared to people zoned for Einstein, Northwood, or Kennedy because you can guarantee your kid a spot at a school that's got some pretty good STEM options.

[Anonymous]

Local Blair students can take magnet electives (mostly upper level courses) but not the core magnet courses in first 2 years.

Don't know about Wootton

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS is an engineering/bio kid. We live in Takoma Park, home school is Blair. He's applying to Wheaton Magnets (both Engineering and Biomedical) and Blair SMACS. Wondering how to rank DCC. If he ranks Blair 1st, he'll get it. We're guessing if he ranked Wheaton first, he would also probably get it, as Blair is crowded.

If a kid is super into engineering, robotics, etc., is it worth it to trek from Takoma Park to Wheaton for the Engineering Academy? We like the idea of attending Blair and doing STEM Academy there because he would go to school with kids in the neighborhood. But, we're wondering how similar the Engineering opportunities are in the Academies at each school?

Magnets aside, if your home school is Blair, can you rank Wheaton first and Blair second, and if you don't get Wheaton you are guaranteed Blair? And if you get Wheaton, can you change your mind and go to Blair?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here's how I would think about the prioritization:

1) Blair magnet
2) Wheaton magnet
3) Regular Blair
4) Everything else

For that reason, I'd rank Blair in the DCC lottery and secure that spot and then take the Wheaton magnet if that's the best magnet option.

However, at regular Blair I'd recommend upending the recommended science sequence. "Honors" Biology and "Honors" Chemistry are on-level at best, so I'd recommend talking to parents of older kids and mapping out a pathway that makes sense and replicates the Wheaton program to the degree possible.

How do you "upend" ? Can you talk your way into AP without taking Honors first?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Local Blair students can take magnet electives (mostly upper level courses) but not the core magnet courses in first 2 years.

Don't know about Wheaton

Wheaton not Wootton!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wheaton is also extremely overcrowded.

So is Blair

[Anonymous]

This is PP just coming back after re-reading OP's question - I'm not entirely sure how the engineering curriculums compare, but if you look at the Blair engineering pathway and compare it to the Wheaton PLTW pathway, they have a similar number of classes, but Blair's seem more general like "advanced tech" and "advanced design", whereas Wheaton's are very focused like "civil engineering" and "aerospace engineering." It seems to be that you will come out of Wheaton with a more specific engineering background, but I'm sure there's many Blair kids who end up in college engineering programs. In our decision-making, I found the personal and logistical considerations to be very important. Everyone is different, but if the distance of the school and the leaving of friends is going to be a burden, and your kid can still can a get foundation for engineering at Blair, Blair might be the best choice for you. We also had to consider sports - this was a downside for Blair. It is the biggest school and therefore the teams are harder to make. There are some teams at Wheaton that beg for players (like girls tennis), and others that are competitive, but the demographic of the school I think does have some bearing on this.

[Anonymous]

Sorry OP, I had posted something much longer about how we ranked the schools etc, but it was removed for some reason.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS is an engineering/bio kid. We live in Takoma Park, home school is Blair. He's applying to Wheaton Magnets (both Engineering and Biomedical) and Blair SMACS. Wondering how to rank DCC. If he ranks Blair 1st, he'll get it. We're guessing if he ranked Wheaton first, he would also probably get it, as Blair is crowded.

If a kid is super into engineering, robotics, etc., is it worth it to trek from Takoma Park to Wheaton for the Engineering Academy? We like the idea of attending Blair and doing STEM Academy there because he would go to school with kids in the neighborhood. But, we're wondering how similar the Engineering opportunities are in the Academies at each school?

Magnets aside, if your home school is Blair, can you rank Wheaton first and Blair second, and if you don't get Wheaton you are guaranteed Blair? And if you get Wheaton, can you change your mind and go to Blair?

No. You are only guaranteed your home school if you rank it first.