Blair SMCS Vs. GDS
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Anonymous
| Our DD is very fortunate to be admitted to both Blair SMCS and GDS. If there were no changes to Blair SMCS, it would have been an easy decision to choose Blair. Looking for perspectives on this decision - transportation is not an issue since we live very close to our assigned high school which we hope will continue to be a bus stop. Child is math and science inclined but not the type that wins math competitions. She is social, participates in sports for fun and not athletic. So club offerings are important. Priorities are challenging courses / electives, ability to do internships, and leadership opportunities. Thanks! |
Anonymous
| So much is unknown in MCPS right now. I would accept the spot at GDS. If Blair is your home school you can always go back. Or you can apply to one of their new programs after 2027. |
Anonymous
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We faced this choice with another similar private in the mix. We ended up choosing the other private, but would have chosen GDS over Blair.
1) My kid chooses to do math and science outside of school. He pushes himself in those domains, and I was confident his skills would continue to grow. He does not push himself in reading and writing, and so strong teaching and high standards in those areas were important to me. I know that Blair is better than his school in math and science, but I also know that his school is better in reading, writing and the humanities. 2) Being physically active is pretty critical for my kid. If he doesn't get a couple hours of activity a day he struggles. At a high school of 500 he can make a varsity sport each season. At Blair, that seemed really unlikely so then we'd be paying a lot, and spending a lot of time on club. 3) He liked his visit at the private school better. I will also note two things that also made a difference, and that might not apply to you. 1) We get a lot of financial aid, and his private applies that aid percentage to things like travel to a robotics tournament, or sports uniforms. Plus, as I said, we don't have to pay for club sports. So, the difference between costs of the schools wasn't a big factor. 2) The two commutes were pretty even in how they would impact the length of the days, and the headache for other family members. If cost or commute was a major difference, I'd definitely have taken that into account because this was a hard decision. |
Anonymous
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It's my understanding that Blair SMCS will not change their program before the 27-28 school year and current students before that will continue in the original program for their entire 4 years. It is rigorous, and it will be a great experience. The cohort is *stellar*. But it's a ton of stress. The kids are all high flyers and therefore there is great uncertainty about differentiating for college admissions. As a result, it's an arms race to self-study for APs they don't teach as part of the magnet curriculum, and to do various other things outside of school. GDS, to be frank, isn't all that academically. You're sinking your hard-earned money into education you could get for free by staying at the magnet. The only thing it might be better at is writing and literature, since the English MCPS curriculum is abysmal until AP Lang and AP Lit. My kids all read a lot of classics - for me it was non-negotiable. GDS is private, so of course certain things will be nicer. But it doesn't mean the instruction is better. I think only Sidwell rigor rivals with magnets, but they don't teach everything that SMCS teaches. GDS is a level below. As for your home school: I've learned the hard way that sometimes AP courses listed on school websites aren't necessarily taught every year, because it depends on student interest and whether they can fill enough classes and hire teachers (one year AP Chem wasn't available for my kid at her high school, so she had to rejigger her schedule to take AP Physics C instead, and will take AP Chem next year - annoying, since she had just taken Honors Chem). But if you ask around and you feel pretty certain that all the AP courses your kid wants to take will be offered and available, then, for college admissions purposes, you should maybe stick with the home school so that your kid stands out. This is what we did with our kids, with the added wrinkle that for us magnets would have meant a long commute. Unless your home school is Blair, in which case the SMCS is a no-brainer... Please do not let yourself be swayed by DCUM idiots who complain non-stop about MCPS. The money you spend on private is not negligible, and can be invested or spent on other things. |
Anonymous
I am the PP above you, and I don't disagree with a lot that you write. But you talk about writing as if it's a small, unimportant, piece of the curriculum. Writing is, in my opinion, one of the most essential academic skills, if not the most essential academic skill for kids to kids to have before college. Whatever your child majors in, writing skills will be essential. Whatever career they choose, writing will play a role. The only thing that I would say comes close is math for a kid who plans a career that uses math. GDS is strong in math. The advantage that Blair has over GDS in math is a lot less than the advantage that GDS has over Blair in writing. I'll also say that GDS and similar private schools absolutely have the arms race dynamic too. I can't say whether it's more or less because we turned Blair down, but "getting away from the arms race" isn't a reason to choose GDS. |
Anonymous
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We faced this same decision a few years ago, DC now in college. DC chose Blair and never regretted it, now sailing in college, very prepared. Good fit for our DC.
YMMV but DC did NOT find Blair high stress, but maybe for a kid that had to really prep to make the cut or that has high anxiety. I'd guess it's kid-specific. DC got in when entrance test was still given, and rumors were that lots of kids prepped for that. Did self-study for APs and did fine because even if magnet courses are not AP, there is content overlap. DC found the Blair magnet teachers enthusiastic and engaged, and very qualified, e.g., some PhDs in field. DC also liked having focused curriculum with strong cohort with like academic interests but also being part of a big, diverse school with lots of activities. So that will depend on kid. And not all sports cut, e.g., cross country, and there's Blair club teams with fluid membership too. DC was a bit worried that being part of small class at private would mean fewer ppl steeped in math/computers/science to bounce ideas off, though did like the GDS maker space. But some of the other things I'd agree with from above poster, including ability to differentiate. Not sure if it's the same now, but 100-ish kids, 75%-ish with straight As (and extra points for honors/magnet gives that really high GPA on 4.0 scale), and half the magnet became National Merit Finalists--compared to 0-4 for a typical HS in our area. Unlike privates that try to parcel kids out to different colleges, a lot of Blair kids all competing for same spots at good math/compsci/bio schools, and no uni will take 100 kids, not to mention the other hundreds non-magnet at Blair. (Argue still better positioned that the TJ magnet kids, who are competing against 100s more peers in stem magnet.) But they still land well (couple disappointed kids, but ended up loving their schools from what I hear anecdotally, which I'd venture happens everywhere). The head of Blair made a point of saying to prospective parents that if your goal was getting kid into specific schools, it might not be the school for you. But the new MCPS grading policy will make for more grade differentiation than in DC's class--no more 50% baseline and B-A quarter grades landing at automatic semester A. Again, DC would not change it for anything, but I'd argue it's kid-specific. And how much anxiety-tolerance or striver mentality parents have about getting kids into specific colleges. |
Anonymous
My guess is that most people with this choice don't regret what they choose. They are both excellent programs that prepare kids well for college. I don't regret choosing private, but I'm sure if we'd chosen Blair I'd be writing that I didn't regret that either. |
Anonymous
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Blair SMCS. Why would you spend 55k a year to be around a less talented cohort with a less challenging curriculum?
Probably the academic pressure at GDS will be less though. |
Anonymous
| Blair has 36 NMSF last year. GDS had 4. |
Anonymous
| SMCS was fabulous. I have no hopes it will be 5 years from now but I might take the chance now. I think the decline will be slow as teachers leave and standards/curriculum/electives drop. |
Anonymous
Blair has a magnet program that takes the top kids in the county, so this outcome is not terribly surprising or remarkable in light of that, especially given that Blair's student population is about 6.5 times larger than that of GDS. |
Anonymous
Most of the Blair NMSF come from its tiny magnet program SMCS, which is similarly sized to GDS. |
Anonymous
Agree. Changes are definitely coming and this program may change, but you are probably safe for the next 4 years. If you haven't familiarized yourself with all of the MCPS changes going on, I would do the research now and have that help inform your decision. |
Anonymous
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Anyone who tells you that the education at GDS (or any private school) is better than the MCPS magnets, and particularly Blair SMCS as the HS magnets remain non-lottery, is full of of it. We have plenty of friends with kids who went through Blair SMCS, RM IB and Poolesville SMCS, and they are all great and do a great job preparing kids for college and beyond. I agree with others who say that in 5 years things will be different, but that's just the end game of MCPS' 15-year effort to eliminate the magnet programs.
If you and your kid truly are indifferent between Blair and GDS in terms of transportation and cost, then to me the biggest difference between the two is that Blair has 800 kids per grade, and GDS has 125. They are just different environments, and most would probably prefer one of the other based on personal preference. GDS has good STEM classes, but a kid there is just not going to be able to load up on advanced science and math classes they way they can at Blair or Poolesville. It's nice to be able to say that there are all these math and science classes offered, but the reality is that a STEM focused student might have room in their 9-12th schedules for only 3-5 "extra" science/math classes beyond Calculus and bio/chem/physics. CS course offerings at GDS are weak, but maybe that's OK given the impact of AI. |
Anonymous
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If it were my child and there were no special circumstances, I would go with the Blair program.
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