HS Magnet Applications Open and....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Still no cogat this year?
I do worry some of these kids are going to get themselves into a program they can’t handle. Blair and RMIB are not joke, work wise. My kid had to figure out what a cogat was, take it, do the essays herself, etc….if she couldn’t manage all that, not sure how she’d be handling the IB there.

Meanwhile other parents will hire a prep company to help them write their kid's essays.

What percentage of these essays are actually written by the kids?

I suspect maybe 10% of the essays were written by kids without help. I'm curious as to what percent were professionally written with the help of prep companies and how this nonsense effects selection.

Let's be clear - these are not essays (at least last year's). They are short answer and one larger paragraph. I was surprised at how minimal they were - more appropriate for a 3rd grader getting into CES at 4th, IMO.

Except it’s much easier to write a two page essay than to write an equally effective one that’s 250 words. The challenge is writing concisely.

If a kid applying to a magnet is challenged by writing a concise and clear 250 word personal narrative "essay" in 8th grade, MCPS has a big problem! Kids are not dumb, we are making it happen.

As a writer I concur that it takes more skill to write an effective and memorable short article than a long one. Kids are no different than adults.

We aren't talking about grabbing the reader's attention here! My kid is a total STEM kid and wrote only about his love for all things STEM-related. He wrote nothing about humanities, communication arts, foreign language or literature. He got into both types of magnets (Blair, RMIB, and Blair CAP) -- based purely on his stats. So, don't fret about the "essay".

BTW, 8th graders should be able to write a clear, cogent 250 word narrative about their own lives. Full stop. Whether the narrative is pithy or stylistically advanced is not the issue here.

*8th grade magnet applicants

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Still no cogat this year?
I do worry some of these kids are going to get themselves into a program they can’t handle. Blair and RMIB are not joke, work wise. My kid had to figure out what a cogat was, take it, do the essays herself, etc….if she couldn’t manage all that, not sure how she’d be handling the IB there.

Meanwhile other parents will hire a prep company to help them write their kid's essays.

What percentage of these essays are actually written by the kids?

I suspect maybe 10% of the essays were written by kids without help. I'm curious as to what percent were professionally written with the help of prep companies and how this nonsense effects selection.

Let's be clear - these are not essays (at least last year's). They are short answer and one larger paragraph. I was surprised at how minimal they were - more appropriate for a 3rd grader getting into CES at 4th, IMO.

Except it’s much easier to write a two page essay than to write an equally effective one that’s 250 words. The challenge is writing concisely.

If a kid applying to a magnet is challenged by writing a concise and clear 250 word personal narrative "essay" in 8th grade, MCPS has a big problem! Kids are not dumb, we are making it happen.

As a writer I concur that it takes more skill to write an effective and memorable short article than a long one. Kids are no different than adults.

We aren't talking about grabbing the reader's attention here! My kid is a total STEM kid and wrote only about his love for all things STEM-related. He wrote nothing about humanities, communication arts, foreign language or literature. He got into both types of magnets (Blair, RMIB, and Blair CAP) -- based purely on his stats. So, don't fret about the "essay".

BTW, 8th graders should be able to write a clear, cogent 250 word narrative about their own lives. Full stop. Whether the narrative is pithy or stylistically advanced is not the issue here.

You shoukd be talking about grabbing the readers attention. That’s what makes applicants stand out when their stats are all substantially equal. I’m certain that my kid got in to all six of the programs he applied to on the basis of his compelling essay which helped him stand apart from the other kids that have similar grades and scores.