Yet another magnet thread. What are the personalities of the students at various magnets?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not exactly “personalities” but there are some very obvious demographic differences between CAP (largely upper middle class, white students) and magnet (many from Indian, Chinese, Korean and other Asian backgrounds often children of immigrants including the few who are white) at Blair. Nice kids either way.

Why is this? Why are there so few wealthy white families in SMCS relative to CAP, and why so many in CAP? Are the upper middle class white kids not as good in STEM or are their families less interested?

Both Blair magnet and CAP are predominantly UMC. This is not NYC, where the test-in magnets are dominated by working class first-generation kids whose parents work in restaurants and dry cleaners. The parents of both sets of kids tend to be feds, or journalists, or attorneys, or scientists, or college professors.

I have an upperclassman in CAP who attended the TPMS STEM magnet, so some visibility on both groups and while Blair magnet does have more first and second generation immigrant kids, they are just as wealthy or wealthier than the CAP kids.

Agree only the wealthiest families can afford to prep their kids sufficiently to get into these programs. I'm told it takes years of AoPS or RM to get to where one might have a shot at SMCS.

You were told wrong. Stop trying to create a myth.

Parent of a kid in SMCS who doesn’t even know what AOPS or RM are.

Another Blair magnet parent here. It's not totally a myth. Many kids have done these, and some don't. I think magnet leans Asian because Chinese, Korean and Indian cultures place more value on academic advancement in STEM than Humanities. MC, UMC and immigrant families often sacrifice for additional stem enrichment like aops, A++, Dr. Li, Hopkins cty, etc. I know one mom who did those things while on a postdoc salary here on h1 visa from China. There are communal support networks too. Humanities were not an option for many of my kid's cohort in magnet. Not all of course. And, this is a few years ago.
I also see a lot of white umc lawyers in my neighborhood who will drop lots of money for Humanities enrichment.
My magnet kids had significant enrichment in arts because I am a professional in the arts. I also used to tutor math, so I helped them with that (to a point). Stem magnets liked the arts kids who could hold their own at math.
I do wish there wasn't an emphasis on pre program enrichment. I don't know how we really get around that though.

PP whose kid doesn’t know what those programs are, I’m an NP who also has a kid in the Blair magnet who not only didn’t prep but doesn’t know what those programs are. I guess we should be very proud that our kids got in based only on their hard work and not parental pressure and outside tutoring?

[Anonymous]

My magnet kid tells me how fearful his friends are of getting a “bad” grade (anything below 100%) because their parents will yell at them. The pressure these parents put on their kids is unreal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not exactly “personalities” but there are some very obvious demographic differences between CAP (largely upper middle class, white students) and magnet (many from Indian, Chinese, Korean and other Asian backgrounds often children of immigrants including the few who are white) at Blair. Nice kids either way.

Why is this? Why are there so few wealthy white families in SMCS relative to CAP, and why so many in CAP? Are the upper middle class white kids not as good in STEM or are their families less interested?

Both Blair magnet and CAP are predominantly UMC. This is not NYC, where the test-in magnets are dominated by working class first-generation kids whose parents work in restaurants and dry cleaners. The parents of both sets of kids tend to be feds, or journalists, or attorneys, or scientists, or college professors.

I have an upperclassman in CAP who attended the TPMS STEM magnet, so some visibility on both groups and while Blair magnet does have more first and second generation immigrant kids, they are just as wealthy or wealthier than the CAP kids.

Agree only the wealthiest families can afford to prep their kids sufficiently to get into these programs. I'm told it takes years of AoPS or RM to get to where one might have a shot at SMCS.

You were told wrong. Stop trying to create a myth.

Parent of a kid in SMCS who doesn’t even know what AOPS or RM are.

Another Blair magnet parent here. It's not totally a myth. Many kids have done these, and some don't. I think magnet leans Asian because Chinese, Korean and Indian cultures place more value on academic advancement in STEM than Humanities. MC, UMC and immigrant families often sacrifice for additional stem enrichment like aops, A++, Dr. Li, Hopkins cty, etc. I know one mom who did those things while on a postdoc salary here on h1 visa from China. There are communal support networks too. Humanities were not an option for many of my kid's cohort in magnet. Not all of course. And, this is a few years ago.
I also see a lot of white umc lawyers in my neighborhood who will drop lots of money for Humanities enrichment.
My magnet kids had significant enrichment in arts because I am a professional in the arts. I also used to tutor math, so I helped them with that (to a point). Stem magnets liked the arts kids who could hold their own at math.
I do wish there wasn't an emphasis on pre program enrichment. I don't know how we really get around that though.

PP whose kid doesn’t know what those programs are, I’m an NP who also has a kid in the Blair magnet who not only didn’t prep but doesn’t know what those programs are. I guess we should be very proud that our kids got in based only on their hard work and not parental pressure and outside tutoring?

+1 RMIB parent. We bought some prep books from Amazon that I think also the library has. That was about it. They did one practice exam and that was it. We have never gotten outside tutoring, ever. We are not originally from this area, and I had never heard of Kumon till we moved here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not exactly “personalities” but there are some very obvious demographic differences between CAP (largely upper middle class, white students) and magnet (many from Indian, Chinese, Korean and other Asian backgrounds often children of immigrants including the few who are white) at Blair. Nice kids either way.

Why is this? Why are there so few wealthy white families in SMCS relative to CAP, and why so many in CAP? Are the upper middle class white kids not as good in STEM or are their families less interested?

Both Blair magnet and CAP are predominantly UMC. This is not NYC, where the test-in magnets are dominated by working class first-generation kids whose parents work in restaurants and dry cleaners. The parents of both sets of kids tend to be feds, or journalists, or attorneys, or scientists, or college professors.

I have an upperclassman in CAP who attended the TPMS STEM magnet, so some visibility on both groups and while Blair magnet does have more first and second generation immigrant kids, they are just as wealthy or wealthier than the CAP kids.

Agree only the wealthiest families can afford to prep their kids sufficiently to get into these programs. I'm told it takes years of AoPS or RM to get to where one might have a shot at SMCS.

You were told wrong. Stop trying to create a myth.

Parent of a kid in SMCS who doesn’t even know what AOPS or RM are.

Another Blair magnet parent here. It's not totally a myth. Many kids have done these, and some don't. I think magnet leans Asian because Chinese, Korean and Indian cultures place more value on academic advancement in STEM than Humanities. MC, UMC and immigrant families often sacrifice for additional stem enrichment like aops, A++, Dr. Li, Hopkins cty, etc. I know one mom who did those things while on a postdoc salary here on h1 visa from China. There are communal support networks too. Humanities were not an option for many of my kid's cohort in magnet. Not all of course. And, this is a few years ago.
I also see a lot of white umc lawyers in my neighborhood who will drop lots of money for Humanities enrichment.
My magnet kids had significant enrichment in arts because I am a professional in the arts. I also used to tutor math, so I helped them with that (to a point). Stem magnets liked the arts kids who could hold their own at math.
I do wish there wasn't an emphasis on pre program enrichment. I don't know how we really get around that though.

PP whose kid doesn’t know what those programs are, I’m an NP who also has a kid in the Blair magnet who not only didn’t prep but doesn’t know what those programs are. I guess we should be very proud that our kids got in based only on their hard work and not parental pressure and outside tutoring?

The truth is there are plenty of kids who don't use these programs, but there's a core group at *every* high performing school that does.
Includes Wooton, Whitman, Churchill, BCC and privates. My impression was there is a higher percentage of prepped kids at RMIB v Blair when my children were there. My take was that you could be naturally great at math but it's harder to be naturally great at everything. The RMIB kids my child was mostly friends with were friends before RMIB because they met at those prep programs. They are a diverse group but mostly white.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not exactly “personalities” but there are some very obvious demographic differences between CAP (largely upper middle class, white students) and magnet (many from Indian, Chinese, Korean and other Asian backgrounds often children of immigrants including the few who are white) at Blair. Nice kids either way.

Why is this? Why are there so few wealthy white families in SMCS relative to CAP, and why so many in CAP? Are the upper middle class white kids not as good in STEM or are their families less interested?

Both Blair magnet and CAP are predominantly UMC. This is not NYC, where the test-in magnets are dominated by working class first-generation kids whose parents work in restaurants and dry cleaners. The parents of both sets of kids tend to be feds, or journalists, or attorneys, or scientists, or college professors.

I have an upperclassman in CAP who attended the TPMS STEM magnet, so some visibility on both groups and while Blair magnet does have more first and second generation immigrant kids, they are just as wealthy or wealthier than the CAP kids.

Agree only the wealthiest families can afford to prep their kids sufficiently to get into these programs. I'm told it takes years of AoPS or RM to get to where one might have a shot at SMCS.

You were told wrong. Stop trying to create a myth.

Parent of a kid in SMCS who doesn’t even know what AOPS or RM are.

Another Blair magnet parent here. It's not totally a myth. Many kids have done these, and some don't. I think magnet leans Asian because Chinese, Korean and Indian cultures place more value on academic advancement in STEM than Humanities. MC, UMC and immigrant families often sacrifice for additional stem enrichment like aops, A++, Dr. Li, Hopkins cty, etc. I know one mom who did those things while on a postdoc salary here on h1 visa from China. There are communal support networks too. Humanities were not an option for many of my kid's cohort in magnet. Not all of course. And, this is a few years ago.
I also see a lot of white umc lawyers in my neighborhood who will drop lots of money for Humanities enrichment.
My magnet kids had significant enrichment in arts because I am a professional in the arts. I also used to tutor math, so I helped them with that (to a point). Stem magnets liked the arts kids who could hold their own at math.
I do wish there wasn't an emphasis on pre program enrichment. I don't know how we really get around that though.

PP whose kid doesn’t know what those programs are, I’m an NP who also has a kid in the Blair magnet who not only didn’t prep but doesn’t know what those programs are. I guess we should be very proud that our kids got in based only on their hard work and not parental pressure and outside tutoring?

Do you really think the kids who went to those programs did not do hard work? Many of the kids we know who did not do outside tutoring have parents who have STEM jobs and taught them themselves. I'm not sure why it makes such a difference to you and why you would be more "proud" if a child did not go to the programs. My child did not attend these programs but her friends who went to them are the hardest working in the magnet and the most successful over the two years she has been there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Almost every kid at the Blair magnet we know also got in to RMIB and chose Blair. Many didn't even bother going to the RMIB shadow day because why bother.

The yield at Blair is almost 100%. They accept about 110-115 kids and about 105-110 of those kids go to Blair.

RMIB's yield is much lower, according to their own magnet director. DD does know multiple kids who claimed to have gotten into Blair but actually did not.

Because it's a lot more work, and a STEM leaning student would find all that writing not attractive.

One of the RMIB teachers told us it's because there's a decent percentage of duplicate admits for Blair and RMIB. A huge percentage of the kids who get into Blair turn RMIB down while it happens the other way around it's more rare.

RMIB is a great school. I have a child who really enjoyed their time there but's the most boring of all the magnets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not exactly “personalities” but there are some very obvious demographic differences between CAP (largely upper middle class, white students) and magnet (many from Indian, Chinese, Korean and other Asian backgrounds often children of immigrants including the few who are white) at Blair. Nice kids either way.

Why is this? Why are there so few wealthy white families in SMCS relative to CAP, and why so many in CAP? Are the upper middle class white kids not as good in STEM or are their families less interested?

Both Blair magnet and CAP are predominantly UMC. This is not NYC, where the test-in magnets are dominated by working class first-generation kids whose parents work in restaurants and dry cleaners. The parents of both sets of kids tend to be feds, or journalists, or attorneys, or scientists, or college professors.

I have an upperclassman in CAP who attended the TPMS STEM magnet, so some visibility on both groups and while Blair magnet does have more first and second generation immigrant kids, they are just as wealthy or wealthier than the CAP kids.

Agree only the wealthiest families can afford to prep their kids sufficiently to get into these programs. I'm told it takes years of AoPS or RM to get to where one might have a shot at SMCS.

You were told wrong. Stop trying to create a myth.

Parent of a kid in SMCS who doesn’t even know what AOPS or RM are.

Another Blair magnet parent here. It's not totally a myth. Many kids have done these, and some don't. I think magnet leans Asian because Chinese, Korean and Indian cultures place more value on academic advancement in STEM than Humanities. MC, UMC and immigrant families often sacrifice for additional stem enrichment like aops, A++, Dr. Li, Hopkins cty, etc. I know one mom who did those things while on a postdoc salary here on h1 visa from China. There are communal support networks too. Humanities were not an option for many of my kid's cohort in magnet. Not all of course. And, this is a few years ago.
I also see a lot of white umc lawyers in my neighborhood who will drop lots of money for Humanities enrichment.
My magnet kids had significant enrichment in arts because I am a professional in the arts. I also used to tutor math, so I helped them with that (to a point). Stem magnets liked the arts kids who could hold their own at math.
I do wish there wasn't an emphasis on pre program enrichment. I don't know how we really get around that though.

PP whose kid doesn’t know what those programs are, I’m an NP who also has a kid in the Blair magnet who not only didn’t prep but doesn’t know what those programs are. I guess we should be very proud that our kids got in based only on their hard work and not parental pressure and outside tutoring?

Do you really think the kids who went to those programs did not do hard work? Many of the kids we know who did not do outside tutoring have parents who have STEM jobs and taught them themselves. I'm not sure why it makes such a difference to you and why you would be more "proud" if a child did not go to the programs. My child did not attend these programs but her friends who went to them are the hardest working in the magnet and the most successful over the two years she has been there.

I think that it’s a much bigger achievement for a kid without all that extra help through tutoring and outside programs to get in to a magnet than a kid who got in due to considerable extra help. Surely that’s obvious?

[pettifogger]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not exactly “personalities” but there are some very obvious demographic differences between CAP (largely upper middle class, white students) and magnet (many from Indian, Chinese, Korean and other Asian backgrounds often children of immigrants including the few who are white) at Blair. Nice kids either way.

Why is this? Why are there so few wealthy white families in SMCS relative to CAP, and why so many in CAP? Are the upper middle class white kids not as good in STEM or are their families less interested?

Both Blair magnet and CAP are predominantly UMC. This is not NYC, where the test-in magnets are dominated by working class first-generation kids whose parents work in restaurants and dry cleaners. The parents of both sets of kids tend to be feds, or journalists, or attorneys, or scientists, or college professors.

I have an upperclassman in CAP who attended the TPMS STEM magnet, so some visibility on both groups and while Blair magnet does have more first and second generation immigrant kids, they are just as wealthy or wealthier than the CAP kids.

Agree only the wealthiest families can afford to prep their kids sufficiently to get into these programs. I'm told it takes years of AoPS or RM to get to where one might have a shot at SMCS.

You were told wrong. Stop trying to create a myth.

Parent of a kid in SMCS who doesn’t even know what AOPS or RM are.

Another Blair magnet parent here. It's not totally a myth. Many kids have done these, and some don't. I think magnet leans Asian because Chinese, Korean and Indian cultures place more value on academic advancement in STEM than Humanities. MC, UMC and immigrant families often sacrifice for additional stem enrichment like aops, A++, Dr. Li, Hopkins cty, etc. I know one mom who did those things while on a postdoc salary here on h1 visa from China. There are communal support networks too. Humanities were not an option for many of my kid's cohort in magnet. Not all of course. And, this is a few years ago.
I also see a lot of white umc lawyers in my neighborhood who will drop lots of money for Humanities enrichment.
My magnet kids had significant enrichment in arts because I am a professional in the arts. I also used to tutor math, so I helped them with that (to a point). Stem magnets liked the arts kids who could hold their own at math.
I do wish there wasn't an emphasis on pre program enrichment. I don't know how we really get around that though.

PP whose kid doesn’t know what those programs are, I’m an NP who also has a kid in the Blair magnet who not only didn’t prep but doesn’t know what those programs are. I guess we should be very proud that our kids got in based only on their hard work and not parental pressure and outside tutoring?

Do you really think the kids who went to those programs did not do hard work? Many of the kids we know who did not do outside tutoring have parents who have STEM jobs and taught them themselves. I'm not sure why it makes such a difference to you and why you would be more "proud" if a child did not go to the programs. My child did not attend these programs but her friends who went to them are the hardest working in the magnet and the most successful over the two years she has been there.

I think that it’s a much bigger achievement for a kid without all that extra help through tutoring and outside programs to get in to a magnet than a kid who got in due to considerable extra help. Surely that’s obvious?

So help me understand.. why does this type of comparison matter so much to you (and many others on these threads)? Both types of kids worked hard and should be commended for their efforts.. Or are you suggesting that it's a much bigger achievement NOT to work hard at something?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD received offers from Blair, RMIB, and Poolesville this year. She ultimately chose RMIB. Interestingly, most of her classmates who had multiple offers made the same choice, with only a few opting for Blair. It's important to note that each year, students may make different decisions. Perhaps in previous years, the majority of students chose Blair. Additionally, my daughter mentioned that the math program at RMIB may not be as competitive as she expected. So, while it's not accurate to say that Blair is definitively better than RMIB, individual preferences and program strengths certainly play a role in these choices

My kid got offers from Blair magnet, CAP, both Wheaton programs and RMIB. Chose Blair magnet. As did everyone he knew with the choice. Your anecdote is no more useful than mine.

In my DD’s school, 5 kids got multiple offer chose RMIB, 2 kids chose Blair

[Anonymous]

pettifogger wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not exactly “personalities” but there are some very obvious demographic differences between CAP (largely upper middle class, white students) and magnet (many from Indian, Chinese, Korean and other Asian backgrounds often children of immigrants including the few who are white) at Blair. Nice kids either way.

Why is this? Why are there so few wealthy white families in SMCS relative to CAP, and why so many in CAP? Are the upper middle class white kids not as good in STEM or are their families less interested?

Both Blair magnet and CAP are predominantly UMC. This is not NYC, where the test-in magnets are dominated by working class first-generation kids whose parents work in restaurants and dry cleaners. The parents of both sets of kids tend to be feds, or journalists, or attorneys, or scientists, or college professors.

I have an upperclassman in CAP who attended the TPMS STEM magnet, so some visibility on both groups and while Blair magnet does have more first and second generation immigrant kids, they are just as wealthy or wealthier than the CAP kids.

Agree only the wealthiest families can afford to prep their kids sufficiently to get into these programs. I'm told it takes years of AoPS or RM to get to where one might have a shot at SMCS.

You were told wrong. Stop trying to create a myth.

Parent of a kid in SMCS who doesn’t even know what AOPS or RM are.

Another Blair magnet parent here. It's not totally a myth. Many kids have done these, and some don't. I think magnet leans Asian because Chinese, Korean and Indian cultures place more value on academic advancement in STEM than Humanities. MC, UMC and immigrant families often sacrifice for additional stem enrichment like aops, A++, Dr. Li, Hopkins cty, etc. I know one mom who did those things while on a postdoc salary here on h1 visa from China. There are communal support networks too. Humanities were not an option for many of my kid's cohort in magnet. Not all of course. And, this is a few years ago.
I also see a lot of white umc lawyers in my neighborhood who will drop lots of money for Humanities enrichment.
My magnet kids had significant enrichment in arts because I am a professional in the arts. I also used to tutor math, so I helped them with that (to a point). Stem magnets liked the arts kids who could hold their own at math.
I do wish there wasn't an emphasis on pre program enrichment. I don't know how we really get around that though.

PP whose kid doesn’t know what those programs are, I’m an NP who also has a kid in the Blair magnet who not only didn’t prep but doesn’t know what those programs are. I guess we should be very proud that our kids got in based only on their hard work and not parental pressure and outside tutoring?

Do you really think the kids who went to those programs did not do hard work? Many of the kids we know who did not do outside tutoring have parents who have STEM jobs and taught them themselves. I'm not sure why it makes such a difference to you and why you would be more "proud" if a child did not go to the programs. My child did not attend these programs but her friends who went to them are the hardest working in the magnet and the most successful over the two years she has been there.

I think that it’s a much bigger achievement for a kid without all that extra help through tutoring and outside programs to get in to a magnet than a kid who got in due to considerable extra help. Surely that’s obvious?

So help me understand.. why does this type of comparison matter so much to you (and many others on these threads)? Both types of kids worked hard and should be commended for their efforts.. Or are you suggesting that it's a much bigger achievement NOT to work hard at something?

They are both impressive, but think of it this way...

Two kids who are great at basketball both play in the same league: one has to practice several hours per day; the other practices for one hour a week. Most people would say that the latter kid is much more talented than the former.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Almost every kid at the Blair magnet we know also got in to RMIB and chose Blair. Many didn't even bother going to the RMIB shadow day because why bother.

The yield at Blair is almost 100%. They accept about 110-115 kids and about 105-110 of those kids go to Blair.

RMIB's yield is much lower, according to their own magnet director. DD does know multiple kids who claimed to have gotten into Blair but actually did not.

Because it's a lot more work, and a STEM leaning student would find all that writing not attractive.

One of the RMIB teachers told us it's because there's a decent percentage of duplicate admits for Blair and RMIB. A huge percentage of the kids who get into Blair turn RMIB down while it happens the other way around it's more rare.

RMIB is a great school. I have a child who really enjoyed their time there but's the most boring of all the magnets.

? how is it more "boring"? That's not what my DC at RMIB told me. DC had a friend at Blair magnet, and they said RMIB students seem more fun. YMMV obviously from year to year.

[Anonymous]

pettifogger wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not exactly “personalities” but there are some very obvious demographic differences between CAP (largely upper middle class, white students) and magnet (many from Indian, Chinese, Korean and other Asian backgrounds often children of immigrants including the few who are white) at Blair. Nice kids either way.

Why is this? Why are there so few wealthy white families in SMCS relative to CAP, and why so many in CAP? Are the upper middle class white kids not as good in STEM or are their families less interested?

Both Blair magnet and CAP are predominantly UMC. This is not NYC, where the test-in magnets are dominated by working class first-generation kids whose parents work in restaurants and dry cleaners. The parents of both sets of kids tend to be feds, or journalists, or attorneys, or scientists, or college professors.

I have an upperclassman in CAP who attended the TPMS STEM magnet, so some visibility on both groups and while Blair magnet does have more first and second generation immigrant kids, they are just as wealthy or wealthier than the CAP kids.

Agree only the wealthiest families can afford to prep their kids sufficiently to get into these programs. I'm told it takes years of AoPS or RM to get to where one might have a shot at SMCS.

You were told wrong. Stop trying to create a myth.

Parent of a kid in SMCS who doesn’t even know what AOPS or RM are.

Another Blair magnet parent here. It's not totally a myth. Many kids have done these, and some don't. I think magnet leans Asian because Chinese, Korean and Indian cultures place more value on academic advancement in STEM than Humanities. MC, UMC and immigrant families often sacrifice for additional stem enrichment like aops, A++, Dr. Li, Hopkins cty, etc. I know one mom who did those things while on a postdoc salary here on h1 visa from China. There are communal support networks too. Humanities were not an option for many of my kid's cohort in magnet. Not all of course. And, this is a few years ago.
I also see a lot of white umc lawyers in my neighborhood who will drop lots of money for Humanities enrichment.
My magnet kids had significant enrichment in arts because I am a professional in the arts. I also used to tutor math, so I helped them with that (to a point). Stem magnets liked the arts kids who could hold their own at math.
I do wish there wasn't an emphasis on pre program enrichment. I don't know how we really get around that though.

PP whose kid doesn’t know what those programs are, I’m an NP who also has a kid in the Blair magnet who not only didn’t prep but doesn’t know what those programs are. I guess we should be very proud that our kids got in based only on their hard work and not parental pressure and outside tutoring?

Do you really think the kids who went to those programs did not do hard work? Many of the kids we know who did not do outside tutoring have parents who have STEM jobs and taught them themselves. I'm not sure why it makes such a difference to you and why you would be more "proud" if a child did not go to the programs. My child did not attend these programs but her friends who went to them are the hardest working in the magnet and the most successful over the two years she has been there.

I think that it’s a much bigger achievement for a kid without all that extra help through tutoring and outside programs to get in to a magnet than a kid who got in due to considerable extra help. Surely that’s obvious?

So help me understand.. why does this type of comparison matter so much to you (and many others on these threads)? Both types of kids worked hard and should be commended for their efforts.. Or are you suggesting that it's a much bigger achievement NOT to work hard at something?

It matters only because some posters here claim that all kids in these programs are there because they gamed the system. It’s not true. And yes it is a bigger achievement to have been selected without additional help and privileges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Almost every kid at the Blair magnet we know also got in to RMIB and chose Blair. Many didn't even bother going to the RMIB shadow day because why bother.

The yield at Blair is almost 100%. They accept about 110-115 kids and about 105-110 of those kids go to Blair.

RMIB's yield is much lower, according to their own magnet director. DD does know multiple kids who claimed to have gotten into Blair but actually did not.

125/1000 and 100/800

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Almost every kid at the Blair magnet we know also got in to RMIB and chose Blair. Many didn't even bother going to the RMIB shadow day because why bother.

The yield at Blair is almost 100%. They accept about 110-115 kids and about 105-110 of those kids go to Blair.

RMIB's yield is much lower, according to their own magnet director. DD does know multiple kids who claimed to have gotten into Blair but actually did not.

125/1000 and 100/800

Those numbers are places, not offers. What’s key here is the number of offers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD received offers from Blair, RMIB, and Poolesville this year. She ultimately chose RMIB. Interestingly, most of her classmates who had multiple offers made the same choice, with only a few opting for Blair. It's important to note that each year, students may make different decisions. Perhaps in previous years, the majority of students chose Blair. Additionally, my daughter mentioned that the math program at RMIB may not be as competitive as she expected. So, while it's not accurate to say that Blair is definitively better than RMIB, individual preferences and program strengths certainly play a role in these choices

Furthermore, it's worth noting that Blair has a larger Asian student population, and this may contribute to their strong performance in competitions like the NMSF. Asian students often have a strong focus on academics, a value instilled by their parents, and this dedication to hard work deserves recognition

DC graduated from RMIB last year, and they said it was like 80%Asian, or some such. So, Blair magnet is 80%+ Asian?

My DD said this year around 40% freshmen are Asians, when we tour the Blair, it's like 80%+ Asians