Montgomery Blair/Albert Einstein vs. B-CC/Whitman -- help me understand the differences

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ll bite. If you want your kid pushed from the school, skip public education and pay for private.

I don't know what you actually mean but private schools in this area are inferior to MCPS. Only a few can compare to MCPS.

Seriously? My kid went to silver creek and was given sentence starters as their only source of writing. He had an A in math because he could retake anything until he got an A and the teacher point blank told me he was a C in math kinda kid, but that was only when I pushed her for the info.

He’s now at private. There is Hw, quizzes, and tests. He’s actually learning how to study. I think he’ll be better served for high school than had we stayed in MCPS.

The question OP asked was whether mcps pushes kids. And quite frankly, they don’t.

private schools also have a vested interested in not letting the kids flunk a class. The class sizes are smaller, and you are paying for the hand holding. So yes, if your kid can't hack it in a large public, then private is the way to go.

My kid's HS really encourages all the kids to take the most rigorous courses, including AP courses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All of these schools have a different vibe. Agree Whitman is tricky because it can be very high pressure. BCC and Walter Johnson are the same, but maybe a degree lower. Your family will fit right in a an UMC white family.

Blair is the largest school in the state and there are sharp divisions between the magnet programs and the regular kids. It is a terrific school with a lot of diversity in all aspects, but everything is competitive because of the sheer size.

Einstein is the least competitive of all the schools you listed but it has a great reputation in the DCC. People in the CC/Bethesda/Potomac area put it down probably because of its location and the building appears quite run down but we know a few kids who go there and they have really positive reviews. It houses a very small and prestigious visual arts program.

Disagree about Einstein's building. It's not brand new, but perfectly fine (just overcrowded, like almost all the schools are). Northwood has the old and run-down building, but it is getting a new building in a few years, so its students will all be bussed to a holding school in Rockville for 2 years during construction.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the advice. As regards pushing, he does need some of that because he loves to slack off. But what I’m most concerned about is being able to easily fall into a peer group where academics are cool.

Re housing budget, it’s not prohibitive to live either place because you can always trade off on other amenities to find something affordable. But I have noticed the MASSIVE housing price differences between the two sides of the county - seems like a 30-40 percent gap which is huge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids have gone to BCC and it’s fine. I am actually somewhat jealous of my friends (white professionals) whose kids have gone to Einstein and, Northwood. All did really well at those schools. I think that since there’s a smaller pool of competitive kids they shined more academically and definitely athletically and got into colleges that they may not have from BCC or Whitman. Another benefit is that all those kids seem to be a lot less materialistic and less into the basic rich white girl bs that my kids are into like having to have the right labels, whining that “all their friends” are at Bethany and eating disorders.

This PP makes an important point. How do you feel about your relative socioeconomic status? It can make a big difference for teenagers’ mental health.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are looking at moving to Maryland close in to DC along the red line and have started investigating the schools. We are white UMC and have a student who is reasonably intelligent but not that academically motivated, so will need a push from school.

Based on Great School ratings and other reputational rankings there seem to be very sharp differences between schools in the Silver Spring area like Montgomery Blair, Albert Einstein, and Northwood, as compared to Bethesda/Chevy Chase schools like B-CC, Whitman, and Walter Johnson. But they are all part of the same system. When I look at the school stats on the MCPS web site the big difference seem to be racial makeup (although frankly all schools are pretty diverse) and the proportion of kids taking the SATs. Are the reputational differences mostly just picking this up? What difference will it actually make to our kid's high school experience?

GS rating won't tell you anything helpful. All these schools have large high-achieving cohorts and offer more or less the same classes. Pick whichever area works best for you. Honestly, your kids will be fine at any of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ll bite. If you want your kid pushed from the school, skip public education and pay for private.

I don't know what you actually mean but private schools in this area are inferior to MCPS. Only a few can compare to MCPS.

Seriously? My kid went to silver creek and was given sentence starters as their only source of writing. He had an A in math because he could retake anything until he got an A and the teacher point blank told me he was a C in math kinda kid, but that was only when I pushed her for the info.

He’s now at private. There is Hw, quizzes, and tests. He’s actually learning how to study. I think he’ll be better served for high school than had we stayed in MCPS.

The question OP asked was whether mcps pushes kids. And quite frankly, they don’t.

private schools also have a vested interested in not letting the kids flunk a class. The class sizes are smaller, and you are paying for the hand holding. So yes, if your kid can't hack it in a large public, then private is the way to go.

My kid's HS really encourages all the kids to take the most rigorous courses, including AP courses.

That’s a bunch of bull. The better and only good privates do NOT hand hold.

[Anonymous]

One thing that distinguishes Blair from the other schools is that it hosts the STEM magnet. In 11th and 12th grade students who meet the prereqs are eligible for these classes that aren't available elsewhere. This include anything from genetic analysis, linear algebra, complex analysis, neuroscience, or machine learning courses on par with those offered at Universities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One thing that distinguishes Blair from the other schools is that it hosts the STEM magnet. In 11th and 12th grade students who meet the prereqs are eligible for these classes that aren't available elsewhere. This include anything from genetic analysis, linear algebra, complex analysis, neuroscience, or machine learning courses on par with those offered at Universities.

But at Blair, if you are a non magnet student, aren’t you competing for college spots with magnet students?
Colleges will only take a few kids from each school. I always wonder whether at Blair, the highest performing non-magnet students are at a disadvantage for top colleges compared with the Blair magnet students. Is my analysis wrong?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One thing that distinguishes Blair from the other schools is that it hosts the STEM magnet. In 11th and 12th grade students who meet the prereqs are eligible for these classes that aren't available elsewhere. This include anything from genetic analysis, linear algebra, complex analysis, neuroscience, or machine learning courses on par with those offered at Universities.

But at Blair, if you are a non magnet student, aren’t you competing for college spots with magnet students?
Colleges will only take a few kids from each school. I always wonder whether at Blair, the highest performing non-magnet students are at a disadvantage for top colleges compared with the Blair magnet students. Is my analysis wrong?

No, it doesn't work that way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One thing that distinguishes Blair from the other schools is that it hosts the STEM magnet. In 11th and 12th grade students who meet the prereqs are eligible for these classes that aren't available elsewhere. This include anything from genetic analysis, linear algebra, complex analysis, neuroscience, or machine learning courses on par with those offered at Universities.

But at Blair, if you are a non magnet student, aren’t you competing for college spots with magnet students?
Colleges will only take a few kids from each school. I always wonder whether at Blair, the highest performing non-magnet students are at a disadvantage for top colleges compared with the Blair magnet students. Is my analysis wrong?

No, it doesn't work that way.

Yes, it doesn't matter and Blair has much higher admissions to elite colleges than the other schools anyway.

https://bethesdamagazine.com/2021/09/06/college-bound-6/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One thing that distinguishes Blair from the other schools is that it hosts the STEM magnet. In 11th and 12th grade students who meet the prereqs are eligible for these classes that aren't available elsewhere. This include anything from genetic analysis, linear algebra, complex analysis, neuroscience, or machine learning courses on par with those offered at Universities.

But at Blair, if you are a non magnet student, aren’t you competing for college spots with magnet students?
Colleges will only take a few kids from each school. I always wonder whether at Blair, the highest performing non-magnet students are at a disadvantage for top colleges compared with the Blair magnet students. Is my analysis wrong?

No, it doesn't work that way.

I worried about this too and my kid refused to apply to the STEM magnet or CAP. He is on the advanced math and language track and has taken AP classes since 9th grade or honors. Most of his classes have been with high performing kids from the magnet, CAP and non-magnet population. Based on info from his counselor and parents with older kids that attended Blair as regular students, admissions at competitive universities don’t compare the two populations and non magnet kids get into T20 schools.

[Anonymous]

If you zoned for one of the downcounty consortium (DCC) schools (Blair, Einstein, Northwood, Wheaton, Kennedy) there is some choice between high schools, as well as magnets, so many kids choose programs that are a good fit. The DCC offers great programs and your kid can definitely thrive there and be exposed to a more diverse student body. There is a new school opening in a few years that will address overcrowding at Walter Johnson and the DCC, so some rezoning is coming soon. Also, while curriculum is pretty similar across school, there is some variation at the high school level. For example, some schools offer the IB program, others offer Project Lead the Way engineering/biomedical courses, and some have stronger art/music programs than others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One thing that distinguishes Blair from the other schools is that it hosts the STEM magnet. In 11th and 12th grade students who meet the prereqs are eligible for these classes that aren't available elsewhere. This include anything from genetic analysis, linear algebra, complex analysis, neuroscience, or machine learning courses on par with those offered at Universities.

But at Blair, if you are a non magnet student, aren’t you competing for college spots with magnet students?
Colleges will only take a few kids from each school. I always wonder whether at Blair, the highest performing non-magnet students are at a disadvantage for top colleges compared with the Blair magnet students. Is my analysis wrong?

No, it doesn't work that way.

I worried about this too and my kid refused to apply to the STEM magnet or CAP. He is on the advanced math and language track and has taken AP classes since 9th grade or honors. Most of his classes have been with high performing kids from the magnet, CAP and non-magnet population. Based on info from his counselor and parents with older kids that attended Blair as regular students, admissions at competitive universities don’t compare the two populations and non magnet kids get into T20 schools.

I'm not sure that applies to UMC white students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One thing that distinguishes Blair from the other schools is that it hosts the STEM magnet. In 11th and 12th grade students who meet the prereqs are eligible for these classes that aren't available elsewhere. This include anything from genetic analysis, linear algebra, complex analysis, neuroscience, or machine learning courses on par with those offered at Universities.

We heard only a very small number of non-magnet kids are in magnet classes. Is this your experience too?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for the advice. As regards pushing, he does need some of that because he loves to slack off. But what I’m most concerned about is being able to easily fall into a peer group where academics are cool.

Re housing budget, it’s not prohibitive to live either place because you can always trade off on other amenities to find something affordable. But I have noticed the MASSIVE housing price differences between the two sides of the county - seems like a 30-40 percent gap which is huge.

He will not have a problem easily finding a strong peer group at any of the schools. Certain kids will start taking AP courses early and because of how scheduling works he will probably get them for other classes too and most kids become friends with kids in their classes naturally.