Yikes..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: I remember when MCPS used to brag about their national rankings? I know someone will probably blame the drop on covid, but since the entire country went through covid, I don't think that's the issue here? If MCPS can't correct this soon, then I think yes, it will impact which kids get into good colleges.

MD/National Ranking
#1/#104 Whitman
#2/#167 Wootton
#4/#248 Poolesville
#5/#294 Churchill
#8/#491 BCC
#9/#572 RM
#15/#707 WJ
#18/#771 NW
#25/#965 QO
#28/#1,114 Damascus
#34/#1,467 Blair
#35/#1,554 Blake
#37/#1,729 Paint Branch
#42/#2,040 Wheaton
#43/#2,056 Sherwood
#49/#2,209 Rockville
#50/#2,219 Clarksburg
#54/#2,386 Springbrook
#68/#3,246 Magruder
#71/#3,606 Einstein
#81/#4,052 Northwood
#97/#5,576 Gaithersburg
#110/#6,169 Kennedy
#131/#7,669 Seneca Valley
#134/#8,025 Watkins Mill

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/search?state-urlname=maryland&district-id=104047&ranked=true

????
What's the point of posting this? You do know that this ranking came out long time ago, right? And if I remember correctly that person (you?) started that thread the same way. Are you the same person digging up old threads, trying to create drama?

Drama? I hope you're not suggesting that information about public education should be kept quiet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid is at #131/#7,669 Seneca Valley. I've been very happy with the school.

Same. My kid is a freshman at Seneca this year and it's been such a wonderful surprise. We were so worried because of how badly the school is trashed around here, but our experience has been quite the opposite. Great teachers, impressive programs, and a spectacular principal. I really don't care about the ranking. My kid is an exceptional student, taking challenging courses, and has a great group of friends. She is thriving there and the ranking to us is a non-issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: I remember when MCPS used to brag about their national rankings? I know someone will probably blame the drop on covid, but since the entire country went through covid, I don't think that's the issue here? If MCPS can't correct this soon, then I think yes, it will impact which kids get into good colleges.

MD/National Ranking
#1/#104 Whitman
#2/#167 Wootton
#4/#248 Poolesville
#5/#294 Churchill
#8/#491 BCC
#9/#572 RM
#15/#707 WJ
#18/#771 NW
#25/#965 QO
#28/#1,114 Damascus
#34/#1,467 Blair
#35/#1,554 Blake
#37/#1,729 Paint Branch
#42/#2,040 Wheaton
#43/#2,056 Sherwood
#49/#2,209 Rockville
#50/#2,219 Clarksburg
#54/#2,386 Springbrook
#68/#3,246 Magruder
#71/#3,606 Einstein
#81/#4,052 Northwood
#97/#5,576 Gaithersburg
#110/#6,169 Kennedy
#131/#7,669 Seneca Valley
#134/#8,025 Watkins Mill

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/search?state-urlname=maryland&district-id=104047&ranked=true

You may also want to understand that these rankings aren't a reflection of the school but their SES/demographics, which are very different today than in years past. As some poster has said, the same kid will get the same education at any of these schools. This is as true today as ever in fact there are many incredible opportunities for kids who are interested in learning, and these simple minded rankings sponsored by the real estate industry to boost home prices don't reflect that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is at #131/#7,669 Seneca Valley. I've been very happy with the school.

Same. My kid is a freshman at Seneca this year and it's been such a wonderful surprise. We were so worried because of how badly the school is trashed around here, but our experience has been quite the opposite. Great teachers, impressive programs, and a spectacular principal. I really don't care about the ranking. My kid is an exceptional student, taking challenging courses, and has a great group of friends. She is thriving there and the ranking to us is a non-issue.

exactly! reality doesn't align with these rankings well at all

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where these HS stand with US News has absolutely no bearing on kids getting into college. Colleges just look at the course rigor and student performance.

In fact, coming from a competitive HS can hurt kids as they stand out less among their classmates.

"colleges just look at the course rigor"?
You seriously believe that a college admissions board, with thousands of candidates every year, will look up each candidate HS "course rigor?" lol.

"coming from a competitive HS can hurt kids"?
Everyone knows TJ (even a college admissions board). Besides, you just contradicted yourself? You just said "course rigor" mattered, but now you're arguing that it hurts kids?

It's pretty clear you're making stuff up.

No, PP has a point. And, you seem somewhat ignorant on this.

Admissions officers know rigor from school profile, being in MCPS (which top colleges know well, and from counselor survey/rec.

What's more relevant is if there is a history of some kids from the school getting in to the college. That would suggest the school is a known entity to the AO.

She is also correct about competitive high schools. Top colleges don't offer admission to lots of kids from one school. It's why some private school counselors steer students away from some schools because they know there they will likely get passed over. You bring up TJ, and it is especially true there. The kids don't stand out like they would at tgeir home schools because the entire school is magnet, and colleges don't want to take a large amount from one school.

Students really need it all in this admissions climate-- rigor, grades, and some means of standing out in a way that suggests they would bring additional skills/talents the college wants.

The school ranking thing may be a bummer for status reasons, but I don't think it will seriously affect college admissions.

The Imperial Hubris of these statements are deafening. so I decided to test your theory. Although MCPS doesn't publish the official stats for where graduates end up, Bethesda Magazine publishes a mini-version. You're free to make up your own opinions (just say, "I can't prove it, but I think..."), but I hope you can back up your statements with facts and citations please?

According to the data, both statements you made are not accurate. A quick glance at the data shows that there are anomalies where a certain college does show a preference for MCPS students (ex. Boston College seems to love BCC students?), but it's on a school-by-school basis whether or not the admissions rates are higher or lower than the school's overall acceptance rate.

I used the "top-4" as examples.

2020: https://bethesdamagazine.com/2020/10/05/college-bound-5/
CalTech 6 of 65 (9.2%)
Harvard 12 of 227 (5.3%)
MIT 14 of 182 (7.7%)
Yale 16 of 260 (6.1%)

2021: https://bethesdamagazine.com/2021/09/06/college-bound-6/
CalTech 10 of 75 (13.3%)
Harvard 7 of 246 (2.8%)
MIT 6 of 170 (3.5%)
Yale 12 of 259 (4.6%)

2022: https://bethesdamagazine.com/2022/09/13/here-are-the-colleges-where-bethesda-area-high-school-grads-applied-got-accepted-and-enrolled/
CalTech 6 of 78 (7.7%)
Harvard 10 of 293 (3.4%)
MIT 11 of 195 (5.6%)
Yale 9 of 280 (3.2%)

The acceptance rates of these schools are:
CalTech: 3.9%
Harvard: 4%
MIT: 4.1%
Yale: 5.3%

What the numbers tell us is that CalTech admissions officers may love MCPS, and MIT might have an extra candidate or two accepted; that's about all that you can say is good about the numbers. Even CalTech dropped the percentage of MCPS applicants admitted by a significant amount (equivalent to a 40% drop from the prior year), so hopefully that trend won't continue.

Wow. You really need to find something else to do when your are bored, because this analysis is really bad. First, BB is reporting admissions, as self reported by students. Who knows the accuracy of that. Second, BB covers an area that is high with legacy admissions for Harvard and Yale, and include the SMCS magnet with higher admissions to CalTech and MIT than the average MCPS high school, precisely because the magnet pulled the highest performing math/science students away from their home school. Third, this is such a small sample size, with such small percentages, that trying to make some broad claim about MCPS declining quality based on a year-to-year % decline in admission to a school that has a very small admission class is just ... SMH ... I can't even express how ridiculous.

Go have some more coffee and find something else to troll about in another forum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Poor leadership, mismanagement of funds, lack of oversight, changing demographics, decline in employee morale, etc.

All of which has led to a decline in MCPS over the past 15 years. Anyone who has been around long enough can see that.

What does changing demographics mean?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where these HS stand with US News has absolutely no bearing on kids getting into college. Colleges just look at the course rigor and student performance.

In fact, coming from a competitive HS can hurt kids as they stand out less among their classmates.

I find that very difficult to believe that a school in Boondock, StateX and TopOfTheList, Virginia will be treated equal on a college admissions board. I think it's more likely that some schools will use the rank as a weighting factor on the GPA as a possible cutoff, since Boondock straight-A may not be the same as a TopOfTheList A's and B's?

Oh wow. Such an elitist attitude. Very misguided to think that way.

And MCPS student with straight A’s doesn’t mean nearly what it used to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: I remember when MCPS used to brag about their national rankings? I know someone will probably blame the drop on covid, but since the entire country went through covid, I don't think that's the issue here? If MCPS can't correct this soon, then I think yes, it will impact which kids get into good colleges.

MD/National Ranking
#1/#104 Whitman
#2/#167 Wootton
#4/#248 Poolesville
#5/#294 Churchill
#8/#491 BCC
#9/#572 RM
#15/#707 WJ
#18/#771 NW
#25/#965 QO
#28/#1,114 Damascus
#34/#1,467 Blair
#35/#1,554 Blake
#37/#1,729 Paint Branch
#42/#2,040 Wheaton
#43/#2,056 Sherwood
#49/#2,209 Rockville
#50/#2,219 Clarksburg
#54/#2,386 Springbrook
#68/#3,246 Magruder
#71/#3,606 Einstein
#81/#4,052 Northwood
#97/#5,576 Gaithersburg
#110/#6,169 Kennedy
#131/#7,669 Seneca Valley
#134/#8,025 Watkins Mill

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/search?state-urlname=maryland&district-id=104047&ranked=true

????
What's the point of posting this? You do know that this ranking came out long time ago, right? And if I remember correctly that person (you?) started that thread the same way. Are you the same person digging up old threads, trying to create drama?

Drama? I hope you're not suggesting that information about public education should be kept quiet.

If people are seeking information about public education, that is all freely available from county, state, and federal sources, and does not involve generating revenue for USNews and its advertisers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: I remember when MCPS used to brag about their national rankings? I know someone will probably blame the drop on covid, but since the entire country went through covid, I don't think that's the issue here? If MCPS can't correct this soon, then I think yes, it will impact which kids get into good colleges.

MD/National Ranking
#1/#104 Whitman
#2/#167 Wootton
#4/#248 Poolesville
#5/#294 Churchill
#8/#491 BCC
#9/#572 RM
#15/#707 WJ
#18/#771 NW
#25/#965 QO
#28/#1,114 Damascus
#34/#1,467 Blair
#35/#1,554 Blake
#37/#1,729 Paint Branch
#42/#2,040 Wheaton
#43/#2,056 Sherwood
#49/#2,209 Rockville
#50/#2,219 Clarksburg
#54/#2,386 Springbrook
#68/#3,246 Magruder
#71/#3,606 Einstein
#81/#4,052 Northwood
#97/#5,576 Gaithersburg
#110/#6,169 Kennedy
#131/#7,669 Seneca Valley
#134/#8,025 Watkins Mill

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/search?state-urlname=maryland&district-id=104047&ranked=true

????
What's the point of posting this? You do know that this ranking came out long time ago, right? And if I remember correctly that person (you?) started that thread the same way. Are you the same person digging up old threads, trying to create drama?

Drama? I hope you're not suggesting that information about public education should be kept quiet.

I know, right? How can we keep the grudge match going if we don't present everything in the worst possible light?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Poor leadership, mismanagement of funds, lack of oversight, changing demographics, decline in employee morale, etc.

All of which has led to a decline in MCPS over the past 15 years. Anyone who has been around long enough can see that.

What does changing demographics mean?

It means the PP is upset that it's not 1975 in Montgomery County anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: I remember when MCPS used to brag about their national rankings? I know someone will probably blame the drop on covid, but since the entire country went through covid, I don't think that's the issue here? If MCPS can't correct this soon, then I think yes, it will impact which kids get into good colleges.

MD/National Ranking
#1/#104 Whitman
#2/#167 Wootton
#4/#248 Poolesville
#5/#294 Churchill
#8/#491 BCC
#9/#572 RM
#15/#707 WJ
#18/#771 NW
#25/#965 QO
#28/#1,114 Damascus
#34/#1,467 Blair
#35/#1,554 Blake
#37/#1,729 Paint Branch
#42/#2,040 Wheaton
#43/#2,056 Sherwood
#49/#2,209 Rockville
#50/#2,219 Clarksburg
#54/#2,386 Springbrook
#68/#3,246 Magruder
#71/#3,606 Einstein
#81/#4,052 Northwood
#97/#5,576 Gaithersburg
#110/#6,169 Kennedy
#131/#7,669 Seneca Valley
#134/#8,025 Watkins Mill

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/search?state-urlname=maryland&district-id=104047&ranked=true

????
What's the point of posting this? You do know that this ranking came out long time ago, right? And if I remember correctly that person (you?) started that thread the same way. Are you the same person digging up old threads, trying to create drama?

This was posted before? I searched and I can't find it? Where's the link?

This ranking came out last April. Search harder

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: I remember when MCPS used to brag about their national rankings? I know someone will probably blame the drop on covid, but since the entire country went through covid, I don't think that's the issue here? If MCPS can't correct this soon, then I think yes, it will impact which kids get into good colleges.

MD/National Ranking
#1/#104 Whitman
#2/#167 Wootton
#4/#248 Poolesville
#5/#294 Churchill
#8/#491 BCC
#9/#572 RM
#15/#707 WJ
#18/#771 NW
#25/#965 QO
#28/#1,114 Damascus
#34/#1,467 Blair
#35/#1,554 Blake
#37/#1,729 Paint Branch
#42/#2,040 Wheaton
#43/#2,056 Sherwood
#49/#2,209 Rockville
#50/#2,219 Clarksburg
#54/#2,386 Springbrook
#68/#3,246 Magruder
#71/#3,606 Einstein
#81/#4,052 Northwood
#97/#5,576 Gaithersburg
#110/#6,169 Kennedy
#131/#7,669 Seneca Valley
#134/#8,025 Watkins Mill

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/search?state-urlname=maryland&district-id=104047&ranked=true

????
What's the point of posting this? You do know that this ranking came out long time ago, right? And if I remember correctly that person (you?) started that thread the same way. Are you the same person digging up old threads, trying to create drama?

Drama? I hope you're not suggesting that information about public education should be kept quiet.

Where have you been since it came out last April?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where these HS stand with US News has absolutely no bearing on kids getting into college. Colleges just look at the course rigor and student performance.

In fact, coming from a competitive HS can hurt kids as they stand out less among their classmates.

"colleges just look at the course rigor"?
You seriously believe that a college admissions board, with thousands of candidates every year, will look up each candidate HS "course rigor?" lol.

"coming from a competitive HS can hurt kids"?
Everyone knows TJ (even a college admissions board). Besides, you just contradicted yourself? You just said "course rigor" mattered, but now you're arguing that it hurts kids?

It's pretty clear you're making stuff up.

No, PP has a point. And, you seem somewhat ignorant on this.

Admissions officers know rigor from school profile, being in MCPS (which top colleges know well, and from counselor survey/rec.

What's more relevant is if there is a history of some kids from the school getting in to the college. That would suggest the school is a known entity to the AO.

She is also correct about competitive high schools. Top colleges don't offer admission to lots of kids from one school. It's why some private school counselors steer students away from some schools because they know there they will likely get passed over. You bring up TJ, and it is especially true there. The kids don't stand out like they would at tgeir home schools because the entire school is magnet, and colleges don't want to take a large amount from one school.

Students really need it all in this admissions climate-- rigor, grades, and some means of standing out in a way that suggests they would bring additional skills/talents the college wants.

The school ranking thing may be a bummer for status reasons, but I don't think it will seriously affect college admissions.

The Imperial Hubris of these statements are deafening. so I decided to test your theory. Although MCPS doesn't publish the official stats for where graduates end up, Bethesda Magazine publishes a mini-version. You're free to make up your own opinions (just say, "I can't prove it, but I think..."), but I hope you can back up your statements with facts and citations please?

According to the data, both statements you made are not accurate. A quick glance at the data shows that there are anomalies where a certain college does show a preference for MCPS students (ex. Boston College seems to love BCC students?), but it's on a school-by-school basis whether or not the admissions rates are higher or lower than the school's overall acceptance rate.

I used the "top-4" as examples.

2020: https://bethesdamagazine.com/2020/10/05/college-bound-5/
CalTech 6 of 65 (9.2%)
Harvard 12 of 227 (5.3%)
MIT 14 of 182 (7.7%)
Yale 16 of 260 (6.1%)

2021: https://bethesdamagazine.com/2021/09/06/college-bound-6/
CalTech 10 of 75 (13.3%)
Harvard 7 of 246 (2.8%)
MIT 6 of 170 (3.5%)
Yale 12 of 259 (4.6%)

2022: https://bethesdamagazine.com/2022/09/13/here-are-the-colleges-where-bethesda-area-high-school-grads-applied-got-accepted-and-enrolled/
CalTech 6 of 78 (7.7%)
Harvard 10 of 293 (3.4%)
MIT 11 of 195 (5.6%)
Yale 9 of 280 (3.2%)

The acceptance rates of these schools are:
CalTech: 3.9%
Harvard: 4%
MIT: 4.1%
Yale: 5.3%

What the numbers tell us is that CalTech admissions officers may love MCPS, and MIT might have an extra candidate or two accepted; that's about all that you can say is good about the numbers. Even CalTech dropped the percentage of MCPS applicants admitted by a significant amount (equivalent to a 40% drop from the prior year), so hopefully that trend won't continue.

Don't actually know if CalTech "loves" MCPS. Perhaps they hate it, and without the dislike of MCPS, 30% of the MCPS students would have been accepted? Given it's elite status, one would expect a Blair or a W to produce more students eligible for consideration at CaltTech than the norm. What would be nice to know is what percent of what the college considers "academically qualified" students they accept.

The big point is how difficult it is for a student to stand out from his/her peers; possibly more difficult at an elite school, where everybody is above average, as they say in Lake Wobegon.

These from a top tier, where EVERY application is looked over (no automatic computer cuttoffs):
37,000 applications
25,000 are considered "academically qualified" (67%)
2,200 admitted (9% of academically qualified, 6% of total apps)
1,500 accept admission (68% choose to attend)

For comparison, Caltech "yield rate" of admitted to accepted is usually under 50%; that is about half the students accepted at cal tech choose to go to one of the other elite schools they are accepted at. So a 68% is very high; most students accepted choose to attend.

Conclusion: it's difficult to get into an elite school, and without an "in" (legacy, full tuition, large donation), there is clearly an element of luck.
Also: those personal essays count TONS! Essentially they are the difference between being in the 25,000 qualified and being in the 2,200 accepted category.

[Anonymous]

Howard County, which arguably has the second best schools in the state after MoCo (and maybe is even better than MoCo overall), didn't have stellar results in this U.S. News ranking either.

River Hill High School was the top high school in HoCo, but ranked 375th nationally.

[Anonymous]

Publics are trash everywhere

I moved to MOCO for access to all the best privates and country clubs. Covid woke me up to the disaster of public schools.