Blair SMAC vs strong private

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one’s academics in MD/DC compare to Blair.

In terms of academics, Blair crushes the big privates but maybe not for your child's particular sport.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one’s academics in MD/DC compare to Blair.

RMIB also in VA TJ

[Anonymous]

Blair destroys RMIB & Poolesville in NMSF, Regeneron Competitions etc….

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MY DC is a strong athlete in a particular sport, and so has been given an indication that they will be accepted at one of the strong/well-regarded privates in DC. They were just accepted at Blair SMAC as well. My DC loves science, enjoys math, and really likes English/history too, though definitely more STEM than liberal arts. My child wants to play their sport if possible at school, but not a deal breaker and has no interest in playing in college - at least right now.

We would get financial aid for the private school, so I think it would be doable. So this let's us decide mostly on what would be better for our kid. Any thoughts from families that may have had kids both in SMAC and private? Or thoughts in general even if you haven't had both or struggled with the same decision?

Academics, there is no comparison. Blair had a better peer group even earlier and now gap is going to widen even more due to private shifting their focus due to college admission.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MY DC is a strong athlete in a particular sport, and so has been given an indication that they will be accepted at one of the strong/well-regarded privates in DC. They were just accepted at Blair SMAC as well. My DC loves science, enjoys math, and really likes English/history too, though definitely more STEM than liberal arts. My child wants to play their sport if possible at school, but not a deal breaker and has no interest in playing in college - at least right now.

We would get financial aid for the private school, so I think it would be doable. So this let's us decide mostly on what would be better for our kid. Any thoughts from families that may have had kids both in SMAC and private? Or thoughts in general even if you haven't had both or struggled with the same decision?

Academics, there is no comparison. Blair had a better peer group even earlier and now gap is going to widen even more due to private shifting their focus due to college admission.

what does this mean? what is the shift in focus?

[Anonymous]

I think it depends on what your child is looking for out of a hs experience. Depending on the private school, there may be opportunities that your child is unlikely to find at a large public...service trips, retreats, international travel opportunities with teams or clubs, strong traditions, alumni connections, etc.

Blair will likely have a stronger stem program, but the private may offer more outside the classroom.

I had a friend who grew up here and went to private, while her sibling went to public. They wound up at similar colleges but the one who went to private maintained much stronger friendships with hs friends and felt a much stronger allegiance to the hs itself than the sibling who went to public.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Blair destroys RMIB & Poolesville in NMSF, Regeneron Competitions etc….

What about in Debate and Mock Trial?

RM is undefeated in Mock Trial right now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MY DC is a strong athlete in a particular sport, and so has been given an indication that they will be accepted at one of the strong/well-regarded privates in DC. They were just accepted at Blair SMAC as well. My DC loves science, enjoys math, and really likes English/history too, though definitely more STEM than liberal arts. My child wants to play their sport if possible at school, but not a deal breaker and has no interest in playing in college - at least right now.

We would get financial aid for the private school, so I think it would be doable. So this let's us decide mostly on what would be better for our kid. Any thoughts from families that may have had kids both in SMAC and private? Or thoughts in general even if you haven't had both or struggled with the same decision?

Take the strong private. Your kid will be on the top ones there. At Blair much tougher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Blair destroys RMIB & Poolesville in NMSF, Regeneron Competitions etc….

Omg…cut it out. Parent of a high performing Blair SMACs kid. It is just high school. Long way to go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know much about privates, but DC is a Blair magnet graduate. The cons for Blair magnet is 1. very intense 4 years 2. disadvantaged college acceptance results
The pros: much better preparation for STEM related fields at college

What do you mean by disadvantaged college acceptance results? Being in the Blair magnet puts you at a disadvantage compared to students who aren’t in a magnet? What are you saying??

You compete against other students in your school/program for college admission to top schools. It doesn’t matter how amazing the kids are, colleges are only going to admit 2 or 3 from the same school (yes, MIT admits 6-7 from SMCS). Sometimes it’s hard for a kid to distinguish themselves when everyone is taking same classes, same ECs, same high scores. A kid doesn’t stand out in the cohort of 100 SMCS kids the same way they would in the top 10 at their home school.

I see. So let me get this right. My kid, whose home school is Blair should turn down the magnet place because he’ll have a better chance for college applications if he’s in the general population at Blair not magnet. Did I get that right?

Basically yes. If you are optimizing for college admissions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know much about privates, but DC is a Blair magnet graduate. The cons for Blair magnet is 1. very intense 4 years 2. disadvantaged college acceptance results
The pros: much better preparation for STEM related fields at college

What do you mean by disadvantaged college acceptance results? Being in the Blair magnet puts you at a disadvantage compared to students who aren’t in a magnet? What are you saying??

You compete against other students in your school/program for college admission to top schools. It doesn’t matter how amazing the kids are, colleges are only going to admit 2 or 3 from the same school (yes, MIT admits 6-7 from SMCS). Sometimes it’s hard for a kid to distinguish themselves when everyone is taking same classes, same ECs, same high scores. A kid doesn’t stand out in the cohort of 100 SMCS kids the same way they would in the top 10 at their home school.

I see. So let me get this right. My kid, whose home school is Blair should turn down the magnet place because he’ll have a better chance for college applications if he’s in the general population at Blair not magnet. Did I get that right?

Basically yes. If you are optimizing for college admissions

So Blair non- magnet is looked at differently than Blair magnet by college admissions? That’s what you’re saying? I’m just not buying it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know much about privates, but DC is a Blair magnet graduate. The cons for Blair magnet is 1. very intense 4 years 2. disadvantaged college acceptance results
The pros: much better preparation for STEM related fields at college

What do you mean by disadvantaged college acceptance results? Being in the Blair magnet puts you at a disadvantage compared to students who aren’t in a magnet? What are you saying??

You compete against other students in your school/program for college admission to top schools. It doesn’t matter how amazing the kids are, colleges are only going to admit 2 or 3 from the same school (yes, MIT admits 6-7 from SMCS). Sometimes it’s hard for a kid to distinguish themselves when everyone is taking same classes, same ECs, same high scores. A kid doesn’t stand out in the cohort of 100 SMCS kids the same way they would in the top 10 at their home school.

I see. So let me get this right. My kid, whose home school is Blair should turn down the magnet place because he’ll have a better chance for college applications if he’s in the general population at Blair not magnet. Did I get that right?

Basically yes. If you are optimizing for college admissions

If you are optimizing for college admissions, you're moving to rural Alaska. Moving between a private and a public in MoCo still keeps you in competition with a whole lot of very smart, very accomplished kids for very limited seats allocated to our high schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know a number of Blair SMAC athletes who are now competing in college athletics at : Princeton, Cornell, UCLA, Yale etc….

Highly doubt this, at least not at Ivy League/D1 level. At Blair magnet currently, and even outside of magnet the athletics are generally not great. Depending on your DCs sport, private will likely be better for athletics. Add in the extra period and intensity of the work at Blair, excelling at your sport is that much more difficult.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MY DC is a strong athlete in a particular sport, and so has been given an indication that they will be accepted at one of the strong/well-regarded privates in DC. They were just accepted at Blair SMAC as well. My DC loves science, enjoys math, and really likes English/history too, though definitely more STEM than liberal arts. My child wants to play their sport if possible at school, but not a deal breaker and has no interest in playing in college - at least right now.

We would get financial aid for the private school, so I think it would be doable. So this let's us decide mostly on what would be better for our kid. Any thoughts from families that may have had kids both in SMAC and private? Or thoughts in general even if you haven't had both or struggled with the same decision?

Don't have private school kid but magnet parent. We looked at privates as an option if DC hadn't gotten accepted to the magnet. They are different opportunities. Blair is intense STEM, more rigorous classes, and more classes and a longer school day than private. Blair has strong sports, but it's a public school, and sports at private are different.

What you really buy with private is college admission connections, small classes,better curated ECs (some private schools have EC period during the school day), more networking later in life. Many Blair kids go to T20 colleges, but a huge number of Blair magnet kids go to UMD honors. Private schools have a different admission track to many colleges and aren't competing against public school kids for slots.

If money isn't an issue, I'd research it, line up pros and cons, and make the decision with your child as a family. For our child, spending the money on college instead of private when blair was an option was a clear choice, but it may not be for your child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know much about privates, but DC is a Blair magnet graduate. The cons for Blair magnet is 1. very intense 4 years 2. disadvantaged college acceptance results
The pros: much better preparation for STEM related fields at college

What do you mean by disadvantaged college acceptance results? Being in the Blair magnet puts you at a disadvantage compared to students who aren’t in a magnet? What are you saying??

You compete against other students in your school/program for college admission to top schools. It doesn’t matter how amazing the kids are, colleges are only going to admit 2 or 3 from the same school (yes, MIT admits 6-7 from SMCS). Sometimes it’s hard for a kid to distinguish themselves when everyone is taking same classes, same ECs, same high scores. A kid doesn’t stand out in the cohort of 100 SMCS kids the same way they would in the top 10 at their home school.

I see. So let me get this right. My kid, whose home school is Blair should turn down the magnet place because he’ll have a better chance for college applications if he’s in the general population at Blair not magnet. Did I get that right?

Basically yes. If you are optimizing for college admissions

Not to mention making room on the waitlist for my kid!