Is BCC cluster able to compete with the W's?

[Anonymous]

Look at school decision outcomes. BCC does not do as well as Whitman if that is a point of the data you are interested in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look at school decision outcomes. BCC does not do as well as Whitman if that is a point of the data you are interested in.

We will see how “better” Whitman truly ranks when it actually has a measurable FARMS rate after this redistricting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look at school decision outcomes. BCC does not do as well as Whitman if that is a point of the data you are interested in.

We will see how “better” Whitman truly ranks when it actually has a measurable FARMS rate after this redistricting.

Even if they adjust the boundary it will have minimal impact. There just aren't boatloads of high-FARMs near Whitman. Even if they managed to double Whitman's FARMS and that's a HUGE IF, it would have almost no impact and remain one of the lowest FARMS schools in the county.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look at school decision outcomes. BCC does not do as well as Whitman if that is a point of the data you are interested in.

We will see how “better” Whitman truly ranks when it actually has a measurable FARMS rate after this redistricting.

Even if they adjust the boundary it will have minimal impact. There just aren't boatloads of high-FARMs near Whitman. Even if they managed to double Whitman's FARMS and that's a HUGE IF, it would have almost no impact and remain one of the lowest FARMS schools in the county.

But it would still cause Whitman to drop in ranking because the only reason it ranks high is because virtually no disadvantaged students attend that school. If the FARMS rate doubles, then Whitman will easily drop to #6 to #10 in Maryland and stay there.

[Anonymous]

Nah, go for Whitman.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look at school decision outcomes. BCC does not do as well as Whitman if that is a point of the data you are interested in.

We will see how “better” Whitman truly ranks when it actually has a measurable FARMS rate after this redistricting.

Even if they adjust the boundary it will have minimal impact. There just aren't boatloads of high-FARMs near Whitman. Even if they managed to double Whitman's FARMS and that's a HUGE IF, it would have almost no impact and remain one of the lowest FARMS schools in the county.

But it would still cause Whitman to drop in ranking because the only reason it ranks high is because virtually no disadvantaged students attend that school. If the FARMS rate doubles, then Whitman will easily drop to #6 to #10 in Maryland and stay there.

Not PP you were responding to. We can all agree that poorer families means lesser academic achievement in general. This is just theoretical for Whitman, since there is earthly way for Whitman to increase FARMS rate measurably with any boundary change (no one wants busing, so that won't happen).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:BCC is not quite as wealthy as WW, WJ, WC and TW, which are the top high schools in MCPS. Mostly that explains that, OP.

BCC is still way better than most other MCP high schools. (When you see non-W, non-BCC schools at the top, remember those have competitive magnet programs and that it's the magnet students in those schools that hoist them up the ranks.)

Wealthy in Montgomery County generally coincides with academic-focused and willing and able to pay for tutoring, and be squeaky wheels in school to pressure administration for above-average instruction. As a result, teachers who want those families specifically try to get hired in those schools. It's a virtuous cycle with supportive parents and mostly great teachers.

BCC is not quite up to the standards of Whitman et al, due to more socio-economic diversity (this is NOT a racist dog-whistle, but of course some weirdos always think it is!), but it's still a solid school. These days, presence of IB is confusing and not to its advantage, but the county sells it hard. "Due to IB", there are fewer AP courses offered at BCC than at WJ and WW. Ex: BCC consistently offers AP Calc BC and AP Stats, but the two others go beyond that and offer two more courses. What people don't realize is that IB Math is actually lower-level than AP Calc BC. So under the guise of offering IB classes, BCC actually does not have as many higher-level courses...

...Which could possibly work in a student's favor come college admissions, since admission officers judge applicants' rigor on what their high school offers. Kind of "big fish, small pond" scenario, whereas W schools are "small fish, big pond" scenario.

Anyway. In all honesty, I think your children will do well at any of these good schools! Pick the neighborhood you like best with the commute that works for you, within any of these clusters. Home inventory is pretty low this year, because many sellers and buyers are holding off due to fluctuating interest rates, so first you need to find a house!

I believe the info PP posted about APs is inaccurate - see https://moderatelymoco.com/paving-the-path-to-success-a-comparative-analysis-of-ap-and-ib-programs-in-mcps-by-school/?fbclid=IwAR16dhstE4d1ldDLDKunLZwh4OVYioZWWmBLLojRNSf-rkN3CKG9NosJ3HQ

[Anonymous]

18:43 continued

Schools can be divided into 4 groups based on the number of AP and IB courses offered.

50 to 72 courses: Richard Montgomery, Bethesda Chevy Chase, Kennedy, Einstein
40 to 49 courses: Rockville, Springbrook, Seneca Valley, Watkins Mill
30 to 39 courses: Walter Johnson, Wootton, Whitman, Churchill, Quince Orchard, Poolesville
20 to 29 courses: Blair, Blake, Northwest, Clarksburg, Sherwood, Gaithersburg, Damascus, Magruder, Northwood, Paint Branch, Wheaton

Note that if you look in the detail they separate out the APs from IB offerings & BCC is still at the top. Might not account for the specific math offerings at Whitman but I know my kid did dual enrollment at MC & lots of their peers did as well.

OP coming from DCPS - all of MCPS has its issues but fwiw we moved from DC & had similar concerns (minimizing commute especially) & chose BCC over Whitman. We also prefer the tiny bit of diversity it offers over Whitman.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look at school decision outcomes. BCC does not do as well as Whitman if that is a point of the data you are interested in.

This is nonsense. First there is no comprehensive list, just some partial self-reported data. Second, with things like wealth and legacy status there is no reason to think the same kid would have different outcomes at one school vs the other. in fact usually the argument goes the other way— having more students apply to Ivies from a single school makes it harder for any one candidate to get in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look at school decision outcomes. BCC does not do as well as Whitman if that is a point of the data you are interested in.

We will see how “better” Whitman truly ranks when it actually has a measurable FARMS rate after this redistricting.

Even if they adjust the boundary it will have minimal impact. There just aren't boatloads of high-FARMs near Whitman. Even if they managed to double Whitman's FARMS and that's a HUGE IF, it would have almost no impact and remain one of the lowest FARMS schools in the county.

But it would still cause Whitman to drop in ranking because the only reason it ranks high is because virtually no disadvantaged students attend that school. If the FARMS rate doubles, then Whitman will easily drop to #6 to #10 in Maryland and stay there.

Not PP you were responding to. We can all agree that poorer families means lesser academic achievement in general. This is just theoretical for Whitman, since there is earthly way for Whitman to increase FARMS rate measurably with any boundary change (no one wants busing, so that won't happen).

There already is busing. If you get school bus service, to a school that is not the nearest school, and you want to stay at that school, then you want busing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:18:43 continued

Schools can be divided into 4 groups based on the number of AP and IB courses offered.

50 to 72 courses: Richard Montgomery, Bethesda Chevy Chase, Kennedy, Einstein
40 to 49 courses: Rockville, Springbrook, Seneca Valley, Watkins Mill
30 to 39 courses: Walter Johnson, Wootton, Whitman, Churchill, Quince Orchard, Poolesville
20 to 29 courses: Blair, Blake, Northwest, Clarksburg, Sherwood, Gaithersburg, Damascus, Magruder, Northwood, Paint Branch, Wheaton

Note that if you look in the detail they separate out the APs from IB offerings & BCC is still at the top. Might not account for the specific math offerings at Whitman but I know my kid did dual enrollment at MC & lots of their peers did as well.

OP coming from DCPS - all of MCPS has its issues but fwiw we moved from DC & had similar concerns (minimizing commute especially) & chose BCC over Whitman. We also prefer the tiny bit of diversity it offers over Whitman.

You are deliberately misunderstanding my post. BCC has way fewer AP courses than many other high schools, including WJ and WW. This is a fact borne out your own chart. IB course are NOT AT ALL the same as AP courses. In math, they are much lower-level. The IB is not as recognized by universities as AP courses. So it's entirely useless to lump the two together and claim that BCC another high schools have "more" courses.

You're comparing apples to oranges and generating confusion here. Talk about AP and IB separately.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

You are deliberately misunderstanding my post. BCC has way fewer AP courses than many other high schools, including WJ and WW. This is a fact borne out your own chart. IB course are NOT AT ALL the same as AP courses. In math, they are much lower-level. The IB is not as recognized by universities as AP courses. So it's entirely useless to lump the two together and claim that BCC another high schools have "more" courses.

You're comparing apples to oranges and generating confusion here. Talk about AP and IB separately.

Because they're not AP courses?

Conversely, universities don't recognize AP courses as IB courses, because they're not IB courses!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look at school decision outcomes. BCC does not do as well as Whitman if that is a point of the data you are interested in.

We will see how “better” Whitman truly ranks when it actually has a measurable FARMS rate after this redistricting.

Even if they adjust the boundary it will have minimal impact. There just aren't boatloads of high-FARMs near Whitman. Even if they managed to double Whitman's FARMS and that's a HUGE IF, it would have almost no impact and remain one of the lowest FARMS schools in the county.

But it would still cause Whitman to drop in ranking because the only reason it ranks high is because virtually no disadvantaged students attend that school. If the FARMS rate doubles, then Whitman will easily drop to #6 to #10 in Maryland and stay there.

Not PP you were responding to. We can all agree that poorer families means lesser academic achievement in general. This is just theoretical for Whitman, since there is earthly way for Whitman to increase FARMS rate measurably with any boundary change (no one wants busing, so that won't happen).

There already is busing. If you get school bus service, to a school that is not the nearest school, and you want to stay at that school, then you want busing.

You know what is meant by busing in this thread's context: using a bus to transport lower-income students from a location that geographically should not be within the cluster, for diversity purposes. Parents of all income levels are opposed to changing the boundaries to include more of that, because traffic is bad enough, no one wants their kid for long periods of time on a bus, and families want to feel close to their neighborhood school (some parents have no car, and don't want to trek across the county to get to school meetings).

We are not talking about busing to special programs, CES or magnets.

[Anonymous]

Poor kids is why they are ranking behind. Your rich kid will be fine. W schools don’t have poor kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

You are deliberately misunderstanding my post. BCC has way fewer AP courses than many other high schools, including WJ and WW. This is a fact borne out your own chart. IB course are NOT AT ALL the same as AP courses. In math, they are much lower-level. The IB is not as recognized by universities as AP courses. So it's entirely useless to lump the two together and claim that BCC another high schools have "more" courses.

You're comparing apples to oranges and generating confusion here. Talk about AP and IB separately.

Because they're not AP courses?

Conversely, universities don't recognize AP courses as IB courses, because they're not IB courses!

The IB is not as well-regarded a choice as AP courses for most US universities. British universities prefer AP scores, because they equate them to A-levels. It's only for certain European and Asian schools that IB is important, basically.