Does MCPS MS curriculum alone prepare students for the math/science magnets?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP are you aware that there are kids out there with 99% MAP-M several grades up? Yes there are kids doing this with outside enrichment, but there are those truly bright kids that can do without.

True maybe 1 out of 30 of the kids in these programs got there without outside enrichment. They inevitably have highly educated parents who were able to provide the enrichment necessary to make the cut. Kids aren't born magically knowing advanced math.

No they learn it at school. At least mine did.

Mine picked it up without any tutoring. Now I will say, my kid was not winning any of the math competitions like these kids that were in cram schools or other outside tutoring. But they held their own in class. I realize things have changed in last few years with no COGAT but it was actually a small percentage (< 25%) of kids that were getting the enrichment you are thinking of.

[Anonymous]

MCPS MS doesn't prepare kids for even AP classes in HS, let alone magnet level classes.

I had one DC go through HS magnet (now graduated) and one in HS not in magnet but taking AP classes.

The one in magnet is very high achieving and went to HGC (back when it was called that). The other DC not in magnet is not as high achieving, and when they went to HS, they were not prepared at all for AP classes. They are doing better now but it was a rough first few months freshman year for those AP classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is such a loaded question. Your attitude is really off-putting.

Of course the regular MCPS curriculum is fine preparation for admission and success. Only a small percentage are coming from the MS stem magnets. The rest are from regular middle schools and many of them don't have STEM activities and they all do fine.

The ones who have enrichment will find it easier initially as you might expect but things will equalize quickly as more opportunities are opened up to the other kids.

Sorry, I honestly didn't mean to be off-putting or obnoxious. I think I spend too much time reading DCUM and hearing about the clubs/activities/opportunities that some students have and was wondering how necessary those are. Also thinking about my kid having nothing in particular to put in the high school application prompt about awards/honors/relevant activities. I'm happy to hear that I was overthinking it.

FWIW, DCUM does not accurately reflect most MCPS families. DCUM is mostly parents in entitled, obnoxious families and a handful of others trying to add a saner perspective. Well, those and a lot of trolls from various backgrounds trying to stir up trouble and fanning flames to keep the culture wars burning bright.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is at a high poverty middle school with none of the clubs you listed but we get emails all the time about FREE enrichment activities. Free after school coding camps, free weekend math opportunities, free science activities.

Some of these are sponsored by MCPS and many take place at the school or are virtual.

Kids who are interested can take advantage of these opportunities.

Why would your child even want to go to a STEM magnet if your child has shown no interest? You sound like someone who can afford to enrich but you are just trying to stir up trouble and use this opportunity to bash "certain ethnic groups."

DP, but what are you talking about? The OP never mentioned any ethnic groups at all. This discussion is not about ethnicity. I’m also confused where you inferred that OP “can afford to enrich.”

I will respond to what you said in your post, though. Those of us with students who are NOT in high poverty schools do not get emails all the time about free enrichment opportunities. Many of these programs are very specifically directed toward schools, such as yours, and not toward other schools. OP sounds like they are part of the “missing middle” in that high poverty schools get programs directed at their students, low poverty schools have families that enrich privately, and those in between sort of come up feeling ignored or lacking the ability to compete. I think that was the OP’s entire point. Kind of how elite universities end up with lots of 1 percenters and also recruit 1st gen students (first in their family to go to college), and a strong suburban student with neither hook gets passed over based on aspects of parent income/background they have no power to change in spite of having demonstrated ability and interest in every way they actually can control.

If OP has the time to write a long articulate but rambling post about what she wrote about she has the bandwidth to provide enrichment for her child - either by paying or from free programs that you can easily Google no matter what your school. If OP feels her child is not able to compete that's just because no one, not OP, not her child, put in the time for that enrichment. The vast majority of kids at these magnets did not participate in enrichment outside the normal school day. A very vocal competitive minority do and more power to them for putting in the time and effort IME.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is such a loaded question. Your attitude is really off-putting.

Of course the regular MCPS curriculum is fine preparation for admission and success. Only a small percentage are coming from the MS stem magnets. The rest are from regular middle schools and many of them don't have STEM activities and they all do fine.

The ones who have enrichment will find it easier initially as you might expect but things will equalize quickly as more opportunities are opened up to the other kids.

Sorry, I honestly didn't mean to be off-putting or obnoxious. I think I spend too much time reading DCUM and hearing about the clubs/activities/opportunities that some students have and was wondering how necessary those are. Also thinking about my kid having nothing in particular to put in the high school application prompt about awards/honors/relevant activities. I'm happy to hear that I was overthinking it.

FWIW, DCUM does not accurately reflect most MCPS families. DCUM is mostly parents in entitled, obnoxious families and a handful of others trying to add a saner perspective. Well, those and a lot of trolls from various backgrounds trying to stir up trouble and fanning flames to keep the culture wars burning bright.

DCUM is also a place where advocates for far-right propaganda who clearly don't live here post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP are you aware that there are kids out there with 99% MAP-M several grades up? Yes there are kids doing this with outside enrichment, but there are those truly bright kids that can do without.

True maybe 1 out of 30 of the kids in these programs got there without outside enrichment. They inevitably have highly educated parents who were able to provide the enrichment necessary to make the cut. Kids aren't born magically knowing advanced math.

No they learn it at school. At least mine did.

Mine picked it up without any tutoring. Now I will say, my kid was not winning any of the math competitions like these kids that were in cram schools or other outside tutoring. But they held their own in class. I realize things have changed in last few years with no COGAT but it was actually a small percentage (< 25%) of kids that were getting the enrichment you are thinking of.

You don't need advanced math to get in and if you are in advanced math it doesn't mean you will. Of the kids at DC's school who were accelerated in math less than a quarter got in to the magnet and nearly all the kids who did get in were just on the regular math pathway from "regular" schools most of you have never heard about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is such a loaded question. Your attitude is really off-putting.

Of course the regular MCPS curriculum is fine preparation for admission and success. Only a small percentage are coming from the MS stem magnets. The rest are from regular middle schools and many of them don't have STEM activities and they all do fine.

The ones who have enrichment will find it easier initially as you might expect but things will equalize quickly as more opportunities are opened up to the other kids.

Sorry, I honestly didn't mean to be off-putting or obnoxious. I think I spend too much time reading DCUM and hearing about the clubs/activities/opportunities that some students have and was wondering how necessary those are. Also thinking about my kid having nothing in particular to put in the high school application prompt about awards/honors/relevant activities. I'm happy to hear that I was overthinking it.

FWIW, DCUM does not accurately reflect most MCPS families. DCUM is mostly parents in entitled, obnoxious families and a handful of others trying to add a saner perspective. Well, those and a lot of trolls from various backgrounds trying to stir up trouble and fanning flames to keep the culture wars burning bright.

DCUM is also a place where advocates for far-right propaganda who clearly don't live here post.

You mean the people that criticize MCPS in any form? I live in Rockville, and can't tell you how many times I have been accused of being either 1) a Russian bot; or 2) a paid Russian disinformation specialist. As if Russia cared about MCPS!

[Anonymous]

Many of our kids got waitlisted or not accepted who would have done well and they are doing great in regular or other programs. Look at the curriculum. It was a huge turnoff for us as it did not all for many electives.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many of our kids got waitlisted or not accepted who would have done well and they are doing great in regular or other programs. Look at the curriculum. It was a huge turnoff for us as it did not all for many electives.

Can you clarify your last sentence? Not sure what it means.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many of our kids got waitlisted or not accepted who would have done well and they are doing great in regular or other programs. Look at the curriculum. It was a huge turnoff for us as it did not all for many electives.

Can you clarify your last sentence? Not sure what it means.

I don't know what the original poster meant, but for our DD, one of reasons she left her magnet program was the required magnet courses left her with exactly zero personally-chosen electives until the last semester of her senior year, and getting even that little bit of freedom required summer school to knock out health. Not sure if all the magnets are that intensive with the required courses, but it ended up being a much bigger turn off for her than she initially imagined.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many of our kids got waitlisted or not accepted who would have done well and they are doing great in regular or other programs. Look at the curriculum. It was a huge turnoff for us as it did not all for many electives.

Can you clarify your last sentence? Not sure what it means.

I don't know what the original poster meant, but for our DD, one of reasons she left her magnet program was the required magnet courses left her with exactly zero personally-chosen electives until the last semester of her senior year, and getting even that little bit of freedom required summer school to knock out health. Not sure if all the magnets are that intensive with the required courses, but it ended up being a much bigger turn off for her than she initially imagined.

This, if your child is into music, arts or other things, they will not have any choice electives to take classes in this etchings because of the required classes. It's also very specific classes so if your child is looking for something specific like computer science, this isn't the program to do that in. They also take an extra class as freshman and get out later than regular school, so if your child is in outside activities that may be an issue as well.

[Anonymous]

OP - the main data points that the SMCS selection committee gets nowadays is just MAP-M and courses+grades. They are just looking for students very accelerated in math. You don’t need all the extras to get accepted or to be successful.

20 years ago, the magnets were intended to serve students who didn’t have access to enough advanced programming at their home school. Today, all HS have advanced courses and there are a variety of special programs at many high schools that students from other clusters can attend. For many, the focus of getting into SMCS is misplaced because there are other opportunities that will serve kids equally well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many of our kids got waitlisted or not accepted who would have done well and they are doing great in regular or other programs. Look at the curriculum. It was a huge turnoff for us as it did not all for many electives.

Can you clarify your last sentence? Not sure what it means.

I don't know what the original poster meant, but for our DD, one of reasons she left her magnet program was the required magnet courses left her with exactly zero personally-chosen electives until the last semester of her senior year, and getting even that little bit of freedom required summer school to knock out health. Not sure if all the magnets are that intensive with the required courses, but it ended up being a much bigger turn off for her than she initially imagined.

This, if your child is into music, arts or other things, they will not have any choice electives to take classes in this etchings because of the required classes. It's also very specific classes so if your child is looking for something specific like computer science, this isn't the program to do that in. They also take an extra class as freshman and get out later than regular school, so if your child is in outside activities that may be an issue as well.

My kid is already in SMCS. They have two electives to pick in freshman year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP - the main data points that the SMCS selection committee gets nowadays is just MAP-M and courses+grades. They are just looking for students very accelerated in math. You don’t need all the extras to get accepted or to be successful.

20 years ago, the magnets were intended to serve students who didn’t have access to enough advanced programming at their home school. Today, all HS have advanced courses and there are a variety of special programs at many high schools that students from other clusters can attend. For many, the focus of getting into SMCS is misplaced because there are other opportunities that will serve kids equally well.

I don't think this is true at all. There are lots of kids in the program who were not accelerated in math and probably only a quarter of the kids we know who were accelerated in math did not get in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP - the main data points that the SMCS selection committee gets nowadays is just MAP-M and courses+grades. They are just looking for students very accelerated in math. You don’t need all the extras to get accepted or to be successful.

20 years ago, the magnets were intended to serve students who didn’t have access to enough advanced programming at their home school. Today, all HS have advanced courses and there are a variety of special programs at many high schools that students from other clusters can attend. For many, the focus of getting into SMCS is misplaced because there are other opportunities that will serve kids equally well.

I don't think this is true at all. There are lots of kids in the program who were not accelerated in math and probably only a quarter of the kids we know who were accelerated in math did not get in.

I didn’t mean to imply they are only looking for kids in the accelerated math classes. The MAP-M scores also indicate readiness for accelerated math, independent of current course. And of course not every kid in accelerated math gets in. There’s only 150 SMCS slots, and far more than that in advanced math classes.