NMSF are out - why does BCC have so very, very few semifinalists?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People assume wealth with smarts... parents are smart enough to hold down good jobs or come from family money but that's not always true of the kids inheriting the smart genes. Also MCPS's dumbed down curriculum.

The dumbed down curriculum didn't negatively impact the similar SES kids at other non-magnet MCPS high schools. Walter Johnson and the like. Why is that?

[Anonymous]

One factor is also that not all schools are the same size. WJ is appreciably bigger than BCC. Not twice as big, but I think at least 600 students.

[Anonymous]

The magnet kids at Blair and RM come from somewhere. They disproportionately pull from BCC and Wootton due to geography and self fulfilling look at statistics (e.g Blair has more National Merit scholars than BCC, so I want my kid to go there.)

[Anonymous]

Maybe it's as simple as how much the school promotes taking the test (B-CC barely mentions it for juniors, and most ACT-favoring kids, even ones who already scored 35 or 36 there, don't bother with it)? Or whether particular kid or parent cohorts think it's important in any given year? The PSAT does not assess super high level math, and the NM qualifying score double weights the verbal side anyway.

One thing for sure: hard to see wealth as the simple answer, unless someone has stats showing that average family income for magnet kids is on the high end of county HHI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The magnet kids at Blair and RM come from somewhere. They disproportionately pull from BCC and Wootton due to geography and self fulfilling look at statistics (e.g Blair has more National Merit scholars than BCC, so I want my kid to go there.)

No more kids at Blair come from the DCC.

[Anonymous]

Punctuation correction:

No. More kids at Blair come from the DCC.

[Anonymous]

This year’s students were largely virtual in 8th grade. I wonder if they have a shakier foundation at this point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
... compared to other non-magnets Walter Johnson, Churchill, Whitman? Five kids out of ~ 580 who took the PSAT at BCC were selected. I don't get it.


https://www.reddit.com/r/psat/comments/1fej2md/nmsf_2025_maryland/#lightbox

Kids there these days are too busy passing out in the bathrooms or getting in fights at sporting events.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Punctuation correction:

No. More kids at Blair come from the DCC.

The DCC is the new BCC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People think BCC is a high end school because of the name but a lot of the families in that super expensive part of bethesda/cc send their kids to private school and it tends to pull heavily from other neighborhoods. It’s very different demographics than Whitman and Churchill. WJ is sort of its own particular mix of kids.

What is the "particular mix" you are referring to?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
... compared to other non-magnets Walter Johnson, Churchill, Whitman? Five kids out of ~ 580 who took the PSAT at BCC were selected. I don't get it.


https://www.reddit.com/r/psat/comments/1fej2md/nmsf_2025_maryland/#lightbox

Kids there these days are too busy passing out in the bathrooms or getting in fights at sporting events.

source??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The magnet kids at Blair and RM come from somewhere. They disproportionately pull from BCC and Wootton due to geography and self fulfilling look at statistics (e.g Blair has more National Merit scholars than BCC, so I want my kid to go there.)

Interesting. I discouraged my WJ kids from applying to RM. I felt the APEX program at WJ would meet their needs and allow them to stay with the kids they grew up with. Distance played a roll as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The magnet kids at Blair and RM come from somewhere. They disproportionately pull from BCC and Wootton due to geography and self fulfilling look at statistics (e.g Blair has more National Merit scholars than BCC, so I want my kid to go there.)

Wrong! The majority of the kids at Blair for example come from DCC schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The magnet kids at Blair and RM come from somewhere. They disproportionately pull from BCC and Wootton due to geography and self fulfilling look at statistics (e.g Blair has more National Merit scholars than BCC, so I want my kid to go there.)

Wrong! The majority of the kids at Blair for example come from DCC schools.

Are you saying that the majority of the Blair magnet kids are from DCC? I do not think that can be true. We are DCC and my kid is in the magnet (9th grade), and it seems like most kids come from Rockville/Potomac. They take long bus rides to get to Blair or carpool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The magnet kids at Blair and RM come from somewhere. They disproportionately pull from BCC and Wootton due to geography and self fulfilling look at statistics (e.g Blair has more National Merit scholars than BCC, so I want my kid to go there.)

Wrong! The majority of the kids at Blair for example come from DCC schools.

Are you saying that the majority of the Blair magnet kids are from DCC? I do not think that can be true. We are DCC and my kid is in the magnet (9th grade), and it seems like most kids come from Rockville/Potomac. They take long bus rides to get to Blair or carpool.

Occasionally someone breaks out the magnet directory and does an analysis, but PP isn't wrong. Depending on the year, the plurality of kids comes from the DCC or WJ, and there is never a year when BCC is "disproportionately" represented.