Top university admission statistics: Blair Magnet vs. Thomas Jefferson HS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Blair has been the top feeder in MD for Harvard, MIT, Princeton, and TJHS has been the top one in VA. But Blair has a magnet program (100 students) while TJHSST is whole school magnet (approx. 500 students in each grade)

Blair Stats:
25 students from Blair got into Harvard, Princeton, and MIT during 2018-2020, so a little more than 8 students per year. Assuming that almost all of these students were from the magnet program, the admission rate would be about 8/100 or 8%
https://www.mymcmedia.org/in-maryland-blair-is-top-feeder-school-to-harvard-princeton-mit/
https://www.polarislist.com/best-high-schools-in-maryland

TJHSST Stats:
57 students from TJHS got into Harvard, Princeton, and MIT during 2018-2020, so 19 students per year, which implies an admission rate of 19/500 or 3.8%
https://www.polarislist.com/best-high-schools-in-virginia

This suggests that Blair magnet students have about twice the chance of being admitted to Harvard, MIT, and Princeton compared to TJHSST (8% vs. 4%).

Any thoughts on this comparison?

Yeah, it seems like a stupid comparison. I’d look at the total numbers and consider the fact that TJ students benefit from attending a school that’s exclusively a magnet. I see no great benefit to being a 100-student magnet housed within a mediocre 3000-student school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Northern Virginia *doesn't* want to pay.

Along similar lines, there are a lot of affluent but not super rich families with kids in the Blair magnet, who cannot send their kids to elite schools. A large percentage of the Blair magnet graduates go to University of Maryland College Park every year.

These statistics about who gets in where don't mean much if you take into account that some and maybe a lot of magnet (and CAP) students don't even apply to elite schools. My Blair magnet kid (1600 SAT, top 5% of class, straight A's throughout high school) did not apply to any schools we could not afford.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Blair has been the top feeder in MD for Harvard, MIT, Princeton, and TJHS has been the top one in VA. But Blair has a magnet program (100 students) while TJHSST is whole school magnet (approx. 500 students in each grade)

Blair Stats:
25 students from Blair got into Harvard, Princeton, and MIT during 2018-2020, so a little more than 8 students per year. Assuming that almost all of these students were from the magnet program, the admission rate would be about 8/100 or 8%
https://www.mymcmedia.org/in-maryland-blair-is-top-feeder-school-to-harvard-princeton-mit/
https://www.polarislist.com/best-high-schools-in-maryland

TJHSST Stats:
57 students from TJHS got into Harvard, Princeton, and MIT during 2018-2020, so 19 students per year, which implies an admission rate of 19/500 or 3.8%
https://www.polarislist.com/best-high-schools-in-virginia

This suggests that Blair magnet students have about twice the chance of being admitted to Harvard, MIT, and Princeton compared to TJHSST (8% vs. 4%).

Any thoughts on this comparison?

Yeah, it seems like a stupid comparison. I’d look at the total numbers and consider the fact that TJ students benefit from attending a school that’s exclusively a magnet. I see no great benefit to being a 100-student magnet housed within a mediocre 3000-student school.

I know, right? That's why it's so easy to get into and why its graduates wind up working in fast food.

https://www.mbhsmagnet.org/alumni/distinguished-alumni

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Blair has been the top feeder in MD for Harvard, MIT, Princeton, and TJHS has been the top one in VA. But Blair has a magnet program (100 students) while TJHSST is whole school magnet (approx. 500 students in each grade)

Blair Stats:
25 students from Blair got into Harvard, Princeton, and MIT during 2018-2020, so a little more than 8 students per year. Assuming that almost all of these students were from the magnet program, the admission rate would be about 8/100 or 8%
https://www.mymcmedia.org/in-maryland-blair-is-top-feeder-school-to-harvard-princeton-mit/
https://www.polarislist.com/best-high-schools-in-maryland

TJHSST Stats:
57 students from TJHS got into Harvard, Princeton, and MIT during 2018-2020, so 19 students per year, which implies an admission rate of 19/500 or 3.8%
https://www.polarislist.com/best-high-schools-in-virginia

This suggests that Blair magnet students have about twice the chance of being admitted to Harvard, MIT, and Princeton compared to TJHSST (8% vs. 4%).

Any thoughts on this comparison?

Yeah, it seems like a stupid comparison. I’d look at the total numbers and consider the fact that TJ students benefit from attending a school that’s exclusively a magnet. I see no great benefit to being a 100-student magnet housed within a mediocre 3000-student school.

I can see some benefits:

1) tighter cohort - only 100 students
2) helps you keep perspective about your place among peers.

I went to a very competitive magnet HS and it can mess with your mind because you are only comparing yourself to the very best students. I think interacting with "ordinary" students can help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Northern Virginia *doesn't* want to pay.

Along similar lines, there are a lot of affluent but not super rich families with kids in the Blair magnet, who cannot send their kids to elite schools. A large percentage of the Blair magnet graduates go to University of Maryland College Park every year.

These statistics about who gets in where don't mean much if you take into account that some and maybe a lot of magnet (and CAP) students don't even apply to elite schools. My Blair magnet kid (1600 SAT, top 5% of class, straight A's throughout high school) did not apply to any schools we could not afford.

USNWR considers UMD top 20 in math. Other state schools are ranked even higher. Who decides what schools are elite? Maybe a kid wants to go to Purdue because they can get a spectacular education and it's close to family.

Then we have to consider the other magnet at Blair and where those kids want to go, and the fact that there are a whole bunch of bright, ambitious kids not in the magnet program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Blair has been the top feeder in MD for Harvard, MIT, Princeton, and TJHS has been the top one in VA. But Blair has a magnet program (100 students) while TJHSST is whole school magnet (approx. 500 students in each grade)

Blair Stats:
25 students from Blair got into Harvard, Princeton, and MIT during 2018-2020, so a little more than 8 students per year. Assuming that almost all of these students were from the magnet program, the admission rate would be about 8/100 or 8%
https://www.mymcmedia.org/in-maryland-blair-is-top-feeder-school-to-harvard-princeton-mit/
https://www.polarislist.com/best-high-schools-in-maryland

TJHSST Stats:
57 students from TJHS got into Harvard, Princeton, and MIT during 2018-2020, so 19 students per year, which implies an admission rate of 19/500 or 3.8%
https://www.polarislist.com/best-high-schools-in-virginia

This suggests that Blair magnet students have about twice the chance of being admitted to Harvard, MIT, and Princeton compared to TJHSST (8% vs. 4%).

Any thoughts on this comparison?

Yeah, it seems like a stupid comparison. I’d look at the total numbers and consider the fact that TJ students benefit from attending a school that’s exclusively a magnet. I see no great benefit to being a 100-student magnet housed within a mediocre 3000-student school.

The idea that Blair is "mediocre" outside the SMCS magnet is silly.