Really appalled by non-acceptance from CAP magnet at Blair

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks 16:23, you are very kind and you so get it. And I'm also going to say thanks to 16:01 for the pull-your-socks up message with some good advice because you're right about 'world of possibility'. Thanks to everyone for really positive comments, it helped.

OP, I get it too. My very-qualified son has been rejected a few times now. It is super-disappointing. He is doing fine now, as will your DD, but those first few days it does sting, it does. I get it.

It will be ok.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry about the disappointing news. There must have been a lot of kids with similar grades applying. They may also take into consideration gender and race in their decisions.

They don't, and cannot do that, legally speaking.

Don't say idiotic things that reflect your ignorance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry about the disappointing news. There must have been a lot of kids with similar grades applying. They may also take into consideration gender and race in their decisions.

They don't, and cannot do that, legally speaking.

Don't say idiotic things that reflect your ignorance.

Actually, you CAN as long as you use a proxy for race.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry about the disappointing news. There must have been a lot of kids with similar grades applying. They may also take into consideration gender and race in their decisions.

They don't, and cannot do that, legally speaking.

Don't say idiotic things that reflect your ignorance.

Actually, you CAN as long as you use a proxy for race.

They may not consider race. Period.

If they are considering something that is not race, then they are not considering race, no matter how much you may claim that it is a proxy.

[Anonymous]

I meant to say, also: OP, we are having a very similar conversation at home tonight.

There are lots of qualified kids. Most of them can't get in. That doesn't mean they are failures -- or that the kids who did get in are successes. It just means that they didn't get in. (But it would have been nicer to get in.)

[Anonymous]

My heart goes out to you and everyone who did not get the news they wanted to hear today. This is so hard for the kids, and for the parents too. And as others have said, there is hope for those on the WL. My DC got into CAP and will not be attending. So there is at least one open spot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My heart goes out to you and everyone who did not get the news they wanted to hear today. This is so hard for the kids, and for the parents too. And as others have said, there is hope for those on the WL. My DC got into CAP and will not be attending. So there is at least one open spot.

Are they attending another school or did they just decide that CAP isn't for them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My heart goes out to you and everyone who did not get the news they wanted to hear today. This is so hard for the kids, and for the parents too. And as others have said, there is hope for those on the WL. My DC got into CAP and will not be attending. So there is at least one open spot.

You are very kind. Good luck to your child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry about the disappointing news. There must have been a lot of kids with similar grades applying. They may also take into consideration gender and race in their decisions.

They don't, and cannot do that, legally speaking.

Don't say idiotic things that reflect your ignorance.

Actually, you CAN as long as you use a proxy for race.

They may not consider race. Period.

If they are considering something that is not race, then they are not considering race, no matter how much you may claim that it is a proxy.

A well known proxy for race is SES. It allows one to get around the limitations over race placed by the case MCPS lost.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I am sorry. There are many, many more qualified students than there are spots in the magnet programs. What really matters is your DD's work ethic and her brains, which will serve her well no matter where she goes to school. She is who she is no matter what a letter says, YK?

FWIW, I am pretty sure that a number of students are admitted from the wait-list each year. If your DD really wants to go, you should be persistent and follow up to see if a spot opens.

This is very true. I just had a conversation with my neighbor last week who told me that when her daughter got in to CAP last year, a number of her friends also got in off the waitlist. So do not lose hope. A fair number of the kids who were accepted were also likely accepted at multiple magnets and may choose to go elsewhere. So, it's ain't over.

+2. We know several kids who got in off the waitlist. Lots of kids apply to the same three programs (CAP, IB and Blair magnet) and many get accepted at multiple programs. So some spaces are likely to open up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry about the disappointing news. There must have been a lot of kids with similar grades applying. They may also take into consideration gender and race in their decisions.

They don't, and cannot do that, legally speaking.

Don't say idiotic things that reflect your ignorance.

Actually, you CAN as long as you use a proxy for race.

They may not consider race. Period.

If they are considering something that is not race, then they are not considering race, no matter how much you may claim that it is a proxy.

A well known proxy for race is SES. It allows one to get around the limitations over race placed by the case MCPS lost.

SES is not a proxy for race. SES is SES. Also, considering SES is legal. Also, please explain how they would admit based on SES. Did your child's application include your household income and education?

But sure, if you want to tell yourself that the reason they didn't admit your qualified, deserving, non-brown kid is because they had to admit some unqualified, undeserving brown kid, go ahead.

[Anonymous]

Please don't be appalled or feel bad. There are many paths to success and there are some real pros and cons about going to magnet programs.

I am a magnet parent. And I will be flamed for this...but magnet is not the only way a kid will succeed regardless of what DCUM believes.

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know how many are waitlisted? And are the thse on the wait list ranked?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry about the disappointing news. There must have been a lot of kids with similar grades applying. They may also take into consideration gender and race in their decisions.

They don't, and cannot do that, legally speaking.

Don't say idiotic things that reflect your ignorance.

Actually, you CAN as long as you use a proxy for race.

They may not consider race. Period.

If they are considering something that is not race, then they are not considering race, no matter how much you may claim that it is a proxy.

A well known proxy for race is SES. It allows one to get around the limitations over race placed by the case MCPS lost.

SES is not a proxy for race. SES is SES. Also, considering SES is legal. Also, please explain how they would admit based on SES. Did your child's application include your household income and education?

But sure, if you want to tell yourself that the reason they didn't admit your qualified, deserving, non-brown kid is because they had to admit some unqualified, undeserving brown kid, go ahead.

Seriously, people are you all this offensive at Blair?

I hate to say it but the picture you people paint of that school is ugly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry about the disappointing news. There must have been a lot of kids with similar grades applying. They may also take into consideration gender and race in their decisions.

They don't, and cannot do that, legally speaking.

Don't say idiotic things that reflect your ignorance.

Actually, you CAN as long as you use a proxy for race.

They may not consider race. Period.

If they are considering something that is not race, then they are not considering race, no matter how much you may claim that it is a proxy.

A well known proxy for race is SES. It allows one to get around the limitations over race placed by the case MCPS lost.

SES is not a proxy for race. SES is SES. Also, considering SES is legal. Also, please explain how they would admit based on SES. Did your child's application include your household income and education?

But sure, if you want to tell yourself that the reason they didn't admit your qualified, deserving, non-brown kid is because they had to admit some unqualified, undeserving brown kid, go ahead.

New poster here - I have no idea what is done or allowed - but with a background in survey data analysis and behavioral sciences I had to chime in that there are certainly ways to get at race or ses without explicitly using race or ses or other demographic characteristics of interest (not to say they are doing this or that they should ) The easiest way would be by trying to select candidates based on their home school district and using general population means of how that district is composed. If a home school is predominantly in an area with a certain race, ethnicity, ses, etc. chances are, if you slect from that school you are more likely to get a student of whatever group you are targeting. Sure, not every student at that school will match the specific criteria, but if you select more from that school over a school with fewer of the targeted characteristic, you have a better chance of hitting your target.

That said, I agree with PP that claiming that there are undeserving kids getting in purely based on a given demographic characteristic is icky. We all know that there are more deserving kids than there are spots! So, even if such demographic targeting exists, it doesn't even imply that the 'trageted group' is of lower quality.