Blair SMAC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Alg 2 is offered in every MoCo HS for 8th graders who qualify.

But only a few wealthy ES offer AIM in 6th grade. TPMS for example, won't allow anyone who hasn't taken AIM to take Algebra in 6th grade. Only kids who have taken Algebra in 6th grade are able to take Algebra 2 in 8th.

Yes the feeder schools were really strict on this. I'm sure a few others as well. Many kids were shut out of that track because of it. Would have been helpful to mine during Functions -- that was a beast.

Then you should have gone to a non-wealthy school. Ours allows it.

Huh?
Wealthy W ESs don't feed into TPMS.
Piney Branch and Pine Crest (HGC) weren't wealthy (at least when my kids went)! Both very rigid not letting any of the kids (including kids from tpes's magnet back in the day) advance beyond compacted. It was the whole 2.0 thing.

That's so weird because DC is at TPMS along with several other Potomac kids whose ES also offered AIM in 5th grade so they were able to take in Algebra in 6th.

Some schools allow kids to skip aim and others require it. The issue is most es don’t have aim.

The only MS I know of that routinely allows kids to skip AIM is Frost. Also, the only ES that hosts an AIM class in 5th was Cold Spring.

Well, you need to get out of your bubble. I don't know any ES that have AIM. My kid skipped AIM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think many of you are over thinking. It’s just a high school program. They understand many middle schoolers are not exposed to computer science or math/science competitions. I also don’t think they care much about the essay. As long as the applicant doesn’t write hating math or science, I doubt the essay will make any difference.

In that case, I’ll ask again, what does make a difference? They literally have only MAP M and the most recent math and science grades, plus the essay. Given that many kids will have high MAP-m scores and As in geometry and science, what is differentiating kids if it’s not the essay?

I disagree with pp about essays and awards. I think, especially without recs, essays become more important to know a student's character and interests. Also, kids do have activities and potential for awards. ECs point to the whole student. Awards give a record of achievement to augment map and grades. Every ms kid can do science fair. Mine both had science fair awards when they applied. And, this is another place to show what the student can bring to the program. Mine had performing arts accolades. STEM programs are interested in "out of the box" thinkers and like kids with arts activities/awards.

Also, if you have a girl, I highly recommend Technica. It's a huge all girl (or female identifying) hackathon hosted by umd. I think it just happened this year and was partly online. But, hopefully will be back next fall in person. It's a giant comp sci slumber party with tons of awards and swag (and a chocolate fountain). And it's a very supportive, cooperative environment. My kid went by herself in 7th grade and won a bunch of hardware for a website she made. She went with a friend the next year and had a blast. The 7th grade win definitely went on her magnet app!

We have never been offered a science fair in MS.

You don't need to be offered. You can sign up through Science Montgomery. It's county wide. Any MoCo student can enter.

That's not MCPS and they charge a fee.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think many of you are over thinking. It’s just a high school program. They understand many middle schoolers are not exposed to computer science or math/science competitions. I also don’t think they care much about the essay. As long as the applicant doesn’t write hating math or science, I doubt the essay will make any difference.

In that case, I’ll ask again, what does make a difference? They literally have only MAP M and the most recent math and science grades, plus the essay. Given that many kids will have high MAP-m scores and As in geometry and science, what is differentiating kids if it’s not the essay?

I disagree with pp about essays and awards. I think, especially without recs, essays become more important to know a student's character and interests. Also, kids do have activities and potential for awards. ECs point to the whole student. Awards give a record of achievement to augment map and grades. Every ms kid can do science fair. Mine both had science fair awards when they applied. And, this is another place to show what the student can bring to the program. Mine had performing arts accolades. STEM programs are interested in "out of the box" thinkers and like kids with arts activities/awards.

Also, if you have a girl, I highly recommend Technica. It's a huge all girl (or female identifying) hackathon hosted by umd. I think it just happened this year and was partly online. But, hopefully will be back next fall in person. It's a giant comp sci slumber party with tons of awards and swag (and a chocolate fountain). And it's a very supportive, cooperative environment. My kid went by herself in 7th grade and won a bunch of hardware for a website she made. She went with a friend the next year and had a blast. The 7th grade win definitely went on her magnet app!

We have never been offered a science fair in MS.

It’s the Montgomery County Science fair, open to any MS or HS kid. It’s NOT through school it’s something you can enter outside of school. Just like various Hacksthons, etc… students who show initiative on their own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think many of you are over thinking. It’s just a high school program. They understand many middle schoolers are not exposed to computer science or math/science competitions. I also don’t think they care much about the essay. As long as the applicant doesn’t write hating math or science, I doubt the essay will make any difference.

In that case, I’ll ask again, what does make a difference? They literally have only MAP M and the most recent math and science grades, plus the essay. Given that many kids will have high MAP-m scores and As in geometry and science, what is differentiating kids if it’s not the essay?

I disagree with pp about essays and awards. I think, especially without recs, essays become more important to know a student's character and interests. Also, kids do have activities and potential for awards. ECs point to the whole student. Awards give a record of achievement to augment map and grades. Every ms kid can do science fair. Mine both had science fair awards when they applied. And, this is another place to show what the student can bring to the program. Mine had performing arts accolades. STEM programs are interested in "out of the box" thinkers and like kids with arts activities/awards.

Also, if you have a girl, I highly recommend Technica. It's a huge all girl (or female identifying) hackathon hosted by umd. I think it just happened this year and was partly online. But, hopefully will be back next fall in person. It's a giant comp sci slumber party with tons of awards and swag (and a chocolate fountain). And it's a very supportive, cooperative environment. My kid went by herself in 7th grade and won a bunch of hardware for a website she made. She went with a friend the next year and had a blast. The 7th grade win definitely went on her magnet app!

We have never been offered a science fair in MS.

It’s the Montgomery County Science fair, open to any MS or HS kid. It’s NOT through school it’s something you can enter outside of school. Just like various Hacksthons, etc… students who show initiative on their own.

Sure, but if the middle school doesn’t participate, the kids may not know it exists as an option.

It’s not a prerequisite for the magnet. Stop worrying about what they didn’t do and talk about whatever they did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's very hard to prep for the Cogat and the big secret is those expensive classes really do not really help kids get in anywhere. Very few kids from those prep schools actually get in and they would have gotten in anyway.

The only thing I think they offer is giving kids familiarity with the types of questions and format and you can do that for your child with a $10 book on Amazon or by borrowing a book which is available at the public library for free. There are also plenty of YouTube videos you can find online.

You are foolish if you think these actually make a difference.

Actually it isn't hard to prep for it at all. It's not much different than prepping for the SATs. You can boost your score by 20% simply by being familiar with the test format and question types. These are well known facts.

I call B.S.! I think every HS parent would be thrilled if their kids could improve 20% on their SAT's (let alone CogAT's, which don't count for college admission). Maybe if they're at the bottom of the scale, I could see that happening but there is NO WAY that's true above the 50th percentile.

Go ahead - post the link with you proof. Come on. I want to see it.

Wouldn't that be something if you could raise your IQ just by doing that but really you can't do very much. It's a well documented fact that you can Google in the academic literature that you can't prep for those tests because it would defeat the whole purpose of them. I do think that if you're a bad test taker or have low processing speed prepping might help you get through more questions but it does not magically give you the ability to solve puzzles and rotate shapes in your head.

Please don't fool other people into a sense of helplessness, of course prepping for anything involving logic and reasoning will help tremendously. All the above tests are highly preppable. Kids can learn a lot of logic, deductive, spatial reasoning, etc, skills by simply practicing thinking about those types of problems. They can do this because the human brain is effectively a pattern matching machine. Incidentally, IQ tests are also preppable, but pointless since IQ is a meaningless concept and there are no large incentives given out for trying to ace an IQ test. The way one preps is of course important, but in most cases even with average quality prep and average amount of time spent studying/thinking, many kids will improve a lot. In the upper echelons kids can effectively ace the 'IQ' tests, just like top math contest winners prepped their way into being able to solve very difficult problems that can seem ingenious to even the average math professor. All these tests simply contain a wide variety of puzzles, that's all. Someone who trains by solving many of these types of puzzles will do very well, it's simply the nature of how our human brains are wired to learn through practice.

Huh? What a lot of.. hmm.. the fact that you don't know the difference between an IQ test and the CogAT says everything.

"An intelligence quotient (IQ) is a total score derived from a set of standardized tests or subtests designed to assess human intelligence."

"There are a variety of individually administered IQ tests in use in the English-speaking world.[75][76] The most commonly used individual IQ test series is the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) for adults and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) for school-age test-takers. Other commonly used individual IQ tests (some of which do not label their standard scores as "IQ" scores) include the current versions of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales, Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Abilities, the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, the Cognitive Assessment System, and the Differential Ability Scales."

"IQ tests that measure intelligence also include:
Raven's Progressive Matrices
Cattell Culture Fair III
Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales
Thurstone's Primary Mental Abilities[77][78]
Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test[79]
Multidimensional Aptitude Battery II
Das–Naglieri cognitive assessment system
Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test
Wide Range Intelligence Test"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligence_quotient

"[CogAT] assess students' acquired reasoning abilities"

"The CogAT is one of several tests used in the United States to help teachers or other school staff make student placement decisions for gifted education programs, and is accepted for admission to Intertel, a high IQ society for those who score at or above the 99th percentile on a test of intelligence."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_Abilities_Test

Neither method is currently used to select MCPS Magnet students by this MC BoE or MCPS administration.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's very hard to prep for the Cogat and the big secret is those expensive classes really do not really help kids get in anywhere. Very few kids from those prep schools actually get in and they would have gotten in anyway.

The only thing I think they offer is giving kids familiarity with the types of questions and format and you can do that for your child with a $10 book on Amazon or by borrowing a book which is available at the public library for free. There are also plenty of YouTube videos you can find online.

You are foolish if you think these actually make a difference.

Actually it isn't hard to prep for it at all. It's not much different than prepping for the SATs. You can boost your score by 20% simply by being familiar with the test format and question types. These are well known facts.

I call B.S.! I think every HS parent would be thrilled if their kids could improve 20% on their SAT's (let alone CogAT's, which don't count for college admission). Maybe if they're at the bottom of the scale, I could see that happening but there is NO WAY that's true above the 50th percentile.

Go ahead - post the link with you proof. Come on. I want to see it.

Wouldn't that be something if you could raise your IQ just by doing that but really you can't do very much. It's a well documented fact that you can Google in the academic literature that you can't prep for those tests because it would defeat the whole purpose of them. I do think that if you're a bad test taker or have low processing speed prepping might help you get through more questions but it does not magically give you the ability to solve puzzles and rotate shapes in your head.

Please don't fool other people into a sense of helplessness, of course prepping for anything involving logic and reasoning will help tremendously. All the above tests are highly preppable. Kids can learn a lot of logic, deductive, spatial reasoning, etc, skills by simply practicing thinking about those types of problems. They can do this because the human brain is effectively a pattern matching machine. Incidentally, IQ tests are also preppable, but pointless since IQ is a meaningless concept and there are no large incentives given out for trying to ace an IQ test. The way one preps is of course important, but in most cases even with average quality prep and average amount of time spent studying/thinking, many kids will improve a lot. In the upper echelons kids can effectively ace the 'IQ' tests, just like top math contest winners prepped their way into being able to solve very difficult problems that can seem ingenious to even the average math professor. All these tests simply contain a wide variety of puzzles, that's all. Someone who trains by solving many of these types of puzzles will do very well, it's simply the nature of how our human brains are wired to learn through practice.

Huh? What a lot of.. hmm.. the fact that you don't know the difference between an IQ test and the CogAT says everything.

"An intelligence quotient (IQ) is a total score derived from a set of standardized tests or subtests designed to assess human intelligence."

"There are a variety of individually administered IQ tests in use in the English-speaking world.[75][76] The most commonly used individual IQ test series is the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) for adults and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) for school-age test-takers. Other commonly used individual IQ tests (some of which do not label their standard scores as "IQ" scores) include the current versions of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales, Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Abilities, the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, the Cognitive Assessment System, and the Differential Ability Scales."

"IQ tests that measure intelligence also include:
Raven's Progressive Matrices
Cattell Culture Fair III
Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales
Thurstone's Primary Mental Abilities[77][78]
Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test[79]
Multidimensional Aptitude Battery II
Das–Naglieri cognitive assessment system
Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test
Wide Range Intelligence Test"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligence_quotient

"[CogAT] assess students' acquired reasoning abilities"

"The CogAT is one of several tests used in the United States to help teachers or other school staff make student placement decisions for gifted education programs, and is accepted for admission to Intertel, a high IQ society for those who score at or above the 99th percentile on a test of intelligence."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_Abilities_Test

Neither method is currently used to select MCPS Magnet students by this MC BoE or MCPS administration.

That's a little misleading since the CogAT was used for selection up until the pandemic and was only suspended when its makers refused to let MCPS administer it remotely. At this point MCPS decided to use this as an opportunity to evaluate its usefulness. It could be reinstated once the current trial ends. No statement has been made but we should find out this Spring. Although I believe the CogAT is a fine test, I suspect it won't tell them anything they don't already know about their students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think many of you are over thinking. It’s just a high school program. They understand many middle schoolers are not exposed to computer science or math/science competitions. I also don’t think they care much about the essay. As long as the applicant doesn’t write hating math or science, I doubt the essay will make any difference.

In that case, I’ll ask again, what does make a difference? They literally have only MAP M and the most recent math and science grades, plus the essay. Given that many kids will have high MAP-m scores and As in geometry and science, what is differentiating kids if it’s not the essay?

I disagree with pp about essays and awards. I think, especially without recs, essays become more important to know a student's character and interests. Also, kids do have activities and potential for awards. ECs point to the whole student. Awards give a record of achievement to augment map and grades. Every ms kid can do science fair. Mine both had science fair awards when they applied. And, this is another place to show what the student can bring to the program. Mine had performing arts accolades. STEM programs are interested in "out of the box" thinkers and like kids with arts activities/awards.

Also, if you have a girl, I highly recommend Technica. It's a huge all girl (or female identifying) hackathon hosted by umd. I think it just happened this year and was partly online. But, hopefully will be back next fall in person. It's a giant comp sci slumber party with tons of awards and swag (and a chocolate fountain). And it's a very supportive, cooperative environment. My kid went by herself in 7th grade and won a bunch of hardware for a website she made. She went with a friend the next year and had a blast. The 7th grade win definitely went on her magnet app!

We have never been offered a science fair in MS.

You don't need to be offered. You can sign up through Science Montgomery. It's county wide. Any MoCo student can enter.

That's not MCPS and they charge a fee.

I never said it was mcps. I said Science Montgomery and that any MoCo student (not just mcps) can enter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think many of you are over thinking. It’s just a high school program. They understand many middle schoolers are not exposed to computer science or math/science competitions. I also don’t think they care much about the essay. As long as the applicant doesn’t write hating math or science, I doubt the essay will make any difference.

In that case, I’ll ask again, what does make a difference? They literally have only MAP M and the most recent math and science grades, plus the essay. Given that many kids will have high MAP-m scores and As in geometry and science, what is differentiating kids if it’s not the essay?

I disagree with pp about essays and awards. I think, especially without recs, essays become more important to know a student's character and interests. Also, kids do have activities and potential for awards. ECs point to the whole student. Awards give a record of achievement to augment map and grades. Every ms kid can do science fair. Mine both had science fair awards when they applied. And, this is another place to show what the student can bring to the program. Mine had performing arts accolades. STEM programs are interested in "out of the box" thinkers and like kids with arts activities/awards.

Also, if you have a girl, I highly recommend Technica. It's a huge all girl (or female identifying) hackathon hosted by umd. I think it just happened this year and was partly online. But, hopefully will be back next fall in person. It's a giant comp sci slumber party with tons of awards and swag (and a chocolate fountain). And it's a very supportive, cooperative environment. My kid went by herself in 7th grade and won a bunch of hardware for a website she made. She went with a friend the next year and had a blast. The 7th grade win definitely went on her magnet app!

We have never been offered a science fair in MS.

You don't need to be offered. You can sign up through Science Montgomery. It's county wide. Any MoCo student can enter.

That's not MCPS and they charge a fee.

I never said it was mcps. I said Science Montgomery and that any MoCo student (not just mcps) can enter.

Most contests aren't run by MCPS; for example, Mathcounts and AMC are national organizations. These things often cost a small fee.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's very hard to prep for the Cogat and the big secret is those expensive classes really do not really help kids get in anywhere. Very few kids from those prep schools actually get in and they would have gotten in anyway.

The only thing I think they offer is giving kids familiarity with the types of questions and format and you can do that for your child with a $10 book on Amazon or by borrowing a book which is available at the public library for free. There are also plenty of YouTube videos you can find online.

You are foolish if you think these actually make a difference.

Actually it isn't hard to prep for it at all. It's not much different than prepping for the SATs. You can boost your score by 20% simply by being familiar with the test format and question types. These are well known facts.

I call B.S.! I think every HS parent would be thrilled if their kids could improve 20% on their SAT's (let alone CogAT's, which don't count for college admission). Maybe if they're at the bottom of the scale, I could see that happening but there is NO WAY that's true above the 50th percentile.

Go ahead - post the link with you proof. Come on. I want to see it.

Wouldn't that be something if you could raise your IQ just by doing that but really you can't do very much. It's a well documented fact that you can Google in the academic literature that you can't prep for those tests because it would defeat the whole purpose of them. I do think that if you're a bad test taker or have low processing speed prepping might help you get through more questions but it does not magically give you the ability to solve puzzles and rotate shapes in your head.

Please don't fool other people into a sense of helplessness, of course prepping for anything involving logic and reasoning will help tremendously. All the above tests are highly preppable. Kids can learn a lot of logic, deductive, spatial reasoning, etc, skills by simply practicing thinking about those types of problems. They can do this because the human brain is effectively a pattern matching machine. Incidentally, IQ tests are also preppable, but pointless since IQ is a meaningless concept and there are no large incentives given out for trying to ace an IQ test. The way one preps is of course important, but in most cases even with average quality prep and average amount of time spent studying/thinking, many kids will improve a lot. In the upper echelons kids can effectively ace the 'IQ' tests, just like top math contest winners prepped their way into being able to solve very difficult problems that can seem ingenious to even the average math professor. All these tests simply contain a wide variety of puzzles, that's all. Someone who trains by solving many of these types of puzzles will do very well, it's simply the nature of how our human brains are wired to learn through practice.

Huh? What a lot of.. hmm.. the fact that you don't know the difference between an IQ test and the CogAT says everything.

"An intelligence quotient (IQ) is a total score derived from a set of standardized tests or subtests designed to assess human intelligence."

"There are a variety of individually administered IQ tests in use in the English-speaking world.[75][76] The most commonly used individual IQ test series is the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) for adults and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) for school-age test-takers. Other commonly used individual IQ tests (some of which do not label their standard scores as "IQ" scores) include the current versions of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales, Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Abilities, the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, the Cognitive Assessment System, and the Differential Ability Scales."

"IQ tests that measure intelligence also include:
Raven's Progressive Matrices
Cattell Culture Fair III
Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales
Thurstone's Primary Mental Abilities[77][78]
Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test[79]
Multidimensional Aptitude Battery II
Das–Naglieri cognitive assessment system
Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test
Wide Range Intelligence Test"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligence_quotient

"[CogAT] assess students' acquired reasoning abilities"

"The CogAT is one of several tests used in the United States to help teachers or other school staff make student placement decisions for gifted education programs, and is accepted for admission to Intertel, a high IQ society for those who score at or above the 99th percentile on a test of intelligence."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_Abilities_Test

Neither method is currently used to select MCPS Magnet students by this MC BoE or MCPS administration.

That's a little misleading since the CogAT was used for selection up until the pandemic and was only suspended when its makers refused to let MCPS administer it remotely. At this point MCPS decided to use this as an opportunity to evaluate its usefulness. It could be reinstated once the current trial ends. No statement has been made but we should find out this Spring. Although I believe the CogAT is a fine test, I suspect it won't tell them anything they don't already know about their students.

DP. Just fyi, it was only used a couple years, I think. MCPS used to have its own magnet test. It was pretty good. (But also susceptible to prep programs by Dr. Li and A++)