Yet another magnet thread. What are the personalities of the students at various magnets?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Almost every kid at the Blair magnet we know also got in to RMIB and chose Blair. Many didn't even bother going to the RMIB shadow day because why bother.

The yield at Blair is almost 100%. They accept about 110-115 kids and about 105-110 of those kids go to Blair.

RMIB's yield is much lower, according to their own magnet director. DD does know multiple kids who claimed to have gotten into Blair but actually did not.

125/1000 and 100/800

Those numbers are places, not offers. What’s key here is the number of offers.

RMIB is a country wide program and Blair only applies to party of the county

[pettifogger]

Anonymous wrote:

pettifogger wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not exactly “personalities” but there are some very obvious demographic differences between CAP (largely upper middle class, white students) and magnet (many from Indian, Chinese, Korean and other Asian backgrounds often children of immigrants including the few who are white) at Blair. Nice kids either way.

Why is this? Why are there so few wealthy white families in SMCS relative to CAP, and why so many in CAP? Are the upper middle class white kids not as good in STEM or are their families less interested?

Both Blair magnet and CAP are predominantly UMC. This is not NYC, where the test-in magnets are dominated by working class first-generation kids whose parents work in restaurants and dry cleaners. The parents of both sets of kids tend to be feds, or journalists, or attorneys, or scientists, or college professors.

I have an upperclassman in CAP who attended the TPMS STEM magnet, so some visibility on both groups and while Blair magnet does have more first and second generation immigrant kids, they are just as wealthy or wealthier than the CAP kids.

Agree only the wealthiest families can afford to prep their kids sufficiently to get into these programs. I'm told it takes years of AoPS or RM to get to where one might have a shot at SMCS.

You were told wrong. Stop trying to create a myth.

Parent of a kid in SMCS who doesn’t even know what AOPS or RM are.

Another Blair magnet parent here. It's not totally a myth. Many kids have done these, and some don't. I think magnet leans Asian because Chinese, Korean and Indian cultures place more value on academic advancement in STEM than Humanities. MC, UMC and immigrant families often sacrifice for additional stem enrichment like aops, A++, Dr. Li, Hopkins cty, etc. I know one mom who did those things while on a postdoc salary here on h1 visa from China. There are communal support networks too. Humanities were not an option for many of my kid's cohort in magnet. Not all of course. And, this is a few years ago.
I also see a lot of white umc lawyers in my neighborhood who will drop lots of money for Humanities enrichment.
My magnet kids had significant enrichment in arts because I am a professional in the arts. I also used to tutor math, so I helped them with that (to a point). Stem magnets liked the arts kids who could hold their own at math.
I do wish there wasn't an emphasis on pre program enrichment. I don't know how we really get around that though.

PP whose kid doesn’t know what those programs are, I’m an NP who also has a kid in the Blair magnet who not only didn’t prep but doesn’t know what those programs are. I guess we should be very proud that our kids got in based only on their hard work and not parental pressure and outside tutoring?

Do you really think the kids who went to those programs did not do hard work? Many of the kids we know who did not do outside tutoring have parents who have STEM jobs and taught them themselves. I'm not sure why it makes such a difference to you and why you would be more "proud" if a child did not go to the programs. My child did not attend these programs but her friends who went to them are the hardest working in the magnet and the most successful over the two years she has been there.

I think that it’s a much bigger achievement for a kid without all that extra help through tutoring and outside programs to get in to a magnet than a kid who got in due to considerable extra help. Surely that’s obvious?

So help me understand.. why does this type of comparison matter so much to you (and many others on these threads)? Both types of kids worked hard and should be commended for their efforts.. Or are you suggesting that it's a much bigger achievement NOT to work hard at something?

It matters only because some posters here claim that all kids in these programs are there because they gamed the system. It’s not true. And yes it is a bigger achievement to have been selected without additional help and privileges.

Well that's news! So what you're saying is, a kid who didn't need to work to figure stuff out and got in on talent is "higher achieving" than one who had to work at it? Are you sure it's not the other way around?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

pettifogger wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not exactly “personalities” but there are some very obvious demographic differences between CAP (largely upper middle class, white students) and magnet (many from Indian, Chinese, Korean and other Asian backgrounds often children of immigrants including the few who are white) at Blair. Nice kids either way.

Why is this? Why are there so few wealthy white families in SMCS relative to CAP, and why so many in CAP? Are the upper middle class white kids not as good in STEM or are their families less interested?

Both Blair magnet and CAP are predominantly UMC. This is not NYC, where the test-in magnets are dominated by working class first-generation kids whose parents work in restaurants and dry cleaners. The parents of both sets of kids tend to be feds, or journalists, or attorneys, or scientists, or college professors.

I have an upperclassman in CAP who attended the TPMS STEM magnet, so some visibility on both groups and while Blair magnet does have more first and second generation immigrant kids, they are just as wealthy or wealthier than the CAP kids.

Agree only the wealthiest families can afford to prep their kids sufficiently to get into these programs. I'm told it takes years of AoPS or RM to get to where one might have a shot at SMCS.

You were told wrong. Stop trying to create a myth.

Parent of a kid in SMCS who doesn’t even know what AOPS or RM are.

Another Blair magnet parent here. It's not totally a myth. Many kids have done these, and some don't. I think magnet leans Asian because Chinese, Korean and Indian cultures place more value on academic advancement in STEM than Humanities. MC, UMC and immigrant families often sacrifice for additional stem enrichment like aops, A++, Dr. Li, Hopkins cty, etc. I know one mom who did those things while on a postdoc salary here on h1 visa from China. There are communal support networks too. Humanities were not an option for many of my kid's cohort in magnet. Not all of course. And, this is a few years ago.
I also see a lot of white umc lawyers in my neighborhood who will drop lots of money for Humanities enrichment.
My magnet kids had significant enrichment in arts because I am a professional in the arts. I also used to tutor math, so I helped them with that (to a point). Stem magnets liked the arts kids who could hold their own at math.
I do wish there wasn't an emphasis on pre program enrichment. I don't know how we really get around that though.

PP whose kid doesn’t know what those programs are, I’m an NP who also has a kid in the Blair magnet who not only didn’t prep but doesn’t know what those programs are. I guess we should be very proud that our kids got in based only on their hard work and not parental pressure and outside tutoring?

Do you really think the kids who went to those programs did not do hard work? Many of the kids we know who did not do outside tutoring have parents who have STEM jobs and taught them themselves. I'm not sure why it makes such a difference to you and why you would be more "proud" if a child did not go to the programs. My child did not attend these programs but her friends who went to them are the hardest working in the magnet and the most successful over the two years she has been there.

I think that it’s a much bigger achievement for a kid without all that extra help through tutoring and outside programs to get in to a magnet than a kid who got in due to considerable extra help. Surely that’s obvious?

So help me understand.. why does this type of comparison matter so much to you (and many others on these threads)? Both types of kids worked hard and should be commended for their efforts.. Or are you suggesting that it's a much bigger achievement NOT to work hard at something?

It matters only because some posters here claim that all kids in these programs are there because they gamed the system. It’s not true. And yes it is a bigger achievement to have been selected without additional help and privileges.

I know MCPS isn't like TJ where wealthy families simply buy the admission test answers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD received offers from Blair, RMIB, and Poolesville this year. She ultimately chose RMIB. Interestingly, most of her classmates who had multiple offers made the same choice, with only a few opting for Blair. It's important to note that each year, students may make different decisions. Perhaps in previous years, the majority of students chose Blair. Additionally, my daughter mentioned that the math program at RMIB may not be as competitive as she expected. So, while it's not accurate to say that Blair is definitively better than RMIB, individual preferences and program strengths certainly play a role in these choices

Furthermore, it's worth noting that Blair has a larger Asian student population, and this may contribute to their strong performance in competitions like the NMSF. Asian students often have a strong focus on academics, a value instilled by their parents, and this dedication to hard work deserves recognition

DC graduated from RMIB last year, and they said it was like 80%Asian, or some such. So, Blair magnet is 80%+ Asian?

My DD said this year around 40% freshmen are Asians, when we tour the Blair, it's like 80%+ Asians

No, Blair tends to have fewer Asian-American students than RMIB because of location. We heard it's about 35-40% so that sounds about equal to RMIB this year. There are still a lot but there is also a significant number of URM students at Blair. We saw fewer URM students at RMIB.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not exactly “personalities” but there are some very obvious demographic differences between CAP (largely upper middle class, white students) and magnet (many from Indian, Chinese, Korean and other Asian backgrounds often children of immigrants including the few who are white) at Blair. Nice kids either way.

Why is this? Why are there so few wealthy white families in SMCS relative to CAP, and why so many in CAP? Are the upper middle class white kids not as good in STEM or are their families less interested?

Both Blair magnet and CAP are predominantly UMC. This is not NYC, where the test-in magnets are dominated by working class first-generation kids whose parents work in restaurants and dry cleaners. The parents of both sets of kids tend to be feds, or journalists, or attorneys, or scientists, or college professors.

I have an upperclassman in CAP who attended the TPMS STEM magnet, so some visibility on both groups and while Blair magnet does have more first and second generation immigrant kids, they are just as wealthy or wealthier than the CAP kids.

Agree only the wealthiest families can afford to prep their kids sufficiently to get into these programs. I'm told it takes years of AoPS or RM to get to where one might have a shot at SMCS.

You were told wrong. Stop trying to create a myth.

Parent of a kid in SMCS who doesn’t even know what AOPS or RM are.

Another Blair magnet parent here. It's not totally a myth. Many kids have done these, and some don't. I think magnet leans Asian because Chinese, Korean and Indian cultures place more value on academic advancement in STEM than Humanities. MC, UMC and immigrant families often sacrifice for additional stem enrichment like aops, A++, Dr. Li, Hopkins cty, etc. I know one mom who did those things while on a postdoc salary here on h1 visa from China. There are communal support networks too. Humanities were not an option for many of my kid's cohort in magnet. Not all of course. And, this is a few years ago.
I also see a lot of white umc lawyers in my neighborhood who will drop lots of money for Humanities enrichment.
My magnet kids had significant enrichment in arts because I am a professional in the arts. I also used to tutor math, so I helped them with that (to a point). Stem magnets liked the arts kids who could hold their own at math.
I do wish there wasn't an emphasis on pre program enrichment. I don't know how we really get around that though.

PP whose kid doesn’t know what those programs are, I’m an NP who also has a kid in the Blair magnet who not only didn’t prep but doesn’t know what those programs are. I guess we should be very proud that our kids got in based only on their hard work and not parental pressure and outside tutoring?

Do you really think the kids who went to those programs did not do hard work? Many of the kids we know who did not do outside tutoring have parents who have STEM jobs and taught them themselves. I'm not sure why it makes such a difference to you and why you would be more "proud" if a child did not go to the programs. My child did not attend these programs but her friends who went to them are the hardest working in the magnet and the most successful over the two years she has been there.

I think that it’s a much bigger achievement for a kid without all that extra help through tutoring and outside programs to get in to a magnet than a kid who got in due to considerable extra help. Surely that’s obvious?

What do you mean by "help"? DD's friend has two good friends at RMIB and one has a father who works at NIH and worked really closely with her on advanced math and other subjects while another one has a parent who has a small restaurant. The second friend did attend some classes according to DD. I don't know a lot of math, science, history English or foreign language but my job is flexible enough that I was able to help supervise my child's homework when she was young and fill in any gaps. Are you saying that the first child's achievements and my child's achievements are greater than their friend because that is a load of crap. All three of these kids had some kind of "help."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD received offers from Blair, RMIB, and Poolesville this year. She ultimately chose RMIB. Interestingly, most of her classmates who had multiple offers made the same choice, with only a few opting for Blair. It's important to note that each year, students may make different decisions. Perhaps in previous years, the majority of students chose Blair. Additionally, my daughter mentioned that the math program at RMIB may not be as competitive as she expected. So, while it's not accurate to say that Blair is definitively better than RMIB, individual preferences and program strengths certainly play a role in these choices

My kid got offers from Blair magnet, CAP, both Wheaton programs and RMIB. Chose Blair magnet. As did everyone he knew with the choice. Your anecdote is no more useful than mine.

In my DD’s school, 5 kids got multiple offer chose RMIB, 2 kids chose Blair

Your child did not get in to Blair though. I know who you are and why you are pushing this anecdotal data over and over again.

[Anonymous]

pettifogger wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

pettifogger wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not exactly “personalities” but there are some very obvious demographic differences between CAP (largely upper middle class, white students) and magnet (many from Indian, Chinese, Korean and other Asian backgrounds often children of immigrants including the few who are white) at Blair. Nice kids either way.

Why is this? Why are there so few wealthy white families in SMCS relative to CAP, and why so many in CAP? Are the upper middle class white kids not as good in STEM or are their families less interested?

Both Blair magnet and CAP are predominantly UMC. This is not NYC, where the test-in magnets are dominated by working class first-generation kids whose parents work in restaurants and dry cleaners. The parents of both sets of kids tend to be feds, or journalists, or attorneys, or scientists, or college professors.

I have an upperclassman in CAP who attended the TPMS STEM magnet, so some visibility on both groups and while Blair magnet does have more first and second generation immigrant kids, they are just as wealthy or wealthier than the CAP kids.

Agree only the wealthiest families can afford to prep their kids sufficiently to get into these programs. I'm told it takes years of AoPS or RM to get to where one might have a shot at SMCS.

You were told wrong. Stop trying to create a myth.

Parent of a kid in SMCS who doesn’t even know what AOPS or RM are.

Another Blair magnet parent here. It's not totally a myth. Many kids have done these, and some don't. I think magnet leans Asian because Chinese, Korean and Indian cultures place more value on academic advancement in STEM than Humanities. MC, UMC and immigrant families often sacrifice for additional stem enrichment like aops, A++, Dr. Li, Hopkins cty, etc. I know one mom who did those things while on a postdoc salary here on h1 visa from China. There are communal support networks too. Humanities were not an option for many of my kid's cohort in magnet. Not all of course. And, this is a few years ago.
I also see a lot of white umc lawyers in my neighborhood who will drop lots of money for Humanities enrichment.
My magnet kids had significant enrichment in arts because I am a professional in the arts. I also used to tutor math, so I helped them with that (to a point). Stem magnets liked the arts kids who could hold their own at math.
I do wish there wasn't an emphasis on pre program enrichment. I don't know how we really get around that though.

PP whose kid doesn’t know what those programs are, I’m an NP who also has a kid in the Blair magnet who not only didn’t prep but doesn’t know what those programs are. I guess we should be very proud that our kids got in based only on their hard work and not parental pressure and outside tutoring?

Do you really think the kids who went to those programs did not do hard work? Many of the kids we know who did not do outside tutoring have parents who have STEM jobs and taught them themselves. I'm not sure why it makes such a difference to you and why you would be more "proud" if a child did not go to the programs. My child did not attend these programs but her friends who went to them are the hardest working in the magnet and the most successful over the two years she has been there.

I think that it’s a much bigger achievement for a kid without all that extra help through tutoring and outside programs to get in to a magnet than a kid who got in due to considerable extra help. Surely that’s obvious?

So help me understand.. why does this type of comparison matter so much to you (and many others on these threads)? Both types of kids worked hard and should be commended for their efforts.. Or are you suggesting that it's a much bigger achievement NOT to work hard at something?

It matters only because some posters here claim that all kids in these programs are there because they gamed the system. It’s not true. And yes it is a bigger achievement to have been selected without additional help and privileges.

Well that's news! So what you're saying is, a kid who didn't need to work to figure stuff out and got in on talent is "higher achieving" than one who had to work at it? Are you sure it's not the other way around?

+1
Thank you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

pettifogger wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

pettifogger wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not exactly “personalities” but there are some very obvious demographic differences between CAP (largely upper middle class, white students) and magnet (many from Indian, Chinese, Korean and other Asian backgrounds often children of immigrants including the few who are white) at Blair. Nice kids either way.

Why is this? Why are there so few wealthy white families in SMCS relative to CAP, and why so many in CAP? Are the upper middle class white kids not as good in STEM or are their families less interested?

Both Blair magnet and CAP are predominantly UMC. This is not NYC, where the test-in magnets are dominated by working class first-generation kids whose parents work in restaurants and dry cleaners. The parents of both sets of kids tend to be feds, or journalists, or attorneys, or scientists, or college professors.

I have an upperclassman in CAP who attended the TPMS STEM magnet, so some visibility on both groups and while Blair magnet does have more first and second generation immigrant kids, they are just as wealthy or wealthier than the CAP kids.

Agree only the wealthiest families can afford to prep their kids sufficiently to get into these programs. I'm told it takes years of AoPS or RM to get to where one might have a shot at SMCS.

You were told wrong. Stop trying to create a myth.

Parent of a kid in SMCS who doesn’t even know what AOPS or RM are.

Another Blair magnet parent here. It's not totally a myth. Many kids have done these, and some don't. I think magnet leans Asian because Chinese, Korean and Indian cultures place more value on academic advancement in STEM than Humanities. MC, UMC and immigrant families often sacrifice for additional stem enrichment like aops, A++, Dr. Li, Hopkins cty, etc. I know one mom who did those things while on a postdoc salary here on h1 visa from China. There are communal support networks too. Humanities were not an option for many of my kid's cohort in magnet. Not all of course. And, this is a few years ago.
I also see a lot of white umc lawyers in my neighborhood who will drop lots of money for Humanities enrichment.
My magnet kids had significant enrichment in arts because I am a professional in the arts. I also used to tutor math, so I helped them with that (to a point). Stem magnets liked the arts kids who could hold their own at math.
I do wish there wasn't an emphasis on pre program enrichment. I don't know how we really get around that though.

PP whose kid doesn’t know what those programs are, I’m an NP who also has a kid in the Blair magnet who not only didn’t prep but doesn’t know what those programs are. I guess we should be very proud that our kids got in based only on their hard work and not parental pressure and outside tutoring?

Do you really think the kids who went to those programs did not do hard work? Many of the kids we know who did not do outside tutoring have parents who have STEM jobs and taught them themselves. I'm not sure why it makes such a difference to you and why you would be more "proud" if a child did not go to the programs. My child did not attend these programs but her friends who went to them are the hardest working in the magnet and the most successful over the two years she has been there.

I think that it’s a much bigger achievement for a kid without all that extra help through tutoring and outside programs to get in to a magnet than a kid who got in due to considerable extra help. Surely that’s obvious?

So help me understand.. why does this type of comparison matter so much to you (and many others on these threads)? Both types of kids worked hard and should be commended for their efforts.. Or are you suggesting that it's a much bigger achievement NOT to work hard at something?

It matters only because some posters here claim that all kids in these programs are there because they gamed the system. It’s not true. And yes it is a bigger achievement to have been selected without additional help and privileges.

Well that's news! So what you're saying is, a kid who didn't need to work to figure stuff out and got in on talent is "higher achieving" than one who had to work at it? Are you sure it's not the other way around?

+1
Thank you.

There is so much underlying anti-Asian racism in all the prep posts. They resent their child did not get in, and are looking for someone to blame and the target is always the the kids who actually worked hard to get in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD received offers from Blair, RMIB, and Poolesville this year. She ultimately chose RMIB. Interestingly, most of her classmates who had multiple offers made the same choice, with only a few opting for Blair. It's important to note that each year, students may make different decisions. Perhaps in previous years, the majority of students chose Blair. Additionally, my daughter mentioned that the math program at RMIB may not be as competitive as she expected. So, while it's not accurate to say that Blair is definitively better than RMIB, individual preferences and program strengths certainly play a role in these choices

Furthermore, it's worth noting that Blair has a larger Asian student population, and this may contribute to their strong performance in competitions like the NMSF. Asian students often have a strong focus on academics, a value instilled by their parents, and this dedication to hard work deserves recognition

DC graduated from RMIB last year, and they said it was like 80%Asian, or some such. So, Blair magnet is 80%+ Asian?

My DD said this year around 40% freshmen are Asians, when we tour the Blair, it's like 80%+ Asians

No, Blair tends to have fewer Asian-American students than RMIB because of location. We heard it's about 35-40% so that sounds about equal to RMIB this year. There are still a lot but there is also a significant number of URM students at Blair. We saw fewer URM students at RMIB.

You heard wrong. The Blair magnet is about 80 percent Asian. PP is correct. There is a large contingent of Indian kids among that group. Relatively few white or black kids and very few Latino kids. At the admitted open house earlier this year for the group we were in (a subset of the entire admitted class) there was about 5 percent each of white and black kids, with the rest Asian.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not exactly “personalities” but there are some very obvious demographic differences between CAP (largely upper middle class, white students) and magnet (many from Indian, Chinese, Korean and other Asian backgrounds often children of immigrants including the few who are white) at Blair. Nice kids either way.

Why is this? Why are there so few wealthy white families in SMCS relative to CAP, and why so many in CAP? Are the upper middle class white kids not as good in STEM or are their families less interested?

Both Blair magnet and CAP are predominantly UMC. This is not NYC, where the test-in magnets are dominated by working class first-generation kids whose parents work in restaurants and dry cleaners. The parents of both sets of kids tend to be feds, or journalists, or attorneys, or scientists, or college professors.

I have an upperclassman in CAP who attended the TPMS STEM magnet, so some visibility on both groups and while Blair magnet does have more first and second generation immigrant kids, they are just as wealthy or wealthier than the CAP kids.

Agree only the wealthiest families can afford to prep their kids sufficiently to get into these programs. I'm told it takes years of AoPS or RM to get to where one might have a shot at SMCS.

You were told wrong. Stop trying to create a myth.

Parent of a kid in SMCS who doesn’t even know what AOPS or RM are.

Another Blair magnet parent here. It's not totally a myth. Many kids have done these, and some don't. I think magnet leans Asian because Chinese, Korean and Indian cultures place more value on academic advancement in STEM than Humanities. MC, UMC and immigrant families often sacrifice for additional stem enrichment like aops, A++, Dr. Li, Hopkins cty, etc. I know one mom who did those things while on a postdoc salary here on h1 visa from China. There are communal support networks too. Humanities were not an option for many of my kid's cohort in magnet. Not all of course. And, this is a few years ago.
I also see a lot of white umc lawyers in my neighborhood who will drop lots of money for Humanities enrichment.
My magnet kids had significant enrichment in arts because I am a professional in the arts. I also used to tutor math, so I helped them with that (to a point). Stem magnets liked the arts kids who could hold their own at math.
I do wish there wasn't an emphasis on pre program enrichment. I don't know how we really get around that though.

PP whose kid doesn’t know what those programs are, I’m an NP who also has a kid in the Blair magnet who not only didn’t prep but doesn’t know what those programs are. I guess we should be very proud that our kids got in based only on their hard work and not parental pressure and outside tutoring?

Do you really think the kids who went to those programs did not do hard work? Many of the kids we know who did not do outside tutoring have parents who have STEM jobs and taught them themselves. I'm not sure why it makes such a difference to you and why you would be more "proud" if a child did not go to the programs. My child did not attend these programs but her friends who went to them are the hardest working in the magnet and the most successful over the two years she has been there.

I think that it’s a much bigger achievement for a kid without all that extra help through tutoring and outside programs to get in to a magnet than a kid who got in due to considerable extra help. Surely that’s obvious?

What do you mean by "help"? DD's friend has two good friends at RMIB and one has a father who works at NIH and worked really closely with her on advanced math and other subjects while another one has a parent who has a small restaurant. The second friend did attend some classes according to DD. I don't know a lot of math, science, history English or foreign language but my job is flexible enough that I was able to help supervise my child's homework when she was young and fill in any gaps. Are you saying that the first child's achievements and my child's achievements are greater than their friend because that is a load of crap. All three of these kids had some kind of "help."

Yep they had considerable privilege. My kid didn’t. No parents to help (not my area). No tutoring. No classes or programs. Relied entirely on MCPS teaching and was accepted anyway. Yes, I do think that’s a higher achievement than relying on outside help and it’s nuts to say otherwise. Even more so if it was a child in less stable circumstances it without somewhere to do home work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD received offers from Blair, RMIB, and Poolesville this year. She ultimately chose RMIB. Interestingly, most of her classmates who had multiple offers made the same choice, with only a few opting for Blair. It's important to note that each year, students may make different decisions. Perhaps in previous years, the majority of students chose Blair. Additionally, my daughter mentioned that the math program at RMIB may not be as competitive as she expected. So, while it's not accurate to say that Blair is definitively better than RMIB, individual preferences and program strengths certainly play a role in these choices

Furthermore, it's worth noting that Blair has a larger Asian student population, and this may contribute to their strong performance in competitions like the NMSF. Asian students often have a strong focus on academics, a value instilled by their parents, and this dedication to hard work deserves recognition

DC graduated from RMIB last year, and they said it was like 80%Asian, or some such. So, Blair magnet is 80%+ Asian?

My DD said this year around 40% freshmen are Asians, when we tour the Blair, it's like 80%+ Asians

No, Blair tends to have fewer Asian-American students than RMIB because of location. We heard it's about 35-40% so that sounds about equal to RMIB this year. There are still a lot but there is also a significant number of URM students at Blair. We saw fewer URM students at RMIB.

You heard wrong. The Blair magnet is about 80 percent Asian. PP is correct. There is a large contingent of Indian kids among that group. Relatively few white or black kids and very few Latino kids. At the admitted open house earlier this year for the group we were in (a subset of the entire admitted class) there was about 5 percent each of white and black kids, with the rest Asian.

Stop spreading misinformation.
As of 2020-21 before the magnet reforms that led to a reduction of Asian-American students in the magnets Blair magnet was 57% Asian. It has gone down significantly since.

[Anonymous]

pettifogger wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

pettifogger wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not exactly “personalities” but there are some very obvious demographic differences between CAP (largely upper middle class, white students) and magnet (many from Indian, Chinese, Korean and other Asian backgrounds often children of immigrants including the few who are white) at Blair. Nice kids either way.

Why is this? Why are there so few wealthy white families in SMCS relative to CAP, and why so many in CAP? Are the upper middle class white kids not as good in STEM or are their families less interested?

Both Blair magnet and CAP are predominantly UMC. This is not NYC, where the test-in magnets are dominated by working class first-generation kids whose parents work in restaurants and dry cleaners. The parents of both sets of kids tend to be feds, or journalists, or attorneys, or scientists, or college professors.

I have an upperclassman in CAP who attended the TPMS STEM magnet, so some visibility on both groups and while Blair magnet does have more first and second generation immigrant kids, they are just as wealthy or wealthier than the CAP kids.

Agree only the wealthiest families can afford to prep their kids sufficiently to get into these programs. I'm told it takes years of AoPS or RM to get to where one might have a shot at SMCS.

You were told wrong. Stop trying to create a myth.

Parent of a kid in SMCS who doesn’t even know what AOPS or RM are.

Another Blair magnet parent here. It's not totally a myth. Many kids have done these, and some don't. I think magnet leans Asian because Chinese, Korean and Indian cultures place more value on academic advancement in STEM than Humanities. MC, UMC and immigrant families often sacrifice for additional stem enrichment like aops, A++, Dr. Li, Hopkins cty, etc. I know one mom who did those things while on a postdoc salary here on h1 visa from China. There are communal support networks too. Humanities were not an option for many of my kid's cohort in magnet. Not all of course. And, this is a few years ago.
I also see a lot of white umc lawyers in my neighborhood who will drop lots of money for Humanities enrichment.
My magnet kids had significant enrichment in arts because I am a professional in the arts. I also used to tutor math, so I helped them with that (to a point). Stem magnets liked the arts kids who could hold their own at math.
I do wish there wasn't an emphasis on pre program enrichment. I don't know how we really get around that though.

PP whose kid doesn’t know what those programs are, I’m an NP who also has a kid in the Blair magnet who not only didn’t prep but doesn’t know what those programs are. I guess we should be very proud that our kids got in based only on their hard work and not parental pressure and outside tutoring?

Do you really think the kids who went to those programs did not do hard work? Many of the kids we know who did not do outside tutoring have parents who have STEM jobs and taught them themselves. I'm not sure why it makes such a difference to you and why you would be more "proud" if a child did not go to the programs. My child did not attend these programs but her friends who went to them are the hardest working in the magnet and the most successful over the two years she has been there.

I think that it’s a much bigger achievement for a kid without all that extra help through tutoring and outside programs to get in to a magnet than a kid who got in due to considerable extra help. Surely that’s obvious?

So help me understand.. why does this type of comparison matter so much to you (and many others on these threads)? Both types of kids worked hard and should be commended for their efforts.. Or are you suggesting that it's a much bigger achievement NOT to work hard at something?

It matters only because some posters here claim that all kids in these programs are there because they gamed the system. It’s not true. And yes it is a bigger achievement to have been selected without additional help and privileges.

Well that's news! So what you're saying is, a kid who didn't need to work to figure stuff out and got in on talent is "higher achieving" than one who had to work at it? Are you sure it's not the other way around?

No I’m saying that a kid who got there because their family has resources has significantly more privilege than a kid who didn’t have access to those resources but excelled anyway. That kid has to work harder, not the one who has a bunch of math programs thrown at them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD received offers from Blair, RMIB, and Poolesville this year. She ultimately chose RMIB. Interestingly, most of her classmates who had multiple offers made the same choice, with only a few opting for Blair. It's important to note that each year, students may make different decisions. Perhaps in previous years, the majority of students chose Blair. Additionally, my daughter mentioned that the math program at RMIB may not be as competitive as she expected. So, while it's not accurate to say that Blair is definitively better than RMIB, individual preferences and program strengths certainly play a role in these choices

Furthermore, it's worth noting that Blair has a larger Asian student population, and this may contribute to their strong performance in competitions like the NMSF. Asian students often have a strong focus on academics, a value instilled by their parents, and this dedication to hard work deserves recognition

DC graduated from RMIB last year, and they said it was like 80%Asian, or some such. So, Blair magnet is 80%+ Asian?

My DD said this year around 40% freshmen are Asians, when we tour the Blair, it's like 80%+ Asians

No, Blair tends to have fewer Asian-American students than RMIB because of location. We heard it's about 35-40% so that sounds about equal to RMIB this year. There are still a lot but there is also a significant number of URM students at Blair. We saw fewer URM students at RMIB.

You heard wrong. The Blair magnet is about 80 percent Asian. PP is correct. There is a large contingent of Indian kids among that group. Relatively few white or black kids and very few Latino kids. At the admitted open house earlier this year for the group we were in (a subset of the entire admitted class) there was about 5 percent each of white and black kids, with the rest Asian.

Stop spreading misinformation.
As of 2020-21 before the magnet reforms that led to a reduction of Asian-American students in the magnets Blair magnet was 57% Asian. It has gone down significantly since.

Do you have a kid in the program? You are VERY wrong. Send Mr Ostrander an email and ask about demographics for the current 9th grade class and see. What I said was 100 percent true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not exactly “personalities” but there are some very obvious demographic differences between CAP (largely upper middle class, white students) and magnet (many from Indian, Chinese, Korean and other Asian backgrounds often children of immigrants including the few who are white) at Blair. Nice kids either way.

Why is this? Why are there so few wealthy white families in SMCS relative to CAP, and why so many in CAP? Are the upper middle class white kids not as good in STEM or are their families less interested?

Both Blair magnet and CAP are predominantly UMC. This is not NYC, where the test-in magnets are dominated by working class first-generation kids whose parents work in restaurants and dry cleaners. The parents of both sets of kids tend to be feds, or journalists, or attorneys, or scientists, or college professors.

I have an upperclassman in CAP who attended the TPMS STEM magnet, so some visibility on both groups and while Blair magnet does have more first and second generation immigrant kids, they are just as wealthy or wealthier than the CAP kids.

Agree only the wealthiest families can afford to prep their kids sufficiently to get into these programs. I'm told it takes years of AoPS or RM to get to where one might have a shot at SMCS.

You were told wrong. Stop trying to create a myth.

Parent of a kid in SMCS who doesn’t even know what AOPS or RM are.

Another Blair magnet parent here. It's not totally a myth. Many kids have done these, and some don't. I think magnet leans Asian because Chinese, Korean and Indian cultures place more value on academic advancement in STEM than Humanities. MC, UMC and immigrant families often sacrifice for additional stem enrichment like aops, A++, Dr. Li, Hopkins cty, etc. I know one mom who did those things while on a postdoc salary here on h1 visa from China. There are communal support networks too. Humanities were not an option for many of my kid's cohort in magnet. Not all of course. And, this is a few years ago.
I also see a lot of white umc lawyers in my neighborhood who will drop lots of money for Humanities enrichment.
My magnet kids had significant enrichment in arts because I am a professional in the arts. I also used to tutor math, so I helped them with that (to a point). Stem magnets liked the arts kids who could hold their own at math.
I do wish there wasn't an emphasis on pre program enrichment. I don't know how we really get around that though.

PP whose kid doesn’t know what those programs are, I’m an NP who also has a kid in the Blair magnet who not only didn’t prep but doesn’t know what those programs are. I guess we should be very proud that our kids got in based only on their hard work and not parental pressure and outside tutoring?

Do you really think the kids who went to those programs did not do hard work? Many of the kids we know who did not do outside tutoring have parents who have STEM jobs and taught them themselves. I'm not sure why it makes such a difference to you and why you would be more "proud" if a child did not go to the programs. My child did not attend these programs but her friends who went to them are the hardest working in the magnet and the most successful over the two years she has been there.

I think that it’s a much bigger achievement for a kid without all that extra help through tutoring and outside programs to get in to a magnet than a kid who got in due to considerable extra help. Surely that’s obvious?

What do you mean by "help"? DD's friend has two good friends at RMIB and one has a father who works at NIH and worked really closely with her on advanced math and other subjects while another one has a parent who has a small restaurant. The second friend did attend some classes according to DD. I don't know a lot of math, science, history English or foreign language but my job is flexible enough that I was able to help supervise my child's homework when she was young and fill in any gaps. Are you saying that the first child's achievements and my child's achievements are greater than their friend because that is a load of crap. All three of these kids had some kind of "help."

Yep they had considerable privilege. My kid didn’t. No parents to help (not my area). No tutoring. No classes or programs. Relied entirely on MCPS teaching and was accepted anyway. Yes, I do think that’s a higher achievement than relying on outside help and it’s nuts to say otherwise. Even more so if it was a child in less stable circumstances it without somewhere to do home work.

You have all day to spend on DCUM posting about your special child and you think your child doesn't have privilege? What's not your area? Math? Not mine either. My knowledge stops around multiplication, maybe long division. But I was able to provide a stable home with a heating, air conditioning, three means a day. No classes, no tutoring because really there seemed to be no need. I'd still say my child has had a lot of privilege.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not exactly “personalities” but there are some very obvious demographic differences between CAP (largely upper middle class, white students) and magnet (many from Indian, Chinese, Korean and other Asian backgrounds often children of immigrants including the few who are white) at Blair. Nice kids either way.

Why is this? Why are there so few wealthy white families in SMCS relative to CAP, and why so many in CAP? Are the upper middle class white kids not as good in STEM or are their families less interested?

Both Blair magnet and CAP are predominantly UMC. This is not NYC, where the test-in magnets are dominated by working class first-generation kids whose parents work in restaurants and dry cleaners. The parents of both sets of kids tend to be feds, or journalists, or attorneys, or scientists, or college professors.

I have an upperclassman in CAP who attended the TPMS STEM magnet, so some visibility on both groups and while Blair magnet does have more first and second generation immigrant kids, they are just as wealthy or wealthier than the CAP kids.

Agree only the wealthiest families can afford to prep their kids sufficiently to get into these programs. I'm told it takes years of AoPS or RM to get to where one might have a shot at SMCS.

You were told wrong. Stop trying to create a myth.

Parent of a kid in SMCS who doesn’t even know what AOPS or RM are.

Another Blair magnet parent here. It's not totally a myth. Many kids have done these, and some don't. I think magnet leans Asian because Chinese, Korean and Indian cultures place more value on academic advancement in STEM than Humanities. MC, UMC and immigrant families often sacrifice for additional stem enrichment like aops, A++, Dr. Li, Hopkins cty, etc. I know one mom who did those things while on a postdoc salary here on h1 visa from China. There are communal support networks too. Humanities were not an option for many of my kid's cohort in magnet. Not all of course. And, this is a few years ago.
I also see a lot of white umc lawyers in my neighborhood who will drop lots of money for Humanities enrichment.
My magnet kids had significant enrichment in arts because I am a professional in the arts. I also used to tutor math, so I helped them with that (to a point). Stem magnets liked the arts kids who could hold their own at math.
I do wish there wasn't an emphasis on pre program enrichment. I don't know how we really get around that though.

PP whose kid doesn’t know what those programs are, I’m an NP who also has a kid in the Blair magnet who not only didn’t prep but doesn’t know what those programs are. I guess we should be very proud that our kids got in based only on their hard work and not parental pressure and outside tutoring?

Do you really think the kids who went to those programs did not do hard work? Many of the kids we know who did not do outside tutoring have parents who have STEM jobs and taught them themselves. I'm not sure why it makes such a difference to you and why you would be more "proud" if a child did not go to the programs. My child did not attend these programs but her friends who went to them are the hardest working in the magnet and the most successful over the two years she has been there.

I think that it’s a much bigger achievement for a kid without all that extra help through tutoring and outside programs to get in to a magnet than a kid who got in due to considerable extra help. Surely that’s obvious?

What do you mean by "help"? DD's friend has two good friends at RMIB and one has a father who works at NIH and worked really closely with her on advanced math and other subjects while another one has a parent who has a small restaurant. The second friend did attend some classes according to DD. I don't know a lot of math, science, history English or foreign language but my job is flexible enough that I was able to help supervise my child's homework when she was young and fill in any gaps. Are you saying that the first child's achievements and my child's achievements are greater than their friend because that is a load of crap. All three of these kids had some kind of "help."

Yep they had considerable privilege. My kid didn’t. No parents to help (not my area). No tutoring. No classes or programs. Relied entirely on MCPS teaching and was accepted anyway. Yes, I do think that’s a higher achievement than relying on outside help and it’s nuts to say otherwise. Even more so if it was a child in less stable circumstances it without somewhere to do home work.

You have all day to spend on DCUM posting about your special child and you think your child doesn't have privilege? What's not your area? Math? Not mine either. My knowledge stops around multiplication, maybe long division. But I was able to provide a stable home with a heating, air conditioning, three means a day. No classes, no tutoring because really there seemed to be no need. I'd still say my child has had a lot of privilege.

I didn’t say that my child didn’t have privilege. What I said is that the kids who get in because of all that extra help had privilege that he didn’t. He has other privilege (which frankly the tutored kids have too in spades), as I alluded to when I referenced that it was even more so for other kids different circumstances.