MCPS High School Magnet Decisions

[Anonymous]

DS got into SMCS for next year with a MAP-M 273. Mid-SES home school. We know kids with much higher scores who didn’t get in and all of these kids have straight As so no doubt that activities and essay are key.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD always had MAP-M above 97th percentile, recently 98-99 (260+ score), and her MAP-R was at best 94th percentile (last score was 245). Applied to Blair and to RM and Kennedy IB. Got into both IBs but not into Blair. She is happy, I am utterly confused (not disappointed / complaining, just kind of “this doesn’t make sense” confused).

My guess is that more people with high MAP-M applied this year to Blair, than high MAP-R applied to RM. Also it may be (and it looks like) that your DC's scores in both cases are quite close to decision range.

You may be right! Another option that came to my mind was that essay matters more than we think.

Makes it even weirder for me that she was not even waitlisted or “wait pooled” for Blair, just straight “not selected”… as I said, she didn’t even want to go all that much, but as someone previously involved in selection / admissions, the logic escapes me. Especially since Blair likely skews boys (so she should have an advantage) and RMIB skews even or girls (so she should be at a disadvantage).

280+ for girls, 300+ for boys. 260 is way too low.

Wow, this is quite crazy. Do you know how many spots in Blair are not filled from TPMS?

I was told that approx. 50 slots go to TPMS students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD always had MAP-M above 97th percentile, recently 98-99 (260+ score), and her MAP-R was at best 94th percentile (last score was 245). Applied to Blair and to RM and Kennedy IB. Got into both IBs but not into Blair. She is happy, I am utterly confused (not disappointed / complaining, just kind of “this doesn’t make sense” confused).

My guess is that more people with high MAP-M applied this year to Blair, than high MAP-R applied to RM. Also it may be (and it looks like) that your DC's scores in both cases are quite close to decision range.

You may be right! Another option that came to my mind was that essay matters more than we think.

Makes it even weirder for me that she was not even waitlisted or “wait pooled” for Blair, just straight “not selected”… as I said, she didn’t even want to go all that much, but as someone previously involved in selection / admissions, the logic escapes me. Especially since Blair likely skews boys (so she should have an advantage) and RMIB skews even or girls (so she should be at a disadvantage).

280+ for girls, 300+ for boys. 260 is way too low.

Wow, this is quite crazy. Do you know how many spots in Blair are not filled from TPMS?

I was told that approx. 50 slots go to TPMS students.

That’s not helpful this year. This is the first year that the middle school magnet were selected by lottery. In past years about 40 kids ended up at Blair. The poster above was asking about actual numbers this year. Is it different from in the past?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does admissions look at home school cohort?

A student from a weak homeschool needs magent a lot more than a student that has lots of APs and classmates to fill them.

If I were doing admissions, I'd select kids who don't already have a strong home school opportunity.

Admissions looks at both, basically top-performing kids across the board, with the understanding top-performing at a lower-resourced school won't look exactly the same.

Here we go again, effort to turn the high school magnets also into lottery and keep out Asians, wonder why MCPS hasn't done that yet!

This is just speculation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD always had MAP-M above 97th percentile, recently 98-99 (260+ score), and her MAP-R was at best 94th percentile (last score was 245). Applied to Blair and to RM and Kennedy IB. Got into both IBs but not into Blair. She is happy, I am utterly confused (not disappointed / complaining, just kind of “this doesn’t make sense” confused).

My guess is that more people with high MAP-M applied this year to Blair, than high MAP-R applied to RM. Also it may be (and it looks like) that your DC's scores in both cases are quite close to decision range.

You may be right! Another option that came to my mind was that essay matters more than we think.

Makes it even weirder for me that she was not even waitlisted or “wait pooled” for Blair, just straight “not selected”… as I said, she didn’t even want to go all that much, but as someone previously involved in selection / admissions, the logic escapes me. Especially since Blair likely skews boys (so she should have an advantage) and RMIB skews even or girls (so she should be at a disadvantage).

It’s much simpler than that, as has already been said. 260s is just too low for Blair. Blair is a tough admit. It’s very unlikely you’d get a Blair offer with a score under 270 and even 270-285 is not guaranteed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD always had MAP-M above 97th percentile, recently 98-99 (260+ score), and her MAP-R was at best 94th percentile (last score was 245). Applied to Blair and to RM and Kennedy IB. Got into both IBs but not into Blair. She is happy, I am utterly confused (not disappointed / complaining, just kind of “this doesn’t make sense” confused).

My guess is that more people with high MAP-M applied this year to Blair, than high MAP-R applied to RM. Also it may be (and it looks like) that your DC's scores in both cases are quite close to decision range.

You may be right! Another option that came to my mind was that essay matters more than we think.

Makes it even weirder for me that she was not even waitlisted or “wait pooled” for Blair, just straight “not selected”… as I said, she didn’t even want to go all that much, but as someone previously involved in selection / admissions, the logic escapes me. Especially since Blair likely skews boys (so she should have an advantage) and RMIB skews even or girls (so she should be at a disadvantage).

280+ for girls, 300+ for boys. 260 is way too low.

Interesting; this contradicts the 283 or 273 median that was quoted by posters above, as well as some scores from past admission threads.

That said, even if we accept the lower 273 median for Blair, I am curious how she got into RMIB not sure what the acceptance rate for Blair is, but for RMIB it’s ~12-13% and I have to believe that there were people with higher scores in the mix.

300 plus is not accurate for boys. Not even a little. Plenty of boys accepted in the 280s and some below.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My daughter who was just invited to Blair SMCS had a map-m of 271. Coming from a “regular” middle school that didn’t offer math team, science fair, robotics club, or any math/science opportunities beyond the standard accelerated math track (geometry in 8th). I think essay mattered; I know she talked about the type of projects she has enjoyed, some stuff she’s explored on her own, and what she was hoping for in a high school experience. Also got into regional IB (map-r 256), and didn’t apply to rmib.

I’ve been saying this here for a couple of years - the essay is an important differentiator when the scores aren’t sky high. For some reason DCUM doesn’t want to believe this but there’s so much evidence, like your daughter. Congrats to her!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD always had MAP-M above 97th percentile, recently 98-99 (260+ score), and her MAP-R was at best 94th percentile (last score was 245). Applied to Blair and to RM and Kennedy IB. Got into both IBs but not into Blair. She is happy, I am utterly confused (not disappointed / complaining, just kind of “this doesn’t make sense” confused).

My guess is that more people with high MAP-M applied this year to Blair, than high MAP-R applied to RM. Also it may be (and it looks like) that your DC's scores in both cases are quite close to decision range.

You may be right! Another option that came to my mind was that essay matters more than we think.

Makes it even weirder for me that she was not even waitlisted or “wait pooled” for Blair, just straight “not selected”… as I said, she didn’t even want to go all that much, but as someone previously involved in selection / admissions, the logic escapes me. Especially since Blair likely skews boys (so she should have an advantage) and RMIB skews even or girls (so she should be at a disadvantage).

280+ for girls, 300+ for boys. 260 is way too low.

Interesting; this contradicts the 283 or 273 median that was quoted by posters above, as well as some scores from past admission threads.

That said, even if we accept the lower 273 median for Blair, I am curious how she got into RMIB not sure what the acceptance rate for Blair is, but for RMIB it’s ~12-13% and I have to believe that there were people with higher scores in the mix.

I guess that’s for low FARM schools. High FARM schools have significantly lower thresholds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD always had MAP-M above 97th percentile, recently 98-99 (260+ score), and her MAP-R was at best 94th percentile (last score was 245). Applied to Blair and to RM and Kennedy IB. Got into both IBs but not into Blair. She is happy, I am utterly confused (not disappointed / complaining, just kind of “this doesn’t make sense” confused).

My guess is that more people with high MAP-M applied this year to Blair, than high MAP-R applied to RM. Also it may be (and it looks like) that your DC's scores in both cases are quite close to decision range.

You may be right! Another option that came to my mind was that essay matters more than we think.

Makes it even weirder for me that she was not even waitlisted or “wait pooled” for Blair, just straight “not selected”… as I said, she didn’t even want to go all that much, but as someone previously involved in selection / admissions, the logic escapes me. Especially since Blair likely skews boys (so she should have an advantage) and RMIB skews even or girls (so she should be at a disadvantage).

280+ for girls, 300+ for boys. 260 is way too low.

Interesting; this contradicts the 283 or 273 median that was quoted by posters above, as well as some scores from past admission threads.

That said, even if we accept the lower 273 median for Blair, I am curious how she got into RMIB not sure what the acceptance rate for Blair is, but for RMIB it’s ~12-13% and I have to believe that there were people with higher scores in the mix.

RMIB looks at MAP R more than MAP M. It’s harder to get high percentiles for MAP R. Blair looks at MAP M. But most kids at low FARM schools have higher than 260 MAP M.

[Anonymous]

Rumor says around 20 this year

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD always had MAP-M above 97th percentile, recently 98-99 (260+ score), and her MAP-R was at best 94th percentile (last score was 245). Applied to Blair and to RM and Kennedy IB. Got into both IBs but not into Blair. She is happy, I am utterly confused (not disappointed / complaining, just kind of “this doesn’t make sense” confused).

My guess is that more people with high MAP-M applied this year to Blair, than high MAP-R applied to RM. Also it may be (and it looks like) that your DC's scores in both cases are quite close to decision range.

You may be right! Another option that came to my mind was that essay matters more than we think.

Makes it even weirder for me that she was not even waitlisted or “wait pooled” for Blair, just straight “not selected”… as I said, she didn’t even want to go all that much, but as someone previously involved in selection / admissions, the logic escapes me. Especially since Blair likely skews boys (so she should have an advantage) and RMIB skews even or girls (so she should be at a disadvantage).

280+ for girls, 300+ for boys. 260 is way too low.

Wow, this is quite crazy. Do you know how many spots in Blair are not filled from TPMS?

I was told that approx. 50 slots go to TPMS students.

That’s not helpful this year. This is the first year that the middle school magnet were selected by lottery. In past years about 40 kids ended up at Blair. The poster above was asking about actual numbers this year. Is it different from in the past?

[Anonymous]

FWIW, we come from a W school district. I have to believe that essays and activities do make a difference. DS score wasn't that impressive and got in to both Blair and RMIB.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD always had MAP-M above 97th percentile, recently 98-99 (260+ score), and her MAP-R was at best 94th percentile (last score was 245). Applied to Blair and to RM and Kennedy IB. Got into both IBs but not into Blair. She is happy, I am utterly confused (not disappointed / complaining, just kind of “this doesn’t make sense” confused).

My guess is that more people with high MAP-M applied this year to Blair, than high MAP-R applied to RM. Also it may be (and it looks like) that your DC's scores in both cases are quite close to decision range.

You may be right! Another option that came to my mind was that essay matters more than we think.

Makes it even weirder for me that she was not even waitlisted or “wait pooled” for Blair, just straight “not selected”… as I said, she didn’t even want to go all that much, but as someone previously involved in selection / admissions, the logic escapes me. Especially since Blair likely skews boys (so she should have an advantage) and RMIB skews even or girls (so she should be at a disadvantage).

280+ for girls, 300+ for boys. 260 is way too low.

Interesting; this contradicts the 283 or 273 median that was quoted by posters above, as well as some scores from past admission threads.

That said, even if we accept the lower 273 median for Blair, I am curious how she got into RMIB not sure what the acceptance rate for Blair is, but for RMIB it’s ~12-13% and I have to believe that there were people with higher scores in the mix.

300 plus is not accurate for boys. Not even a little. Plenty of boys accepted in the 280s and some below.

They’re probably from low or medium FARM schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD always had MAP-M above 97th percentile, recently 98-99 (260+ score), and her MAP-R was at best 94th percentile (last score was 245). Applied to Blair and to RM and Kennedy IB. Got into both IBs but not into Blair. She is happy, I am utterly confused (not disappointed / complaining, just kind of “this doesn’t make sense” confused).

My guess is that more people with high MAP-M applied this year to Blair, than high MAP-R applied to RM. Also it may be (and it looks like) that your DC's scores in both cases are quite close to decision range.

You may be right! Another option that came to my mind was that essay matters more than we think.

Makes it even weirder for me that she was not even waitlisted or “wait pooled” for Blair, just straight “not selected”… as I said, she didn’t even want to go all that much, but as someone previously involved in selection / admissions, the logic escapes me. Especially since Blair likely skews boys (so she should have an advantage) and RMIB skews even or girls (so she should be at a disadvantage).

280+ for girls, 300+ for boys. 260 is way too low.

Interesting; this contradicts the 283 or 273 median that was quoted by posters above, as well as some scores from past admission threads.

That said, even if we accept the lower 273 median for Blair, I am curious how she got into RMIB not sure what the acceptance rate for Blair is, but for RMIB it’s ~12-13% and I have to believe that there were people with higher scores in the mix.

RMIB looks at MAP R more than MAP M. It’s harder to get high percentiles for MAP R. Blair looks at MAP M. But most kids at low FARM schools have higher than 260 MAP M.

According to one of the coordinators, the selection committees no longer get both sets of MAP data. Blair gets only MAP-M and RM gets only MAP-R. This is the second year with limited data - that’s going to affect both programs and the number of kids in some of their advanced courses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

amaheshw wrote:Anytime have thoughts on RMIB vs Kennedy IB? I understand that the curriculum is standardized, but RM is larger and better known than Kennedy. Any objective advice on how to choose one over the other?

RMIB has the stronger cohort and curriculum. The curricula are not exactly the same, though of course they meet IB standards. If your objective is top rigor, RMIB, though know it will be intense. If you're just looking for an IB diploma, and an experience that is a little less intense, Kennedy.

If the commute to one school is significantly shorter than to the other school, choose the one with a shorter commute. Over time, that extra 30+ minutes a day add up, and good access to the school means it’s easier for you kid to be more fully involved in ECs, athletics, and general school activities (attending games, plays, dances, etc.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

amaheshw wrote:Anytime have thoughts on RMIB vs Kennedy IB? I understand that the curriculum is standardized, but RM is larger and better known than Kennedy. Any objective advice on how to choose one over the other?

RMIB has the stronger cohort and curriculum. The curricula are not exactly the same, though of course they meet IB standards. If your objective is top rigor, RMIB, though know it will be intense. If you're just looking for an IB diploma, and an experience that is a little less intense, Kennedy.

If the commute to one school is significantly shorter than to the other school, choose the one with a shorter commute. Over time, that extra 30+ minutes a day add up, and good access to the school means it’s easier for you kid to be more fully involved in ECs, athletics, and general school activities (attending games, plays, dances, etc.)

I agree about commute. I object about the "rigor" comment. I think there's probably less internal pressure at Kennedy, probably smaller classes, but the program is still quite challenging.

I would go to whichever one has the shorter commute.