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Independent schools and "advanced" kids: national problem?
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Anonymous
Wow, where did that come from? My only comparison between Wootton and Blair was geographical. And its function was a bit of a reality check to PP's oft-made claims that the TPMS magnet program is demonstrably better than any local private school because it produces so many Math Olympiad and Intel Science winners, etc. Neither of the two Marylanders who were recognized in last year's USAMO competition seem likely to have gone to TPMS -- one is from PG county and the other lives in a different part of MoCo (Rockville) and didn't go to the HS (Blair) that TPMS would most likely have fed to. PP suggests that anyone who doesn't buy into her boosterism for this particular middle school must not know anything about math or Ivy league admissions. That's just BS. And I explicitly said I thought AMC was a good program and as worthwhile as other extracurriculars. My point was that it's not uniquely important or somehow essential to admission to the kind of schools she's talking about (even for a "math kid"). |
Anonymous
TPMS magnet kids come from all over the country. So yes, it is plausible that a TPMS kid could have gone to Wooton HS. We don't know either way. I'm not that PP, but I didn't read her support for TPMS as suggesting anything much connected with Ivy admissions. She may have been arguing, in keeping with the theme of this thread, that TPMS is better than many local private MSs. TPMS is a good school, period, and I don't see why you're so bent on putting words into the mouths of its supporters and generally trashing it, unless out of some sort of defensiveness. |
Anonymous
Even if your numbers were correct, 70% of 53 semifinalists would mean that only 37% of the Blair Magnet students are finalists. I'm certain 37% is much less than half. Also, you're wrong when you claim that 53 NMSFs came from the Blair Magnet. In reality, only 46 came from the Magnet. The other 7 came from non-Magnet students. But you are correct I can do the research: http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=bWJoc21hZ25ldC5vcmd8d3d3fGd4OmU3OTE3YmU3NmI1YjhmZg The Blair Magnet is a great program. You cheapen it when you exaggerate the merits so transparently. Please don't do that. |
Anonymous
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PP here. And by the way, since you mentioned Thomas Jefferson, that magnet program had 149 NMSFs in the 2010 class of about 450. That translates to 33% as semifinalists, and clearly suggests half are not finalists.
By the way, TJ is also a great school, and does not need you exaggerating its merits. |
Anonymous
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The last 2 posts again provide data that unequivocally demonstrates the sheer and staggering impact of the benefits of extracurricular participation in math competition at the middle and high school levels. Such participation has played a fundamental role in the decade-long regional supremacy of TJ and Blair Magnet in national and international math competitions. This has translated into overwhelming regional supremacy in the annual proportion of National Merit Finalists. Stellar academic achievement does not guarantee admission to Ivy. Res ipsa loquitur.
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Anonymous
| quod erat demonstratum.... |
Anonymous
Just a guess, but probably the cheap shot you took at the PP's kid. |
Anonymous
Sorry, I meant "all over the county" not all over the "country". Hope the mistake was obvious. Well, at least she's said some nice things about Blair and TJ. Clearly she has some axe to grind against TPMS (a middle school? why?), but that appears to be her own little personal bugbear, and we can let her stew in it (mixed metaphors) without letting it concern us. |
Anonymous
Classical example of an opponent, unbeknownst, proving the opposing argument. Q.E.D. Case rested. |
Anonymous
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Wait, is it a new DCUM rule that I can make any ridiculous claim seem true, if only I tack on a Latin phrase at the end?
Semper ubi sub ubi. |
Anonymous
This is a private school DCUM board. The private school I attended required a classical education in Latin and Greek of all middle and high school students (the basic origins of our Western civilisation and language). Given your astounding remark and ignorance, I wonder what area D.C. private school planet you are on. But, if you represent area D.C. privates, it is self-evident and understandable why TPMS, Blair Magnet and TJ are supreme. Your own previous posts in American english alone have proven the above conclusions. |
Anonymous
What are you talking about?!? This "word stew" doesn't even make logical sense. Please come post some more when you've collected your thoughts and are prepared to articulate them in some logical fashion. |
Anonymous
Don't worry. I wouldn't sweat it. Your difficulty in comprehension is abundantly understandable. |
Anonymous
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New Poster Here: Have a MS DS in private school. The school is excellent in many ways, but the math is just lamentable. He is in the top math track, but the pace fails to inspire or challenge, and it is frustrating him on a daily basis. So, I am starting to explore public magnets in MD. So, here are my questions, for those that have done the switch:
1. How can I tell if DC is in the right ability range? How do you know when you have a "math kid," as opposed to a kid who is just very good at math? 2. Where the best place to find out about magnets/testing? Open houses? 3. What do you know now about the transition from private to magnet that you wish you had known before doing it? Thank you for your responses. |
Anonymous
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How is it a cheap shot at a kid to say that his or her parent seems to think that the kid's only shot at an elite school is winning a national math competition and maybe that's true for this kid but it's not true for other kids?
It's a (negative) commentary on the parent's tunnel vision and/or a positive assumption about the kid's mathematical abilities. |