MCPS High School Magnet Decisions

[Anonymous]

Anyone at Eastern? How are HS magnet decisions this year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, that's 5 invited to Blair SMCS. Not sure about RMIB.

That is an unusually small number. I would suspect there are a lot more, but maybe kids are just not talking about it.

Remember that this year is the first year of MS magnet lottery graduates. Blair magnet has about 10% acceptance rate. 6 or 7 Blair SMCS acceptances from Takoma (not everyone would apply) may be all you can see.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, that's 5 invited to Blair SMCS. Not sure about RMIB.

That is an unusually small number. I would suspect there are a lot more, but maybe kids are just not talking about it.

Remember that this year is the first year of MS magnet lottery graduates. Blair magnet has about 10% acceptance rate. 6 or 7 Blair SMCS acceptances from Takoma (not everyone would apply) may be all you can see.

I doubt it. Many of the magnet kids will have got in. Maybe less than previous years but it will certainly be in double digits. Someone somewhere else said maybe about 20. I think that’s likely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, that's 5 invited to Blair SMCS. Not sure about RMIB.

That is an unusually small number. I would suspect there are a lot more, but maybe kids are just not talking about it.

Remember that this year is the first year of MS magnet lottery graduates. Blair magnet has about 10% acceptance rate. 6 or 7 Blair SMCS acceptances from Takoma (not everyone would apply) may be all you can see.

I doubt it. Many of the magnet kids will have got in. Maybe less than previous years but it will certainly be in double digits. Someone somewhere else said maybe about 20. I think that’s likely.

That's not how statistics work

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, that's 5 invited to Blair SMCS. Not sure about RMIB.

That is an unusually small number. I would suspect there are a lot more, but maybe kids are just not talking about it.

Remember that this year is the first year of MS magnet lottery graduates. Blair magnet has about 10% acceptance rate. 6 or 7 Blair SMCS acceptances from Takoma (not everyone would apply) may be all you can see.

I doubt it. Many of the magnet kids will have got in. Maybe less than previous years but it will certainly be in double digits. Someone somewhere else said maybe about 20. I think that’s likely.

I would be surprised if it was as high as 20 since those 100 at TPMS were chosen randomly from the top 15% and the math doesn't really work out. But it could be that TPMS kids are more likely to apply and it is a self-selected group meaning they do have an interest in STEM topics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, that's 5 invited to Blair SMCS. Not sure about RMIB.

That is an unusually small number. I would suspect there are a lot more, but maybe kids are just not talking about it.

My TPMS 8th grader who got into SMCS says they personally know of about 20 classmates who got in too. There could be more but they don't have that info.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, that's 5 invited to Blair SMCS. Not sure about RMIB.

That is an unusually small number. I would suspect there are a lot more, but maybe kids are just not talking about it.

My TPMS 8th grader who got into SMCS says they personally know of about 20 classmates who got in too. There could be more but they don't have that info.

Yeah sure. My DC's school has about 30.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, that's 5 invited to Blair SMCS. Not sure about RMIB.

That is an unusually small number. I would suspect there are a lot more, but maybe kids are just not talking about it.

My TPMS 8th grader who got into SMCS says they personally know of about 20 classmates who got in too. There could be more but they don't have that info.

NP. I'm not surprised. It's a great program. I'm sure there are alot of sour grapes posters out there trying to vilify the cohort because their kid wasn't invited that year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, that's 5 invited to Blair SMCS. Not sure about RMIB.

That is an unusually small number. I would suspect there are a lot more, but maybe kids are just not talking about it.

My TPMS 8th grader who got into SMCS says they personally know of about 20 classmates who got in too. There could be more but they don't have that info.

NP. I'm not surprised. It's a great program. I'm sure there are alot of sour grapes posters out there trying to vilify the cohort because their kid wasn't invited that year.

I'm a sour grape, because we didn't 'win' the lottery

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, that's 5 invited to Blair SMCS. Not sure about RMIB.

That is an unusually small number. I would suspect there are a lot more, but maybe kids are just not talking about it.

Remember that this year is the first year of MS magnet lottery graduates. Blair magnet has about 10% acceptance rate. 6 or 7 Blair SMCS acceptances from Takoma (not everyone would apply) may be all you can see.

I doubt it. Many of the magnet kids will have got in. Maybe less than previous years but it will certainly be in double digits. Someone somewhere else said maybe about 20. I think that’s likely.

That's not how statistics work

Actually it is exactly how stats work. Students from TPMS are always more likely to get in than from other schools (usually about a third get in). Partly because they have had three years of exceptional advanced teaching in STEM, partly because they already have experience commuting further than their home school and making new friends and are therefore more likely to both apply and accept than others also because of strong interest in STEM since 5th grade and their work ethic and motivation to join a magnet. This is the first year that some (not all) kids have not been as high achievers as in the past - so that factor may reduce the numbers that got in, but the other factors remain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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).

That's false selection has no identifying information like schools, race or surnames.

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.

Stop it. This isn’t considered for high school. In fact the selection process is SCHOOL BLIND.

That's not true. They work hard to get a representation from all feeder schools. They have said this repeatedly. This is why for this year's 9th you're not getting all the TPMS kids who presumably tested at the top a few years ago and I'm guessing more than half still test at the top but only about 40% admitted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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.

Stop it. This isn’t considered for high school. In fact the selection process is SCHOOL BLIND.

That's not true. They work hard to get a representation from all feeder schools. They have said this repeatedly. This is why for this year's 9th you're not getting all the TPMS kids who presumably tested at the top a few years ago and I'm guessing more than half still test at the top but only about 40% admitted.

WRONG selection has no identifying information like home school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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).

That's false selection has no identifying information like schools, race or surnames.

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.

Stop it. This isn’t considered for high school. In fact the selection process is SCHOOL BLIND.

That's not true. They work hard to get a representation from all feeder schools. They have said this repeatedly. This is why for this year's 9th you're not getting all the TPMS kids who presumably tested at the top a few years ago and I'm guessing more than half still test at the top but only about 40% admitted.

Stop. You’re wrong. They do not get info about schools. Stop lying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, that's 5 invited to Blair SMCS. Not sure about RMIB.

That is an unusually small number. I would suspect there are a lot more, but maybe kids are just not talking about it.

Remember that this year is the first year of MS magnet lottery graduates. Blair magnet has about 10% acceptance rate. 6 or 7 Blair SMCS acceptances from Takoma (not everyone would apply) may be all you can see.

I doubt it. Many of the magnet kids will have got in. Maybe less than previous years but it will certainly be in double digits. Someone somewhere else said maybe about 20. I think that’s likely.

That's not how statistics work

Actually it is exactly how stats work. Students from TPMS are always more likely to get in than from other schools (usually about a third get in). Partly because they have had three years of exceptional advanced teaching in STEM, partly because they already have experience commuting further than their home school and making new friends and are therefore more likely to both apply and accept than others also because of strong interest in STEM since 5th grade and their work ethic and motivation to join a magnet. This is the first year that some (not all) kids have not been as high achievers as in the past - so that factor may reduce the numbers that got in, but the other factors remain.

Have you heard of something called 'conditional probability'? There are about 1000 applicants. All of these applicants have interest in STEM. That's why they applied. The fact that TPMS students won a lottery 3 years ago don't make them more superior candidates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, that's 5 invited to Blair SMCS. Not sure about RMIB.

That is an unusually small number. I would suspect there are a lot more, but maybe kids are just not talking about it.

Remember that this year is the first year of MS magnet lottery graduates. Blair magnet has about 10% acceptance rate. 6 or 7 Blair SMCS acceptances from Takoma (not everyone would apply) may be all you can see.

I doubt it. Many of the magnet kids will have got in. Maybe less than previous years but it will certainly be in double digits. Someone somewhere else said maybe about 20. I think that’s likely.

That's not how statistics work

Actually it is exactly how stats work. Students from TPMS are always more likely to get in than from other schools (usually about a third get in). Partly because they have had three years of exceptional advanced teaching in STEM, partly because they already have experience commuting further than their home school and making new friends and are therefore more likely to both apply and accept than others also because of strong interest in STEM since 5th grade and their work ethic and motivation to join a magnet. This is the first year that some (not all) kids have not been as high achievers as in the past - so that factor may reduce the numbers that got in, but the other factors remain.

Have you heard of something called 'conditional probability'? There are about 1000 applicants. All of these applicants have interest in STEM. That's why they applied. The fact that TPMS students won a lottery 3 years ago don't make them more superior candidates.

Did you read what I wrote? Or just ignore it? There are other reasons as I stated. And I’m VERY confident that I will be proved correct (that the proportion of kids that got in this year is more than 20). Part of that is the track record of TKPK kids who got into the middle school magnet with lower scores than average (because of the set aside) but were still strong enough by the end of the three years to be accepted at Blair.

I’d put money on it if we weren’t anonymous.