MCPS High School Magnet Decisions

[Anonymous]

“RM offers the same high level math courses (same content, might be packaged differently) as Blair.” this is not true. I am not saying one is better or worse but they are very different.

[Anonymous]

Comparing a magnet IB program to a SCMS magnet is comparing apples to oranges. They are different and that is a good thing. If you want a well rounded, holistic curriculum, Go RMIB. If your DC is very specific about STEM, go SMCS magnet.

Remember, over the 4 years they spend in HS, it becomes less about commute and more about the time they spend on the courses they are taking and how much they enjoy (or not) those courses. RMIB and Blair are rigorous in different ways and requires your child to spend a whole lot of time studying - question is which subjects would they enjoy spending their time on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Comparing a magnet IB program to a SCMS magnet is comparing apples to oranges. They are different and that is a good thing. If you want a well rounded, holistic curriculum, Go RMIB. If your DC is very specific about STEM, go SMCS magnet.

Remember, over the 4 years they spend in HS, it becomes less about commute and more about the time they spend on the courses they are taking and how much they enjoy (or not) those courses. RMIB and Blair are rigorous in different ways and requires your child to spend a whole lot of time studying - question is which subjects would they enjoy spending their time on.

+1. Making a decision on this based on 15 min commute difference is silly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Comparing a magnet IB program to a SCMS magnet is comparing apples to oranges. They are different and that is a good thing. If you want a well rounded, holistic curriculum, Go RMIB. If your DC is very specific about STEM, go SMCS magnet.

Remember, over the 4 years they spend in HS, it becomes less about commute and more about the time they spend on the courses they are taking and how much they enjoy (or not) those courses. RMIB and Blair are rigorous in different ways and requires your child to spend a whole lot of time studying - question is which subjects would they enjoy spending their time on.

+1. Making a decision on this based on 15 min commute difference is silly.

This. We grappled with the commute issue and it was a big factor in declining Eastern magnet for middle school because we thought they were too young and needed sleep at that young age. But, when it came time for high school, commute time was a very small part of DD's consideration to go to SMCS. It is a good opportunity to learn time management skills. Honestly, they use the ride time to catch up on their texts, socialize, do school work, etc. It's not like they are actually driving. :⁠-⁠). If carpooling, then it is a huge sacrifice on the part of the parents' time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Comparing a magnet IB program to a SCMS magnet is comparing apples to oranges. They are different and that is a good thing. If you want a well rounded, holistic curriculum, Go RMIB. If your DC is very specific about STEM, go SMCS magnet.

Remember, over the 4 years they spend in HS, it becomes less about commute and more about the time they spend on the courses they are taking and how much they enjoy (or not) those courses. RMIB and Blair are rigorous in different ways and requires your child to spend a whole lot of time studying - question is which subjects would they enjoy spending their time on.

+1. Making a decision on this based on 15 min commute difference is silly.

This. We grappled with the commute issue and it was a big factor in declining Eastern magnet for middle school because we thought they were too young and needed sleep at that young age. But, when it came time for high school, commute time was a very small part of DD's consideration to go to SMCS. It is a good opportunity to learn time management skills. Honestly, they use the ride time to catch up on their texts, socialize, do school work, etc. It's not like they are actually driving. :⁠-⁠). If carpooling, then it is a huge sacrifice on the part of the parents' time.

The issue is sleep. HS start time is already so early and getting up another hour earlier to catch bus would sacrifice some sleep.

[Anonymous]

I agree 15 minutes shouldn't matter if your child likes STEM or really wants the IB curriculum, but commute is not something that should be discounted.

DD did choose the magnet further away which was Blair even though she liked both curriculums and as a parent in traffic picking up from activities sometimes I do sometimes wonder if we should have encouraged her to do RMIB. She is really happy though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:On a different note:
Blair SMCS (30 min drive) vs RMIB(15 min drive);
DD is STEM inclined; looking at safety, diversity, transport, rigor, etc. Which one is better??

If the child is taking the bus, then go for SMCS. If you are driving, that's potentially an extra hour+ for you each day. Picking up is especially time consuming.

My child is STEM inclined but chose RMIB (11th grade now). Where we are, bus picks up at 6:30 am and drops off 4:30-4:45 pm. Activity bus is much later. With RM, bus pickup is 7:10 am and drop-off is before 3 pm. That was a significant enough commuting time, that SMCS was not worth it for him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On a different note:
Blair SMCS (30 min drive) vs RMIB(15 min drive);
DD is STEM inclined; looking at safety, diversity, transport, rigor, etc. Which one is better??

If the child is taking the bus, then go for SMCS. If you are driving, that's potentially an extra hour+ for you each day. Picking up is especially time consuming.

My child is STEM inclined but chose RMIB (11th grade now). Where we are, bus picks up at 6:30 am and drops off 4:30-4:45 pm. Activity bus is much later. With RM, bus pickup is 7:10 am and drop-off is before 3 pm. That was a significant enough commuting time, that SMCS was not worth it for him.

Yeah the difference is not 15 min for us too. It’s 30 min for bus pick up time difference and we still need to drive to the bus stop which is another 5-10 min. Extra period at Blair is another time consuming thing.

[Anonymous]

Most likely, DD will select Blair. Lets see how monday evening goes. Thanks all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On a different note:
Blair SMCS (30 min drive) vs RMIB(15 min drive);
DD is STEM inclined; looking at safety, diversity, transport, rigor, etc. Which one is better??

If the child is taking the bus, then go for SMCS. If you are driving, that's potentially an extra hour+ for you each day. Picking up is especially time consuming.

My child is STEM inclined but chose RMIB (11th grade now). Where we are, bus picks up at 6:30 am and drops off 4:30-4:45 pm. Activity bus is much later. With RM, bus pickup is 7:10 am and drop-off is before 3 pm. That was a significant enough commuting time, that SMCS was not worth it for him.

Yeah the difference is not 15 min for us too. It’s 30 min for bus pick up time difference and we still need to drive to the bus stop which is another 5-10 min. Extra period at Blair is another time consuming thing.

But it's also the main value-add of Blair. "There's too much school" is a weird complaint about a school that you fight to get admitted to.

[Anonymous]

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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.

This describes my oldest son. My son received a TPMS magnet lottery spot, our zone school, with a straight A report card and MAP scores in the 75-80% range in both math and reading. Above average but not elite. First year was tough, but he did well with some help from tutors. We found out in MS that he as a reading disability and got him support for it through a generous nonprofit. He improved in TPMS and got into Blair magnet with elite scores.

He is a senior now and has already been accepted to two top 20 schools. Waiting for a few other decisions. He will be a second-generation college student and I am so proud of him. My youngest son was also selected for the TMPS magnet, but his scores are above 95%, so we were not as surprised.

I am a single parent with three kids and with a disabled parent that my sons and I help care for. I'm thankful through the lottery system that my son got a chance to maximize his potential at TPMS magnet program.

[Anonymous]

Poster is clearly a troll.

The seniors did not go through the TPMS lottery. No one at Blair went through the TPMS lottery. It was only implemented starting with this year's 8th grade/next year's 9th.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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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.

This describes my oldest son. My son received a TPMS magnet lottery spot, our zone school, with a straight A report card and MAP scores in the 75-80% range in both math and reading. Above average but not elite. First year was tough, but he did well with some help from tutors. We found out in MS that he as a reading disability and got him support for it through a generous nonprofit. He improved in TPMS and got into Blair magnet with elite scores.

He is a senior now and has already been accepted to two top 20 schools. Waiting for a few other decisions. He will be a second-generation college student and I am so proud of him. My youngest son was also selected for the TMPS magnet, but his scores are above 95%, so we were not as surprised.

I am a single parent with three kids and with a disabled parent that my sons and I help care for. I'm thankful through the lottery system that my son got a chance to maximize his potential at TPMS magnet program.

Congratulations to your son! That’s an amazing story, especially with the lower scores in 5th grade - and shows that you don’t need to excel in 5th grade to later shine if given the chance.

I do want to correct something though - I think you meant the set aside, not the lottery. If your kid is currently a high school senior they didn’t get in to the middle school magnet though a lottery. He was picked entirely on merit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

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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.

This describes my oldest son. My son received a TPMS magnet lottery spot, our zone school, with a straight A report card and MAP scores in the 75-80% range in both math and reading. Above average but not elite. First year was tough, but he did well with some help from tutors. We found out in MS that he as a reading disability and got him support for it through a generous nonprofit. He improved in TPMS and got into Blair magnet with elite scores.

He is a senior now and has already been accepted to two top 20 schools. Waiting for a few other decisions. He will be a second-generation college student and I am so proud of him. My youngest son was also selected for the TMPS magnet, but his scores are above 95%, so we were not as surprised.

I am a single parent with three kids and with a disabled parent that my sons and I help care for. I'm thankful through the lottery system that my son got a chance to maximize his potential at TPMS magnet program.

No way 75-80% MAP would get into TMPS 7 years ago when Cogat was also used. Stop making up these fake success stories.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I’m the PP above. Now that we know in excess of 30 kids from TPMS were accepted to Blair this year, I’m back to claim my winnings! I didn’t have even a tiny doubt that I wouldn’t be proved correct.