BCC vs. Blair Magnet?
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Anonymous
| My daughter loves math and science. We are a neighborhood walking distance to Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School (BCC) which most people seem to be happy with. Is it worthwhile encouraging her to apply for the math and science magnet program at Blair High School? If she got in, would it be worth the effort to go over there? |
Anonymous
If she likes Asians it would be worth the effort. |
Anonymous
loves math and science LOL! OP, those kids in the Blair magnet live science and will eventually find a cure for all cancers. Unless your daughter was in a magnet in MS, I doubt she'll test in, as not even some MS magnet kids make it. |
Anonymous
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Lots of non-magnet kids get into the Blair magnet. Lots of TPMS magnet kids (like mine, and many others we know) choose RM IB or CAP instead. So there are plenty of spots for non-magnet kids.
As the PP says, though, they take about 1/6 applicants (although I'm not sure what the exact ratio was for last year). Also, the magnet kids live and breathe science. Liking math isn't enough, you have to really, really love it. If that's your DD then she'd be happy, and go for it. |
Anonymous
Not true. Only about 50% of the TPMS magnet kids who applied were accepted to the incoming class at the Blair magnet this year. I know of many kids from other, non-magnet schools who were accepted and are doing well there, e.g. from SSIMS and Newport Mill. OP, it cannot hurt for her to apply - she should go through the process. It may open up options and if it doesn't, well, you have a good home school right there. |
Anonymous
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The opportunities at Blair are great. Some kids are doing 4th year college/graduate level math and are publishing in journals. There are tons of opportunities to do research in science. That said, it's hard to get in, but she'll never know unless she tries
The program is small - about 100 kids per class, so the social environment will also be somewhat more limiting than a larger MoCo high school |
Anonymous
| Another point to consider is that the magnet school kids come from all over the county, which means your children's friends may very well live quite far from your home. A number of kids in the BCC cluster who attended the MS magnets chose to go to BCC rather than RM or Blair for this reason -- much to their parents' relief. |
Anonymous
| Agree with the posters who say your kid needs to live science. Schools like BCC have plenty of opportunities for advanced math and sciences and she can do an NIH internship. A few, but not many, kids from our nearby HS choose to apply to Blair. Most prefer to stay at the home school, including kids who went to the HGC. |
Anonymous
| NP here--people keep saying the child has to live and breathe science--is the program more heavily weighted to science than math? Can you get in being a math fanatic only? DS lives and breathes math and likes science fine but isn't a science fanatic. |
Anonymous
It is math/science/computer science. Most students lean in one direction or another, but all are high-performing in these areas. I disagree that the student must live and breathe science. My son is doing well at the Blair magnet, loves math & science, but is also strong in the humanities. He takes honors and AP classes in the other subjects and is sufficiently challenged in all areas. |
Anonymous
| Another magnet parent here. Maybe a good restatement would be that your kid needs a strong natural aptitude for math and science, whether or not s/he "loves" these. The kids we know there who are doing really well are the ones who cruised through middle school math barely studying. Other kids do well because they work harder at it -- but for these kids, it's particularly helpful, even if it isn't absolutely necessary, to have a "love" for the subject you're spending so many hours on. |
Anonymous
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I faced the same decision for myself around 20 years ago, though swap BCC for Whitman in your scenario. I chose to stay local, and I'm glad I did. Being walking distance from school made me more likely to engaged in after-school activities on a whim, or even head back to school later to watch a game or participate in something. I think there's a lot of value in that, and also your choices are between two very good schools anyway (BCC and Blair).
I had a friend in the same situation, and he went the Blair route, so we pretty much lost touch at that point. Funny thing is now 20 years later, I'm in the software industry while he ended up a doctor. |
Anonymous
Nice. You must be a piece of work. |