Reassure me about Walter Johnson / explain the DCC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
The other side of the coin is that these W schools are all pressure cookers. Your kid needs 15 APs to distinguish himself from the rest of the pack. He is competing for college spots with seriously high-achieving peers that have a support system of wealthy parents with internship connections, private tutors and possibly private college counselors. At BCC, there's a little more room to breathe... and fewer APs, and hardly any post-AP math classes. Maybe your kid won't need 15 APs to stand out. Maybe just 10-12. It won't be impossible to be one of the top students, just very difficult. BCC is a little more socio-economically diverse than some of these other W schools (there are rent-controlled apartments in downtown Bethesda, which is otherwise pretty wealthy).

That's it in a nutshell.

You're really overstating things. I haven't found WJ to be a pressure cooker. I've had two kids go through without feeling the need to compete by hiring tutors, and I've been happy with both their high school education and their college results.

Well there are more than 3000 students now at WJ. So obviously there's going to be a range of individual experiences. But when comparing different high schools together, those are the differences that stand out. Some schools are more competitive than others.

[Anonymous]

There are a lot of kids at WJ, but the administration is excellent, and it works. My 2 kids, one quirky, one a varsity athlete, both were easily able to find their people among the crowd. I think because there are so many, no one is left out or feeling alone, because there's always another group of kids to turn to.

Neither felt it a pressure cooker either. They both ended up with 12 APs, because they are both excellent students who wanted to take AP and honors courses. No tutoring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Avoid Tilden MS. Read the thread. WJ is not as bad.

+1

Any middle school in area is far better.

Someone's kid didn't get invited to the bat mitzvah.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Stick to Whitman , much safer and not likely have a huge change.

Everywhere else is Ganglandia!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of kids at WJ, but the administration is excellent, and it works. My 2 kids, one quirky, one a varsity athlete, both were easily able to find their people among the crowd. I think because there are so many, no one is left out or feeling alone, because there's always another group of kids to turn to.

Neither felt it a pressure cooker either. They both ended up with 12 APs, because they are both excellent students who wanted to take AP and honors courses. No tutoring.

I’m seeing this a lot. Are kids taking way more APs than they did in my day? Early 2000s. I took 8 and graduated top of my high school (NOVA). It wasn’t Thomas Jefferson or anything, but I’m surprised how early students are starting AP and how many they’re taking.

[Anonymous]

My kids didn't think it was a lot - just the level of work they were used to. Some parents claim, "but the homework!" The reality is, every kid is different. For one of mine, it was slacking to only have 12. He was a double varsity athlete, and still had plenty of social time with friends and with girlfriend. For some kids, school comes easy. For second kid, I think they were competing with sibling (although their AP courses were different). They definitely spent more time studying, but still had time for several ECs they were heavily involved with (not sports).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of kids at WJ, but the administration is excellent, and it works. My 2 kids, one quirky, one a varsity athlete, both were easily able to find their people among the crowd. I think because there are so many, no one is left out or feeling alone, because there's always another group of kids to turn to.

Neither felt it a pressure cooker either. They both ended up with 12 APs, because they are both excellent students who wanted to take AP and honors courses. No tutoring.

I’m seeing this a lot. Are kids taking way more APs than they did in my day? Early 2000s. I took 8 and graduated top of my high school (NOVA). It wasn’t Thomas Jefferson or anything, but I’m surprised how early students are starting AP and how many they’re taking.

It's the arms race of college admissions. Not many APs actually give college credit - it depends on the AP, the major, and the university - but what drives this is the competition just to get admitted to college. It's insane. We just lived through that this year, and my kid is happy to go where he's going, but... wow. It took a stellar profile all 4 years of high school to get into a middling uni with merit aid. A generation ago, he'd be Harvard-bound. So manage expectations accordingly

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of kids at WJ, but the administration is excellent, and it works. My 2 kids, one quirky, one a varsity athlete, both were easily able to find their people among the crowd. I think because there are so many, no one is left out or feeling alone, because there's always another group of kids to turn to.

Neither felt it a pressure cooker either. They both ended up with 12 APs, because they are both excellent students who wanted to take AP and honors courses. No tutoring.

I’m seeing this a lot. Are kids taking way more APs than they did in my day? Early 2000s. I took 8 and graduated top of my high school (NOVA). It wasn’t Thomas Jefferson or anything, but I’m surprised how early students are starting AP and how many they’re taking.

Yes, they are. Kids are even graduating with full-fledged associate's degrees with the dual-enrollment program. It's nuts how much they're accelerating the high school process. I don't think it's for the better, but it is what it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:WH has Apex too?

We were happy with BCC but I would have hesitation about WJ (neighborhood aside I might even prefer it)

APEX is just cohort top students taking lots AP courses, starting in freshman year. We've loved WJ for a lower-pressure great hs experience. Have had kids at both WJ and Blair. Blair does science and math better than any other MCPS for obvious reasons (even for non-STEM Magnet) - but WJ holds it own and then some with the Humanities and, at least IME, Spanish. That said, the teachers are really good, and my kid received a 5 on AP NSL in freshman year - and that certainly wasn't because of any outside prep. Same experience in Sophomore year with APUSH and Psych. IF you want IB, you would try to test in/get accepted into RM which is quite rigorous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
BCC is the W schools' middle class cousin, OP. I think people mistakenly assume it's excellent because it has IB (which isn't that great when you're applying to US colleges) and there's "Bethesda" right in the name. The schools offering the most AP courses (which ARE useful for applications to US colleges because they match college classes better), the most academically-oriented student bodies, and the best teachers, are: Walt Whitman, Wooton, Winston Churchill, and Walter Johnson.

The other side of the coin is that these W schools are all pressure cookers. Your kid needs 15 APs to distinguish himself from the rest of the pack. He is competing for college spots with seriously high-achieving peers that have a support system of wealthy parents with internship connections, private tutors and possibly private college counselors. At BCC, there's a little more room to breathe... and fewer APs, and hardly any post-AP math classes. Maybe your kid won't need 15 APs to stand out. Maybe just 10-12. It won't be impossible to be one of the top students, just very difficult. BCC is a little more socio-economically diverse than some of these other W schools (there are rent-controlled apartments in downtown Bethesda, which is otherwise pretty wealthy).

That's it in a nutshell.

That's because BCC has a lot of IB classes. Whereas Whitman, Wootton (double u, double o, double t, o n), Churchill, and WJ don't have any IB classes.

That's the problem! The IB is a load of horseshite. IB math, for example, doesn't reach the depth and challenge of AP Calc BC, not by a long shot. Replacing AP courses with IB is really not an intelligent choice, because college admissions counselors are aware of the differences in content. It's a shame, because otherwise BCC has a lot going for it. And don't talk to me about the Middle Years Programme at Westland MS. The kids spent this year's MYP time (which is a handful of hours a year, tops) reading feel-good stuff about LGBTQ+ gender roles. Yippee.

I have seen this comment about IB not being “as good” as AP a couple times and I think it’s nonsense.

AP and IB are somewhat different and I do think IB might work better for writing/humanities-focused kids than STEM-focused kids, but the suggestion that IB is not worthwhile, demanding or given credit by college counselors is just not true in our experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
The other side of the coin is that these W schools are all pressure cookers. Your kid needs 15 APs to distinguish himself from the rest of the pack. He is competing for college spots with seriously high-achieving peers that have a support system of wealthy parents with internship connections, private tutors and possibly private college counselors. At BCC, there's a little more room to breathe... and fewer APs, and hardly any post-AP math classes. Maybe your kid won't need 15 APs to stand out. Maybe just 10-12. It won't be impossible to be one of the top students, just very difficult. BCC is a little more socio-economically diverse than some of these other W schools (there are rent-controlled apartments in downtown Bethesda, which is otherwise pretty wealthy).

That's it in a nutshell.

You're really overstating things. I haven't found WJ to be a pressure cooker. I've had two kids go through without feeling the need to compete by hiring tutors, and I've been happy with both their high school education and their college results.

Well there are more than 3000 students now at WJ. So obviously there's going to be a range of individual experiences. But when comparing different high schools together, those are the differences that stand out. Some schools are more competitive than others.

That's almost as big as Blair!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WH has Apex too?

We were happy with BCC but I would have hesitation about WJ (neighborhood aside I might even prefer it)

APEX is just cohort top students taking lots AP courses, starting in freshman year. We've loved WJ for a lower-pressure great hs experience. Have had kids at both WJ and Blair. Blair does science and math better than any other MCPS for obvious reasons (even for non-STEM Magnet) - but WJ holds it own and then some with the Humanities and, at least IME, Spanish. That said, the teachers are really good, and my kid received a 5 on AP NSL in freshman year - and that certainly wasn't because of any outside prep. Same experience in Sophomore year with APUSH and Psych. IF you want IB, you would try to test in/get accepted into RM which is quite rigorous.

What?!?!

[Anonymous]

Blair and Einstein are very good high schools. My kids have attended both and we are happy witht their education and college choice. Wr also love the neighborhood we are in. We have lots of PHD’s, lawyers, and doctors living here. Real people who are down to earth and diversity which we love.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Blair and Einstein are very good high schools. My kids have attended both and we are happy witht their education and college choice. Wr also love the neighborhood we are in. We have lots of PHD’s, lawyers, and doctors living here. Real people who are down to earth and diversity which we love.

I have one at Blair and one at Wheaton. Very happy with both schools. Have several friends with kuds at Einstein who love it. Einstein also has IB. Lots of great choices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Avoid Tilden MS. Read the thread. WJ is not as bad.

+1

Any middle school in area is far better.

Someone's kid didn't get invited to the bat mitzvah.

I don't think bat mitzvah is main issue otherwise problems of Tilden won't be so much worse than other middle schools in the area. Community is simply toxic. Yes, we did celebrate bat mitzvah, but kept it low key. Glad it will be our last year in Tilden.