Blair SMCS Vs. GDS
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Anonymous
It's not even close. Just last year, Blair sent 11 students to MIT. I don't think GDS has sent that many to MIT in the last 10 years combined. |
Anonymous
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Our kid also decided between a strong Big 3 private and Blair. Has been very happy at Blair, plays sports, homework usually 2 hrs a day, plenty of time to socialize. We really appreciated real diversity - socioeconomic, racial, political. 1/2 the classes are non magnet so the kids do interact a lot with no magnet kids. Blair also has the CAPS program which is communications and journalism semi-honors program and lots of interaction and friendship there.
GDS is a great school. Hopefully no wrong choices here. |
Anonymous
Public school kids have been taking standardized tests for years before they take the PSAT. Also lots study for it. GDS and many other privates treat the PSAT as just a practice test and kids don't study for it. |
Anonymous
I would assume a STEM magnate school would have many more students applying to MIT. GDS encourages diversity of interest across STEM and humanities; students end up applying to a wide array of colleges. My kid is a senior and only knows 1 student who applied to MIT. |
Anonymous
| What is happening to Blair’s program in 5 years/future? |
Anonymous
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These school experiences will feel vastly different. The students at GDS will have a much wider range of academic abilities and interests. Students are not in a track and can select rigor by class. There are lots of clubs and leadership opportunities at GDS in all different areas as well. There is also an emphasis on greater community involvement.
Someone above mentioned feeling like HS is an arms race. That is mitigated at GDS as students are encouraged to really pursue all different interests and end up applying to a wide variety of colleges. GDS also balances students' stress with a lot of fun activities through out the year. They have mini-mester experiential learning between semesters versus midterms. If you are selecting a high school just based on wanting to attend a very rigorous STEM college, Blair is probably a more direct track to that. If you are selecting a high school for the entire experience, I would seriously consider all GDS has to offer. |
Anonymous
| If you don’t care about Ivy placement and tuition is not a problem I’d go with GDS. |
Anonymous
Go to the MCPS forum, but in brief MCPS would like to phase out the county-wide HS criteria magnets (a bit of a misnomer as the county is divided into two for this purpose, so Blair SMCS and Poolesville SMCS serve the same purpose, but just different parts of the county). It already has moved CES and MS magnets to a semi-lottery process. |
Anonymous
Blair is incredible, but the point about the PSAT at some of the independent privates is true. It's not stressed at all, although some kids no doubt prepare hard for it. |
Anonymous
| These are such different options. What is your kid's preference? |
Anonymous
Thank you. Had no idea. We’re at private but Blair is our in bound |
Anonymous
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GDS’s math curriculum is excellent and very advanced if a student is interested in pursuing high level math. Ask the GDS admissions office to connect you to a family with children who are involved in advanced math and science for their experience.
Anyone taking a rigorous class at GDS can take and do well on AP tests. No need to take an “AP” class that teaches to the test to succeed on AP tests. The school helps connect students with a public high school in Montgomery County where the tests are offered. Don’t rely on the Instagram pages to gauge where all kids have been admitted. Several GDS seniors were admitted to Ivies who have not yet posted. |
Anonymous
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Just wanted to mention that none of the magnet classes are AP, because the teachers do not teach to the test. Rather they go deeper than AP for a particular group of kids that are interested in these subjects in a serious way and or need more challenge. All the magnet kids are prepared and do well on the Calc BC and Stats and Computer Science APs as a rule, regardless. The sciences are different - rather than taking AP Physics they take Magnet Quantum Physics or Thermodynamics. They take Magnet Physical or Organic and or Analytical Chemistry rather than AP chem. The teachers have great latitude in what they teach and are by and large fantastic. For humanities, on the other hand, they are taking AP histories and English and foreign languages as non-magnet classes.
My kid loves both humanities and the sciences and is very happy, but definitely you need to have a kid that revels in these subjects. |