Got off SMCS waitlist

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand the "not social" thing. Whenever I visit the school for an event, the kids are very social.

It might be different for a girl, but my son felt the program was super social and not intense or terrible in terms of the homework. I don't understand the families who are here saying that. If it's a good fit, it's fun. The teaching is terrific. The peer group is great - they work together during off periods/slow periods in that long day. My son also played a sport and an instrument, but this idea that the homework load is onerous just wasn't his experience. (he did well, too - it's not like he didn't do HW and then got B's or whatever). For the right kid, this program is (chef's kiss) perfect.

Did your son play an instrument at Blair. How did it impact their ability to take electives?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand the "not social" thing. Whenever I visit the school for an event, the kids are very social.

It might be different for a girl, but my son felt the program was super social and not intense or terrible in terms of the homework. I don't understand the families who are here saying that. If it's a good fit, it's fun. The teaching is terrific. The peer group is great - they work together during off periods/slow periods in that long day. My son also played a sport and an instrument, but this idea that the homework load is onerous just wasn't his experience. (he did well, too - it's not like he didn't do HW and then got B's or whatever). For the right kid, this program is (chef's kiss) perfect.

Did your son play an instrument at Blair. How did it impact their ability to take electives?

He was in the band as a freshman, but not after that.. he took lessons after school. What was really neat is that he ended up taking classes like Guitar 1 and Piano 2 randomly- just using them as a space to practice his own instrument (with headphones)! He didn’t need the class, and was able to just use that period as a place to do his practicing for an hour and a half every other day. Occasionally the teacher would walk around and ask him to play a scale or something, but they left him alone for the most part. I really credit Ostrander for making this happen- though my kid did have to go and nicely ask etc. Things like this made Blair feel like a special place. Good luck to OP- and congrats!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand the "not social" thing. Whenever I visit the school for an event, the kids are very social.

It might be different for a girl, but my son felt the program was super social and not intense or terrible in terms of the homework. I don't understand the families who are here saying that. If it's a good fit, it's fun. The teaching is terrific. The peer group is great - they work together during off periods/slow periods in that long day. My son also played a sport and an instrument, but this idea that the homework load is onerous just wasn't his experience. (he did well, too - it's not like he didn't do HW and then got B's or whatever). For the right kid, this program is (chef's kiss) perfect.

Did your son play an instrument at Blair. How did it impact their ability to take electives?

He was in the band as a freshman, but not after that.. he took lessons after school. What was really neat is that he ended up taking classes like Guitar 1 and Piano 2 randomly- just using them as a space to practice his own instrument (with headphones)! He didn’t need the class, and was able to just use that period as a place to do his practicing for an hour and a half every other day. Occasionally the teacher would walk around and ask him to play a scale or something, but they left him alone for the most part. I really credit Ostrander for making this happen- though my kid did have to go and nicely ask etc. Things like this made Blair feel like a special place. Good luck to OP- and congrats!

If he had space in his schedule for guitar 1 or piano 1, why didn’t he just take advanced band or orchestra?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand the "not social" thing. Whenever I visit the school for an event, the kids are very social.

It might be different for a girl, but my son felt the program was super social and not intense or terrible in terms of the homework. I don't understand the families who are here saying that. If it's a good fit, it's fun. The teaching is terrific. The peer group is great - they work together during off periods/slow periods in that long day. My son also played a sport and an instrument, but this idea that the homework load is onerous just wasn't his experience. (he did well, too - it's not like he didn't do HW and then got B's or whatever). For the right kid, this program is (chef's kiss) perfect.

Did your son play an instrument at Blair. How did it impact their ability to take electives?

He was in the band as a freshman, but not after that.. he took lessons after school. What was really neat is that he ended up taking classes like Guitar 1 and Piano 2 randomly- just using them as a space to practice his own instrument (with headphones)! He didn’t need the class, and was able to just use that period as a place to do his practicing for an hour and a half every other day. Occasionally the teacher would walk around and ask him to play a scale or something, but they left him alone for the most part. I really credit Ostrander for making this happen- though my kid did have to go and nicely ask etc. Things like this made Blair feel like a special place. Good luck to OP- and congrats!

This sounds an atypical arrangement. Won't you worry a little bit about impacting your DS' WGPA by inserting non-honored classes? All kids I know that practices instruments before at a competition level do test-in for an honor or AP level music class or band/orchestra.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand the "not social" thing. Whenever I visit the school for an event, the kids are very social.

It might be different for a girl, but my son felt the program was super social and not intense or terrible in terms of the homework. I don't understand the families who are here saying that. If it's a good fit, it's fun. The teaching is terrific. The peer group is great - they work together during off periods/slow periods in that long day. My son also played a sport and an instrument, but this idea that the homework load is onerous just wasn't his experience. (he did well, too - it's not like he didn't do HW and then got B's or whatever). For the right kid, this program is (chef's kiss) perfect.

Did your son play an instrument at Blair. How did it impact their ability to take electives?

He was in the band as a freshman, but not after that.. he took lessons after school. What was really neat is that he ended up taking classes like Guitar 1 and Piano 2 randomly- just using them as a space to practice his own instrument (with headphones)! He didn’t need the class, and was able to just use that period as a place to do his practicing for an hour and a half every other day. Occasionally the teacher would walk around and ask him to play a scale or something, but they left him alone for the most part. I really credit Ostrander for making this happen- though my kid did have to go and nicely ask etc. Things like this made Blair feel like a special place. Good luck to OP- and congrats!

This sounds an atypical arrangement. Won't you worry a little bit about impacting your DS' WGPA by inserting non-honored classes? All kids I know that practices instruments before at a competition level do test-in for an honor or AP level music class or band/orchestra.

I had that same thought. Most magnet kids strive to only have one or two non weighted classes for their entire high school experience (typically required PE)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Congrats. My daughter is a senior in SMCS at Poolesville. I can't speak to Blair program but I'm assuming that they are similar. So, I'll just give you my thoughts based on the Poolesville program. First, it's all about time management. It's an eight period day. Long days. If your daughter can manage her schedule well, things will be fine. My daughter gets up a little after 5A and gets home a little after 5P. She also plays sports (those are really long days), coaches a 10U team and also is a theater kid. Those can be really long days. But, she found her tribe there. An amazing group of nerd girls Wonderful kids. It can be competitive, but we've been hands off since she started CES in fourth grade. It seems the kids who tend to be the most aggressive and competitive have really overbearing parents. That's not a slight on the parents, just something we've noticed over the years.

That MAP score is great. My daughter was in that ballpark and now she is doing multi-variable calculus.

Homework increases over the years. Freshman year wasn't bad. Senior year it's now about two hours a night. I don't know if Blair follows the same program, but after 8th period there is a 'study hall' where kiddo can get a bunch of homework done before catching the 4:30 bus. But now that spring sports have kicked off, she has to punt that to get to the field.

But the program has been amazing. She's taken 15 APs with a WGPA of 4.88. So, she'll likely start college as a second semester sophomore. She applied to five schools and was accepted to all five. Four of the five offered academic scholarships. Two full rides and two 60% scholarships. Maryland was the only one that didn't throw money at her. Thankfully, that is by far the cheapest one

So, tldr; It's a lot of work, but it is very rewarding. IMO.

Thank you so much for such a detailed description. I have heard from past students parents that the internship that the students are required to do between junior and senior, is a process solely the responsibility of the Student and the staff/teachers have very limited resource and guidance on how to obtain these internships and that it is a very stressful time for the students. That some students email upwards of 100 professors and internship opportunities. At the acceptance meeting/open house they made it sound like they will guide the students completely, the teacher even said “we will lead them like a horse leading them to water” something similar to that. . What has your experience with that been with your Daughter?

Also how was making friends, was it an easy process, I know that the prgm has less girls, has making friends been an issue for your daughter. Does she hang out with the school friends outside of school ie prom/homecom8ng/sleepovers/malls? Just curious how the friendships go beyond the classroom and clubs. Thank!

I have a current junior going through this right now and it IS extremely stressful. What I’ve learned is most kids get internships though family connections. Dad works at NIH and agrees to take an intern if his friends in a different lab will offer his son a spot. This sucks for families like mine who do not work in STEM fields nor have connections that do. The teachers send out announcements about highly competitive programs looking for high school interns, including some that have an interest in Blair magnet students in particular, but the competition for those is intense. The research class doesn’t start until this semester and while they are working on resumes and cover letters in that class it’s TOO LATE for many of the competitive internships which had deadlines in December, Jan or Feb.

Essentially it is student driven and kids with family connections are at a HUGE advantage. School help has been limited. My kid did tell me that apparently 2-3 seniors didn’t have an internship last year and the school didn’t find out until a few weeks ago.

Echo this. DD got an update on an internship application today - apparently she’s one of 1300 being considered!

[Anonymous]

Are honors and AP weighted the same?

[Anonymous]

Are the SMCS offered challenging / growth opportunities for growth / softer skills such as public speaking, presentations and strong writing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are the SMCS offered challenging / growth opportunities for growth / softer skills such as public speaking, presentations and strong writing?

These skills and practice mostly belong to humanity courses, and Blair does offer a platte of humanity courses, although teacher's teaching quality also varies a lot. I'd say humanity courses are not the catchy highlight of Blair experience, but it's not a drawback for considering attending SMCS. They are as good as other HSs in MCPS. CAP offers some more challenged courses that require more intensively those skills. Whether you can take those courses is case-by-case and your kid needs to discuss with counselors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Congrats. My daughter is a senior in SMCS at Poolesville. I can't speak to Blair program but I'm assuming that they are similar. So, I'll just give you my thoughts based on the Poolesville program. First, it's all about time management. It's an eight period day. Long days. If your daughter can manage her schedule well, things will be fine. My daughter gets up a little after 5A and gets home a little after 5P. She also plays sports (those are really long days), coaches a 10U team and also is a theater kid. Those can be really long days. But, she found her tribe there. An amazing group of nerd girls Wonderful kids. It can be competitive, but we've been hands off since she started CES in fourth grade. It seems the kids who tend to be the most aggressive and competitive have really overbearing parents. That's not a slight on the parents, just something we've noticed over the years.

That MAP score is great. My daughter was in that ballpark and now she is doing multi-variable calculus.

Homework increases over the years. Freshman year wasn't bad. Senior year it's now about two hours a night. I don't know if Blair follows the same program, but after 8th period there is a 'study hall' where kiddo can get a bunch of homework done before catching the 4:30 bus. But now that spring sports have kicked off, she has to punt that to get to the field.

But the program has been amazing. She's taken 15 APs with a WGPA of 4.88. So, she'll likely start college as a second semester sophomore. She applied to five schools and was accepted to all five. Four of the five offered academic scholarships. Two full rides and two 60% scholarships. Maryland was the only one that didn't throw money at her. Thankfully, that is by far the cheapest one

So, tldr; It's a lot of work, but it is very rewarding. IMO.

Thank you so much for such a detailed description. I have heard from past students parents that the internship that the students are required to do between junior and senior, is a process solely the responsibility of the Student and the staff/teachers have very limited resource and guidance on how to obtain these internships and that it is a very stressful time for the students. That some students email upwards of 100 professors and internship opportunities. At the acceptance meeting/open house they made it sound like they will guide the students completely, the teacher even said “we will lead them like a horse leading them to water” something similar to that. . What has your experience with that been with your Daughter?

Also how was making friends, was it an easy process, I know that the prgm has less girls, has making friends been an issue for your daughter. Does she hang out with the school friends outside of school ie prom/homecom8ng/sleepovers/malls? Just curious how the friendships go beyond the classroom and clubs. Thank!

I have a current junior going through this right now and it IS extremely stressful. What I’ve learned is most kids get internships though family connections. Dad works at NIH and agrees to take an intern if his friends in a different lab will offer his son a spot. This sucks for families like mine who do not work in STEM fields nor have connections that do. The teachers send out announcements about highly competitive programs looking for high school interns, including some that have an interest in Blair magnet students in particular, but the competition for those is intense. The research class doesn’t start until this semester and while they are working on resumes and cover letters in that class it’s TOO LATE for many of the competitive internships which had deadlines in December, Jan or Feb.

Essentially it is student driven and kids with family connections are at a HUGE advantage. School help has been limited. My kid did tell me that apparently 2-3 seniors didn’t have an internship last year and the school didn’t find out until a few weeks ago.

Echo this. DD got an update on an internship application today - apparently she’s one of 1300 being considered!

Wonder what will happen when there a 5 programs. Maybe the research project will be discontinued. Now kids that do not find an internship usually end up working with a UMD prof. Blair has lots of connections.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand the "not social" thing. Whenever I visit the school for an event, the kids are very social.

It might be different for a girl, but my son felt the program was super social and not intense or terrible in terms of the homework. I don't understand the families who are here saying that. If it's a good fit, it's fun. The teaching is terrific. The peer group is great - they work together during off periods/slow periods in that long day. My son also played a sport and an instrument, but this idea that the homework load is onerous just wasn't his experience. (he did well, too - it's not like he didn't do HW and then got B's or whatever). For the right kid, this program is (chef's kiss) perfect.

Did your son play an instrument at Blair. How did it impact their ability to take electives?

He was in the band as a freshman, but not after that.. he took lessons after school. What was really neat is that he ended up taking classes like Guitar 1 and Piano 2 randomly- just using them as a space to practice his own instrument (with headphones)! He didn’t need the class, and was able to just use that period as a place to do his practicing for an hour and a half every other day. Occasionally the teacher would walk around and ask him to play a scale or something, but they left him alone for the most part. I really credit Ostrander for making this happen- though my kid did have to go and nicely ask etc. Things like this made Blair feel like a special place. Good luck to OP- and congrats!

This sounds an atypical arrangement. Won't you worry a little bit about impacting your DS' WGPA by inserting non-honored classes? All kids I know that practices instruments before at a competition level do test-in for an honor or AP level music class or band/orchestra.

I had that same thought. Most magnet kids strive to only have one or two non weighted classes for their entire high school experience (typically required PE)

He didn’t care about his GPA, I guess- I didn’t think to ask, actually. And he was doing ensemble stuff outside of school with his instrument and wasn’t interested in school band. I wish he’d stuck with jazz band, though.

Anyway- just answering the PP who wanted to know about electives and music. He took all the science electives he was interested in (and there were so many! So cool!) and still had time to do music.

(In his sophomore year of college they were using a book that a Blair teacher had used for the “hard” problems in one of his classes- amazing!)

Anyway, I’m a huge booster. It’s a great program and can be a lot of fun and not stressful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Congrats. My daughter is a senior in SMCS at Poolesville. I can't speak to Blair program but I'm assuming that they are similar. So, I'll just give you my thoughts based on the Poolesville program. First, it's all about time management. It's an eight period day. Long days. If your daughter can manage her schedule well, things will be fine. My daughter gets up a little after 5A and gets home a little after 5P. She also plays sports (those are really long days), coaches a 10U team and also is a theater kid. Those can be really long days. But, she found her tribe there. An amazing group of nerd girls Wonderful kids. It can be competitive, but we've been hands off since she started CES in fourth grade. It seems the kids who tend to be the most aggressive and competitive have really overbearing parents. That's not a slight on the parents, just something we've noticed over the years.

That MAP score is great. My daughter was in that ballpark and now she is doing multi-variable calculus.

Homework increases over the years. Freshman year wasn't bad. Senior year it's now about two hours a night. I don't know if Blair follows the same program, but after 8th period there is a 'study hall' where kiddo can get a bunch of homework done before catching the 4:30 bus. But now that spring sports have kicked off, she has to punt that to get to the field.

But the program has been amazing. She's taken 15 APs with a WGPA of 4.88. So, she'll likely start college as a second semester sophomore. She applied to five schools and was accepted to all five. Four of the five offered academic scholarships. Two full rides and two 60% scholarships. Maryland was the only one that didn't throw money at her. Thankfully, that is by far the cheapest one

So, tldr; It's a lot of work, but it is very rewarding. IMO.

Could you please share the types of schools she was admitted to? Ivy, other privates, top public flagships?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand the "not social" thing. Whenever I visit the school for an event, the kids are very social.

It might be different for a girl, but my son felt the program was super social and not intense or terrible in terms of the homework. I don't understand the families who are here saying that. If it's a good fit, it's fun. The teaching is terrific. The peer group is great - they work together during off periods/slow periods in that long day. My son also played a sport and an instrument, but this idea that the homework load is onerous just wasn't his experience. (he did well, too - it's not like he didn't do HW and then got B's or whatever). For the right kid, this program is (chef's kiss) perfect.

Did your son play an instrument at Blair. How did it impact their ability to take electives?

He was in the band as a freshman, but not after that.. he took lessons after school. What was really neat is that he ended up taking classes like Guitar 1 and Piano 2 randomly- just using them as a space to practice his own instrument (with headphones)! He didn’t need the class, and was able to just use that period as a place to do his practicing for an hour and a half every other day. Occasionally the teacher would walk around and ask him to play a scale or something, but they left him alone for the most part. I really credit Ostrander for making this happen- though my kid did have to go and nicely ask etc. Things like this made Blair feel like a special place. Good luck to OP- and congrats!

If he had space in his schedule for guitar 1 or piano 1, why didn’t he just take advanced band or orchestra?

Not every instrument or student fits in an ensemble.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand the "not social" thing. Whenever I visit the school for an event, the kids are very social.

It might be different for a girl, but my son felt the program was super social and not intense or terrible in terms of the homework. I don't understand the families who are here saying that. If it's a good fit, it's fun. The teaching is terrific. The peer group is great - they work together during off periods/slow periods in that long day. My son also played a sport and an instrument, but this idea that the homework load is onerous just wasn't his experience. (he did well, too - it's not like he didn't do HW and then got B's or whatever). For the right kid, this program is (chef's kiss) perfect.

Did your son play an instrument at Blair. How did it impact their ability to take electives?

He was in the band as a freshman, but not after that.. he took lessons after school. What was really neat is that he ended up taking classes like Guitar 1 and Piano 2 randomly- just using them as a space to practice his own instrument (with headphones)! He didn’t need the class, and was able to just use that period as a place to do his practicing for an hour and a half every other day. Occasionally the teacher would walk around and ask him to play a scale or something, but they left him alone for the most part. I really credit Ostrander for making this happen- though my kid did have to go and nicely ask etc. Things like this made Blair feel like a special place. Good luck to OP- and congrats!

This sounds an atypical arrangement. Won't you worry a little bit about impacting your DS' WGPA by inserting non-honored classes? All kids I know that practices instruments before at a competition level do test-in for an honor or AP level music class or band/orchestra.

Electives don't count for WGPA. College AOs aren't that stupid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand the "not social" thing. Whenever I visit the school for an event, the kids are very social.

It might be different for a girl, but my son felt the program was super social and not intense or terrible in terms of the homework. I don't understand the families who are here saying that. If it's a good fit, it's fun. The teaching is terrific. The peer group is great - they work together during off periods/slow periods in that long day. My son also played a sport and an instrument, but this idea that the homework load is onerous just wasn't his experience. (he did well, too - it's not like he didn't do HW and then got B's or whatever). For the right kid, this program is (chef's kiss) perfect.

Did your son play an instrument at Blair. How did it impact their ability to take electives?

He was in the band as a freshman, but not after that.. he took lessons after school. What was really neat is that he ended up taking classes like Guitar 1 and Piano 2 randomly- just using them as a space to practice his own instrument (with headphones)! He didn’t need the class, and was able to just use that period as a place to do his practicing for an hour and a half every other day. Occasionally the teacher would walk around and ask him to play a scale or something, but they left him alone for the most part. I really credit Ostrander for making this happen- though my kid did have to go and nicely ask etc. Things like this made Blair feel like a special place. Good luck to OP- and congrats!

This sounds an atypical arrangement. Won't you worry a little bit about impacting your DS' WGPA by inserting non-honored classes? All kids I know that practices instruments before at a competition level do test-in for an honor or AP level music class or band/orchestra.

Electives don't count for WGPA. College AOs aren't that stupid.

I guess you’ve never looked at a SGGR