Poolsville Smcs or RM IB ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:RMIB has higher stats probably due to location- people who have options may choose did to commute choose RM over Blair and PHS. Poolesville is in the middle of nowhere and getting back and forth is a big commitment.

Higher stats in what?

Overall- RM has the highest number of NMSFs in the entire county. My friends daughter went there and then Yale.

I do not think this is true. Some years Blair is definitely higher and then there are whole school magnets like Bronx HS of Science and TJ. RM can not compete with them.

The PP said " county", so schools like Bronx Sciences and TJ don't count and those school are whole Magnets while RM is not. However, RM doesn't have the highest number in the county. That belongs to Blair overall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:RMIB has higher stats probably due to location- people who have options may choose did to commute choose RM over Blair and PHS. Poolesville is in the middle of nowhere and getting back and forth is a big commitment.

Higher stats in what?

Overall- RM has the highest number of NMSFs in the entire county. My friends daughter went there and then Yale.

Not, that belongs to Blair

[Anonymous]

For comp sci - SMCS

I have had my own children and nieces and nephews go through both RMIB and PHS programs. A good fit between program and student is very important.
In terms of rigor RMIB is intense because of the whole lot of requirements around extended essay and CAS hours for IB diploma. It is a great all round education and prepares students for college very well.

PHS SMCS is the same as the Blair SMACS program but much less pressure cooker, and really good for STEM. RMIB kids don't have to study for APs because the IB prep is so intense. PHS SMCS kids usually graduate with 9-15 APs. Calc BC, Stats, 2 - 4 Physics, Chem, Bio, English lang, EngLit, FL lang, NSL, APUSH, APWorld, Comp Sci are common APs Kids dp take some easy APs by self study too - Human Geography, Enviro, Psych etc.

[Anonymous]

Dear PP
Thank you for your detailed explanation of the SMACS program. I think it’s more inclined for kids who have out of the box thinking and want to be challenged. Other than that IB program and SMACs are equally challenging and needs hard work . It’s on every kid to decide how much pressure to take and how to over come it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:RMIB has higher stats probably due to location- people who have options may choose did to commute choose RM over Blair and PHS. Poolesville is in the middle of nowhere and getting back and forth is a big commitment.

Higher stats in what?

Overall- RM has the highest number of NMSFs in the entire county. My friends daughter went there and then Yale.

I do not think this is true. Some years Blair is definitely higher and then there are whole school magnets like Bronx HS of Science and TJ. RM can not compete with them.

The PP said " county", so schools like Bronx Sciences and TJ don't count and those school are whole Magnets while RM is not. However, RM doesn't have the highest number in the county. That belongs to Blair overall.

You are right. I read county as country..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Poolsville Smcs or RM IB ? Dc got invited to both these program. Can someone throw some light on which one to chose when Dc is inclined towards Computer Science.

I recommend RMIB - not for the Computer Science, but for the overall program which is just more well rounded than Poolesville SMCS. If your student is interested in Computer Science in the long run, no need to rush in HS. Instead, take the time to flesh out other skills, like writing.

I have had one kid in RMIB and the other in Poolesville SMCS. I was much more impressed with the instruction at RM and the courses at RM than I was with the instruction at Poolesville. Don't get me wrong, the Poolesville teachers are very nice, but they are just doing their own thing curriculum-wise, whereas the IB diploma was a more rigorous, thorough curriculum, and the teachers really seemed to put together well constructed lessons and projects.. A lot of the SMCS computer science the first two year is independent work on Code.org and other external websites. Not a lot of instruction. My DC was unimpressed and uninterested, and didn't choose to continue any Comp Sci after 10th grade.

So PP, I am confused, if desired, a kid can stop comps sci classes whenever they want as part of the smacs program at poolesville or did u mean to say he left the program after 10th grade?

[Anonymous]

How is the extended day for smacs, is it tiring,it seems exhausting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Poolsville Smcs or RM IB ? Dc got invited to both these program. Can someone throw some light on which one to chose when Dc is inclined towards Computer Science.

I recommend RMIB - not for the Computer Science, but for the overall program which is just more well rounded than Poolesville SMCS. If your student is interested in Computer Science in the long run, no need to rush in HS. Instead, take the time to flesh out other skills, like writing.

I have had one kid in RMIB and the other in Poolesville SMCS. I was much more impressed with the instruction at RM and the courses at RM than I was with the instruction at Poolesville. Don't get me wrong, the Poolesville teachers are very nice, but they are just doing their own thing curriculum-wise, whereas the IB diploma was a more rigorous, thorough curriculum, and the teachers really seemed to put together well constructed lessons and projects.. A lot of the SMCS computer science the first two year is independent work on Code.org and other external websites. Not a lot of instruction. My DC was unimpressed and uninterested, and didn't choose to continue any Comp Sci after 10th grade.

So PP, I am confused, if desired, a kid can stop comps sci classes whenever they want as part of the smacs program at poolesville or did u mean to say he left the program after 10th grade?

They can stop taking compsci classes and stay in the magnet. It is math/science/comp sci. You can focus on one area in 11th and 12th if desired. You have to take certain core classes and a certain number of electives to graduate from the magnet.

[Anonymous]

Back to NMSF for a minute. You would think that RMIB or Poolesville would be higher, given that English is doubled in the PSAT’s, but nope, Blair still dominates. Colleges love IB though.

[Anonymous]

While my child chose Blair over RMIB, one thing I thought of at the time was that an IB Diploma was a real recognized credential. The Blair/Poolesville Magnets are also great but unique to MCPS. I do think colleges are aware of them but outside of that it is just an extra piece of paper.

[Anonymous]

depends who you talk to. I ran in math circles(in the U.S.) some 25 years ago, and I definitely knew Blair (and TJ).

Never heard of IB until I moved to Europe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:depends who you talk to. I ran in math circles(in the U.S.) some 25 years ago, and I definitely knew Blair (and TJ).

Never heard of IB until I moved to Europe.

If your experience was from 25 yrs ago, I really don't think it applies now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:RMIB has higher stats probably due to location- people who have options may choose did to commute choose RM over Blair and PHS. Poolesville is in the middle of nowhere and getting back and forth is a big commitment.

Higher stats reflect county-wide competition vs. regional.

+1 RMIB and Blair have higher stats due to county-wide competition. Not that it matters much in the end. Poolesville offers a great curriculum and high-achieving cohort, too. I would choose based on whether humanities/writing or STEM focus was better fit for my child. For a kid strong in both, I'd lean RMIB, unless the commute was too hard. For a kid who primarily wants comp sci, Poolesville.

[Anonymous]

Poolesville being a small school compared to RM and Blair kids in either program form good strong bonds. When an student is in highly competitive program from any school need good support system to pull through. So pulling down any school be is RM, Blair or Poolesville is not the right thing to do. Regarding college admissions all these kids who are selected to any of the 3 schools above are high achievers so in short any hardworking student will benefit from all the 3 schools in any program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:depends who you talk to. I ran in math circles(in the U.S.) some 25 years ago, and I definitely knew Blair (and TJ).

Never heard of IB until I moved to Europe.

Yes, the Blair program is known all over and by top corporations: Siemens, Lockheed Martin, Intel, Regeneron etc...