MoCo magnets

[Anonymous]

With the applications due on Friday, is anybody else wondering if this process is a little much to put 5th and 8th graders through?

The odds of getting in to the math or communications magnets approach that of an Ivy-League school. That is, about 700 kids apply for 90-100 slots. Moreover, the decision-making process is not really transparent. For example, if you go to the open houses, the administrators are really clear about the fact that they look at the impact on the home schools and they won't take too many from any particular school even if all the applicants are stellar.

So is anybody else wondering, if my kid goes through this for middle school and again for high school, what will be the impact on their morale by the time they need to apply to college?

[Anonymous]

Your kids are wondering why their mother hasn't figured out that MoCo isn't in DC and whether or not her stupidity will affect their chances of getting an Ivy League education.

I think they're right to doubt you.

Try posting this is in proper forum and see if anyone over there cares.

[Anonymous]

There is no MoCo forum comparable to DCUM. Lots of people post MoCo questions here (if you checked around on DCUM you'd know this).

What is your problem -- unfocussed hostility to everybody and everything? Should we worry about your kids?

[Anonymous]

I agree that I would not want to have the PP as an acquaintance, much less a parent, but what the PP may have meant is that questions about MoCo schools are usually asked in the "Schools General Discussion" forum, rather than the "DC Public Schools" forum.

I don't have any real answers for you, but my sense is that at worst it will be good preparation for the whole family for the oddities of college admissions.

[Anonymous]

Maybe she's territorial as well as nasty, sort of like a junkyard dog. I've heard that valium can do wonders for this.