Transferring to magnet from private on middle school

[Anonymous]

DD has scored very well on magnet prep class practice test. They rank kids and she is in the competitive range. My DD currently attends private... I talk with friends and hear mixed things. What says dcurbanmom?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD has scored very well on magnet prep class practice test. They rank kids and she is in the competitive range. My DD currently attends private... I talk with friends and hear mixed things. What says dcurbanmom?

I say "magnet prep class"????? Seriously?
Can you be more specific about the mixed things you are hearing or what your concerns are. DC is at Eastern and could not be happier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD has scored very well on magnet prep class practice test. They rank kids and she is in the competitive range. My DD currently attends private... I talk with friends and hear mixed things. What says dcurbanmom?

I say go for it! Why not? In my extended family there are three kids, all went to magnet. One took the test with no prep, another worked on some SAT practice tests on her own, another went through a prep class because he could not sit still for any period of time on his own.

So what? People are judgemental regardless of what you do, but, if your kid can go for coaching and practice for sports then they can go for coaching and tutoring for academics as well. When colleges look at your SAT scores they don't ask what kind of prep you did to get those scores.

[Anonymous]

My three kids all attend/attended middle and HS magnets. I have never heard of a prep class or test.

The magnets are great. Your child will get a great education there if she is admitted.

[Anonymous]

Where is this prep class and who offers it?

[Anonymous]

troll

[Anonymous]

No, there really are prep courses for TJ.

[Anonymous]

I just got an ad e-mail offering to prep my child for the InView and Raven so I am sure they must exist for MS!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD has scored very well on magnet prep class practice test. They rank kids and she is in the competitive range. My DD currently attends private... I talk with friends and hear mixed things. What says dcurbanmom?

I say "magnet prep class"????? Seriously?
Can you be more specific about the mixed things you are hearing or what your concerns are. DC is at Eastern and could not be happier.

OP here...
I have friends whose kids have been through the magnet program. The concern that I have is that the kids are mixed for non core classes with the general population and the school overall is rough. My DD is not great socially so I'm concerned about the possible transfer. I have one friend who transferred to magnet middle and says it's better than public but does not rave about it....Another pulled DD out after a short time and back private. I'd love to try but since I have to get teacher recommendations etc, I really don't want to do this unless I am serious. I signed my kid up for a magnet prep class more to help her work on vocab and math...so I was surprised at how well she did. I don't want to give more info on it. They only want kids through word of mouth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have one friend who transferred to magnet middle and says it's better than public but does not rave about it....

Magnet middle IS public.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD has scored very well on magnet prep class practice test. They rank kids and she is in the competitive range. My DD currently attends private... I talk with friends and hear mixed things. What says dcurbanmom?

I say "magnet prep class"????? Seriously?
Can you be more specific about the mixed things you are hearing or what your concerns are. DC is at Eastern and could not be happier.

OP here...
I have friends whose kids have been through the magnet program. The concern that I have is that the kids are mixed for non core classes with the general population and the school overall is rough. My DD is not great socially so I'm concerned about the possible transfer. I have one friend who transferred to magnet middle and says it's better than public but does not rave about it....Another pulled DD out after a short time and back private. I'd love to try but since I have to get teacher recommendations etc, I really don't want to do this unless I am serious. I signed my kid up for a magnet prep class more to help her work on vocab and math...so I was surprised at how well she did. I don't want to give more info on it. They only want kids through word of mouth.

I am not sure which magnet middle school you are interested in. If it is Eastern, then yes, the school as a whole is rough around the edges and I do have concerns about this. However, the magnet kids are in nearly all their classes together (except for PE) and since there is no recess in middle school, this really limits the time they are with the general population. Takoma Park I think is a really nice school overall but I have heard the program is not as well put together as the one at Eastern, but I do not have personal experience with this program. I suggest you go to the Eastern magnet website and look at the curriculum for the magnet program. It is very impressive and imo much better than anything they would get at a good private school. The Math is the regular MCPS Math so there are a lot of kids taking Algebra and IM in sixth grade. "Advanced" science is the subject I have the biggest problem with - this is probably the one area where your child would be better off in a good private school.

[Anonymous]

6th grade family at Takoma here. Program is fabulous so far. Teachers all seem really strong. I actually have heard more roughness from Eastern co-horts than I hear from my child about Takoma.

Eastern mixes all the grades in the hallways; Takoma has a dedicated 6th grade hallway. I think that helps.

[Anonymous]

Don't do it OP. So far 2.0 hasn't hit the Magnets and GT programs as bad but I would not trust that it will not change. You're starting to see much fiercer competition as parents try to escape 2.0 so its great that your DD can get in. If she is that academically advanced, you should be staying in private unless you just can't afford it anymore. MCPS is going down the drain.

We had planned to do public magnet or home school (W school) but we're saving for private HS for both kids now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't do it OP. So far 2.0 hasn't hit the Magnets and GT programs as bad but I would not trust that it will not change. You're starting to see much fiercer competition as parents try to escape 2.0 so its great that your DD can get in. If she is that academically advanced, you should be staying in private unless you just can't afford it anymore. MCPS is going down the drain.

We had planned to do public magnet or home school (W school) but we're saving for private HS for both kids now.

(Probably the PP is giving you this advice in order to reduce the competition for the PP's child, who is applying to the middle-school magnet program this fall.)

[Anonymous]

No we're in ES. We are planning on magnets for MS because we can't afford to switch to private now. We have to wait until HS.