Magnet/IB MCPS public schools and admission into top colleges

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I would say that it is harder to stand out at a magnet program. I don’t think it gives you an advantage quite honestly. Lots of great reasons to attend a magnet program but college admissions isn’t one of them.

What seems to matter for elite institutions is having some kind of hook - high level athletics, music or national awards in science or CS competitions etc.
you can look at prior years magnet destinations to see how many kids end up at mit or cal tech or CMU. It is highly variable from year to year and it is not clear to me that magnet programs have an edge over a regular high school with a good science program

Where can I find prior years college destinations from the magnet programs? Is it in a separate thread on this forum?

I do not believe they officially release that info. The year my kid graduated, within my kid's close friends of a dozen or so, 1 to P, 2 to MIT, 1 Brown, a few to Cornell, 1 to Yale, and a few to UMD w/ merit. I don't remember anyone to H or Caltech but again this is only about dozen kids or so. I know it's just a data point, nothing more.

My DD and DS graduated from Blair in 2018 and 2016, and have a freshman currently at Blair. DD is a top Ivy doing economics and applied math, DS in Ivy doing finance. I would say that approx 20-30 from the magnet class for both kids went to top schools. and about a half went to UMD (many got great scholarship money). In order to stand out at Blair, agree with OP, high GPA, near perfect SAT/ACT, AP's with 4 and 5's, some leadership in school clubs (though does not matter much), national level awards whether it is USACO, USAMO, USAPhO, quiz bowls and many others. Individual awards are considered more prestigious than team awards for obvious reasons. If kid in research, then Science fair awards going to ISEF and conference presentations/ peer reviewed publications. Service/ volunteering is also big for top schools. I remember my DC was asked in interviews about what they did, as they also included anecdotes about volunteering in essays. All in all, it is certainly more difficult to stand out at Blair as many kids have top academic grades. You have to stand out in many more extracurriculars to be clearly noticed.

This is spot on. High stats are necessary but not sufficient. You also need top notch extracurricular accomplishments- national awards etc. to get into a top 20 school.

Seems right. But this is the rule everywhere, it may feel like the direct competition is other Blair students, but really it's that there are many other Blairs out there, and many other talented students who aren't at magnets. Being at a magnet isn't necessary. Personal accomplishment will trump magnet coursework, too.

I agree with the first sentence of the bolded and disagree with the second. Can't we all just agree that admissions offices look at the whole picture?

A kid who has slightly less "personal accomplishment" at a magnet than a kid with slightly more "personal accomplishment" at a non-magnet has roughly even odds of admission (all else being equal). But it is the combination of rigor, GPA, test scores, extras, and accomplishments. You increase your odds by increasing as many of those as possible.

Admissions can look kindly on autodidacts. There's a difference between a kid who worked through linear algebra on their own, and someone who took it senior year because that was prescribed. Don't forget the colleges believe they educate students so they're open to students who will hit the ground running even if they didn't come from a magnet. Magnets offer all sorts of advantages, but convert on that in high school, don't expect the reputation to follow through buy default.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would say that it is harder to stand out at a magnet program. I don’t think it gives you an advantage quite honestly. Lots of great reasons to attend a magnet program but college admissions isn’t one of them.

What seems to matter for elite institutions is having some kind of hook - high level athletics, music or national awards in science or CS competitions etc.
you can look at prior years magnet destinations to see how many kids end up at mit or cal tech or CMU. It is highly variable from year to year and it is not clear to me that magnet programs have an edge over a regular high school with a good science program

Where can I find prior years college destinations from the magnet programs? Is it in a separate thread on this forum?

I do not believe they officially release that info. The year my kid graduated, within my kid's close friends of a dozen or so, 1 to P, 2 to MIT, 1 Brown, a few to Cornell, 1 to Yale, and a few to UMD w/ merit. I don't remember anyone to H or Caltech but again this is only about dozen kids or so. I know it's just a data point, nothing more.

My DD and DS graduated from Blair in 2018 and 2016, and have a freshman currently at Blair. DD is a top Ivy doing economics and applied math, DS in Ivy doing finance. I would say that approx 20-30 from the magnet class for both kids went to top schools. and about a half went to UMD (many got great scholarship money). In order to stand out at Blair, agree with OP, high GPA, near perfect SAT/ACT, AP's with 4 and 5's, some leadership in school clubs (though does not matter much), national level awards whether it is USACO, USAMO, USAPhO, quiz bowls and many others. Individual awards are considered more prestigious than team awards for obvious reasons. If kid in research, then Science fair awards going to ISEF and conference presentations/ peer reviewed publications. Service/ volunteering is also big for top schools. I remember my DC was asked in interviews about what they did, as they also included anecdotes about volunteering in essays. All in all, it is certainly more difficult to stand out at Blair as many kids have top academic grades. You have to stand out in many more extracurriculars to be clearly noticed.

This is spot on. High stats are necessary but not sufficient. You also need top notch extracurricular accomplishments- national awards etc. to get into a top 20 school.

Seems right. But this is the rule everywhere, it may feel like the direct competition is other Blair students, but really it's that there are many other Blairs out there, and many other talented students who aren't at magnets. Being at a magnet isn't necessary. Personal accomplishment will trump magnet coursework, too.

I agree with the first sentence of the bolded and disagree with the second. Can't we all just agree that admissions offices look at the whole picture?

A kid who has slightly less "personal accomplishment" at a magnet than a kid with slightly more "personal accomplishment" at a non-magnet has roughly even odds of admission (all else being equal). But it is the combination of rigor, GPA, test scores, extras, and accomplishments. You increase your odds by increasing as many of those as possible.

Admissions can look kindly on autodidacts. There's a difference between a kid who worked through linear algebra on their own, and someone who took it senior year because that was prescribed. Don't forget the colleges believe they educate students so they're open to students who will hit the ground running even if they didn't come from a magnet. Magnets offer all sorts of advantages, but convert on that in high school, don't expect the reputation to follow through buy default.

This is off base. What about choosing from a variety of advanced and specific courses is autodidactic? Linear Algebra as a class is impressive, especially if it is take after Multi-variable and Differential Equations. This is all beyond Calc BC. I wouldn't advise a kid to try to self study for that. There's no real point or means of evaluation for it. Earning a 5 on Calc BC as a soph helps a kid stand out. Magnet coursework can help a transcript stand out as rigorous and/or reflect a passion. Kids can take Quantum Physics, Discrete Math, Complex Analysis, Marine Bio etc etc. Having an assignment submitted for national competition as part of the coursework and finding out you won helps a kid stand out. There are many advantages to the program and ways for students to differentiate themselves from one another.

That said, magnets aren't a golden ticket. I agree w/ another PP who mentioned needing to stand out, not just in coursework. And, I agree that students can get attention from top colleges in many ways. But, no need to try to poo poo the magnets. Just do your own thang if it's not for your kid.