Middle school magnet and MAP scores

[Anonymous]

I just can't really fathom that people are hardcore gearing up for appeals when results haven't come out yet. I mean, you know your child is not likely to get in, but you are going to insist then get in anyway, without really having a chance to know the alternative? Did you even look into your home MS besides glancing at the kids who walk by at 3pm each day?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just can't really fathom that people are hardcore gearing up for appeals when results haven't come out yet. I mean, you know your child is not likely to get in, but you are going to insist then get in anyway, without really having a chance to know the alternative? Did you even look into your home MS besides glancing at the kids who walk by at 3pm each day?

Yeah, appeals are only for rejections. Waitlisted kids don't need an appeal as they are automatically reviewed when spots open up. The selections are not a lottery... they go back to top CogAT score and review from there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just can't really fathom that people are hardcore gearing up for appeals when results haven't come out yet. I mean, you know your child is not likely to get in, but you are going to insist then get in anyway, without really having a chance to know the alternative? Did you even look into your home MS besides glancing at the kids who walk by at 3pm each day?

Yeah, appeals are only for rejections. Waitlisted kids don't need an appeal as they are automatically reviewed when spots open up. The selections are not a lottery... they go back to top CogAT score and review from there.

Well in that case I really don't see the point! You'd think the kids who were originally waitlisted would stand a much better chance of being offered admission than kids who have been put on the waitlist due to appeal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just can't really fathom that people are hardcore gearing up for appeals when results haven't come out yet. I mean, you know your child is not likely to get in, but you are going to insist then get in anyway, without really having a chance to know the alternative? Did you even look into your home MS besides glancing at the kids who walk by at 3pm each day?

Yeah, appeals are only for rejections. Waitlisted kids don't need an appeal as they are automatically reviewed when spots open up. The selections are not a lottery... they go back to top CogAT score and review from there.

Well in that case I really don't see the point! You'd think the kids who were originally waitlisted would stand a much better chance of being offered admission than kids who have been put on the waitlist due to appeal.

That is a correct assumption. However, some parents feel they must appeal regardless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid's map-m jumped from 277 in fall to 296 in winter. Will definitely appeal use this as part of the evidence if not accepted. I know some ppl did it last year and succeeded so definitely worth a try and tell your kid to treat this round seriously.

Based on past year results I don't think your childs map score is well within the range of kids that are accepted. If they didn't get in it would have been another of the criteria like CogAT.

Errr I mean your childs MAP score IS safely within the range of kids that were admitted in years past.

NP here. PP, can you give us a sense of the range of MAP-M scores you’ve seen in years past, for admitted students?

There have been a lot of posts here in the past. The map is just one of several criteria. The majority of the kids are 99%. I don't think they look at the number score. The vast majority are in the 255-265 range. Sure there are outliers on either end. There are some with 270+. There were also some kids in the 245-250 range but it's likely there were other factors at least that's my guess. The county released some data about it a year or two ago. It was linked on this board. My recollections are just that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just can't really fathom that people are hardcore gearing up for appeals when results haven't come out yet. I mean, you know your child is not likely to get in, but you are going to insist then get in anyway, without really having a chance to know the alternative? Did you even look into your home MS besides glancing at the kids who walk by at 3pm each day?

Another reason I'm glad I live in the boundary for TPMS is none of this insanity matters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid's map-m jumped from 277 in fall to 296 in winter. Will definitely appeal use this as part of the evidence if not accepted. I know some ppl did it last year and succeeded so definitely worth a try and tell your kid to treat this round seriously.

Based on past year results I don't think your childs map score is well within the range of kids that are accepted. If they didn't get in it would have been another of the criteria like CogAT.

Errr I mean your childs MAP score IS safely within the range of kids that were admitted in years past.

NP here. PP, can you give us a sense of the range of MAP-M scores you’ve seen in years past, for admitted students?

There have been a lot of posts here in the past. The map is just one of several criteria. The majority of the kids are 99%. I don't think they look at the number score. The vast majority are in the 255-265 range. Sure there are outliers on either end. There are some with 270+. There were also some kids in the 245-250 range but it's likely there were other factors at least that's my guess. The county released some data about it a year or two ago. It was linked on this board. My recollections are just that.

Thanks for taking the time to post this very helpful information.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid's map-m jumped from 277 in fall to 296 in winter. Will definitely appeal use this as part of the evidence if not accepted. I know some ppl did it last year and succeeded so definitely worth a try and tell your kid to treat this round seriously.

Based on past year results I don't think your childs map score is well within the range of kids that are accepted. If they didn't get in it would have been another of the criteria like CogAT.

Errr I mean your childs MAP score IS safely within the range of kids that were admitted in years past.

NP here. PP, can you give us a sense of the range of MAP-M scores you’ve seen in years past, for admitted students?

There have been a lot of posts here in the past. The map is just one of several criteria. The majority of the kids are 99%. I don't think they look at the number score. The vast majority are in the 255-265 range. Sure there are outliers on either end. There are some with 270+. There were also some kids in the 245-250 range but it's likely there were other factors at least that's my guess. The county released some data about it a year or two ago. It was linked on this board. My recollections are just that.

Thanks for taking the time to post this very helpful information.

5-10% admitted students are ranked at 75-85% but MCPS thinks they have potential. Don't know how many of these kids decided to attend.

[Anonymous]

OP, understand that the MAP tests are not aptitude tests. They are taken three times a year to measure growth in a particular subject. Yes, a higher score is better than a lower one, but a single score typically only reflects exposure to material. Tracking them over the course of a school year, or several school years can indicate the ability to apply new concepts or show a plateau where new ideas are not being applied. That's what the test was designed for. The CogAT test is based on applied reasoning/critical thinking and is the primary focus for the magnet selection. The MAP scores may be looked at in a decision making process for waitlisted kids with similar CogAT scores, but if it comes to that it's likely they are looking at the growth over many test instead of a single high score.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just can't really fathom that people are hardcore gearing up for appeals when results haven't come out yet. I mean, you know your child is not likely to get in, but you are going to insist then get in anyway, without really having a chance to know the alternative? Did you even look into your home MS besides glancing at the kids who walk by at 3pm each day?

Yeah, appeals are only for rejections. Waitlisted kids don't need an appeal as they are automatically reviewed when spots open up. The selections are not a lottery... they go back to top CogAT score and review from there.

Well in that case I really don't see the point! You'd think the kids who were originally waitlisted would stand a much better chance of being offered admission than kids who have been put on the waitlist due to appeal.

That is a correct assumption. However, some parents feel they must appeal regardless.

Are you saying that the process for middle school magnets is different from the process for CESs? For CES selection, every student in the waitpool is considered qualified, and when students are selected from the waitpool for admission, they are selected at random. But you’re saying that there’s no waitpool for the middle school magnets, instead there’s an actual ranked waitlist?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child got accepted to TPMS last year with a fall MAP-M of 246. Other kids with higher scores were not accepted (based on DCUM posts at the time). Admission depends on more than just that score.

PP, thank you for this helpful information. Are you willing to tell us what your home middle school is? Or (if you’re not comfortable with that) maybe something broader, like your assigned high school?

The home MS is Banneker, seen in this document as having a pretty small cohort: https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/schools/msmagnet/about/MS%20Magnet%20Field%20Test%20Data%20by%20Sending%20MS.pdf

My kid did have good grades, PARCC, CoGAT, etc.

NP, can you explain how that document works? My kids home middle school IS TPMS. Which isn’t listed. How does this cohort issue work for TPMS kids? I heard somewhere that there were extra spots for kids in boundary for TPMS but can’t find any confirmation for that. Perhaps it’s urban legend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just can't really fathom that people are hardcore gearing up for appeals when results haven't come out yet. I mean, you know your child is not likely to get in, but you are going to insist then get in anyway, without really having a chance to know the alternative? Did you even look into your home MS besides glancing at the kids who walk by at 3pm each day?

Yeah, appeals are only for rejections. Waitlisted kids don't need an appeal as they are automatically reviewed when spots open up. The selections are not a lottery... they go back to top CogAT score and review from there.

Well in that case I really don't see the point! You'd think the kids who were originally waitlisted would stand a much better chance of being offered admission than kids who have been put on the waitlist due to appeal.

That is a correct assumption. However, some parents feel they must appeal regardless.

Are you saying that the process for middle school magnets is different from the process for CESs? For CES selection, every student in the waitpool is considered qualified, and when students are selected from the waitpool for admission, they are selected at random. But you’re saying that there’s no waitpool for the middle school magnets, instead there’s an actual ranked waitlist?

Correct, it is a different process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just can't really fathom that people are hardcore gearing up for appeals when results haven't come out yet. I mean, you know your child is not likely to get in, but you are going to insist then get in anyway, without really having a chance to know the alternative? Did you even look into your home MS besides glancing at the kids who walk by at 3pm each day?

I'm the PP with kid just scored 296 on winter MAP-M. We are zoned to a W-school and yes, my DC is Asian and is a boy. Of course I did tons of research of home MS as well as TPMS curriculum, and I know the latter fits my DC while the former doesn't. All I did for math enrichment since he was a kindergartner is throwing Beast Academy, and then AOPS pre-algebra and geometry textbooks to him (together with answer books for self-check), and he felt reading them as exciting and enjoyable as reading Captain Underpants or Rick Riordian. Not to mention his achievement in all sorts of math competitions including AMC8. Yet I saw multiple Asian boys with similar metrics and backgrounds got rejected or waitlist in the past two years. Some of them appealed and got in eventually. I think that's a wise choice and that's something I plan to do as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just can't really fathom that people are hardcore gearing up for appeals when results haven't come out yet. I mean, you know your child is not likely to get in, but you are going to insist then get in anyway, without really having a chance to know the alternative? Did you even look into your home MS besides glancing at the kids who walk by at 3pm each day?

Yeah, appeals are only for rejections. Waitlisted kids don't need an appeal as they are automatically reviewed when spots open up. The selections are not a lottery... they go back to top CogAT score and review from there.

Well in that case I really don't see the point! You'd think the kids who were originally waitlisted would stand a much better chance of being offered admission than kids who have been put on the waitlist due to appeal.

That is a correct assumption. However, some parents feel they must appeal regardless.

Are you saying that the process for middle school magnets is different from the process for CESs? For CES selection, every student in the waitpool is considered qualified, and when students are selected from the waitpool for admission, they are selected at random. But you’re saying that there’s no waitpool for the middle school magnets, instead there’s an actual ranked waitlist?

Our kid was accepted to one program and waitlisted in another. The waitlist letter said, verbatim, 'Your child is in the wait pool for the program. If vacancies occur, students in the wait pool will be reviewed to fill seats'. …. 'Students who are in the wait pool are automatically part of the first level appeals process. Therefore, it is unnecessary to submit an appeal letter. All necessary information will be collected through MCPS student records. Please refrain from sending samples of your child's work or teacher recommendations'.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just can't really fathom that people are hardcore gearing up for appeals when results haven't come out yet. I mean, you know your child is not likely to get in, but you are going to insist then get in anyway, without really having a chance to know the alternative? Did you even look into your home MS besides glancing at the kids who walk by at 3pm each day?

I'm the PP with kid just scored 296 on winter MAP-M. We are zoned to a W-school and yes, my DC is Asian and is a boy. Of course I did tons of research of home MS as well as TPMS curriculum, and I know the latter fits my DC while the former doesn't. All I did for math enrichment since he was a kindergartner is throwing Beast Academy, and then AOPS pre-algebra and geometry textbooks to him (together with answer books for self-check), and he felt reading them as exciting and enjoyable as reading Captain Underpants or Rick Riordian. Not to mention his achievement in all sorts of math competitions including AMC8. Yet I saw multiple Asian boys with similar metrics and backgrounds got rejected or waitlist in the past two years. Some of them appealed and got in eventually. I think that's a wise choice and that's something I plan to do as well.

If your child has 99% mcps on the cogat he seems like a shoe in. I think that probably carries the most weight.