Got into both CAP and Blair Magnet, but...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, people haven't heard yet this year--this thread was started in February 2016.

The post that revived it is confusing

[Anonymous]

They have have completely different focuses. Communication/arts vs STEM. SMAC is harder to get into as the selecting pool is larger. Both have good reputations.

[Anonymous]

I'm the OP from 2016 thread. DC decided on CAP. Loves almost all the CAP classes, but is fairly bored in honors math and physics. Friends in the magnet program seem to have more homework, but DC is sometimes wistful about missing the high-level math classes. And now we're trying to figure out how to fit in the cool math/science courses among the required CAP classes. It would be nice if there was a way to do both. Maybe that's what IB is about, but that wasn't something we considered because Richard Montgomery is too far away. Hope this helps for those deciding this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm the OP from 2016 thread. DC decided on CAP. Loves almost all the CAP classes, but is fairly bored in honors math and physics. Friends in the magnet program seem to have more homework, but DC is sometimes wistful about missing the high-level math classes. And now we're trying to figure out how to fit in the cool math/science courses among the required CAP classes. It would be nice if there was a way to do both. Maybe that's what IB is about, but that wasn't something we considered because Richard Montgomery is too far away. Hope this helps for those deciding this year.

OP. I am very curious to know whether your CAP child has been able to take/enroll in any SMAC classes.

[Anonymous]

CAP students typically do not have access to SMAC electives until their junior year...assuming they have the pre-recs.

[Anonymous]

..and that is not just CAP students..it is any Blair student btw

[Anonymous]

For those of you choosing between SMAC and CAP there are significant differences in the academic experience you can expect. Although any Blair student can theoretically take a SMAC elective if they meet the prereqs and there is room in the class (magnet kids get priority), it is hard to take many SMAC electives if you are a non magnet student. Magnet students take 4 magnet math and science classes every semester in 9th and 10th grade and then have to take at least 10 magnet classes in 11th and 12th grade to graduate from the program. This is in addition to working on a Senior Research Project which takes them around a year to complete. It is a very different experience from taking a few magnet electives in high school.
For those of you who are worried that your kid will spend four years doing math worksheets and memorizing the periodic table, the SMAC program does encourage interdisciplinary work, and the curriculum stresses creativity, original thought, experimentation, problem solving, working collaboratively with other students etc. My kid was trying to decide between SMAC, CAP and RMIB a couple of years ago and he is very happy with his decision to pick SMAC. Like the OP's child, he loves science but also enjoys history and English and is quite intellectual. He takes his Social Studies and English classes primarily with other magnet students (typically very intelligent and curious students), the teaching and curriculum have been very good in these subjects. Not on par with the CAP curriculum but certainly at the level of the best high schools in MCPS. The CAP program is very intense for the first two years and it tapers off in 11th and 12th grade. SMAC retains its intensity (and workload) for all four years.
Bottom line, choose the program you are most excited about but I don't think it is realistic to expect you can enroll in CAP and enjoy a meaningful magnet experience through taking a few magnet electives.

[Anonymous]

OP here and I agree with PP. We are trying now to figure out how to do prerequisites for a few magnet classes, but it won't be the same. I really hope this thread is helpful -- we were quite lost last year trying to decide.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here and I agree with PP. We are trying now to figure out how to do prerequisites for a few magnet classes, but it won't be the same. I really hope this thread is helpful -- we were quite lost last year trying to decide.

This thread is very helpful. We are going through the same decision now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for the input. Anyone create a good comparison chart to use as a starting point to help walk a child through some criteria to make a decision. Basics and then kid can add a few more??

Yes, great question - please share if you have one!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those of you choosing between SMAC and CAP there are significant differences in the academic experience you can expect. Although any Blair student can theoretically take a SMAC elective if they meet the prereqs and there is room in the class (magnet kids get priority), it is hard to take many SMAC electives if you are a non magnet student. Magnet students take 4 magnet math and science classes every semester in 9th and 10th grade and then have to take at least 10 magnet classes in 11th and 12th grade to graduate from the program. This is in addition to working on a Senior Research Project which takes them around a year to complete. It is a very different experience from taking a few magnet electives in high school.
For those of you who are worried that your kid will spend four years doing math worksheets and memorizing the periodic table, the SMAC program does encourage interdisciplinary work, and the curriculum stresses creativity, original thought, experimentation, problem solving, working collaboratively with other students etc. My kid was trying to decide between SMAC, CAP and RMIB a couple of years ago and he is very happy with his decision to pick SMAC. Like the OP's child, he loves science but also enjoys history and English and is quite intellectual. He takes his Social Studies and English classes primarily with other magnet students (typically very intelligent and curious students), the teaching and curriculum have been very good in these subjects. Not on par with the CAP curriculum but certainly at the level of the best high schools in MCPS. The CAP program is very intense for the first two years and it tapers off in 11th and 12th grade. SMAC retains its intensity (and workload) for all four years.
Bottom line, choose the program you are most excited about but I don't think it is realistic to expect you can enroll in CAP and enjoy a meaningful magnet experience through taking a few magnet electives.

Thank you. Child accepted at CAP and RMIB (attended a MS magnet but not accepted at SMAC )... he is now trying to decide which of the two programs. Please share advice on how to decide. He is conflicted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those of you choosing between SMAC and CAP there are significant differences in the academic experience you can expect. Although any Blair student can theoretically take a SMAC elective if they meet the prereqs and there is room in the class (magnet kids get priority), it is hard to take many SMAC electives if you are a non magnet student. Magnet students take 4 magnet math and science classes every semester in 9th and 10th grade and then have to take at least 10 magnet classes in 11th and 12th grade to graduate from the program. This is in addition to working on a Senior Research Project which takes them around a year to complete. It is a very different experience from taking a few magnet electives in high school.
For those of you who are worried that your kid will spend four years doing math worksheets and memorizing the periodic table, the SMAC program does encourage interdisciplinary work, and the curriculum stresses creativity, original thought, experimentation, problem solving, working collaboratively with other students etc. My kid was trying to decide between SMAC, CAP and RMIB a couple of years ago and he is very happy with his decision to pick SMAC. Like the OP's child, he loves science but also enjoys history and English and is quite intellectual. He takes his Social Studies and English classes primarily with other magnet students (typically very intelligent and curious students), the teaching and curriculum have been very good in these subjects. Not on par with the CAP curriculum but certainly at the level of the best high schools in MCPS. The CAP program is very intense for the first two years and it tapers off in 11th and 12th grade. SMAC retains its intensity (and workload) for all four years.
Bottom line, choose the program you are most excited about but I don't think it is realistic to expect you can enroll in CAP and enjoy a meaningful magnet experience through taking a few magnet electives.

Thank you. Child accepted at CAP and RMIB (attended a MS magnet but not accepted at SMAC )... he is now trying to decide which of the two programs. Please share advice on how to decide. He is conflicted[u].

I am the PP. My kid was accepted at CAP and RMIB (and SMAC). From what we saw after shadowing and talking to people, RMIB is much more rigorous and more intellectually challenging and the peer group is stronger than CAP. CAP is more laid back, there are a lot of creative people in the program. My kid ended up picking SMAC but if he had not gone to SMAC he would have attended CAP. He thought RMIB would have been too much of a grind (and pressure cooker) and he also loved the atmosphere at Blair High School. One more thing to be aware of is that the CAP program does taper off in 11th and 12th grade. Does your child have any specific priorities or concerns? What my child was turned on or turned off by is unique to my child. Also, not dissing either program - they are both great in their own ways and we know lots of kids in both programs who are happy.

[Anonymous]

Your kid may not be interested in engineering by 12th grade. Let him explore and do what he wants to do. That said, I've heard the peer group in the Blair magnet program is top notch and fun for a kid with those interests. What are your DC's friends doing, OP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


Do you have kids at more than one MCPS HS? It would be difficult to know the answer if you don't. My kid does really well at her school..but I assume she would be run of the mill at another school..and that school would teach to a higher level than her current one.

I don't think that would be a very good test. I've had kids at the same middle school and they do very differently and it's not due to their 'abilities' or the curriculum. So comparing the two of them at different HS (or all of my children) wouldn't work to compare schools.

A better test would be to know the abilities of students and send them off to different HSs. I do know all the students that came out of the same middle school programs and then disperse all over the county. I can compare their experiences. Most find the HS english and history to be not as engaging as their middle school program. Some find RM-IBs program to be easier than their 7th grade requirements at Eastern. But you don't hear more complaints from one HS over another. That would appear to be a better test - everyone coming from the same MS program and we know their relative abilities and expectations.

But everyone can gather than own data on that, I suppose. I would only push back on the assumption that just because it's a W school it is necessarily better Honors/AP courses. That's the issue at hand - not across the curriculum but in the honors classes.

Really?

This may be a function of age and being asked to research and write a 10 page in-depth research paper with citations (EMS) in 7th and then follow it up with a History project that requires as much critical thinking but is not a term paper. The pressure in 7th to do well on those two things is pretty intense (since they count for a majority of their grades across quarters) and formative for those kids - so much so that any similar writing challenge later may seem like a BTDT piece of cake challenge.