NMSFs Class of 2023 (MCPS)

[Anonymous]

Since all my children attended the gifted center, Takoma park, and Blair I am shocked that the NMSF proportion isn’t even higher than 50%. I suspect 80 to 90 % are commended some falling asleep during the test or not even bothering to take it as multi variable calculus is more important or they got the perfect math score in elementary or middle school!

[Anonymous]

For the last 20 years plus the half of the Blair magnet group are NMSF. You can just about take that to the bank. The other half missed the mark by point!

[Anonymous]

….a point or 2!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Blair 48
Richard Montgomery 24
Churchill 18
Poolesville 16
Whitman 11
Wootton 10
Walter Johnson 9
B-CC 5
Sherwood 2
Magruder 1
Northwest 1
Springbrook 1
Wheaton 1
Blake 0
Clarksburg 0
Damascus 0
Einstein 0
Gaithersburg 0
Kennedy 0
Northwood 0
Paint Branch 0
Quince Orchard 0
Rockville 0
Seneca Valley 0
Watkins Mill 0

Why is Blair so much better?

Because they bus most of the great test takers form all the richest areas of you county into that school to prop up its numbers. All the NMSF are from that program and all but a few of those don’t have Blair as their home school. Most likely none of the winner would have gone to Blair other wise

Wrong and wronger.
Mine is a Blair zoned "winner." Currently at Ivy League.
There are usually students from CAP and non magnet on the list.

But it is true that some families (mostly in W areas, whether at Blair or no) place a premium on testing achievement and invest in enrichment and/or specific prep. Regardless, it's a wonderful achievement.

Can we just celebrate the kids on the list without bashing those who aren't?

[Anonymous]

Any many of these kids are super super bright, a fact you need to face and stop downplaying it because it's all just the prepping. My kid is not a NMSF, yet got a really great score by looking a the paper booklet the evening prior to the test.

So true, so true. Parents who mock these kids as just preppers fail to realize their own kids prepping twice as hard for 12 years would not come close to their level of intellectual and academic achievement of many of these kids including the varsity athletes, musicians and writers. They are performing at the university level for several years before graduating from Blair.

[Anonymous]

https://mbhs.edu/departments/magnet/ParentResources/College%20Letter.pdf

https://mbhs.edu/departments/magnet/ParentResources/MagnetProfile.pdf


Atypical Blair Magnet profile over the last decade above will put in relief the pedestrian low bar of the elementary/middle school level PSAT test.

......for all the parents crying over missing the NMSF mark for low hanging academic fruit for any high school student. What when the fruit hangs high?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:


“Most of the kids I know who were NMSF and NMF were simply that good. It did not begin in the 11th grade. They were already exhibiting precocious academic performance in primary school and continued on this trajectory as undergraduates and graduate and professional students. There’s really no need to allow your envy and jealousy to belittle accomplishments you, your family and children never attained. If the latter were true would you tarnish the accomplishments of your children with illogical and senseless babble and drivel?”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Because they bus most of the great test takers form all the richest areas of you county into that school to prop up its numbers. All the NMSF are from that program and all but a few of those don’t have Blair as their home school. Most likely none of the winner would have gone to Blair other wise

What will you call these great test takers when they become USAMO, Intel, Seiman, US Olympiad Math, Physic, Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Summa cum laude and AOA winners, Booker, Lasker, and Nobel laureates (CEOs of 21st century companies)? … bused migrants from the richest areas of your county propping up Blair numbers on a PSAT middle school exam? Your marginal and spirochete-networked neuronal mass reduces these personal accomplishments to the bricks and mortar of a school building in Silver Spring? It is hardly a wonder for a “developed” nation that the US performs at an abysmal level on the global stage. Imagine if these bused kids weren’t in the system to prop up the US performance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Any many of these kids are super super bright, a fact you need to face and stop downplaying it because it's all just the prepping. My kid is not a NMSF, yet got a really great score by looking a the paper booklet the evening prior to the test.

So true, so true. Parents who mock these kids as just preppers fail to realize their own kids prepping twice as hard for 12 years would not come close to their level of intellectual and academic achievement of many of these kids including the varsity athletes, musicians and writers. They are performing at the university level for several years before graduating from Blair.

+1 million

These kids are amazing and not sure why anyone would want to put them down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There’s a very simple reason for this. It’s very rare to have perfect PSAT scores; usually these kids have been doing tutoring and taking practice tests for years. They are the same kids who did tutoring and practice tests in 8th grade to get into either Blair, RM, or Poolesville. So there are very few kids left at the “regular” high schools who are in this category.

Mostly, yes. I'm a Blair magnet (grad) mom. My kid did self study with a prep book, but some kids did full classes. But, some didn't do specific prep. Many have had so much enrichment (plus the math they do is far beyond), they are already well prepared.

I will say, mine applied to Blair under the old system (now in college), and many kids did classes specifically designed for that admissions test. A++, I think?

The cutoff is way below perfect score, which is 228, it is not that hard to be nmsf, don’t think it takes that much prep for magnet kids

Many of these kids have been prepping over the long haul. Also, it was 224 when my kid was there. So, not exactly "way below" Some parents take not chances. It's like they have a system or recipe.

Any many of these kids are super super bright, a fact you need to face and stop downplaying it because it's all just the prepping. My kid is not a NMSF, yet got a really great score by looking a the paper booklet the evening prior to the test.

Pp here. I'm not downplaying it, but we have lived this. Many of the magnet kids have been in intense enrichment programs from a very early age. Took math classes out of school before the (already advanced) curriculum in school. Special prep for magnet entrance exam (the old one). It is what it is. They are highly prepped/enriched/educated. And very bright. The two are not mutually exclusive.

Mine has been in the magnet programs all the way through. Also NMSF. Did not do any of these programs but had access to professor parents which is also enrichment. So, the intention is not to undermine anyone but to say that standardized test scores are not some unbiased indicator of pure intelligence or talent. It's not like magnet kids are plain smarter (,or W kids or any of the high scoring groups). This is just one (coachable) data point.

Just like every kid can become a world-class soccer player, right? Provide the right ‘coaching’ and the kid will play like Lionel Messi.

Not a chance. These are bright kids. Why do you feel the need to diminish them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Blair 48
Richard Montgomery 24
Churchill 18
Poolesville 16
Whitman 11
Wootton 10
Walter Johnson 9
B-CC 5
Sherwood 2
Magruder 1
Northwest 1
Springbrook 1
Wheaton 1
Blake 0
Clarksburg 0
Damascus 0
Einstein 0
Gaithersburg 0
Kennedy 0
Northwood 0
Paint Branch 0
Quince Orchard 0
Rockville 0
Seneca Valley 0
Watkins Mill 0

Why is Blair so much better?

Because they bus most of the great test takers form all the richest areas of you county into that school to prop up its numbers. All the NMSF are from that program and all but a few of those don’t have Blair as their home school. Most likely none of the winner would have gone to Blair other wise

Wrong and wronger.
Mine is a Blair zoned "winner." Currently at Ivy League.
There are usually students from CAP and non magnet on the list.

But it is true that some families (mostly in W areas, whether at Blair or no) place a premium on testing achievement and invest in enrichment and/or specific prep. Regardless, it's a wonderful achievement.

Can we just celebrate the kids on the list without bashing those who aren't?

Comes from the top down. I haven’t heard much from MCPS celebrating these kids. Still waiting for the accolades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Any many of these kids are super super bright, a fact you need to face and stop downplaying it because it's all just the prepping. My kid is not a NMSF, yet got a really great score by looking a the paper booklet the evening prior to the test.

So true, so true. Parents who mock these kids as just preppers fail to realize their own kids prepping twice as hard for 12 years would not come close to their level of intellectual and academic achievement of many of these kids including the varsity athletes, musicians and writers. They are performing at the university level for several years before graduating from Blair.

NOT true at all.
First, I'm certainly not mocking, and I haven't seen anyone who is (but, granted, didn’t scrutinize the thread in detail)
Second, my Blair kid had the same achievement without that level of enrichment/prep. But, of course they had some enrichment from educated and involved parents as well as arts activities.
No one is denying kids are performing at a university level at Blair. And, it's impressive. It allowed my kid to enter an Ivy with half a math major completed.
No need to hunker down in trench warfare here. I'm certainly not saying these aren't great achievements. But, I also don't agree with the idea that magnet kids are the only bright kids at Blair because they performed well on this test. There are many reasons for this. (And that thinking runs across the board of NMSF, not just at Blair).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Blair 48
Richard Montgomery 24
Churchill 18
Poolesville 16
Whitman 11
Wootton 10
Walter Johnson 9
B-CC 5
Sherwood 2
Magruder 1
Northwest 1
Springbrook 1
Wheaton 1
Blake 0
Clarksburg 0
Damascus 0
Einstein 0
Gaithersburg 0
Kennedy 0
Northwood 0
Paint Branch 0
Quince Orchard 0
Rockville 0
Seneca Valley 0
Watkins Mill 0

Why is Blair so much better?

Because they bus most of the great test takers form all the richest areas of you county into that school to prop up its numbers. All the NMSF are from that program and all but a few of those don’t have Blair as their home school. Most likely none of the winner would have gone to Blair other wise

Wrong and wronger.
Mine is a Blair zoned "winner." Currently at Ivy League.
There are usually students from CAP and non magnet on the list.

But it is true that some families (mostly in W areas, whether at Blair or no) place a premium on testing achievement and invest in enrichment and/or specific prep. Regardless, it's a wonderful achievement.

Can we just celebrate the kids on the list without bashing those who aren't?

Comes from the top down. I haven’t heard much from MCPS celebrating these kids. Still waiting for the accolades.

What is the accolade beyond school announcement of NMSF and NMSF itself? I think that is pretty good! It's just a test score. Frankly, it already seems a little overweighted to me, and my kid was NMSF too.

[Anonymous]

Just like every kid can become a world-class soccer player, right? Provide the right ‘coaching’ and the kid will play like Lionel Messi.

Whoa,whoa. I have lived in Potomac the last 20 years and I am continually amazed at the exorbitant amount of money, time, resources spent on her children from an early age prepping, extra practices, coaches, international and National camps for soccer, lacrosse ( year round with protein powder and assorted "nutritional" koolaid... and the like. No Messis, no ma... only "athlete" wannabes. I suspect the expense and resources here are 20 fold that spent on preparing for a bloody test.

I guess it's ok to go all out for lacrosse since academic performance will not get most of these kids into "Ivy" and "slac". The parents I know stuff this regimen done their kids throats from an early age. I see them overdosed in our County ERs!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There’s a very simple reason for this. It’s very rare to have perfect PSAT scores; usually these kids have been doing tutoring and taking practice tests for years. They are the same kids who did tutoring and practice tests in 8th grade to get into either Blair, RM, or Poolesville. So there are very few kids left at the “regular” high schools who are in this category.

Mostly, yes. I'm a Blair magnet (grad) mom. My kid did self study with a prep book, but some kids did full classes. But, some didn't do specific prep. Many have had so much enrichment (plus the math they do is far beyond), they are already well prepared.

I will say, mine applied to Blair under the old system (now in college), and many kids did classes specifically designed for that admissions test. A++, I think?

The cutoff is way below perfect score, which is 228, it is not that hard to be nmsf, don’t think it takes that much prep for magnet kids

Many of these kids have been prepping over the long haul. Also, it was 224 when my kid was there. So, not exactly "way below" Some parents take not chances. It's like they have a system or recipe.

Any many of these kids are super super bright, a fact you need to face and stop downplaying it because it's all just the prepping. My kid is not a NMSF, yet got a really great score by looking a the paper booklet the evening prior to the test.

Pp here. I'm not downplaying it, but we have lived this. Many of the magnet kids have been in intense enrichment programs from a very early age. Took math classes out of school before the (already advanced) curriculum in school. Special prep for magnet entrance exam (the old one). It is what it is. They are highly prepped/enriched/educated. And very bright. The two are not mutually exclusive.

Mine has been in the magnet programs all the way through. Also NMSF. Did not do any of these programs but had access to professor parents which is also enrichment. So, the intention is not to undermine anyone but to say that standardized test scores are not some unbiased indicator of pure intelligence or talent. It's not like magnet kids are plain smarter (,or W kids or any of the high scoring groups). This is just one (coachable) data point.

Just like every kid can become a world-class soccer player, right? Provide the right ‘coaching’ and the kid will play like Lionel Messi.

Not a chance. These are bright kids. Why do you feel the need to diminish them?

It is one of those humble brag, self-deprecating profs

I agree it is not such a big deal but I am happy that my child made it. Wish more kids from different schools also do well. Maybe there are a lot more commended kids which will be awesome. Just a few points difference between commended and semifinalist.