What makes Whitman such a (reputation of a) "pressure cooker?"

[Anonymous]

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Transplant_1 wrote:Even if BCC has a high FARMs rate, the UMC students will still have to put the same "pressure" on themselves to be competitive for selective colleges. And there's probably a large cohort of them creating "competition" and "pressure." So I keep wondering, what makes Whitman a pressure cooker. I appreciate the example of the child practicing SATs since 7th grade. And the reality of the amount of external coaching/training/lessons. But wouldn't that wealth factor exist in BCC as well? It draws from one of the wealthiest areas in the country.

Every school has such a cohort. There isn't anything special about Whitman. Sure, it's a fine school but RMIB makes it look easy by comparison.

The IB Diploma Programme has exactly the same requirements at all of the schools that offer the IB Diploma Programme.

Actually the two schools are roughly on a par, and if you look at historical evidence of where the kids end up, Whitman usually beats RMIB just slightly. And I think that's because a lot more kids at RMIB want to get into UMD

Whitman isn't even in the same league as RM. Just look at the college outcomes listed by Bethesda Beat. It isn't even close.

Whitman is precisely what you'd expect for a school that is 95%+ white/Asian with almost 0% FARMS. It isn't anything special. It just has fewer students dragging down its test averages than other schools because of the boundary gerrymandering that allows this kind of segregation to continue.

You clearly have no idea what this word actually means. Segregation is illegal in the United States. Look it up, moron.

NP. It doesn’t seem wildly inaccurate to use the term “segregation” to refer to boundaries drawn and maintained to reinforce economic homogeneity within a school community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think BCC belongs in the same category as the Ws anymore, honestly. Its FARMS rate is almost 20% now, and it is projected to surpass that in another 2 years. It's an affluent school yes, but not at the same level as the Ws. It's more like RM/Sherwood level of affluence now.

You obviously don’t have a kid there. Another example of someone spouting off without knowing what they are talking about.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:It’s strange that it’s such a pressure cooker and yet so few get into top tier schools.

But that's the reason. Top tier schools tend to admit 2-3 kids per school because they want geographic diversity from around the country and have a relatively small class size. When there are a lot of academically qualified students at a school, they are all competing against each other to stand out and look "unique" (which ironically they don't, because everyone is doing exactly the same.)

this x 100%

Amen. Wanna get your bright kid into Harvard? Move to North Dakota or Alaska.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:W schools (and lesser degree BCC) have high percentage of asian families which put education first. Yes, RMIB is incredibly hard driven. Far more so than any of the W-schools.

It’s not only Asians. Many other affinity groups put education first as well. You obviously aren’t Jewish!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s strange that it’s such a pressure cooker and yet so few get into top tier schools.

There are only so many spots available at the top schools for students from the same school, hence the pressure cookers. Probably half of Whitman could successfully make up the freshman class at Harvard.

[Anonymous]

Whitman had a bunch of suicides a few years back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Whitman had a bunch of suicides a few years back.

It has them regularly, as well as drug overdoses

[Anonymous]

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Transplant_1 wrote:Even if BCC has a high FARMs rate, the UMC students will still have to put the same "pressure" on themselves to be competitive for selective colleges. And there's probably a large cohort of them creating "competition" and "pressure." So I keep wondering, what makes Whitman a pressure cooker. I appreciate the example of the child practicing SATs since 7th grade. And the reality of the amount of external coaching/training/lessons. But wouldn't that wealth factor exist in BCC as well? It draws from one of the wealthiest areas in the country.

Every school has such a cohort. There isn't anything special about Whitman. Sure, it's a fine school but RMIB makes it look easy by comparison.

The IB Diploma Programme has exactly the same requirements at all of the schools that offer the IB Diploma Programme.

Actually the two schools are roughly on a par, and if you look at historical evidence of where the kids end up, Whitman usually beats RMIB just slightly. And I think that's because a lot more kids at RMIB want to get into UMD

Whitman isn't even in the same league as RM. Just look at the college outcomes listed by Bethesda Beat. It isn't even close.

Whitman is precisely what you'd expect for a school that is 95%+ white/Asian with almost 0% FARMS. It isn't anything special. It just has fewer students dragging down its test averages than other schools because of the boundary gerrymandering that allows this kind of segregation to continue.

You clearly have no idea what this word actually means. Segregation is illegal in the United States. Look it up, moron.

NP. It doesn’t seem wildly inaccurate to use the term “segregation” to refer to boundaries drawn and maintained to reinforce economic homogeneity within a school community.

It's almost as though George Wallace was the MCPS superintendent!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How is the mental health of these Whitman students after being in such a cut throat environment?

Not good for many. It helps to go to college to escape that environment. The kid in many cases are more prepared for college than their peers in college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Whitman had a bunch of suicides a few years back.

That doesn’t mean that the school environment caused the suicides. Those kids had depression. You are leaping pretty far to make that assumption.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder how kids do at the various schools after high school - like without the support systems and added aid or pressure, do Whitman students continue to excel generally in the college atmosphere, or do some flounder more or less than would be expected. … is there a marked difference between students at the various high school and their achievement levels after high school? Anyone know of any reports or research done as a follow up to high school achievement ?

The same as kids from any school. Whitman is remarkably average for MCPS. Its overall scores reflect its demographics. Take similar demographics from any MCPS school, and you will have similar outcomes.

[Anonymous]

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Transplant_1 wrote:Even if BCC has a high FARMs rate, the UMC students will still have to put the same "pressure" on themselves to be competitive for selective colleges. And there's probably a large cohort of them creating "competition" and "pressure." So I keep wondering, what makes Whitman a pressure cooker. I appreciate the example of the child practicing SATs since 7th grade. And the reality of the amount of external coaching/training/lessons. But wouldn't that wealth factor exist in BCC as well? It draws from one of the wealthiest areas in the country.

Every school has such a cohort. There isn't anything special about Whitman. Sure, it's a fine school but RMIB makes it look easy by comparison.

The IB Diploma Programme has exactly the same requirements at all of the schools that offer the IB Diploma Programme.

Actually the two schools are roughly on a par, and if you look at historical evidence of where the kids end up, Whitman usually beats RMIB just slightly. And I think that's because a lot more kids at RMIB want to get into UMD

Whitman isn't even in the same league as RM. Just look at the college outcomes listed by Bethesda Beat. It isn't even close.

Whitman is precisely what you'd expect for a school that is 95%+ white/Asian with almost 0% FARMS. It isn't anything special. It just has fewer students dragging down its test averages than other schools because of the boundary gerrymandering that allows this kind of segregation to continue.

You clearly have no idea what this word actually means. Segregation is illegal in the United States. Look it up, moron.

NP. It doesn’t seem wildly inaccurate to use the term “segregation” to refer to boundaries drawn and maintained to reinforce economic homogeneity within a school community.

I agree. These boundaries were established precisely for that treason 40+ years ago. They need to be redrawn.

[Anonymous]

Does Whitman even have any apartments in its boundary? It is mostly just large suburban homes. Kind of a boring location for high school students

[Anonymous]

You also need a car to go anywhere.
WJ and BCC have better locations in my opinion

[Anonymous]

I think college admissions from Whitman and Wilson HS in DC are pretty similar which makes you wonder whether the extra hype about Whitman really means anything