Are magnets worth it for college admission?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is kind of ironic that this county's parents fight so hard to get into magnet high schools, have endless battles over admissions standards, which test to use or not, and then realize four years later that they've put themselves into a worse position than if they'd just let their kid be a great student at their home school.

Only do the magnet if it has something your kid can't get at the neighborhood school. Don't do it for "the cohort"

Not at all. My DC wanted and needed the Blair magnet classes, and excelled in them. It was a fantastic high school experience he would never have had anywhere else.

"Worse position"? In what way?

When 30-50 IB graduates from RMIB all apply to the same Ivies with the same high stats and ECs. All are qualified but there is no way Yale is going to take all of them but reject a similar cohort from another IB school in Deleware or Michigan

yes, this is part of the problem, and why I started the thread. They're all applying to the same top colleges, but those colleges don't want more than one or two from the same cohort. But, they are also super high achieving kids. So, it's disappointing for the ones that don't win the lottery. Yes, there are plenty of great schools to go around, but when you are in a tight knit cohort, it still is a very disappointing for those kids.

But, I do think that they will all go on to do well as they are all high achievers and used to rigor.

You know, no admissions officer has confirmed this urban myth, don’t you? Apparently parents have claimed this for decades but there isn’t much evidence to prove it.

+1

There is evidence that they want a broad mix of geography, but no evidence that they scrutinize at that level. In other words, they may only want a certain number of kids from MCPS, but they aren't looking at specific school or program and splicing that way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is kind of ironic that this county's parents fight so hard to get into magnet high schools, have endless battles over admissions standards, which test to use or not, and then realize four years later that they've put themselves into a worse position than if they'd just let their kid be a great student at their home school.

Only do the magnet if it has something your kid can't get at the neighborhood school. Don't do it for "the cohort"

Not at all. My DC wanted and needed the Blair magnet classes, and excelled in them. It was a fantastic high school experience he would never have had anywhere else.

"Worse position"? In what way?

When 30-50 IB graduates from RMIB all apply to the same Ivies with the same high stats and ECs. All are qualified but there is no way Yale is going to take all of them but reject a similar cohort from another IB school in Deleware or Michigan

yes, this is part of the problem, and why I started the thread. They're all applying to the same top colleges, but those colleges don't want more than one or two from the same cohort. But, they are also super high achieving kids. So, it's disappointing for the ones that don't win the lottery. Yes, there are plenty of great schools to go around, but when you are in a tight knit cohort, it still is a very disappointing for those kids.

But, I do think that they will all go on to do well as they are all high achievers and used to rigor.

You know, no admissions officer has confirmed this urban myth, don’t you? Apparently parents have claimed this for decades but there isn’t much evidence to prove it.

+1

There is evidence that they want a broad mix of geography, but no evidence that they scrutinize at that level. In other words, they may only want a certain number of kids from MCPS, but they aren't looking at specific school or program and splicing that way.

But aren't they looking at the HS level?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is kind of ironic that this county's parents fight so hard to get into magnet high schools, have endless battles over admissions standards, which test to use or not, and then realize four years later that they've put themselves into a worse position than if they'd just let their kid be a great student at their home school.

Only do the magnet if it has something your kid can't get at the neighborhood school. Don't do it for "the cohort"

Not at all. My DC wanted and needed the Blair magnet classes, and excelled in them. It was a fantastic high school experience he would never have had anywhere else.

"Worse position"? In what way?

When 30-50 IB graduates from RMIB all apply to the same Ivies with the same high stats and ECs. All are qualified but there is no way Yale is going to take all of them but reject a similar cohort from another IB school in Deleware or Michigan

yes, this is part of the problem, and why I started the thread. They're all applying to the same top colleges, but those colleges don't want more than one or two from the same cohort. But, they are also super high achieving kids. So, it's disappointing for the ones that don't win the lottery. Yes, there are plenty of great schools to go around, but when you are in a tight knit cohort, it still is a very disappointing for those kids.

But, I do think that they will all go on to do well as they are all high achievers and used to rigor.

You know, no admissions officer has confirmed this urban myth, don’t you? Apparently parents have claimed this for decades but there isn’t much evidence to prove it.

+1

There is evidence that they want a broad mix of geography, but no evidence that they scrutinize at that level. In other words, they may only want a certain number of kids from MCPS, but they aren't looking at specific school or program and splicing that way.

But aren't they looking at the HS level?

When asked, they say they are not. But you could just believe hearsay likely developed by pushy parents who want an excuse as to why their kids didn’t get in instead of accepting that some times great kids just don’t get in to top colleges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's not about the college admissions.

for most people it is

Bottom line - if your kid is bright and if your home school is good. And if you want to optimize for college admissions, don’t do the magnets. Easier to shine in home school for sure.

This can be complicated. My kid isn't the type who will be motivated to shine unless they're surrounded by similar or realistically, higher achieving peers. They've been in a magnet since 4th grade so for HS we were really averse to a non-magnet experience. Luckily they matched with one that they are excited about (not their initial #1 but it's working out well).

Good home school will mean there are a fair number of high achieving kids. Some of these magnets can be overwhelming and actually make otherwise great kids question their own ability.

Uh huh 🤔

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is kind of ironic that this county's parents fight so hard to get into magnet high schools, have endless battles over admissions standards, which test to use or not, and then realize four years later that they've put themselves into a worse position than if they'd just let their kid be a great student at their home school.

Only do the magnet if it has something your kid can't get at the neighborhood school. Don't do it for "the cohort"

Not at all. My DC wanted and needed the Blair magnet classes, and excelled in them. It was a fantastic high school experience he would never have had anywhere else.

"Worse position"? In what way?

When 30-50 IB graduates from RMIB all apply to the same Ivies with the same high stats and ECs. All are qualified but there is no way Yale is going to take all of them but reject a similar cohort from another IB school in Deleware or Michigan

yes, this is part of the problem, and why I started the thread. They're all applying to the same top colleges, but those colleges don't want more than one or two from the same cohort. But, they are also super high achieving kids. So, it's disappointing for the ones that don't win the lottery. Yes, there are plenty of great schools to go around, but when you are in a tight knit cohort, it still is a very disappointing for those kids.

But, I do think that they will all go on to do well as they are all high achievers and used to rigor.

You know, no admissions officer has confirmed this urban myth, don’t you? Apparently parents have claimed this for decades but there isn’t much evidence to prove it.

+1

There is evidence that they want a broad mix of geography, but no evidence that they scrutinize at that level. In other words, they may only want a certain number of kids from MCPS, but they aren't looking at specific school or program and splicing that way.

But aren't they looking at the HS level?

When asked, they say they are not. But you could just believe hearsay likely developed by pushy parents who want an excuse as to why their kids didn’t get in instead of accepting that some times great kids just don’t get in to top colleges.

Hearsay vs decades of experience of parents and counselors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes. I think for our children magnets were absolutely worth it for college admissions.

The pathway for both of my kids -> PHS SMCS -> UMD. We are Asian-American first gen immigrants. Our kids chose STEM careers. Both had perfect stats in GPA and SAT, NMS, ECs, Internships and research papers etc. We knew that they would not get into top private schools based on the fact that many of their peers in PHS look and achieve like them.

Apart from that, they also did not apply extensively. They applied to 6 schools in all. Since UMD was in-state and great for CS, Physics and Math (both did double majors, both had Math in common), that was their lowest bar in terms of where they wanted to apply. This did not leave very many colleges for them that were ranked higher for these majors. This is not a drawback but a boon. Imagine having a college like UMD as your safety. To be honest, UMD was very much their dream school, target and safety all rolled in one.

Having done STEM research internships during PHS (It is a SMCS requirement) and having written a paper based on that - they also found it easy to get future internships @ UMD right from the get go. Having been through the rigor, pace, and curriculum of SMCS and having so many AP and post-AP credits transfer, allowed them to juggle two hard majors, internships, and socializing in college with ease. They watched many of their college classmates - either do very poorly in hard courses or study very hard to stay afloat or do well but without any outside interests. In other words, the training and exposure they got at PHS made college seem easy.

The kind of professional training that the SMCS teaches these students in terms of advocating for oneself, building a network of peers, acquiring skill sets, acquiring credentials, creating and seeking opportunities, time management and organization is invaluable for college and professional life. They also were hugely networked at UMD with other area students from DMV because they had either competed with them in other arenas or had crossed paths with them.

Last, but not the least - since they are already in-state in a public university and the cost is already low. Therefore, even a small merit aid usually covers a significant amount of tuition if not all. This merit $$$ was like a payday for the work that they did in magnet HS.

For us, magnet STEM schools was worth it for succeeding in college and professional life. It made the college admission process easy too.

Of course, I don't mean to be glib and say that it was all easy. To be in the magnet track meant that my kids were performing academically at very high levels from ES. They were acing all kinds of tests that was being administered by MCPS- Raven, TerraNova, MAPS - and tests like JHU-CTY outside of school.

They were consistent from K-12, and also worked hard to have a well rounded resume - ECs, volunteer work, competitions, honor societies, internships, research papers, no discipline issues, consistent performance, no absenteeism, juggling leadership responsibilities, self advocating etc.

This is my child's experience as well. Finishing up SMACs now with a UMd presidential scholarship and direct admit to CS. Will now be paying very low tuition for a top-ranked CS school.

I'd say the magnet helped a lot with UMd admissions. I am not sure helped elsewhere but will never know. I am sure my child does not stand out as much as they would at home HS. Also I do not think the school profile that gets sent to colleges does the magnet students any favors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m getting so tired of all these posts asking if they do XYZ, have a pointy EC blah blah blah, will their kid get into college? The way the US college application system is rigged, getting into a top school is basically a lottery. Don’t make your kids miserable telling them to do stuff to get into college. Don’t make college such a huge pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Kids should do the magnets if they want to learn the content that’s being taught in the magnet or if they need a challenge and a cohort of students similarly situated. Whether it’s worth it schlepping on a bus, having long days, hyper focusing on a subject matter, no one knows except your kid, OP.

+1 PP SMAC parent. It's a huge commitment to get up early to catch the bus and come in later than other HS kids (Blair kids have an extra class) and to have more homework. You do it because it fits the child's interests and needs, not because of an imagined idea that being in the magnet will help with college admissions. Pushing your child to do something they aren't interested in or aren't ready for is more likely to harm them than help them.

Wholeheartedly. Mom of a PHS SMACS Soph. My kid likes to get up early, she cannot wait to get to school, she goes even when sick, she adores her teachers, get's all 4.0's without too much strain, has a social life, and excels in Science and Math. This school literally has her name on it. She needs this school because the regular feeder school could not keep up with her. They did try and sent her to the grade above for classes but that made her an oddity. She does want to go to MIT and other top-notch colleges but not because she is a magnet kid. It would be because of all the initiatives, projects, leadership experiences, and her drive to know more, ask questions, find the truth, dig a little deeper, and explore and find the unknown. That is why she would get there if anything. Sadly, a lot of her classmates were "forced" to go there and do not like math or science much and they lack passion. She gets so tired of working with dead weight.

What teenager likes to wake up at 5 am and goes to school sick? Yeah you’re a troll!

That’s really crummy to send a sick kid to school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. I think for our children magnets were absolutely worth it for college admissions.

The pathway for both of my kids -> PHS SMCS -> UMD. We are Asian-American first gen immigrants. Our kids chose STEM careers. Both had perfect stats in GPA and SAT, NMS, ECs, Internships and research papers etc. We knew that they would not get into top private schools based on the fact that many of their peers in PHS look and achieve like them.

Apart from that, they also did not apply extensively. They applied to 6 schools in all. Since UMD was in-state and great for CS, Physics and Math (both did double majors, both had Math in common), that was their lowest bar in terms of where they wanted to apply. This did not leave very many colleges for them that were ranked higher for these majors. This is not a drawback but a boon. Imagine having a college like UMD as your safety. To be honest, UMD was very much their dream school, target and safety all rolled in one.

Having done STEM research internships during PHS (It is a SMCS requirement) and having written a paper based on that - they also found it easy to get future internships @ UMD right from the get go. Having been through the rigor, pace, and curriculum of SMCS and having so many AP and post-AP credits transfer, allowed them to juggle two hard majors, internships, and socializing in college with ease. They watched many of their college classmates - either do very poorly in hard courses or study very hard to stay afloat or do well but without any outside interests. In other words, the training and exposure they got at PHS made college seem easy.

The kind of professional training that the SMCS teaches these students in terms of advocating for oneself, building a network of peers, acquiring skill sets, acquiring credentials, creating and seeking opportunities, time management and organization is invaluable for college and professional life. They also were hugely networked at UMD with other area students from DMV because they had either competed with them in other arenas or had crossed paths with them.

Last, but not the least - since they are already in-state in a public university and the cost is already low. Therefore, even a small merit aid usually covers a significant amount of tuition if not all. This merit $$$ was like a payday for the work that they did in magnet HS.

For us, magnet STEM schools was worth it for succeeding in college and professional life. It made the college admission process easy too.

Of course, I don't mean to be glib and say that it was all easy. To be in the magnet track meant that my kids were performing academically at very high levels from ES. They were acing all kinds of tests that was being administered by MCPS- Raven, TerraNova, MAPS - and tests like JHU-CTY outside of school.

They were consistent from K-12, and also worked hard to have a well rounded resume - ECs, volunteer work, competitions, honor societies, internships, research papers, no discipline issues, consistent performance, no absenteeism, juggling leadership responsibilities, self advocating etc.

This is my child's experience as well. Finishing up SMACs now with a UMd presidential scholarship and direct admit to CS. Will now be paying very low tuition for a top-ranked CS school.

I'd say the magnet helped a lot with UMd admissions. I am not sure helped elsewhere but will never know. I am sure my child does not stand out as much as they would at home HS. Also I do not think the school profile that gets sent to colleges does the magnet students any favors.

If you don’t mind, Could you elaborate on this further?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is kind of ironic that this county's parents fight so hard to get into magnet high schools, have endless battles over admissions standards, which test to use or not, and then realize four years later that they've put themselves into a worse position than if they'd just let their kid be a great student at their home school.

Only do the magnet if it has something your kid can't get at the neighborhood school. Don't do it for "the cohort"

Not at all. My DC wanted and needed the Blair magnet classes, and excelled in them. It was a fantastic high school experience he would never have had anywhere else.

"Worse position"? In what way?

When 30-50 IB graduates from RMIB all apply to the same Ivies with the same high stats and ECs. All are qualified but there is no way Yale is going to take all of them but reject a similar cohort from another IB school in Deleware or Michigan

yes, this is part of the problem, and why I started the thread. They're all applying to the same top colleges, but those colleges don't want more than one or two from the same cohort. But, they are also super high achieving kids. So, it's disappointing for the ones that don't win the lottery. Yes, there are plenty of great schools to go around, but when you are in a tight knit cohort, it still is a very disappointing for those kids.

But, I do think that they will all go on to do well as they are all high achievers and used to rigor.

You know, no admissions officer has confirmed this urban myth, don’t you? Apparently parents have claimed this for decades but there isn’t much evidence to prove it.

+1

There is evidence that they want a broad mix of geography, but no evidence that they scrutinize at that level. In other words, they may only want a certain number of kids from MCPS, but they aren't looking at specific school or program and splicing that way.

Following up here, I haven't seen this linked so far in this post: https://www2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/siteassets/schools/high-schools/r-w/rmhs/ib/ib-colleges-20-22.pdf

If somebody really wants to do the work, they can compare this to the overall acceptance list on Bethesda Magazine or wherever. I would bet you'd find that the overall proportion of students admitted to top schools from the RMIB is significantly higher than that of non-magnets--thus indicating that they aren't "capped", or at least that any theoretical cap is much higher than for a non-magnet.

For example, 5 of ~130 were admitted to Harvard in 2022. What is the proportion at nonmagnets?

[Anonymous]

https://polarislist.com/best-high-schools-in-maryland

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is kind of ironic that this county's parents fight so hard to get into magnet high schools, have endless battles over admissions standards, which test to use or not, and then realize four years later that they've put themselves into a worse position than if they'd just let their kid be a great student at their home school.

Only do the magnet if it has something your kid can't get at the neighborhood school. Don't do it for "the cohort"

Not at all. My DC wanted and needed the Blair magnet classes, and excelled in them. It was a fantastic high school experience he would never have had anywhere else.

"Worse position"? In what way?

When 30-50 IB graduates from RMIB all apply to the same Ivies with the same high stats and ECs. All are qualified but there is no way Yale is going to take all of them but reject a similar cohort from another IB school in Deleware or Michigan

yes, this is part of the problem, and why I started the thread. They're all applying to the same top colleges, but those colleges don't want more than one or two from the same cohort. But, they are also super high achieving kids. So, it's disappointing for the ones that don't win the lottery. Yes, there are plenty of great schools to go around, but when you are in a tight knit cohort, it still is a very disappointing for those kids.

But, I do think that they will all go on to do well as they are all high achievers and used to rigor.

You know, no admissions officer has confirmed this urban myth, don’t you? Apparently parents have claimed this for decades but there isn’t much evidence to prove it.

+1

There is evidence that they want a broad mix of geography, but no evidence that they scrutinize at that level. In other words, they may only want a certain number of kids from MCPS, but they aren't looking at specific school or program and splicing that way.

Following up here, I haven't seen this linked so far in this post: https://www2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/siteassets/schools/high-schools/r-w/rmhs/ib/ib-colleges-20-22.pdf

If somebody really wants to do the work, they can compare this to the overall acceptance list on Bethesda Magazine or wherever. I would bet you'd find that the overall proportion of students admitted to top schools from the RMIB is significantly higher than that of non-magnets--thus indicating that they aren't "capped", or at least that any theoretical cap is much higher than for a non-magnet.

For example, 5 of ~130 were admitted to Harvard in 2022. What is the proportion at nonmagnets?

I think you will find that 2023 numbers look very different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is kind of ironic that this county's parents fight so hard to get into magnet high schools, have endless battles over admissions standards, which test to use or not, and then realize four years later that they've put themselves into a worse position than if they'd just let their kid be a great student at their home school.

Only do the magnet if it has something your kid can't get at the neighborhood school. Don't do it for "the cohort"

Not at all. My DC wanted and needed the Blair magnet classes, and excelled in them. It was a fantastic high school experience he would never have had anywhere else.

"Worse position"? In what way?

When 30-50 IB graduates from RMIB all apply to the same Ivies with the same high stats and ECs. All are qualified but there is no way Yale is going to take all of them but reject a similar cohort from another IB school in Deleware or Michigan

yes, this is part of the problem, and why I started the thread. They're all applying to the same top colleges, but those colleges don't want more than one or two from the same cohort. But, they are also super high achieving kids. So, it's disappointing for the ones that don't win the lottery. Yes, there are plenty of great schools to go around, but when you are in a tight knit cohort, it still is a very disappointing for those kids.

But, I do think that they will all go on to do well as they are all high achievers and used to rigor.

You know, no admissions officer has confirmed this urban myth, don’t you? Apparently parents have claimed this for decades but there isn’t much evidence to prove it.

+1

There is evidence that they want a broad mix of geography, but no evidence that they scrutinize at that level. In other words, they may only want a certain number of kids from MCPS, but they aren't looking at specific school or program and splicing that way.

Following up here, I haven't seen this linked so far in this post: https://www2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/siteassets/schools/high-schools/r-w/rmhs/ib/ib-colleges-20-22.pdf

If somebody really wants to do the work, they can compare this to the overall acceptance list on Bethesda Magazine or wherever. I would bet you'd find that the overall proportion of students admitted to top schools from the RMIB is significantly higher than that of non-magnets--thus indicating that they aren't "capped", or at least that any theoretical cap is much higher than for a non-magnet.

For example, 5 of ~130 were admitted to Harvard in 2022. What is the proportion at nonmagnets?

I think you will find that 2023 numbers look very different.

and to add 2022 grads were heavily impacted by the pandemic. I think 2020 numbers are a better reflection of the actual numbers.

But, it's interesting to see that almost 1/3 to 1/2 go to UMDCP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. I think for our children magnets were absolutely worth it for college admissions.

The pathway for both of my kids -> PHS SMCS -> UMD. We are Asian-American first gen immigrants. Our kids chose STEM careers. Both had perfect stats in GPA and SAT, NMS, ECs, Internships and research papers etc. We knew that they would not get into top private schools based on the fact that many of their peers in PHS look and achieve like them.

Apart from that, they also did not apply extensively. They applied to 6 schools in all. Since UMD was in-state and great for CS, Physics and Math (both did double majors, both had Math in common), that was their lowest bar in terms of where they wanted to apply. This did not leave very many colleges for them that were ranked higher for these majors. This is not a drawback but a boon. Imagine having a college like UMD as your safety. To be honest, UMD was very much their dream school, target and safety all rolled in one.

Having done STEM research internships during PHS (It is a SMCS requirement) and having written a paper based on that - they also found it easy to get future internships @ UMD right from the get go. Having been through the rigor, pace, and curriculum of SMCS and having so many AP and post-AP credits transfer, allowed them to juggle two hard majors, internships, and socializing in college with ease. They watched many of their college classmates - either do very poorly in hard courses or study very hard to stay afloat or do well but without any outside interests. In other words, the training and exposure they got at PHS made college seem easy.

The kind of professional training that the SMCS teaches these students in terms of advocating for oneself, building a network of peers, acquiring skill sets, acquiring credentials, creating and seeking opportunities, time management and organization is invaluable for college and professional life. They also were hugely networked at UMD with other area students from DMV because they had either competed with them in other arenas or had crossed paths with them.

Last, but not the least - since they are already in-state in a public university and the cost is already low. Therefore, even a small merit aid usually covers a significant amount of tuition if not all. This merit $$$ was like a payday for the work that they did in magnet HS.

For us, magnet STEM schools was worth it for succeeding in college and professional life. It made the college admission process easy too.

Of course, I don't mean to be glib and say that it was all easy. To be in the magnet track meant that my kids were performing academically at very high levels from ES. They were acing all kinds of tests that was being administered by MCPS- Raven, TerraNova, MAPS - and tests like JHU-CTY outside of school.

They were consistent from K-12, and also worked hard to have a well rounded resume - ECs, volunteer work, competitions, honor societies, internships, research papers, no discipline issues, consistent performance, no absenteeism, juggling leadership responsibilities, self advocating etc.

This is my child's experience as well. Finishing up SMACs now with a UMd presidential scholarship and direct admit to CS. Will now be paying very low tuition for a top-ranked CS school.

I'd say the magnet helped a lot with UMd admissions. I am not sure helped elsewhere but will never know. I am sure my child does not stand out as much as they would at home HS. Also I do not think the school profile that gets sent to colleges does the magnet students any favors.

There's additional documentation about the magnet included in their transcript and elite colleges are already familiar with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is kind of ironic that this county's parents fight so hard to get into magnet high schools, have endless battles over admissions standards, which test to use or not, and then realize four years later that they've put themselves into a worse position than if they'd just let their kid be a great student at their home school.

Only do the magnet if it has something your kid can't get at the neighborhood school. Don't do it for "the cohort"

Not at all. My DC wanted and needed the Blair magnet classes, and excelled in them. It was a fantastic high school experience he would never have had anywhere else.

"Worse position"? In what way?

When 30-50 IB graduates from RMIB all apply to the same Ivies with the same high stats and ECs. All are qualified but there is no way Yale is going to take all of them but reject a similar cohort from another IB school in Deleware or Michigan

yes, this is part of the problem, and why I started the thread. They're all applying to the same top colleges, but those colleges don't want more than one or two from the same cohort. But, they are also super high achieving kids. So, it's disappointing for the ones that don't win the lottery. Yes, there are plenty of great schools to go around, but when you are in a tight knit cohort, it still is a very disappointing for those kids.

But, I do think that they will all go on to do well as they are all high achievers and used to rigor.

You know, no admissions officer has confirmed this urban myth, don’t you? Apparently parents have claimed this for decades but there isn’t much evidence to prove it.

+1

There is evidence that they want a broad mix of geography, but no evidence that they scrutinize at that level. In other words, they may only want a certain number of kids from MCPS, but they aren't looking at specific school or program and splicing that way.

Following up here, I haven't seen this linked so far in this post: https://www2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/siteassets/schools/high-schools/r-w/rmhs/ib/ib-colleges-20-22.pdf

If somebody really wants to do the work, they can compare this to the overall acceptance list on Bethesda Magazine or wherever. I would bet you'd find that the overall proportion of students admitted to top schools from the RMIB is significantly higher than that of non-magnets--thus indicating that they aren't "capped", or at least that any theoretical cap is much higher than for a non-magnet.

For example, 5 of ~130 were admitted to Harvard in 2022. What is the proportion at nonmagnets?

I think you will find that 2023 numbers look very different.

and to add 2022 grads were heavily impacted by the pandemic. I think 2020 numbers are a better reflection of the actual numbers.

But, it's interesting to see that almost 1/3 to 1/2 go to UMDCP.

It's a good deal financially and has some very strong STEM programs. Overall hard to beat UMDCP on ROI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://polarislist.com/best-high-schools-in-maryland

WOW!!