Yet another magnet thread. What are the personalities of the students at various magnets?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not exactly “personalities” but there are some very obvious demographic differences between CAP (largely upper middle class, white students) and magnet (many from Indian, Chinese, Korean and other Asian backgrounds often children of immigrants including the few who are white) at Blair. Nice kids either way.

Why is this? Why are there so few wealthy white families in SMCS relative to CAP, and why so many in CAP? Are the upper middle class white kids not as good in STEM or are their families less interested?

Their families are less interested in committing to years of pricey STEM tutoring for their kids.

Huh? Blair magnet parent here - never considered a tutor nor do I plan to. I figured that was the norm?

Correct. I do not know any ‘tutored’ kids in the Blair magnet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DC said to me that Blair STEM magnet kids are really smart but socially awkward.

DC said RMIB kids tend to be more well rounded -- smart in STEM as well as great writers, and they are all involved in various different types of outside activities, not just STEM related.

The Blair kids crushed RMIB in NMSF. National Merit Semi Finalists are based on the PSAT test scores. In calculating the scores, the English is doubled and the math is not. Blair is far superior. Those kids are higher in Math and English. Those numbers do not lie. You would think RM would crush Blair, but they never come close.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think these high achieving kids should be separated a from the slower students.

why not?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I guarantee there’s no consistent “personality” at any magnet. Any parent who says differently is only generalizing based on their own kid’s friends.

This.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC said to me that Blair STEM magnet kids are really smart but socially awkward.

DC said RMIB kids tend to be more well rounded -- smart in STEM as well as great writers, and they are all involved in various different types of outside activities, not just STEM related.

The Blair kids crushed RMIB in NMSF. National Merit Semi Finalists are based on the PSAT test scores. In calculating the scores, the English is doubled and the math is not. Blair is far superior. Those kids are higher in Math and English. Those numbers do not lie. You would think RM would crush Blair, but they never come close.

Sure, I don't doubt it, but RMIB is way more of a grind and a commitment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think these high achieving kids should be separated a from the slower students.

why not?

Because by integrating them with regular students, in honors for all we can raise the bar for everyone!

[Anonymous]

As others have said, there's no uniform personality at any of the magnets, but there are groups that are overrepresented in each.

If the magnets were undergraduate colleges:

Blair magnet would be CalTech (a little bit nerdy, competitive, and intellectually curious)

RMIB would be Harvard (strivers, always looking to the next advantage/opportunity)

Blair CAP would be Wesleyan (gayer than average, dramatic, a sprinkling of smart slackers)

Wheaton would be Georgia Tech (rigorous, diverse, practical)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC said to me that Blair STEM magnet kids are really smart but socially awkward.

DC said RMIB kids tend to be more well rounded -- smart in STEM as well as great writers, and they are all involved in various different types of outside activities, not just STEM related.

The Blair kids crushed RMIB in NMSF. National Merit Semi Finalists are based on the PSAT test scores. In calculating the scores, the English is doubled and the math is not. Blair is far superior. Those kids are higher in Math and English. Those numbers do not lie. You would think RM would crush Blair, but they never come close.

Sure, I don't doubt it, but RMIB is way more of a grind and a commitment.

Disagree. 9th and 10th are much more grueling at Blair.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As others have said, there's no uniform personality at any of the magnets, but there are groups that are overrepresented in each.

If the magnets were undergraduate colleges:

Blair magnet would be CalTech (a little bit nerdy, competitive, and intellectually curious)

RMIB would be Harvard (strivers, always looking to the next advantage/opportunity)

Blair CAP would be Wesleyan (gayer than average, dramatic, a sprinkling of smart slackers)

Wheaton would be Georgia Tech (rigorous, diverse, practical)

Strange then that so many kids (mine included) pick “Caltech” over all the others? I guess my kid shouldn’t have turned down “Harvard”. But perhaps you meant MIT?

[Anonymous]

There's more overlap between these magnets than many people think and these top kids are basically the same level of high achieving kids across the county.

Without thinking too hard I can list five very smart, very pointy math kids who were on math team and supplement for math who really wanted Blair but did not get in (3) or the commute was much easier to RMIB (2). Many well-rounded Blair kids also got into RMIB but chose Blair. At least two kids just at my DC's middle school got into Blair and Wheaton and chose Wheaton.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As others have said, there's no uniform personality at any of the magnets, but there are groups that are overrepresented in each.

If the magnets were undergraduate colleges:

Blair magnet would be CalTech (a little bit nerdy, competitive, and intellectually curious)

RMIB would be Harvard (strivers, always looking to the next advantage/opportunity)

Blair CAP would be Wesleyan (gayer than average, dramatic, a sprinkling of smart slackers)

Wheaton would be Georgia Tech (rigorous, diverse, practical)

Too bad most won’t make it to the real thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We heard Wheaton was intense but in a good way. Anyone have personal experience?

I've had kids at both Wheaton and Blair magnets. they are also friends w/ lots of CAP and RM kids (got into both of those programs too, so checked them out pretty thoroughly). I would there are some differences, but all the programs have the commonality of bright motivated kids. Wheaton is more hands on than Blair and in many ways less intense because it has one less period. But, there seem to be more prescribed components, so it's harder to get in all the things kids want to take. Health in summer helped. Commute should also be considered with intensity because that bus ride can be long. It is not down time.

Wheaton cohort seems more collaborative and less competitive. Don't get me wrong, lots of nice kids at Blair too, but definitely a set of mag bros who try to muscle over others and a few girl cliques (felt more cultural than personal). Wheaton magnet is more diverse racially and culturally as a program. Some years are really lopsided in terms of gender diversity. Blair seems a little better there. Blair is more diverse as a school overall. Both have excellent teachers. A big consideration should be the kid's interests. One of mine was more theoretical, loving math (Blair), the other did not love math (though amazing teacher at Wheaton kind of turned that around) and was more a hands-on problem solver. My Blair kid would have liked a more collaborative environment among peers. Blair admin has this on their radar and wants this too, but I'm not sure how the school can compete with the competitive mindsets that some kids get from years of parent pressure. But, my Blair kid found their people and also had friends outside of the magnet. I have been very impressed with teachers at both schools. Wheaton has been building, and some of my kid's teachers that were meh are gone. Also very impressed w/ History and Eng too. Blair has great ones too, but a little more of a crap shoot as it is so large. Hope this helps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As others have said, there's no uniform personality at any of the magnets, but there are groups that are overrepresented in each.

If the magnets were undergraduate colleges:

Blair magnet would be CalTech (a little bit nerdy, competitive, and intellectually curious)

RMIB would be Harvard (strivers, always looking to the next advantage/opportunity)

Blair CAP would be Wesleyan (gayer than average, dramatic, a sprinkling of smart slackers)

Wheaton would be Georgia Tech (rigorous, diverse, practical)

I don't think you have kids in these programs.

[Anonymous]

I've mentored several Caltech and MIT kids (undergrads and grads), and they do share the same traits with the Blair SMACs kids I supervised - smart, sharp, nerdy, and a bit too strong-will to be compromised. The last trait is a double-edge sword, but I do find the Blair kids in general most likely to concur challenging tasks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We heard Wheaton was intense but in a good way. Anyone have personal experience?

I've had kids at both Wheaton and Blair magnets. they are also friends w/ lots of CAP and RM kids (got into both of those programs too, so checked them out pretty thoroughly). I would there are some differences, but all the programs have the commonality of bright motivated kids. Wheaton is more hands on than Blair and in many ways less intense because it has one less period. But, there seem to be more prescribed components, so it's harder to get in all the things kids want to take. Health in summer helped. Commute should also be considered with intensity because that bus ride can be long. It is not down time.

Wheaton cohort seems more collaborative and less competitive. Don't get me wrong, lots of nice kids at Blair too, but definitely a set of mag bros who try to muscle over others and a few girl cliques (felt more cultural than personal). Wheaton magnet is more diverse racially and culturally as a program. Some years are really lopsided in terms of gender diversity. Blair seems a little better there. Blair is more diverse as a school overall. Both have excellent teachers. A big consideration should be the kid's interests. One of mine was more theoretical, loving math (Blair), the other did not love math (though amazing teacher at Wheaton kind of turned that around) and was more a hands-on problem solver. My Blair kid would have liked a more collaborative environment among peers. Blair admin has this on their radar and wants this too, but I'm not sure how the school can compete with the competitive mindsets that some kids get from years of parent pressure. But, my Blair kid found their people and also had friends outside of the magnet. I have been very impressed with teachers at both schools. Wheaton has been building, and some of my kid's teachers that were meh are gone. Also very impressed w/ History and Eng too. Blair has great ones too, but a little more of a crap shoot as it is so large. Hope this helps.

DC hasn't encountered the competitive side yet but worried now. That does not sound pleasant.