MCPS High School Magnet Decisions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just a side note, my two kids who had applied (and accepted to all the programs), I find their essays to be almost comical. The things they wrote about was quite innocent and immature. No fancy language. If anything, a little whiny like most 13 year olds. We certainly know kids who I would think are more qualified although I never asked about their scores so would not know for comparison purposes. But it makes me wonder if admissions prefer to see a child tone, rather than something so well crafted and thought out.

What were their grades/scores?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS just told me he got his results. Into Blair, RM and Poolesville. Didn't expect this. He likely will decline all 3.

Why did he apply then.

To stroke his parents’ ego.

You sound upset.

There are many reasons why kids apply and then decline. I would encourage kids to go to the information nights, and they can make up their minds at that time after hearing the presentations and seeing the cohorts. No push from parents because magnet is a huge commitment that students endure (not the parents!).

This person is saying they will decline without even getting more information. That is different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD got into Poolesville Humanities and few others that are less competitive or lottery based.

Any thoughts on what the homework workload for the Poolesville Humanties program is like?

My daughter is in Humanities...it's a pretty rigorous program but manageable with good time management skills.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just a side note, my two kids who had applied (and accepted to all the programs), I find their essays to be almost comical. The things they wrote about was quite innocent and immature. No fancy language. If anything, a little whiny like most 13 year olds. We certainly know kids who I would think are more qualified although I never asked about their scores so would not know for comparison purposes. But it makes me wonder if admissions prefer to see a child tone, rather than something so well crafted and thought out.

What were their grades/scores?

Both are A students (but we were told most kids are A students in mcps) with lots of sports, music and too many non-academic random activities of their liking. But they didn't win any awards or anything of sort.

My older one had extraordinarily high math scores. It's been awhile so I don't recall - maybe around 310ish for math and 270's for reading.

My younger one, I think either upper 280's or lower 290's for math, and mid 250ish for reading. He tells me kids always talk about scores at school and he never felt his scores were amazing compared to others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS just told me he got his results. Into Blair, RM and Poolesville. Didn't expect this. He likely will decline all 3.

Why did he apply then.

To stroke his parents’ ego.

You sound upset.

There are many reasons why kids apply and then decline. I would encourage kids to go to the information nights, and they can make up their minds at that time after hearing the presentations and seeing the cohorts. No push from parents because magnet is a huge commitment that students endure (not the parents!).

This person is saying they will decline without even getting more information. That is different.

No, that was me who said DS will likely decline (b/c I am realistic), but who knows what he will do after the info session. I am also the same person you quoted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just a side note, my two kids who had applied (and accepted to all the programs), I find their essays to be almost comical. The things they wrote about was quite innocent and immature. No fancy language. If anything, a little whiny like most 13 year olds. We certainly know kids who I would think are more qualified although I never asked about their scores so would not know for comparison purposes. But it makes me wonder if admissions prefer to see a child tone, rather than something so well crafted and thought out.

What were their grades/scores?

Both are A students (but we were told most kids are A students in mcps) with lots of sports, music and too many non-academic random activities of their liking. But they didn't win any awards or anything of sort.

My older one had extraordinarily high math scores. It's been awhile so I don't recall - maybe around 310ish for math and 270's for reading.

My younger one, I think either upper 280's or lower 290's for math, and mid 250ish for reading. He tells me kids always talk about scores at school and he never felt his scores were amazing compared to others.

They got in because their scores were very high. Their essays were irrelevant. The essays only come into play if they are borderline.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Got wait listed. Anyone with prior experience or knowledge of wait lists? Roughly what percentage of kids get an invite after being wait listed?

Literally everyone DD knows who was waitlisted at RMIB got off the wait list last year and she knew over a dozen kids waitlisted at her school and a few others from her activities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just a side note, my two kids who had applied (and accepted to all the programs), I find their essays to be almost comical. The things they wrote about was quite innocent and immature. No fancy language. If anything, a little whiny like most 13 year olds. We certainly know kids who I would think are more qualified although I never asked about their scores so would not know for comparison purposes. But it makes me wonder if admissions prefer to see a child tone, rather than something so well crafted and thought out.

What were their grades/scores?

Both are A students (but we were told most kids are A students in mcps) with lots of sports, music and too many non-academic random activities of their liking. But they didn't win any awards or anything of sort.

My older one had extraordinarily high math scores. It's been awhile so I don't recall - maybe around 310ish for math and 270's for reading.

My younger one, I think either upper 280's or lower 290's for math, and mid 250ish for reading. He tells me kids always talk about scores at school and he never felt his scores were amazing compared to others.

They got in because their scores were very high. Their essays were irrelevant. The essays only come into play if they are borderline.

+1
My child with very high scores last year did not have a good essay but accepted to Blair stem, RMIB, Blair cap, both Wheaton programs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS just told me he got his results. Into Blair, RM and Poolesville. Didn't expect this. He likely will decline all 3.

Why did he apply then.

To stroke his parents’ ego.

You sound upset.

There are many reasons why kids apply and then decline. I would encourage kids to go to the information nights, and they can make up their minds at that time after hearing the presentations and seeing the cohorts. No push from parents because magnet is a huge commitment that students endure (not the parents!).

This person is saying they will decline without even getting more information. That is different.

No, that was me who said DS will likely decline (b/c I am realistic), but who knows what he will do after the info session. I am also the same person you quoted.

It's been a long time since the applications were done. DC's friend got accepted at Blair and RMIB and turned them down immediately as the friend was tired of the commute. Was a TPMS student and I think they didn't think about it that much in the fall but by the time the acceptances came out they were weary.

[Anonymous]

amaheshw wrote:Blair rejection, and RM wait pool. Same question as someone above -- roughly what percentage of kids get invited off a wait pool, either at RM specifically, or any of the magnets more generally?

I don't think they have revealed the size of the waitlist at RMIB but you might want to ask the coordinator. From what we've heard from various friends my very wild guess would be they are taking 100 or more kids off the waitlist because multiple people are declining for each spot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just a side note, my two kids who had applied (and accepted to all the programs), I find their essays to be almost comical. The things they wrote about was quite innocent and immature. No fancy language. If anything, a little whiny like most 13 year olds. We certainly know kids who I would think are more qualified although I never asked about their scores so would not know for comparison purposes. But it makes me wonder if admissions prefer to see a child tone, rather than something so well crafted and thought out.

What were their grades/scores?

Both are A students (but we were told most kids are A students in mcps) with lots of sports, music and too many non-academic random activities of their liking. But they didn't win any awards or anything of sort.

My older one had extraordinarily high math scores. It's been awhile so I don't recall - maybe around 310ish for math and 270's for reading.

My younger one, I think either upper 280's or lower 290's for math, and mid 250ish for reading. He tells me kids always talk about scores at school and he never felt his scores were amazing compared to others.

They got in because their scores were very high. Their essays were irrelevant. The essays only come into play if they are borderline.

+1
My child with very high scores last year did not have a good essay but accepted to Blair stem, RMIB, Blair cap, both Wheaton programs

And my kid was accepted at the exact same programs last year with MAP M in the mid 270s and MAP R low 260s but excellent essay. In my kid case I think the essay was important - some kids with similar scores did not get offers.

[Anonymous]

After the acceptances and declines, how many kids (freshmen) are there each year in Poolesville SMCS program?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:After the acceptances and declines, how many kids (freshmen) are there each year in Poolesville SMCS program?

100

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just a side note, my two kids who had applied (and accepted to all the programs), I find their essays to be almost comical. The things they wrote about was quite innocent and immature. No fancy language. If anything, a little whiny like most 13 year olds. We certainly know kids who I would think are more qualified although I never asked about their scores so would not know for comparison purposes. But it makes me wonder if admissions prefer to see a child tone, rather than something so well crafted and thought out.

What were their grades/scores?

Both are A students (but we were told most kids are A students in mcps) with lots of sports, music and too many non-academic random activities of their liking. But they didn't win any awards or anything of sort.

My older one had extraordinarily high math scores. It's been awhile so I don't recall - maybe around 310ish for math and 270's for reading.

My younger one, I think either upper 280's or lower 290's for math, and mid 250ish for reading. He tells me kids always talk about scores at school and he never felt his scores were amazing compared to others.

They got in because their scores were very high. Their essays were irrelevant. The essays only come into play if they are borderline.

+1
My child with very high scores last year did not have a good essay but accepted to Blair stem, RMIB, Blair cap, both Wheaton programs

And my kid was accepted at the exact same programs last year with MAP M in the mid 270s and MAP R low 260s but excellent essay. In my kid case I think the essay was important - some kids with similar scores did not get offers.

You post all the time. Your kids scores are high but not outlier scores. I think everyone seems to agree that kids with outlier scores like the other PP will get in with bad essays that the admissions team probably doesn't even read but there are tons of kids with Map m in the 270s and a fair number with map r in the 260s although that's relatively speaking much higher. Many TPMS kids have Map m in the 270s and did not get in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just a side note, my two kids who had applied (and accepted to all the programs), I find their essays to be almost comical. The things they wrote about was quite innocent and immature. No fancy language. If anything, a little whiny like most 13 year olds. We certainly know kids who I would think are more qualified although I never asked about their scores so would not know for comparison purposes. But it makes me wonder if admissions prefer to see a child tone, rather than something so well crafted and thought out.

What were their grades/scores?

Both are A students (but we were told most kids are A students in mcps) with lots of sports, music and too many non-academic random activities of their liking. But they didn't win any awards or anything of sort.

My older one had extraordinarily high math scores. It's been awhile so I don't recall - maybe around 310ish for math and 270's for reading.

My younger one, I think either upper 280's or lower 290's for math, and mid 250ish for reading. He tells me kids always talk about scores at school and he never felt his scores were amazing compared to others.

They got in because their scores were very high. Their essays were irrelevant. The essays only come into play if they are borderline.

+1
My child with very high scores last year did not have a good essay but accepted to Blair stem, RMIB, Blair cap, both Wheaton programs

And my kid was accepted at the exact same programs last year with MAP M in the mid 270s and MAP R low 260s but excellent essay. In my kid case I think the essay was important - some kids with similar scores did not get offers.

You post all the time. Your kids scores are high but not outlier scores. I think everyone seems to agree that kids with outlier scores like the other PP will get in with bad essays that the admissions team probably doesn't even read but there are tons of kids with Map m in the 270s and a fair number with map r in the 260s although that's relatively speaking much higher. Many TPMS kids have Map m in the 270s and did not get in.

I’ve never shared these numbers before and I’m not sure what your point is? I just said that for my DD, the essay was key because the scores were not outstanding. For kids with incredibly high scores, the essay was less relevant. It sounds like you agree?