If accepted to Blair Stem and Richard Montgomery IB

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The IB curriculum is inferior for math and sciences, and the IB diploma program is inflexible and filled with pretentious nonsense like Theory of Knowledge, and busy work like Creativity, Activity, Service. People always bring up the writing in IB, to me it’s high volume, but frankly the quality is lacking.

This being said, the main benefit of the magnet is the student cohort, and one can take courses outside of the IB ones.

The culture though is one of the most irritating things about the IB programs. It’s all BS about international perspective, global citizenship, and name dropping about college acceptances. The poster that said you should avoid IB if you have a low tolerance for BS was spot on.

Maybe true, but RMIB program is more well rounded than Blair, and from what I have heard, IB in general prepares a student better for college.

So you know nothing about program, but you hear...
Got it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do think Blair has more kids who love learning for the sake of learning and who are not bound by the vanity of name brand schools and achievements.

Don't get more wrong. There are plenty of kids and parents who are going for top colleges just like at RM but we did not see this this other group of kids who don't really seem to care as much. At RMIB everyone cares.

Disagree that everyone cares at RMiB. Lots of kids planning on MD state schools there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The IB curriculum is inferior for math and sciences, and the IB diploma program is inflexible and filled with pretentious nonsense like Theory of Knowledge, and busy work like Creativity, Activity, Service. People always bring up the writing in IB, to me it’s high volume, but frankly the quality is lacking.

This being said, the main benefit of the magnet is the student cohort, and one can take courses outside of the IB ones.

The culture though is one of the most irritating things about the IB programs. It’s all BS about international perspective, global citizenship, and name dropping about college acceptances. The poster that said you should avoid IB if you have a low tolerance for BS was spot on.

Maybe true, but RMIB program is more well rounded than Blair, and from what I have heard, IB in general prepares a student better for college.

So you know nothing about program, but you hear...
Got it

That’s one of the features of the IB programs, it’s always a relative saying something, some college professor swears by the IB program, the cousin “felt” prepared etc, nothing that can be judged or evaluated objectively.

[Anonymous]

I can only speak to RMIB...it's a fantastic program, and the students are friendly. I had one graduate and one still there.

They both enjoyed/are enjoying the program. My kids are lucky not to get stressed or anxious about school. They learned a lot, had some great teachers, and made some dear friends. They're the type to attend FB and basketball games along with the occasional drama production. They liked normal HS activities.

They both were well aware they were not good candidates for Ivy & Ivy+. Both did very well gradewise and also with SAT/IB/AP tests but did not have any serious ECs compared to the students excelling in all areas. Elder one is at UMDCP with Honors College invite.

Whether it's Blair or RM, your kid will find their group.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The IB curriculum is inferior for math and sciences, and the IB diploma program is inflexible and filled with pretentious nonsense like Theory of Knowledge, and busy work like Creativity, Activity, Service. People always bring up the writing in IB, to me it’s high volume, but frankly the quality is lacking.

This being said, the main benefit of the magnet is the student cohort, and one can take courses outside of the IB ones.

The culture though is one of the most irritating things about the IB programs. It’s all BS about international perspective, global citizenship, and name dropping about college acceptances. The poster that said you should avoid IB if you have a low tolerance for BS was spot on.

Maybe true, but RMIB program is more well rounded than Blair, and from what I have heard, IB in general prepares a student better for college.

The IB program is more “well rounded”, whatever that means, because it’s inflexible, you’re forced to take classes in the six areas of study. That can be a deal breaker for many because in 11-12 grades you find what you’re passionate about and take classes that align with that interest.

I you can still choose a well rounded education at Blair, but you don’t have to. To be honest it’s silly to be interested in a stem major and take a single science class in the last two years of high school and call that “well rounded”.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. Some observations after both night sessions and shadow days:

-Blair’s evening session was more informative and organized than RM’s session. It was helpful to see some of the teachers from different subjects at Blair.
-My kid found the opposite to be true for the shadow days. RM was more organized and informative. My kid was excited about Blair’s research class. Yet, the kids spent the double period doing other things such as homework.
Kids seemed overall happier at RM and enthusiastic about the program. (Granted, kids were paired with seniors at RM rather than freshmen at Blair.)
-Both programs have a very high number of NMSF. No other program or school in the county can compare. interestingly, Blair’s medium SAT are 300 higher than RM’s program.

My kid is in the same situation, and after attending both the open house and shadow day, decided on Blair. Our home school is one of the W’s. We had exactly the same impression from both programs’ open house nights. Blair’s was practical and informative, clearly outlining the benefits and challenges of the program. RM’s, on the other hand, felt more like a showcase of college acceptances, with less useful information about the program itself.

My kid found RM’s shadow day fun but didn’t enjoy one of the IB classes, where the teacher just read from slides. However, they found the English class engaging and eye-opening. Interestingly, many students at RM’s shadow day told my kid not to go to Blair, but did not give convincing reasoning.

My kid currently loves their engineering class in middle school (not Takoma) and has a stronger interest in science and engineering. That was the main reason we chose Blair.

Hope this helps!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Blair is a strong program but niche, for STEM obviously but majority pre-engineering. RMIB is better for kids who like STEM and humanities, and produces excellent analytical writers across disciplines. Historically RMIB has had better college outcomes because Ivy+ schools prefer a broader liberal arts focus. Blair does better with MIT. Both are very competitive but RMIB students are a little more chill. [quote]Last year RMIB produced twice as many NMSF as Blair. This year it was reversed, Blair produced twice as many. So the cohorts vary too.[/quote]

Iancorrect. In 2023, Blair High School had 41 NMSF students, while RM High School had 29.
In 2024, Blair had 45, and RM had 25. Blair had more NMSF students than RM in both 2023 and 2024.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Blair is a strong program but niche, for STEM obviously but majority pre-engineering. RMIB is better for kids who like STEM and humanities, and produces excellent analytical writers across disciplines. Historically RMIB has had better college outcomes because Ivy+ schools prefer a broader liberal arts focus. Blair does better with MIT. Both are very competitive but RMIB students are a little more chill. Last year RMIB produced twice as many NMSF as Blair. This year it was reversed, Blair produced twice as many. So the cohorts vary too.

Tell me you have no idea of what you're talking about without telling me you have no idea.

This is all easy to verify. Although it's not true that there were twice as many RMIB NMSF last year as Blair, it is true there were more. 2024 29 RMIB, 21 Blair. 2025 there were more from Blair. It does vary.

As for college admissions, look at the college commitment websites from last year. You can draw your own conclusions.

Also incorrect.
The public schools with the most semifinalists are Montgomery Blair (42), Richard Montgomery (24), Poolesville (21), Walter Johnson (15), Winston Churchill (10) and Walt Whitman (10).
from https://www.mymcmedia.org/158-county-students-named-national-merit-semifinalists/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. Some observations after both night sessions and shadow days:

-Blair’s evening session was more informative and organized than RM’s session. It was helpful to see some of the teachers from different subjects at Blair.
-My kid found the opposite to be true for the shadow days. RM was more organized and informative. My kid was excited about Blair’s research class. Yet, the kids spent the double period doing other things such as homework.
Kids seemed overall happier at RM and enthusiastic about the program. (Granted, kids were paired with seniors at RM rather than freshmen at Blair.)
-Both programs have a very high number of NMSF. No other program or school in the county can compare. interestingly, Blair’s medium SAT are 300 higher than RM’s program.

Which grade did your kid shadow? 9th graders and 11th graders can feel quite different. 9th graders are still in the process of fitting into the program, while 11th graders have already adjusted and should be starting to enjoy it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The IB curriculum is inferior for math and sciences, and the IB diploma program is inflexible and filled with pretentious nonsense like Theory of Knowledge, and busy work like Creativity, Activity, Service. People always bring up the writing in IB, to me it’s high volume, but frankly the quality is lacking.

This being said, the main benefit of the magnet is the student cohort, and one can take courses outside of the IB ones.

The culture though is one of the most irritating things about the IB programs. It’s all BS about international perspective, global citizenship, and name dropping about college acceptances. The poster that said you should avoid IB if you have a low tolerance for BS was spot on.

Maybe true, but RMIB program is more well rounded than Blair, and from what I have heard, IB in general prepares a student better for college.

So you know nothing about program, but you hear...
Got it

That’s one of the features of the IB programs, it’s always a relative saying something, some college professor swears by the IB program, the cousin “felt” prepared etc, nothing that can be judged or evaluated objectively.

Right. IB for people who believe in the diverse creativity and diffuse intangible value of human experience.

Science magnet for robots who all can be objectively scored on the same worksheets full of already solved problems 😂

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Blair is a strong program but niche, for STEM obviously but majority pre-engineering. RMIB is better for kids who like STEM and humanities, and produces excellent analytical writers across disciplines. Historically RMIB has had better college outcomes because Ivy+ schools prefer a broader liberal arts focus. Blair does better with MIT. Both are very competitive but RMIB students are a little more chill. Last year RMIB produced twice as many NMSF as Blair. This year it was reversed, Blair produced twice as many. So the cohorts vary too.

Tell me you have no idea of what you're talking about without telling me you have no idea.

This is all easy to verify. Although it's not true that there were twice as many RMIB NMSF last year as Blair, it is true there were more. 2024 29 RMIB, 21 Blair. 2025 there were more from Blair. It does vary.

As for college admissions, look at the college commitment websites from last year. You can draw your own conclusions.

Also incorrect.
The public schools with the most semifinalists are Montgomery Blair (42), Richard Montgomery (24), Poolesville (21), Walter Johnson (15), Winston Churchill (10) and Walt Whitman (10).
from https://www.mymcmedia.org/158-county-students-named-national-merit-semifinalists/

RMIB is not the same as RM, and Blair also has CAP, and is a larger non magnet school, so one should be careful about comparing similar size and relatively homogenous populations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The IB curriculum is inferior for math and sciences, and the IB diploma program is inflexible and filled with pretentious nonsense like Theory of Knowledge, and busy work like Creativity, Activity, Service. People always bring up the writing in IB, to me it’s high volume, but frankly the quality is lacking.

This being said, the main benefit of the magnet is the student cohort, and one can take courses outside of the IB ones.

The culture though is one of the most irritating things about the IB programs. It’s all BS about international perspective, global citizenship, and name dropping about college acceptances. The poster that said you should avoid IB if you have a low tolerance for BS was spot on.

Maybe true, but RMIB program is more well rounded than Blair, and from what I have heard, IB in general prepares a student better for college.

The IB program is more “well rounded”, whatever that means, because it’s inflexible, you’re forced to take classes in the six areas of study. That can be a deal breaker for many because in 11-12 grades you find what you’re passionate about and take classes that align with that interest.

I you can still choose a well rounded education at Blair, but you don’t have to. To be honest it’s silly to be interested in a stem major and take a single science class in the last two years of high school and call that “well rounded”.

Maybe we wouldn't have DOGE if STEM majors were more well rounded and understood the wider context around their work....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. Some observations after both night sessions and shadow days:

-Blair’s evening session was more informative and organized than RM’s session. It was helpful to see some of the teachers from different subjects at Blair.
-My kid found the opposite to be true for the shadow days. RM was more organized and informative. My kid was excited about Blair’s research class. Yet, the kids spent the double period doing other things such as homework.
Kids seemed overall happier at RM and enthusiastic about the program. (Granted, kids were paired with seniors at RM rather than freshmen at Blair.)
-Both programs have a very high number of NMSF. No other program or school in the county can compare. interestingly, Blair’s medium SAT are 300 higher than RM’s program.

Which grade did your kid shadow? 9th graders and 11th graders can feel quite different. 9th graders are still in the process of fitting into the program, while 11th graders have already adjusted and should be starting to enjoy it.

Not the PP, but my child had the same experience last year. He was deciding between Blair Magnet and RMIB, and the RMIB presentation focused on college admissions while the Blair presentation focused on the experience of being in the program. The real deal-breaker, though, was when the RMIB kids tried to reassure my child that he wouldn't need to interact that much with "Gen pop" at Richard Montgomery, and used racially disparaging language to describe first the rest of the student body at RM (regarding Black and Latino kids) and then to mock the kids in the Blair Magnet (Asian American).

To my kid, it just felt mean. I'm not saying all RMIB kids are racist, but they are weirdly competitive and it felt okay to them to use racial language as part of that competition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:. interestingly, Blair’s medium SAT are 300 higher than RM’s program.

This ridiculous claim is obvious false.

RMIB SAT is much higher than RM overall.

RMIB doesn't publish a college profile document for the public, but Blair Magnet does.

Comparing RM whole school vs Blair Magnet ges you "300 points" for that nonsense calculation.

[Anonymous]

Both are excellent. Go with whichever has the shorter commute.