MCPS level of academic rigor

[Anonymous]

The academics may get tougher after 9th depending on number of AP classes your DD will be taking, time spent for multiple EC leadership positions, and demand for competitive training. My DC is a senior at Blair Magnet, a recruited athlete, with significant multiple EC commitments. Time mgmt and organizational skills are critical. Even then, DC averages 4-5 hours of sleep on weekdays. Other competitive athletes in DC's sport travel nationally/internationally practically every weekend during season. They attend online schools for athletes. So how busy she will get depends largely on her goals in target colleges, desired major, varsity/recruited athlete, and others.

[Anonymous]

PP. Prior to Blair Magnet, DC was in a private school with emphasis in critical thinking and writing. Enormous amount of reading and writing were the norm, and the school consistently has the highest average ACT scores in the nation. The STEM courses were pretty robust (especially math), but nothing compared to the breadth and depth of advanced courses offered at Blair Magnet, which consistently has the highest average SAT scores in the nation. The English courses at Blair is excellent (especially the AP Lang and AP Lit path), but DC's reading and writing skills would be better served at the previous private school. At the end it doesn't matter, PSAT/SAT scores qualify for National Merit Finalist.

[Anonymous]

DS had a similar situation—took all APs + Honors classes and got straight As, but never really seemed to be working hard at home. SATs scores were not good (sub 1200). We had him go to Capital Educators, he brought his score up a ton, and landed at a well regarded college and is doing well. He is really working for his grades now.

In MCPS you have to take all Honors and APs if you are a decent student but the honors classes are a joke and people who point to their kid’s high number of AP classes as evidence of high rigor are deluding themselves. DS and neighborhood friend who attended a private school had very different levels of rigor re teacher expectations, work, grading, exams, etc even though on paper they were both taking very similar classes. Private was not an option for us, but the low SAT score vs high grades/rigor was a real wake up call for us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP. Prior to Blair Magnet, DC was in a private school with emphasis in critical thinking and writing. Enormous amount of reading and writing were the norm, and the school consistently has the highest average ACT scores in the nation. The STEM courses were pretty robust (especially math), but nothing compared to the breadth and depth of advanced courses offered at Blair Magnet, which consistently has the highest average SAT scores in the nation. The English courses at Blair is excellent (especially the AP Lang and AP Lit path), but DC's reading and writing skills would be better served at the previous private school. At the end it doesn't matter, PSAT/SAT scores qualify for National Merit Finalist.

Are you saying Blair Magnet's average SAT is higher than 1520, which is TJ's?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Even the MD State Sup and the new MCPS Sup recognize that student performance is inconsistent between grades and testing, meaning in effect that they recognize there is grade inflation.

My two cents - if she's got it together, try not to nag her, esp as you only have a couple years left to enjoy being with her. Junior year and senior year will be stressful enough.

OP here. Thanks for your tips and that's exactly what I thought. Otherwise there's no way she gets all those As with such little effort.

OP just make sure your DD is doing her own work. I think an increasing factor for W school kids with high performance who aren't putting in such long hours is, they are finding "shortcuts".

[Anonymous]

Blair Magnet’s average SAT score is consistently around 1530.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP. Prior to Blair Magnet, DC was in a private school with emphasis in critical thinking and writing. Enormous amount of reading and writing were the norm, and the school consistently has the highest average ACT scores in the nation. The STEM courses were pretty robust (especially math), but nothing compared to the breadth and depth of advanced courses offered at Blair Magnet, which consistently has the highest average SAT scores in the nation. The English courses at Blair is excellent (especially the AP Lang and AP Lit path), but DC's reading and writing skills would be better served at the previous private school. At the end it doesn't matter, PSAT/SAT scores qualify for National Merit Finalist.

Are you saying Blair Magnet's average SAT is higher than 1520, which is TJ's?

yes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The academics may get tougher after 9th depending on number of AP classes your DD will be taking, time spent for multiple EC leadership positions, and demand for competitive training. My DC is a senior at Blair Magnet, a recruited athlete, with significant multiple EC commitments. Time mgmt and organizational skills are critical. Even then, DC averages 4-5 hours of sleep on weekdays. Other competitive athletes in DC's sport travel nationally/internationally practically every weekend during season. They attend online schools for athletes. So how busy she will get depends largely on her goals in target colleges, desired major, varsity/recruited athlete, and others.

4-5 hours of sleep is not nearly enough for a high schooler. And sleep cumulative; you can’t just make that up on the weekend

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS had a similar situation—took all APs + Honors classes and got straight As, but never really seemed to be working hard at home. SATs scores were not good (sub 1200). We had him go to Capital Educators, he brought his score up a ton, and landed at a well regarded college and is doing well. He is really working for his grades now.

In MCPS you have to take all Honors and APs if you are a decent student but the honors classes are a joke and people who point to their kid’s high number of AP classes as evidence of high rigor are deluding themselves. DS and neighborhood friend who attended a private school had very different levels of rigor re teacher expectations, work, grading, exams, etc even though on paper they were both taking very similar classes. Private was not an option for us, but the low SAT score vs high grades/rigor was a real wake up call for us.

Let’s stop this BS comparisons between private and public. I went to a private. Guess what I took? All Honors and AP courses. The problem is we’ve gotten to ridiculous expectations of the SAT score because of all the prepping and review that is now available.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP. Prior to Blair Magnet, DC was in a private school with emphasis in critical thinking and writing. Enormous amount of reading and writing were the norm, and the school consistently has the highest average ACT scores in the nation. The STEM courses were pretty robust (especially math), but nothing compared to the breadth and depth of advanced courses offered at Blair Magnet, which consistently has the highest average SAT scores in the nation. The English courses at Blair is excellent (especially the AP Lang and AP Lit path), but DC's reading and writing skills would be better served at the previous private school. At the end it doesn't matter, PSAT/SAT scores qualify for National Merit Finalist.

Are you saying Blair Magnet's average SAT is higher than 1520, which is TJ's?

Blair Magnet Class of 2025, ave SAT 1,526 - consistently highest in the nation
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XR1NpaGIbsHwNHM115U9Dk2MERN5UB0w/view

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Blair Magnet’s average SAT score is consistently around 1530.

Blair magnet is not a good discussion for rigor as it only takes what 100 kids per grade, and it's very bright kids. Kids at other equally bright schools in DCC don't get the same opportunities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The academics may get tougher after 9th depending on number of AP classes your DD will be taking, time spent for multiple EC leadership positions, and demand for competitive training. My DC is a senior at Blair Magnet, a recruited athlete, with significant multiple EC commitments. Time mgmt and organizational skills are critical. Even then, DC averages 4-5 hours of sleep on weekdays. Other competitive athletes in DC's sport travel nationally/internationally practically every weekend during season. They attend online schools for athletes. So how busy she will get depends largely on her goals in target colleges, desired major, varsity/recruited athlete, and others.

4-5 hours of sleep is not nearly enough for a high schooler. And sleep cumulative; you can’t just make that up on the weekend

Some kids don't need that much sleep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS had a similar situation—took all APs + Honors classes and got straight As, but never really seemed to be working hard at home. SATs scores were not good (sub 1200). We had him go to Capital Educators, he brought his score up a ton, and landed at a well regarded college and is doing well. He is really working for his grades now.

In MCPS you have to take all Honors and APs if you are a decent student but the honors classes are a joke and people who point to their kid’s high number of AP classes as evidence of high rigor are deluding themselves. DS and neighborhood friend who attended a private school had very different levels of rigor re teacher expectations, work, grading, exams, etc even though on paper they were both taking very similar classes. Private was not an option for us, but the low SAT score vs high grades/rigor was a real wake up call for us.

Let’s stop this BS comparisons between private and public. I went to a private. Guess what I took? All Honors and AP courses. The problem is we’ve gotten to ridiculous expectations of the SAT score because of all the prepping and review that is now available.

Last 8 year, many of private non-Catholic high schools in the DMV area moved away from offering AP courses, for differentiation and ROI reasons (why pay private tuition if can take the same AP classes for free at W schools?)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS had a similar situation—took all APs + Honors classes and got straight As, but never really seemed to be working hard at home. SATs scores were not good (sub 1200). We had him go to Capital Educators, he brought his score up a ton, and landed at a well regarded college and is doing well. He is really working for his grades now.

In MCPS you have to take all Honors and APs if you are a decent student but the honors classes are a joke and people who point to their kid’s high number of AP classes as evidence of high rigor are deluding themselves. DS and neighborhood friend who attended a private school had very different levels of rigor re teacher expectations, work, grading, exams, etc even though on paper they were both taking very similar classes. Private was not an option for us, but the low SAT score vs high grades/rigor was a real wake up call for us.

Let’s stop this BS comparisons between private and public. I went to a private. Guess what I took? All Honors and AP courses. The problem is we’ve gotten to ridiculous expectations of the SAT score because of all the prepping and review that is now available.

DC never prepped, took it cold, once and done, perfect score

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The academics may get tougher after 9th depending on number of AP classes your DD will be taking, time spent for multiple EC leadership positions, and demand for competitive training. My DC is a senior at Blair Magnet, a recruited athlete, with significant multiple EC commitments. Time mgmt and organizational skills are critical. Even then, DC averages 4-5 hours of sleep on weekdays. Other competitive athletes in DC's sport travel nationally/internationally practically every weekend during season. They attend online schools for athletes. So how busy she will get depends largely on her goals in target colleges, desired major, varsity/recruited athlete, and others.

4-5 hours of sleep is not nearly enough for a high schooler. And sleep cumulative; you can’t just make that up on the weekend

Some kids don't need that much sleep.

Teens need 8-10 hours. 4-5 is nowhere near enough.

https://health.clevelandclinic.org/how-much-sleep-teens-need