Comparing CES to AAP

[Anonymous]

My kids go to MCPS schools and neither was in a CES. Not more than a handful of students from their elementary school were admitted to the HGC/CES when they were eligible. I was under the impression from what I read on dcum that the AAP centers admit many more students and thus are less “highly” selective than the MoCo equivalent. But I was just reading the 2019 AAP thread and it seemed like most admitted students had Cogat scores 132 and above. That test is basically equivalent to IQ, right? Assuming so, the AAP baseline score is above 98th percentile. I don’t know exactly what I am wondering, but I was surprised at how high the AAP baseline score is as the AAP seems almost as competitive as the MoCo equivalent yet so many more students qualify in Fairfax.

[Anonymous]

AAP has several levels in Fairfax County. So you have to distinguish between levels 1-4. Some is done in the local school and a smaller portion in the "centers".

Also, I know for sure MCPS uses an above grade level test for CES selection, I think, but do not know for sure, that Fairfax uses an on grade level, so that will impact the scores some. They also use the full cogAT, not the screener, so the data gets reported differently. The screener only gives a composite score.

[Anonymous]

What does VA have for middle and high school?

The CES is what it is, but selection gets much more intense at the middle school magnet level. And for high school, forget it. Only the truly gifted can go. Not the normal high-achieving kid that gets into CES.

[Anonymous]

MCPS seems to be adopted something more similar to FCPS. The old HGCs used to be the top 3-5%. Now there are local programs which include 30%. I think Fairfax uses a much more complicated admissions procedure which can include outside testing in a family provides it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MCPS seems to be adopted something more similar to FCPS. The old HGCs used to be the top 3-5%. Now there are local programs which include 30%. I think Fairfax uses a much more complicated admissions procedure which can include outside testing in a family provides it.

That's not exactly accurate. One local program has up to 30%. PBES, for example, seems to be going the opposite direction looking at the admission statistics posted in a different thread.

Personally, there are pros and cons to both of these approaches but I'd rather err on the side being inclusive. However, the reality is the CES and magnet programs in MCPS are much more selective than their counterparts in VA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids go to MCPS schools and neither was in a CES. Not more than a handful of students from their elementary school were admitted to the HGC/CES when they were eligible. I was under the impression from what I read on dcum that the AAP centers admit many more students and thus are less “highly” selective than the MoCo equivalent. But I was just reading the 2019 AAP thread and it seemed like most admitted students had Cogat scores 132 and above. That test is basically equivalent to IQ, right? Assuming so, the AAP baseline score is above 98th percentile. I don’t know exactly what I am wondering, but I was surprised at how high the AAP baseline score is as the AAP seems almost as competitive as the MoCo equivalent yet so many more students qualify in Fairfax.

There’s mad prepping going on in Fairfax.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS seems to be adopted something more similar to FCPS. The old HGCs used to be the top 3-5%. Now there are local programs which include 30%. I think Fairfax uses a much more complicated admissions procedure which can include outside testing in a family provides it.

That's not exactly accurate. One local program has up to 30%. PBES, for example, seems to be going the opposite direction looking at the admission statistics posted in a different thread.

Personally, there are pros and cons to both of these approaches but I'd rather err on the side being inclusive. However, the reality is the CES and magnet programs in MCPS are much more selective than their counterparts in VA.

I think many of the local programs are pretty high. They have to have at least a full classroom and some have 2.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS seems to be adopted something more similar to FCPS. The old HGCs used to be the top 3-5%. Now there are local programs which include 30%. I think Fairfax uses a much more complicated admissions procedure which can include outside testing in a family provides it.

That's not exactly accurate. One local program has up to 30%. PBES, for example, seems to be going the opposite direction looking at the admission statistics posted in a different thread.

Personally, there are pros and cons to both of these approaches but I'd rather err on the side being inclusive. However, the reality is the CES and magnet programs in MCPS are much more selective than their counterparts in VA.

I think many of the local programs are pretty high. They have to have at least a full classroom and some have 2.

Yes, one of the three fourth grade classrooms at Stonegate is a local CES, so that's 1/3 of the kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS seems to be adopted something more similar to FCPS. The old HGCs used to be the top 3-5%. Now there are local programs which include 30%. I think Fairfax uses a much more complicated admissions procedure which can include outside testing in a family provides it.

That's not exactly accurate. One local program has up to 30%. PBES, for example, seems to be going the opposite direction looking at the admission statistics posted in a different thread.

Personally, there are pros and cons to both of these approaches but I'd rather err on the side being inclusive. However, the reality is the CES and magnet programs in MCPS are much more selective than their counterparts in VA.

PBES has 9 class and 235 kids. Best I can tell there's one class next year.

[Anonymous]

AAP is more like a few isolated local CES's but by and large, it is much more inclusive than the regional centers. Not sure how this works out, but feel MCPS is making reasonable choices.

[Anonymous]

OP here. I would have guessed entry to an CES (old HGC) would have been around that same baseline as Fairfax’s, IQ above 132 or so. It is amazing to me that Fairfax fills so many more centers than MoCo with kids at that level of IQ. I know there are plenty of qualified students in MoCo who don’t gain admittance to a CES but I have to think if there were numbers like in Fairfax then the system would be set up differently here in MoCo. No dog in this, I was just reading the AAP admit thread last night (while bored in my car waiting for kids!) and was amazed at the baseline entry point considering how many more students are involved in AAP than CES.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I would have guessed entry to an CES (old HGC) would have been around that same baseline as Fairfax’s, IQ above 132 or so. It is amazing to me that Fairfax fills so many more centers than MoCo with kids at that level of IQ. I know there are plenty of qualified students in MoCo who don’t gain admittance to a CES but I have to think if there were numbers like in Fairfax then the system would be set up differently here in MoCo. No dog in this, I was just reading the AAP admit thread last night (while bored in my car waiting for kids!) and was amazed at the baseline entry point considering how many more students are involved in AAP than CES.

Do you have a source for the IQ data on AAP?

[Anonymous]

My source for the AAP data is anecdotal as it is from the AAP thread. Most poster’s admitted students had cogat scores over that number and a few posters specifically recerenced 132 as a baseline.

[Anonymous]

My 5th grader was accepted into CES with a score of 121. That was about average in the DCC CES where he goes. It would have been way too low for the Bethesda/Potomac area CESs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MCPS seems to be adopted something more similar to FCPS. The old HGCs used to be the top 3-5%. Now there are local programs which include 30%. I think Fairfax uses a much more complicated admissions procedure which can include outside testing in a family provides it.

A few local programs do this like 1. Others don't. Not that I'm complaining I'm all for a more inclusive program but it isn't really happening.