Blair SMAC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A number of years ago, when my 8th grader went to the local HS for Alg 2 there were seven 8th graders in the class. Only 2 got into Blair. 2 got into RMIB. So clearly non of these programs only take the TOP kids, because these kids were the top math kids in the cluster and most didn't get it in.

I would say four out of seven students being admitted to highly-competitive magnet programs is quite impressive.

That's a little crazy since many of the most gifted kids didn't attend the wealthy Potomac schools that offer math enrichment that enables students to take Algebra 2 in 8th.

Wut?

[Anonymous]

Alg 2 is offered in every MoCo HS for 8th graders who qualify.

[Anonymous]

It's very hard to prep for the Cogat and the big secret is those expensive classes really do not really help kids get in anywhere. Very few kids from those prep schools actually get in and they would have gotten in anyway.

The only thing I think they offer is giving kids familiarity with the types of questions and format and you can do that for your child with a $10 book on Amazon or by borrowing a book which is available at the public library for free. There are also plenty of YouTube videos you can find online.

You are foolish if you think these actually make a difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Alg 2 is offered in every MoCo HS for 8th graders who qualify.

But only a few wealthy ES offer AIM in 6th grade. TPMS for example, won't allow anyone who hasn't taken AIM to take Algebra in 6th grade. Only kids who have taken Algebra in 6th grade are able to take Algebra 2 in 8th.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's very hard to prep for the Cogat and the big secret is those expensive classes really do not really help kids get in anywhere. Very few kids from those prep schools actually get in and they would have gotten in anyway.

The only thing I think they offer is giving kids familiarity with the types of questions and format and you can do that for your child with a $10 book on Amazon or by borrowing a book which is available at the public library for free. There are also plenty of YouTube videos you can find online.

You are foolish if you think these actually make a difference.

Actually it isn't hard to prep for it at all. It's not much different than prepping for the SATs. You can boost your score by 20% simply by being familiar with the test format and question types. These are well known facts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's very hard to prep for the Cogat and the big secret is those expensive classes really do not really help kids get in anywhere. Very few kids from those prep schools actually get in and they would have gotten in anyway.

The only thing I think they offer is giving kids familiarity with the types of questions and format and you can do that for your child with a $10 book on Amazon or by borrowing a book which is available at the public library for free. There are also plenty of YouTube videos you can find online.

You are foolish if you think these actually make a difference.

The $10 book is not comparable to places like Curie or Dr. Li's that will drive this home. Even getting the time management aspect of this test takes practice which is what these places provide.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are also kids who are very good at math (but perhaps not the top) but maybe they are better at Science. Same goes for Computer Science. And Blair’s English is still
higher than every other program too, so they do look at the whole picture. Of course they try to take most of the TOP math kids, but there are at least 2 levels of 9th grade magnet math. And a few will be in math with 10th graders probably, because Those are truly the top math kids.

Ok, so my kids best subject is computer science. How does the selection committee get to taste his abilities on this when they only have MAP-M and grades in math and science to go on?

last I checked CS is a STEM class hence the word science in its title

Oh really? You are so helpful. The Blair magnet coordinator said they get math and science grades only, not that they get STEM grades only.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A ton of comp sci kids are introverts. They enter online competitions and hackathons on their own, not through school. So it really has nothing to do with MCPS, it’s more about kids finding their their own interests and going out and getting what they want and need.

You’re missing the point. Some kids can be very interested and motivated in a subject and not interested or motivated by competitions!!! Some kids have no interest in competing, online or any other way. Doesn’t mean They aren’t skilled or advanced in that area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are also kids who are very good at math (but perhaps not the top) but maybe they are better at Science. Same goes for Computer Science. And Blair’s English is still
higher than every other program too, so they do look at the whole picture. Of course they try to take most of the TOP math kids, but there are at least 2 levels of 9th grade magnet math. And a few will be in math with 10th graders probably, because Those are truly the top math kids.

Ok, so my kids best subject is computer science. How does the selection committee get to taste his abilities on this when they only have MAP-M and grades in math and science to go on?

last I checked CS is a STEM class hence the word science in its title

Oh really? You are so helpful. The Blair magnet coordinator said they get math and science grades only, not that they get STEM grades only.

and computer science is science so they get those grades too if they happen to go to an MS that offers it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A ton of comp sci kids are introverts. They enter online competitions and hackathons on their own, not through school. So it really has nothing to do with MCPS, it’s more about kids finding their their own interests and going out and getting what they want and need.

You’re missing the point. Some kids can be very interested and motivated in a subject and not interested or motivated by competitions!!! Some kids have no interest in competing, online or any other way. Doesn’t mean They aren’t skilled or advanced in that area.

I don’t think competitions are as necessary to the process as you seem to think. If a kid’s favorite thing is computers, they can talk about the languages they know and the projects they’ve worked on. If they’re into science, they can talk about the studies they’ve pursued on their own that excite them. Do they like to read about a certain subject, follow astronomy stuff on the NASA website, hike through the woods studying local flora and fauna, take things apart and engineer new inventions, etc., then whatever they like to geek out over, they should write about why something excites them and what they enjoy doing about it.

I absolutely think MCPS should have more magnet slots. I think if a child wants to learn something, we owe it not only to the child, but to the future of our society to give them that opportunity. My impression of the magnet selection process is that it is less about benchmarks and more like a matchmaking service. They’re trying to find kids who are capable of performing at the high levels the program requires, but even more so, the kids who have the genuine love for learning that will let them enjoy learning about new things despite the often insane amount of work required and still energize each other about how cool this stuff is. Hopefully, they get the kids who need it the most, and the kids who will get the most from the program, although those aren’t necessarily the same kids. That being said, due to the limited availability of the program, I think it’s kind of like my impression of HYSP schools — outside of a few extreme outliers, they have such a surfeit of great candidates that it basically comes down to chance which great candidate gets in and which great candidate doesn’t.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are also kids who are very good at math (but perhaps not the top) but maybe they are better at Science. Same goes for Computer Science. And Blair’s English is still
higher than every other program too, so they do look at the whole picture. Of course they try to take most of the TOP math kids, but there are at least 2 levels of 9th grade magnet math. And a few will be in math with 10th graders probably, because Those are truly the top math kids.

Ok, so my kids best subject is computer science. How does the selection committee get to taste his abilities on this when they only have MAP-M and grades in math and science to go on?

DP. Now you understand why MCPS is broken.

Cogat (the race-neutral, nationally-administered) exam is gone.

MAP-M primarily indicates what grade level of math the child is doing (and the test score most likely influenced by after-hours tutoring).

Is an A at TPMS the same as an A at Forest Oak?

The only other selection factor is what is written in the application. I would list whatever computer science the child does and have your kid write what they like about CS.

The PP is mostly uninformed. Most of the kids who were getting in had prepped for the CogAT. Yes, that's a thing and it made the scores unreliable since non-gifted who had spent months practicing presented as gifted. There are a lot of bitter people who are pushing bad information. The real problem isn't selection but the scarcity of these programs. THe one thing the MS lottery demonstrated is that far more kids are capable of doing the work than had been previously believed.

How could you possibly know this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Alg 2 is offered in every MoCo HS for 8th graders who qualify.

But only a few wealthy ES offer AIM in 6th grade. TPMS for example, won't allow anyone who hasn't taken AIM to take Algebra in 6th grade. Only kids who have taken Algebra in 6th grade are able to take Algebra 2 in 8th.

TMPS is in its own bubble. There many other schools in MCPS that allow it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A ton of comp sci kids are introverts. They enter online competitions and hackathons on their own, not through school. So it really has nothing to do with MCPS, it’s more about kids finding their their own interests and going out and getting what they want and need.

You’re missing the point. Some kids can be very interested and motivated in a subject and not interested or motivated by competitions!!! Some kids have no interest in competing, online or any other way. Doesn’t mean They aren’t skilled or advanced in that area.

I don’t think competitions are as necessary to the process as you seem to think. If a kid’s favorite thing is computers, they can talk about the languages they know and the projects they’ve worked on. If they’re into science, they can talk about the studies they’ve pursued on their own that excite them. Do they like to read about a certain subject, follow astronomy stuff on the NASA website, hike through the woods studying local flora and fauna, take things apart and engineer new inventions, etc., then whatever they like to geek out over, they should write about why something excites them and what they enjoy doing about it.

I absolutely think MCPS should have more magnet slots. I think if a child wants to learn something, we owe it not only to the child, but to the future of our society to give them that opportunity. My impression of the magnet selection process is that it is less about benchmarks and more like a matchmaking service. They’re trying to find kids who are capable of performing at the high levels the program requires, but even more so, the kids who have the genuine love for learning that will let them enjoy learning about new things despite the often insane amount of work required and still energize each other about how cool this stuff is. Hopefully, they get the kids who need it the most, and the kids who will get the most from the program, although those aren’t necessarily the same kids. That being said, due to the limited availability of the program, I think it’s kind of like my impression of HYSP schools — outside of a few extreme outliers, they have such a surfeit of great candidates that it basically comes down to chance which great candidate gets in and which great candidate doesn’t.

You only have 250 words.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A ton of comp sci kids are introverts. They enter online competitions and hackathons on their own, not through school. So it really has nothing to do with MCPS, it’s more about kids finding their their own interests and going out and getting what they want and need.

You’re missing the point. Some kids can be very interested and motivated in a subject and not interested or motivated by competitions!!! Some kids have no interest in competing, online or any other way. Doesn’t mean They aren’t skilled or advanced in that area.

We've never been offered any competitions - math or science. It really varies by school and many don't offer the same opportunities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A number of years ago, when my 8th grader went to the local HS for Alg 2 there were seven 8th graders in the class. Only 2 got into Blair. 2 got into RMIB. So clearly non of these programs only take the TOP kids, because these kids were the top math kids in the cluster and most didn't get it in.

I would say four out of seven students being admitted to highly-competitive magnet programs is quite impressive.

That's a little crazy since many of the most gifted kids didn't attend the wealthy Potomac schools that offer math enrichment that enables students to take Algebra 2 in 8th.

Actually more non-w kids I know are doing Algebra 2 in 8th and our kids weren't prepped. Believe it or not, some are just smart.