PSA for Parents Considering HS Magnets

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can only speak for my 2023 grads experience but I would say without question that my kid would have had more college options if he had gone to our home HS.

He has no regrets and enjoyed the program. Also has a huge jump on credits and very well prepared for college.

But if your kid has their heart set on an Ivy, competing with other magnet classmates and looking “average” because the school publishes GPA bands is not helpful.

That wasn't my kid's experience. Sure, the program was challenging, but with MCPS grade inflation, 30% of the class has a UW 4.0. If they had stayed at their home school, I expect they'd take a similarly challenging load and do about the same. The only difference is the STEM coursses have less depth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe because I’m not a Maryland native, but I just can’t wrap my mind around people fighting to get into UMD.

And yet, that's reality.

CS is the most popular major at UMD and it's ranked #11 in the world for that.

Where do you get this stat?

US News

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe because I’m not a Maryland native, but I just can’t wrap my mind around people fighting to get into UMD.

And yet, that's reality.

CS is the most popular major at UMD and it's ranked #11 in the world for that.

Where do you get this stat?

DP. CDS shows the number of degrees conferred. CS is the highest by far.

As for rankings, different rankings sites do it differently. I don't think UMD for CS is #11 in the world, but it is somewhere in the T15 in the US.

The ^PP might be referring to this one:

https://csrankings.org/#/index?all&us

The ranking on that sites fluctuates based on the number of research publications. When I looked at it a few months ago, UMD was T5. So, this site can you give some idea of T15.

Then there's USNWR

https://cmns.umd.edu/news-events/news/computer-science-undergraduate-program-ranks-top-10

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe because I’m not a Maryland native, but I just can’t wrap my mind around people fighting to get into UMD.

It's only the Maryland natives who do this. Poor dears.

People in many, many states fight to get in-state tuition at their flagship institutions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are there three separate groups for Blair: SMCs, CAP, and general?

I don't have a kid in CAP, so I'm not sure. However, SMCS is separate from the general population. SMCS seniors and their families have access to both high school profiles.

CAP and regular Blair kids also get into top colleges. It's not that separate. Classes are together. Non magnet kids can take mag electives. Magnet just adds a letter/mag profile in addition to school profile.

Yes, I know. I have a kid at Blair. My point was that the magnet kids are evaluated separately using the magnet profile, at least at UMD. One of the AO’s confirmed when asked how UMD uses school profiles and evaluates transcripts. UMD also recalculates GPA because of differences across MD school systems and private schools.

And that’s why regular and CAP students also get into UMD and top schools. AO’s know that the magnets are separate programs that students had to apply countywide.

This is speculation with regard to top colleges. They may take magnet status into account but unlikely that they'd evaluate magnet students "separately. "

Why unlikely? Different classes, schedule, and different teachers. It's a different school in almost everything except the physical building.

That’s blatantly untrue. Only half the classes are magnet classes and in upper grades you don’t have to be a magnet student to take magnet electives .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe because I’m not a Maryland native, but I just can’t wrap my mind around people fighting to get into UMD.

It’s a very decent local school. While it’s not Williams or CalTech, as many here have said, the name of your undergrad matters less for your career than people think it does.

+1

It only matter to the parents so the can brag but after you get your first job, no one cares where you went.

Unless you want to go to law school or business school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are there three separate groups for Blair: SMCs, CAP, and general?

I don't have a kid in CAP, so I'm not sure. However, SMCS is separate from the general population. SMCS seniors and their families have access to both high school profiles.

CAP and regular Blair kids also get into top colleges. It's not that separate. Classes are together. Non magnet kids can take mag electives. Magnet just adds a letter/mag profile in addition to school profile.

Yes, I know. I have a kid at Blair. My point was that the magnet kids are evaluated separately using the magnet profile, at least at UMD. One of the AO’s confirmed when asked how UMD uses school profiles and evaluates transcripts. UMD also recalculates GPA because of differences across MD school systems and private schools.

And that’s why regular and CAP students also get into UMD and top schools. AO’s know that the magnets are separate programs that students had to apply countywide.

This is speculation with regard to top colleges. They may take magnet status into account but unlikely that they'd evaluate magnet students "separately. "

Why unlikely? Different classes, schedule, and different teachers. It's a different school in almost everything except the physical building.

That’s blatantly untrue. Only half the classes are magnet classes and in upper grades you don’t have to be a magnet student to take magnet electives .

I do think there are a lot of magnet kids who treat it like a different school but agree it really isn't. But I could see how colleges would evaluate magnet students differently than students in the non-magnet programs because they have had different opportunities. The upper level magnet classes are open to non-magnet students but in reality there aren't a lot who have the pre-reqs to take those classes so at most you'll get a 1-3 kids who are non-magnet in some of those classes.

[Anonymous]

Following this thread as I am a 'parent considering HS magnet' - DC accepted to Blair SMCS. We would be coming from private school.
For those parents that currently have/or have had kids in the Blair program, ultimately, do you think :
-the increased workload /stress/ anxiety was worth it ?
-that your child was/will be prepared to study independently and succeed at college ?
-that your child enjoyed high school / had some "joy" in learning or was it an unpleasant slog for 4 years ?
-that your child made good friends and his classmates were nice kind kids and they tried to learn together or was it like "the hunger games" of STEM ?
-that your child was able to make meaningful connections with teachers (either through classes / clubs) and the teachers really knew your child ?

TIA!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are there three separate groups for Blair: SMCs, CAP, and general?

I don't have a kid in CAP, so I'm not sure. However, SMCS is separate from the general population. SMCS seniors and their families have access to both high school profiles.

CAP and regular Blair kids also get into top colleges. It's not that separate. Classes are together. Non magnet kids can take mag electives. Magnet just adds a letter/mag profile in addition to school profile.

Yes, I know. I have a kid at Blair. My point was that the magnet kids are evaluated separately using the magnet profile, at least at UMD. One of the AO’s confirmed when asked how UMD uses school profiles and evaluates transcripts. UMD also recalculates GPA because of differences across MD school systems and private schools.

And that’s why regular and CAP students also get into UMD and top schools. AO’s know that the magnets are separate programs that students had to apply countywide.

This is speculation with regard to top colleges. They may take magnet status into account but unlikely that they'd evaluate magnet students "separately. "

+1
They do not evaluate magnet students "separately "

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Following this thread as I am a 'parent considering HS magnet' - DC accepted to Blair SMCS. We would be coming from private school.
For those parents that currently have/or have had kids in the Blair program, ultimately, do you think :
-the increased workload /stress/ anxiety was worth it ?
-that your child was/will be prepared to study independently and succeed at college ?
-that your child enjoyed high school / had some "joy" in learning or was it an unpleasant slog for 4 years ?
-that your child made good friends and his classmates were nice kind kids and they tried to learn together or was it like "the hunger games" of STEM ?
-that your child was able to make meaningful connections with teachers (either through classes / clubs) and the teachers really knew your child ?

TIA!

Yes, it’s worth it on every level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe because I’m not a Maryland native, but I just can’t wrap my mind around people fighting to get into UMD.

It’s a very decent local school. While it’s not Williams or CalTech, as many here have said, the name of your undergrad matters less for your career than people think it does.

+1

It only matter to the parents so the can brag but after you get your first job, no one cares where you went.

Unless you want to go to law school or business school.

Not sure about law, but I went to a shit university in my home country even by the country’s standards, and then got into a top-10 MBA program. Your undergrad matters way less than your career / GMAT for business school..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids (and families) should not make a decision on whether to attend a magnet solely on whether they think it will get them into an ivy or any other selective school. You should choose magnet if you want your kid to learn the material, be with a like-minded cohort, and if you want them to have a magnet high school experience. Attending a magnet is not a free ticket to college.

OP here. I completely agree but just wanted to make people aware of this. I see many magnet parents surprised with this come senior year.

I find this surprising for Blair SMCS since Ostrander says this repeatedly, beginning with the 8th grade info session before they even apply. I guess people just don’t believe him?

Tell that to the parent of the kid over on the College forum whose kid just got rejected from UMD with a 1540 SAT and 4.7 WGPA

fake news

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Following this thread as I am a 'parent considering HS magnet' - DC accepted to Blair SMCS. We would be coming from private school.
For those parents that currently have/or have had kids in the Blair program, ultimately, do you think :
-the increased workload /stress/ anxiety was worth it ?
-that your child was/will be prepared to study independently and succeed at college ?
-that your child enjoyed high school / had some "joy" in learning or was it an unpleasant slog for 4 years ?
-that your child made good friends and his classmates were nice kind kids and they tried to learn together or was it like "the hunger games" of STEM ?
-that your child was able to make meaningful connections with teachers (either through classes / clubs) and the teachers really knew your child ?

TIA!

Np, and yes to all. With that being said, kid in question really really loved (loves) math. It's her thing, problem solving. 2nd kid not so much, and so I am glad he went to the home school. She actually liked the classes and that makes all the difference. Both ended up at UMD btw. However, DD was very close to her friends in the magnet despite the distance. Don't go if the content doesn't truly interest your kid, lots of schools provide rigor and APs.