Blair Math/Science Magnet - Application
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Anonymous
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Hi all -
I know the chances that my child will get admitted are slim - and he'll be fine at neighborhood school, but he wants to apply so I support that. He really enjoys science and math and does well in them and has high test scores - his COGAT from 5th grade was 99% for quantitative - but only 92 and 88 for verbal/nonverbal. I believe his verbal would drastically improve and likely his nonverbal would improve somewhat as well should he take now, but that's neither here nor there. From what I've seen of his writing, however, I am concerned that he's going to have problems on the essay. How much emphasis is placed on the essay? Is it really to get an idea of the kid or is it to gauge their writing ability? For CAP and RMIB, I know that they do pay close attention to the essays because of the heavy emphasis on writing in both those programs - but is this true for STEM as well? Even if test scores/grades are high? I know that all the kids applying are brilliant, but I am just trying to figure this out. |
Anonymous
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It's not really a formal essay (it may have been longer and more involved a few years ago?), just a 250-word explanation of what you think you'd get out of the program, or something like that.
I can't imagine they can tell much of anything, unless the kid says something ridiculous like "my parents are making me" or "my best friend is applying." |
Anonymous
| My guess is that most essays are more or less the same, and don't do much for an application, though the occasional brilliantly creative one will help. The primary thing seems to be grades, test scores, and teacher recs. Obviously they're looking for high achievers with great work ethics. |
Anonymous
| My guess--and this is only a guess--is that they'll try to distribute kids relatively fairly from different feeder schools and take those with the tippy-top MAP scores and straight As. I can't imagine they will spend much time on the essays, though I agree with PP maybe an absolute standout one could help if other factors are equal. He can just explain why he loves science and math in his essay. |
Anonymous
| If he is only in 6th grade, the process might be very different by the time he is applying. |
Anonymous
Nah - he's in 8th - I was just looking at those scores as an indicator of what he might do on standardized testing. |
Anonymous
| I don't think the Cogat will happen. I also don't think MCPS will use fall MAP scores because of equity issues. My guess is that there will be a lottery amongst whomever MCPS decides are qualified based on grades and teacher recs-- similar to what FCPS is proposing for TJ. |
Anonymous
| I wonder what the acceptance rate was in the years past... Just out of curiosity - 10% ? 5%? How many applicants and how many spots? |
Anonymous
The report released by MCPS reported 15-20% HS application programs last year. |
Anonymous
Thanks! |
Anonymous
I think they'll look at MAP scores, but pay attention to trends and not necessarily rule out a kid whose score dipped just this quarter. |
Anonymous
| I don’t think the essay matters much. Requiring an essay is a way of limiting applications. It weeds out those who don’t care enough to spend the time writing. |
Anonymous
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The Blair math&science magnet doesn’t consider the essay grade.
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Anonymous
show me the link please |
Anonymous
It was actually higher-- more like 25-30%: https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/curriculum/specialprograms/admissions/applications/CES%20and%20Secondary%20Regional%20Countywide%20Admission%20Memo.pdf |