Reply to How to prepare to apply to the IB at RMHS?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My DD got into RMHS IB, and it's a sample size on one, I know, but FWIW:
1. We didn't really "prepare", as in - we did nothing special beyond her studying well at her home school (Cabin John). She didn't go any academic enrichment outside of school. She was an A student, but she claims so were at least 30% of her classmates. 
2. She had very good, not great, scores on both Map-R and Map-M (~95th percentile with Map-M higher than Map-R),[b] so one theory could be that they are looking for well-rounded. [/b]
3. We spent about a month slowly writing an essay (on weekends mostly, and we had ~10 revisions). She wrote it herself, but as parents we did challenge her and provided feedback.

She was admitted to both Kennedy and RM IB Programs.

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I've heard that well rounded is important. RMIB is frequently referred to as a humanities program but, despite its focus on analytical writing, that's not really the case. Plenty of STEM-focused kids there too, just not quite at the level of the hard-core (mostly) pre-engineering kids at Blair. My kid applied to Blair and didn't get in, probably because had little interest in Comp Sci, as reflected in coursework and activities. 99% in MAP-R and MAP-M and had a few minor awards, plus some interesting tidbits about intellectual interests in the essay. Spent one weekend on the application and otherwise didn't do anything special other than focus on academics.

RMIB can be a grind, with many kids gunning for Ivy admission.Even though DC currently has a 4.0uw/4.96w GPA and a 36 ACT in one sitting,  convinced won't get into any top schools because thinks many classmates are that much stronger. Probably right as far as T-10 schools are concerned. But has found the cohort quite nice and collaborative overall. The curriculum is strong and engaging but DC is often sleep deprived, which none of us love. RMIB has been great in terms of academic rigor and preparation for college but I'm not sure it's been wonderful for DC's confidence in the end. That said, any elite school is going to be filled with kids like RMIB kids so in that sense it's probably better preparation than being in a less competitive cohort at the home school.

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