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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Sorry for my ignorance but my kids are not at that age yet and I am not from this area.  I am confused  about magnet programs in high schools around here.  What's the difference between being in a magnet and just taking several AP courses?  Does a magnet somehow boost you for college admissions? And if you are in a magnet program within a so so high school, are you anyway physically separated from the other kids in the school? (Does everyone know - "that's a magnet kid over there").  Are there magnets for middle schools too? what's the point of those? [/quote]

First, there are 3 application (test-in) programs in MoCo:  The Blair math/science magnet, the Blair communication arts program (CAP) and the Richard Montgomery IB program. Only the math-science magnet and the IB program are called "magnets" although the CAP is the third competitive application program, but there's some rule against having two programs labelled "magnet" in one school, or something like that (if someone else knows, maybe they can explain).  For all three programs, kids fill out an application (available from the MoCo website), get teacher recs, write essays, and then take a MoCo proprietary test in December. Most of these programs are highly competitive: I think RMIB takes about 1/9 applicants, and the two Blair programs each take 1/5 or 1/6 applicants.

There are also a lot of programs in the "downcounty consortium" that kids can apply to through a lottery. For example, Einstein has an IB program. Because it's lottery, getting in is basically down to luck. I think, however, that if you put Einstein IB as your first choice on the lottery form, the odds of getting in are pretty good.

The Blair magnet kids take "magnet" classes plus APs in non-magnet subjects like english lit and world history. The IB kids take IB classes (check out the RM website for these) plus, typically, AP math and science classes. The CAP kids take CAP classes (writing, journalism, theater) plus AP classes in humanities and sciences, plus Blair magnet classes if they want and meet the prerequisites. The Blair magnet classes are typically very intense. For example, the Blair "Magnet Statistics" class is AP statistics, which is a year-long class, but smooshed into one semester (fortunately the teacher is great), and most of the kids will take AP stat in the spring. [/quote]

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