Reply to Are magnets worth it for college admission?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Yes.  I think for our children magnets were absolutely worth it for college admissions.

The pathway for both of my kids -&gt; PHS SMCS -&gt; UMD.   We are Asian-American first gen immigrants. Our kids chose STEM careers. Both had perfect stats in GPA and SAT, NMS, ECs, Internships and research papers etc.  We knew that they would not get into top private schools based on the fact that many of their peers in PHS look and achieve like them.

Apart from that, they also did not apply extensively.  They applied to 6 schools in all. Since UMD was in-state and great for CS, Physics and Math (both did double majors, both had Math in common), that was their lowest bar in terms of where they wanted to apply.  This did not leave very many colleges for them that were ranked higher for these majors. This is not a drawback but a boon.  Imagine having a college like UMD as your safety. To be honest, UMD was very much their dream school, target and safety all rolled in one.

Having done STEM research internships during PHS (It is a SMCS requirement) and having written a paper based on that - they also found it easy to get future internships @ UMD right from the get go.  Having been through the rigor, pace, and curriculum of SMCS and having so many AP and post-AP credits  transfer, allowed them to juggle two hard majors, internships, and socializing in college with ease. They watched many of their college classmates - either do very poorly in hard courses or study very hard to stay afloat or do well but without any outside interests.  In other words, the training and exposure they got at PHS made college seem easy.

The kind of professional training that the SMCS teaches these students in terms of advocating for oneself, building a network of peers, acquiring skill sets, acquiring credentials, creating and seeking opportunities, time management and organization  is invaluable for college and professional life.  They also were hugely networked at UMD with other area students from DMV because they had either competed with them in other arenas or had crossed paths with them.

Last, but not the least - since they are already in-state in a public university and the cost is already low.  Therefore, even a small merit aid usually covers a significant amount of tuition if not all. This merit $$$ was like a payday for the work that they did in magnet HS.

For us, magnet STEM schools was worth it for succeeding in college and professional life. It made the college admission process easy too.

Of course, I don't mean to be glib and say that it was all easy.  To be in the magnet track meant that my kids were performing academically  at very high levels from ES.  They were acing all kinds of tests that was being administered by MCPS- Raven, TerraNova, MAPS - and tests like JHU-CTY outside of school.

They were consistent from K-12, and also worked hard to have a well rounded resume - ECs, volunteer work, competitions, honor societies, internships, research papers,  no discipline issues, consistent performance, no absenteeism, juggling leadership responsibilities, self advocating etc.[/quote]

This is my child's experience as well.   Finishing up SMACs now with a UMd presidential scholarship and direct admit to CS.  Will now be paying very low tuition for a top-ranked CS school.

I'd say the magnet helped a lot with UMd admissions.   I am not sure helped elsewhere but will never know.  I am sure my child does not stand out as much as they would at home HS.  [b]Also I do not think the school profile that gets sent to colleges does the magnet students any favors[/b]. [/quote]

If you don’t mind, Could you elaborate on this further?[/quote]
Sure.  Still in the middle of college admissions since I have a current senior.   I assume you are wondering about the shool profile comment.  My understanding is that without a school ranking, some colleges will try to guess based on the GPA bands.   For Poolesville, the top bands are 78% for unweighted GPA and 58% for weighted.  So after 4 years of hard work and taking all the hardest math classes (functions etc), my 4.0 UW 4.7W GPA kid only appears to be in the top 58% of their class.   UMd will understand this, but other schools may not.   [/quote]

The hardest math track is starting Algebra in 6th.  I don't think there is any advantage, which is why we choose to remain at the home school and we didn't like how the curriculum didn't seem that well rounded for kids with a variety of interests.  Kids can still do accelerated math at their home schools.  And, if the goal is UMD, what's the point of the magnet then?  (I'd love for mine to go to UMD as we can afford it).[/quote]

For my kid, it was worth it for the classes offered at the magnet and the peer group.  More kids out of the magnets may be getting into honors and getting scholarships.  Again, hard to say. [/quote]
 I think it is hard to say.  And yes, there are several kids from magnets who get full or partial merit aid to UMD honors.

Would the same kid at the magnet get the same offer if they stayed at the home school?  That's not really knowable. But one thing is for sure, the magnet kid is used to the rigor of a magnet program, and they should do well in college.[/quote]

Blair grad here. Don't go to a magnet if your end-all be-all is an Ivy admission. That itself is a problematic expectation.
But if you truly enjoy the math and sciences, like project based learning, and like major challenge - if it doesn't stress you out but you actually find it fun - then it's a good place.
I hate to be cheesy but it's the journey, not the destination. I remember taking classes that I'm not sure many take in high school (Thermodynamics, Genetics, History of Science) which just made me THINK (I am not now a physicist, geneticist, or historian) and sparked questions. That's kind of the point of education. 
I do think there were too many kids there because their parents wanted them to be. Too many who thought it was a golden ticket to an Ivy. The program would be better served by choosing more students who really want to be there (and who maybe have a slightly lower test score - IME interest + hard work can totally override genius in the workplace, and it was no different at the magnet).

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