Reply to considering move to Bethesda for 9th grade. HS recs?

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Reply to "considering move to Bethesda for 9th grade. HS recs?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I would take a tour of BCC before committing. During a school day. It is crowded and hectic and not an easy transition if they are currently at private and anxious and introverted. [/quote]

I'm the PP who had a kid at WJ and now has a kid at BCC. BCC is so much less crowded than WJ, currently. It's also smaller. But to be honest, I wouldn't choose the school based on how crowded or large it is, even with an anxious kid (both my kids are anxious).

All the Bethesda area schools are great schools. BCC may be the least academic, but it's still very good. Colleges all look at MCPS as being one block of similar schools, so for college admissions, there's no advantage to picking one in particular... unless your kid wants a particular language or math class. Not all high schools offer all courses. Walt Whitman is supposed to offer languages that are of value to the Foreign Service (Russian, Arabic, etc) and Walter Johnson has Latin - at least, a few years ago, they did. I haven't checked recently. BCC, since it has fewer students who take STEM APs than WJ, announced that they cannot guarantee AP Chem, and other APs, every year, because it will depend on enrollment. This is unheard of at WJ, where there's always enough kids to take those APs.

If OP wishes to consider diversity, then BCC is the most socio-economically and ethnically diverse of Bethesda schools. Walt Whitman is the wealthiest and whitest.

But this won't be exclusively a schools decision. OP needs to find housing. It won't be easy. OP, the spring real estate market is going to rev up in February. You might want to drive around when the snow clears, look at neighborhoods you like, check Redfin regularly to get a handle on comps and prices, and get your financial ducks in a row so you're ready to sign as soon as you see something you like. Or, alternatively, find a rental first so you have more time to pick a neighborhood and home you want.

There's also commute to consider. Downtown Bethesda is not where you want to be driving through at 9am or 6pm, but maybe you have some flexibility. I live right off the downtown, and can generally avoid being on the road when it's most congested.

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Rising BCC 9th. When did they announce they can’t guaranteed AP Chem, etc.? This doesn’t apply to my student for next year, but this is the kind of info that would be good to have as we are looking ahead and making a loose plan for future years. [/quote]
If you look at school profile you can see on back page how many kids took each AP test. Most take the test if they took the class, if not all. Huge difference between AP Chem and AP Gov, for instance. Gives a tiny bit of info into what course are in the cusp of being offered each year. I know from firsthand experience that AP Chem is a very low enrollment course at BCC as my kid took it with only 11 or so others. There was only one section.  That said the kids who take the most challenging courses stand out in college admissions and BCC kids who work hard do very well, as well or better than other moco non magnet programs. I don’t think BCC is less academic like PP said, simply depends on the specific kid and what IB and AP courses they choose to take. Perhaps that group percentage wise is small than at WJ, I don’t know. [/quote]

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