Reply to Are Other Upper School Students at Potomac Not Getting Tests and Papers Back for Weeks at a Time?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]As someone who was thinking about applying to Potomac for 7th grade entry year, this thread is beyond depressing. 
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As a current Potomac family with children in multiple divisions, I would not believe a lot of it. Tour the school, talk to current families, attend events (not just admissions ones but sports, theater, festivals, etc) and see what you think. A lot of things said on here are not true. We have been thrilled with the school[/quote]

Is there really a fixed limit on how many kids can do the science program in high school? My kid likes math and science and seems to be reasonably good at math (hard to tell about science) I had been hoping that any student who is strong enough to keep up and is interested in math and science could do the program. As one of the PPs said, I can stay in public school if I want arbitrary limits on who can participate in cool programs (I'm looking at you HB Woodlawn).[/quote]

The program in question is very difficult and all-encompassing. It limits enrollment in other courses and electives, and it is a three year long commitment with summers included. It isn't a "reasonably good at math" situation. Read the descriptions of the projects on their website and you'll see it is for exceptional math/science students with a very strong interest in devoting years of academic study to one research problem. There is lots of advanced math and science taking place that isn't encompassed within SERC. The honors/AP track of math/science is separate.

- no my child isn't in SERC[/quote]

Thanks -- I'm the PP you are quoting. I honestly have no idea if my kid is strong enough to be in this program, but I know he is one of those kids who works harder the more challenging and engaging the work is and he begged to take pre-alg from Art of Problem Solving while in 5th grade and is doing well with it. But still, he is in 5th grade so I'm not going to say with any confidence that he is a math prodigy. it is just too soon to tell!!! But I don't love the idea of an arbitrary number of kids who can participate in the program. [/quote]

+1. It comes off as an attempt to be super exclusive but let’s face it, the really smart STEM kids are at TJ anyway. Potomac is picking from the second tier STEM kids and doesn’t need to infuse this fake competition by setting an artificial program cap in 9th grade. Especially if the kids admitted are pre-determined (lifers? heavy donors?).

If Potomac really does engage in this amount of gatekeeping for advanced classes and these programs as described above, I would seriously reconsider my plan to apply for 9th in a few years. But would need to validate this claim first with someone IRL, to make sure it’s not sour grapes at not getting admitted or something.  :lol: [/quote]
Go ahead and apply to TJ instead with real smart STEM kids.[/quote]

NP - Don't assume that private school kids weren't smart enough in STEM to get into TJ. There are kids at Potomac who were accepted to TJ and turned it down. With the changing TJ admission process, I expect there will be even more kids who may have otherwise gotten into and done well at TJ, going to private schools. [/quote]

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