Reply to How do you think this year's high school magnet selection process ?

Forum Index » Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)

Reply to "How do you think this year's high school magnet selection process ?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]DS applied last year and DD this year.  Last year he had to fill out different applications for the different programs.  This year there was only one application.  There was still a place to list awards and extracurriculars.  That did not change between last year and this year.  What struck me as odd was how some kids DD knew applied to 10+ programs.  That’s kind of nuts.  Is the application process too easy?  Now there are loads of waitlists to delve into.  One kid got into 7 programs.  There will now be 6 (or up to 7 if he decides to just go to home school) spots that will jump down to waitlist.  Seems like a lot of work for MCPS but oh well![/quote]

Can you please elaborate on the differences between last year's admissions process and this year's? I had one DC go through this last year, and I remember there was a single online application for countywide (SMAC (either Blair or Poolesville)/RMIB/Poolesville Ecology) programs, and separate applications for Blair CAP and Wheaton each. Have they simplified it further? Thanks![/quote]

DP. When my first kid applied a few years ago (we live in the upcounty), there were separate applications for RM and Poolesville. And for each program, you had to write a separate essay (so 4, for RM plus 3 Poolesville programs). And they were paper applications, so you had to print everything and separately mail the separate applications. And you had to basically already know which programs you were eligible for. So a lot of parental support was involved in the application process for First Kid.

This year, my other kid applied - one application, on line, with one essay, and it told you everything you were eligible for. Second Kid required no parental support for the application process.

Also, when my first kid applied, there were only 3 testing sites, and basically if you didn't have somebody who could drive you there, too bad. For my other kid, there were several additional testing sites, and there were shuttle buses too.

MCPS has done a lot of work in reducing barriers to entry to the high school magnet programs, and I applaud them for it.

[/quote]

The changes you are referring to were introduced last year - for the current ninth graders. DC had a single online application for SMAC/RMIB/Ecology. There was one exception last year: DCC programs (CAP and Wheaton magnet) had their own applications. My question was if there has been any change between LAST year (not a few years ago) and this year.[/quote]

Yes, there has been a change in the last year. There is now only one application for ALL programs. CAP and Wheaton are part of the same application as RMIB, SMACS, etc.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics