Reply to Are magnets worth it for college admission?

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[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.  Also I do not think the school profile that gets sent to colleges does the magnet students any favors. [/quote]

There's additional documentation about the magnet included in their transcript and elite colleges are already familiar with it.[/quote]

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