My kids decided to stay at their home school with a shorter commute, the ability to take as many AP classes as they wanted, and the time and bandwidth to do lots of extracurriculars. They were very happy with their high school experiences and ended up with great college choices.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids (and families) should not make a decision on whether to attend a magnet solely on whether they think it will get them into an ivy or any other selective school. You should choose magnet if you want your kid to learn the material, be with a like-minded cohort, and if you want them to have a magnet high school experience. Attending a magnet is not a free ticket to college.

OP here. I completely agree but just wanted to make people aware of this. I see many magnet parents surprised with this come senior year.

I find this surprising for Blair SMCS since Ostrander says this repeatedly, beginning with the 8th grade info session before they even apply. I guess people just don’t believe him?

This. Blair SMCS is so competitive and, by definition, has all STEM focused kids who are competing with one another for spots in selective STEM programs. Very tough.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids (and families) should not make a decision on whether to attend a magnet solely on whether they think it will get them into an ivy or any other selective school. You should choose magnet if you want your kid to learn the material, be with a like-minded cohort, and if you want them to have a magnet high school experience. Attending a magnet is not a free ticket to college.

OP here. I completely agree but just wanted to make people aware of this. I see many magnet parents surprised with this come senior year.

I find this surprising for Blair SMCS since Ostrander says this repeatedly, beginning with the 8th grade info session before they even apply. I guess people just don’t believe him?

Tell that to the parent of the kid over on the College forum whose kid just got rejected from UMD with a 1540 SAT and 4.7 WGPA

From Blair SMCS? When did UMD become that competitive?

The kid probably applied to CS or Engineering. It is that competitive for those majors.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids (and families) should not make a decision on whether to attend a magnet solely on whether they think it will get them into an ivy or any other selective school. You should choose magnet if you want your kid to learn the material, be with a like-minded cohort, and if you want them to have a magnet high school experience. Attending a magnet is not a free ticket to college.

OP here. I completely agree but just wanted to make people aware of this. I see many magnet parents surprised with this come senior year.

I find this surprising for Blair SMCS since Ostrander says this repeatedly, beginning with the 8th grade info session before they even apply. I guess people just don’t believe him?

Tell that to the parent of the kid over on the College forum whose kid just got rejected from UMD with a 1540 SAT and 4.7 WGPA

From Blair SMCS? When did UMD become that competitive?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids (and families) should not make a decision on whether to attend a magnet solely on whether they think it will get them into an ivy or any other selective school. You should choose magnet if you want your kid to learn the material, be with a like-minded cohort, and if you want them to have a magnet high school experience. Attending a magnet is not a free ticket to college.

OP here. I completely agree but just wanted to make people aware of this. I see many magnet parents surprised with this come senior year.

I find this surprising for Blair SMCS since Ostrander says this repeatedly, beginning with the 8th grade info session before they even apply. I guess people just don’t believe him?

Tell that to the parent of the kid over on the College forum whose kid just got rejected from UMD with a 1540 SAT and 4.7 WGPA

This is what my friend told me. She has a kid at Blair in 12th grade. My oldest is in college, and my younger kids want to stay at their home school, so this doesn't affect us... but I do think the fact that colleges have quotas makes it VERY hard to stand out either at a magnet or at a very selective private.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids (and families) should not make a decision on whether to attend a magnet solely on whether they think it will get them into an ivy or any other selective school. You should choose magnet if you want your kid to learn the material, be with a like-minded cohort, and if you want them to have a magnet high school experience. Attending a magnet is not a free ticket to college.

OP here. I completely agree but just wanted to make people aware of this. I see many magnet parents surprised with this come senior year.

I find this surprising for Blair SMCS since Ostrander says this repeatedly, beginning with the 8th grade info session before they even apply. I guess people just don’t believe him?

Most college admissions people say this too, that high school should be about high school. Have your kid do what interests them and take advantage of the opportunities that are available to them. Full stop. Don’t do it for college admissions. And going to a top college is not everything, of course.

Anonymous wrote:My kid’s home school IS Blair. Are you saying he’d do better outside of the magnet?!

No. My kids home HS is middle of the pack.

My kid’s home school IS Blair. Are you saying he’d do better outside of the magnet?!

Anonymous wrote:Kids (and families) should not make a decision on whether to attend a magnet solely on whether they think it will get them into an ivy or any other selective school. You should choose magnet if you want your kid to learn the material, be with a like-minded cohort, and if you want them to have a magnet high school experience. Attending a magnet is not a free ticket to college.

OP here. I completely agree but just wanted to make people aware of this. I see many magnet parents surprised with this come senior year.

Kids (and families) should not make a decision on whether to attend a magnet solely on whether they think it will get them into an ivy or any other selective school. You should choose magnet if you want your kid to learn the material, be with a like-minded cohort, and if you want them to have a magnet high school experience. Attending a magnet is not a free ticket to college.

Anonymous wrote:Which magnet did your kid do?

SMCS

Which magnet did your kid do?

I can only speak for my 2023 grads experience but I would say without question that my kid would have had more college options if he had gone to our home HS.

He has no regrets and enjoyed the program. Also has a huge jump on credits and very well prepared for college.

But if your kid has their heart set on an Ivy, competing with other magnet classmates and looking “average” because the school publishes GPA bands is not helpful.