Your son would have to apply to be admitted to RM's super competitive IB magnet. And he might be a shoo-in, for all I know, but the odds are very tough. There are many, many straight-A, unchallenged gifted kids in this county. Last year, 900 kids applied, 117 got in. My daughter was one of 100 on a waiting list. She preferred another magnet that accepted her, so we didn't keep pursuing RM, though we have no idea if she would have ever made it off the waiting list, anyway. Her friends who were admitted and chose to attend are very happy there, though, so it's definitely worth a try.

I think the kids who are in any magnet schools will do well just because they self-selected to go there. It is not an easy process to apply in the these programs. These students are motivated and their parents are supportive and motivated.

High school is hard work for any student who wants to do well and chooses the toughest courses that the school offers - regardless of which high school they go to.

I think the benefit of going to any magnet program is that all your classmates are serious about studies. I think this translates into a more focused class environment and less discipline problem.

If a particular IB course looks attractive for your student in any school - I guess it would be worthwhile to find out from a counselor if your student would actually get a chance to take that course. Ask what schedule they will follow because a lot of core courses are mandatory and you may not have the flexibility in your schedule to fit that course in.

This is dated and I didn't really look to see if there was a more recent one but it compares the IB course offerings at various IB schools. If A particular course is important it is worth checking

http://www.ibmidatlantic.org/Courses11.pdf

I'm a Westland parent who has been to the B-CC IB presentation, and just read that RM document. Prior to that, the only things I really knew about RM were that 1) B-CC kids can apply and 2) They tend to accept kids with higher grades than my kid has.

I will say that there seem to be a lot of courses on that RM document, such as IB Comp Sci, and IB Economics and IB Philosophy that I do not believe BCC offers. The only course that B-CC offers that didn't seem to be on the RM list was IB Arabic.

The curriculum at RM in 9th and 10th is pre IB. Same at BCC. You could take AP NSL at BCC in 9th. AP US History in 10th. Not quite the same as the corresponding RM classes but it's the same AP test at the end. The rest of the classes seem similar. BCC provides the opportunity for a MYP project. We didn't think the differences were worth the longer bus ride.

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/schools/rmhs/ib/2010%20IB_Program_TEXT.pdf

Anonymous wrote:Here is the lowdown on RM IB. It is the toughest magnet in the county (yup - more than the two SMACS program). It has a tougher curriculum because the IB papers are graded by teachers in Europe - and the standards in Europe is quite high. However - the quality of most instructors is mediocre. Why - because they are the same as teachers elsewhere in MCPS - these teachers are not Europeans! Furthermore - because they are teaching magnet students they know that even if they do a piss poor job of teaching, the students and their parents will do whatever it takes to succeed. The agenda of the school is to make sure you earn the IB diploma - regardless of how your GPA looks. The grading is extremely harsh - so the first thing that will get sacrificed is the GPA. Take RM IB only if your son is wanting to apply to Oxford. Else avoid this place. B-CC is the best school in the county and you have many choices and opportunities. Talk to your school counselor and make sure your son takes the challenging courses in B-CC. Remember the end goal is a good college (maybe Ivy?), they are going to look at everything - grades, SAT, how many AP courses, extra-curricular activities and B-CC is more geared towards providing that for your son.

Are you saying European teachers (having survived the IB curriculum themselves) may be better at teaching it? Are the acceptance rates to highly-rated colleges dramatically different between RM IB and B-CC generally or B-CC IB?

OP here. My question was concerning the rigor of RM's program for 9th and 10th grades. Son had originally planned to take IB at B-CC, but since it does not start until 11th grade I wondered about other options. Having lived and studied in Europe I have an appreciation for the IB philosophy, but it does require strong teachers to work best.

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand this thread.

If B-CC has an IB program, how would your child even be eligible for RM IB? You get to choose the IB program you prefer? Or you are planning on moving to the RM cluster?

Also, sorry, but have to laugh about the supposed inherent standards merely by being "European"? Huh?

RM is a magnet for high performing students. They accept kids from all over the county. B-CC also has IB classes from 11th grade, and kids can choose them, but it doesn't have the intensity of the RM program, where the magnet students are clustered in classes from 9th grade.

IB exams and papers are graded by IB graders all over the world. Not just Europe. I personally know 2 IB graders who are located here in Virginia. They grade papers from all over the world, including some from schools in the DMV.

IB started in Europe, true. But there are now more IB schools in the US than in Europe.

I don't understand this thread.

If B-CC has an IB program, how would your child even be eligible for RM IB? You get to choose the IB program you prefer? Or you are planning on moving to the RM cluster?

Also, sorry, but have to laugh about the supposed inherent standards merely by being "European"? Huh?

Perhaps the very competitiveness of the program makes the students even more academically talented than BCC which is open to all students that attend?

There are many pros and cons of an IB education - which are detailed on the internet, and I will not touch on it here.

The point I was making is that if IB is being offered in your regular high school, and your regular high school is as highly rated as B-CC - I fail to see why one would choose RM IB. You will have more flexibility in which courses to take in B-CC than in RM IB. All schools where IB is offered follow the same curriculum for their courses.

Please rest assured that I have no objection to a tough curriculum which is what an IB (magnet or otherwise) school would offer. However I assumed (because I am figuring out such things quite late in the game) - that since it is a magnet school, there will be these exceptional teachers who will be teaching the material in a manner that will transform the children into being original thinkers.

What I found is that there are many less than mediocre teachers - especially in Math and Science - who are too busy trying to meet all the MCPS and IB criteria without concentrating on teaching. Most of these IB magnet students are pretty much covering these courses by themselves. It is not a new way of teaching - it is just a huge amount of course work, without adequate instruction and harsh grading that these teachers are throwing at the students. This dearth of good Math and Science teachers is endemic to MCPS school - perhaps even the whole of US. That is a problem.

The magnet students are doing well in most cases in spite of being in this program, because of self study, parental help, tutors etc - but I would ask why would I subject my child to 4 years of this nonsense when they can go to B-CC or other highly ranked school. The agenda of a magnet school and the agenda of your student may not be the same.

This is my opinion and is based on my experience. In the end all parents make the choice that they think is best for their child.

Anonymous wrote:Here is the lowdown on RM IB. It is the toughest magnet in the county (yup - more than the two SMACS program). It has a tougher curriculum because the IB papers are graded by teachers in Europe - and the standards in Europe is quite high. However - the quality of most instructors is mediocre. Why - because they are the same as teachers elsewhere in MCPS - these teachers are not Europeans! Furthermore - because they are teaching magnet students they know that even if they do a piss poor job of teaching, the students and their parents will do whatever it takes to succeed. The agenda of the school is to make sure you earn the IB diploma - regardless of how your GPA looks. The grading is extremely harsh - so the first thing that will get sacrificed is the GPA. Take RM IB only if your son is wanting to apply to Oxford. Else avoid this place. B-CC is the best school in the county and you have many choices and opportunities. Talk to your school counselor and make sure your son takes the challenging courses in B-CC. Remember the end goal is a good college (maybe Ivy?), they are going to look at everything - grades, SAT, how many AP courses, extra-curricular activities and B-CC is more geared towards providing that for your son.

Aren't the BCC IB exams graded by Europeans too? Does not being European automatically make one a mediocre teacher? What if your kid wants to go to another European school besides Oxford? Doesn't RM have extra-curriculars?

I don't have any information to help the OP, but I'm not sure I understand this post at all.

Here is the lowdown on RM IB. It is the toughest magnet in the county (yup - more than the two SMACS program). It has a tougher curriculum because the IB papers are graded by teachers in Europe - and the standards in Europe is quite high. However - the quality of most instructors is mediocre. Why - because they are the same as teachers elsewhere in MCPS - these teachers are not Europeans! Furthermore - because they are teaching magnet students they know that even if they do a piss poor job of teaching, the students and their parents will do whatever it takes to succeed. The agenda of the school is to make sure you earn the IB diploma - regardless of how your GPA looks. The grading is extremely harsh - so the first thing that will get sacrificed is the GPA. Take RM IB only if your son is wanting to apply to Oxford. Else avoid this place. B-CC is the best school in the county and you have many choices and opportunities. Talk to your school counselor and make sure your son takes the challenging courses in B-CC. Remember the end goal is a good college (maybe Ivy?), they are going to look at everything - grades, SAT, how many AP courses, extra-curricular activities and B-CC is more geared towards providing that for your son.

Wondering if anyone has applied to IB at Richard Montgomery when B-CC is your home school? Is there a dramatic difference in 9th and 10th grade instruction between the two schools? Son is advanced in all classes at Westland, straight A's, but not challenged. Wondering if move to RM would provide a challenge or if B-CC is more challenging than Westland, so need to make a big move.
Thanks for any insight.