I agree. Try at an earlier age... MS Magnet is much harder to get in...and even if your kid does not get in HGC, you can ask for feedback to find out if there are any gaps in the application that you can work on in the coming years...

My daughter came from private to an HGC. The application process is a bit more difficult; I had to take time off of work o pull her out of school to go to the test. You also need to ride herd on the teachers providing feedback to make sure that they get everything filled out in time. Just a lot more work overall. I have no idea if it's harder/easier to come in from private. I had someone tell me that they were biased against private school transfers but I have absolutely no idea is this is true. I've read that ~50% of the kids in the centers who apply to the middle school magnets get in. I'd imagine that the teaching and the workload in the HGC would prepare a student well for the MS magnet. It also makes the student a "known quantity". Also realize that even with a very smart kid there's no guarantee that they will get in. Since the entrance exams are heavily weighted (from all that I can see) one bad testing day could tank an application even for a really smart kid. I'd apply for the HGC to try to get into the system now.

PS - child is rising 3rd - so when I say next year, I mean 2014-15 - thus 2013-2014 would be spent going through application process.

I'm curious if anyone has had experience (good or bad) with applying to the Takoma Park magnet program coming from private school? We are looking forward at options for one of our children and we are at a crossroads - we could apply for the Elementary GT and leave our private next year, or stick it out through 5th grade and apply to TP for MS. Do families make this sort of private to public magnet jump at middle school? Are we putting our child at a disadvantage by not making the jump for 3rd? Thanks.

Any advice on either process (elem or ms) from a private is more than welcome.