Anonymous wrote:OP here - thanks for all the input.

My question truly was to find out if anyone had ever found any evidence as to some sort of cap that the magnets have on the number/percentage of students they are able to accept from the HGCs, and from the anecdotal evidence, it sounds like there's no hard and fast rule. Which I guess is a comfort - I would hate to think that having my daughter in an HGC might somehow have hurt her chances of getting into a Magnet!

No caps. Most kids who do not get in, do so because of their test performance.

OP here - thanks for all the input.

My question truly was to find out if anyone had ever found any evidence as to some sort of cap that the magnets have on the number/percentage of students they are able to accept from the HGCs, and from the anecdotal evidence, it sounds like there's no hard and fast rule. Which I guess is a comfort - I would hate to think that having my daughter in an HGC might somehow have hurt her chances of getting into a Magnet!

Anonymous wrote:There are some benefits of being in HGC - study habits, self selection, peer group. These benefits have nothing to do with how they do in the magnet test. The test remains the single most important factor that allows students to get into magnet programs.

Coming from HGC to magnet may give a slight edge in the magnet program itself - time management, familiarity with magnet standards, knowledge about resources, friends from HGC, some familiarity with content...but all things become equal in a couple of months. Seriously.

+1

There are some benefits of being in HGC - study habits, self selection, peer group. These benefits have nothing to do with how they do in the magnet test. The test remains the single most important factor that allows students to get into magnet programs.

Coming from HGC to magnet may give a slight edge in the magnet program itself - time management, familiarity with magnet standards, knowledge about resources, friends from HGC, some familiarity with content...but all things become equal in a couple of months. Seriously.

My DC did not attend a HCG nor was DC named "gifted and talented" in elementary school. DC got into both the magnet programs at Takoma and Eastern. DC attends Eastern and has done very well. So it can be done.
Eastern looks for diversity in feeder ES, which may have helped my DC- only a few from the ES get in each year. But, it does appear that there are many students from HGCs in the program.

Yes and no. They may be more qualified than your average student, but no one is a shoo-in and each year many HGC kids do not get in. The year my son got into both, He was shocked at some of the highly capable classmates who did not get in.

Anonymous wrote:About 1/2 the students at our center applied (according to the school). Everyone I know was accepted but that news likely travels faster. We are in the western part of the county so I imagine the application rate is lower then from closer schools.

I've heard from admin. that anywhere between half - 2/3 of the students who apply from HGCs get into the middle school magnets. Our child applied last year from a HGC and got into both Eastern and Takoma - very few of the kids who applied to both got into both but most of them got into one or the other. Not all the children who applied to one or the other got in - my impression is that around 2/3 were accepted but not all of them ended up attending. My general impression last year was that the children who took the trouble to fill out the application and take the long test early on a Saturday morning were motivated and serious students and so it makes sense that they would be good candidates. I've never heard that HGC students have an edge but I'm sure there is a self-selection thing going on.

About 1/2 the students at our center applied (according to the school). Everyone I know was accepted but that news likely travels faster. We are in the western part of the county so I imagine the application rate is lower then from closer schools.

Very highly competitive - our son was in an HGC but didn't get into the magnet middle he applied to. We're feeling it..his home middle school is not challenging him enough, especially after he was so well-prepared (study habits, managing workload, peer group) for advanced work at the HGC.

Also, remember that there's quite a few gifted kids who either didn't get into the HGC or didn't apply who will be applying to the middle school magnets.

Makes no difference. Last year at our HGC, 70% of the students who applied got in to a middle school magnet.

My child is currently in a highly gifted center, and I was told that it made no difference to her chances of getting into a middle school magnet. However, a friend said that they heard that there is "some rule" about the magnets only accepting 50% of their applicants from the HGC's - I can't find any evidence of this - does anyone know anything about it? Just wondering about our chances (realizing it's highly competitive).