I don’t think they put that much weight on MAP scores. At least, not as much as you think. Once kids have the knowledge to get above 260, the scores can fluctuate a lot in the upper ranges.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS got down to 261 on MAP M from Winter (272) - He is very upset since he heard that Spring scores only matter for High School Magnet placements. He has been consistently above 99 percentile in Fall and Winter. will that one test really impact ?

It's fine. Focus on grades and essay, and hope for a bounce back in Fall MAP test.

262 is plenty high for all but SMCS, and 272 is fine for SMCS if the Fall MAP validates it.

Wow really? I thought most of the SMCS kids were the 280+ range.

DP here. The mean admitted score is about 280, so half the kids are below that. 272 might be enough if the essay is good and grades.

And 8th grade Fall MAP should be higher than previous year's MAP, since learning happened. That 280ish median is for the 8th grade Fall MAP.

No the median score refers to the median of the applicants highest score whether it was the final 7th grade score or the fall 8th grade score. Some kids drop in score after the summer so their summer 7th grade score is higher

I would also guess there isn’t much learning taking place in the middle school that would raise a score already 170+.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS got down to 261 on MAP M from Winter (272) - He is very upset since he heard that Spring scores only matter for High School Magnet placements. He has been consistently above 99 percentile in Fall and Winter. will that one test really impact ?

It's fine. Focus on grades and essay, and hope for a bounce back in Fall MAP test.

262 is plenty high for all but SMCS, and 272 is fine for SMCS if the Fall MAP validates it.

Wow really? I thought most of the SMCS kids were the 280+ range.

DP here. The mean admitted score is about 280, so half the kids are below that. 272 might be enough if the essay is good and grades.

And 8th grade Fall MAP should be higher than previous year's MAP, since learning happened. That 280ish median is for the 8th grade Fall MAP.

No the median score refers to the median of the applicants highest score whether it was the final 7th grade score or the fall 8th grade score. Some kids drop in score after the summer so their summer 7th grade score is higher

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS got down to 261 on MAP M from Winter (272) - He is very upset since he heard that Spring scores only matter for High School Magnet placements. He has been consistently above 99 percentile in Fall and Winter. will that one test really impact ?

It's fine. Focus on grades and essay, and hope for a bounce back in Fall MAP test.

262 is plenty high for all but SMCS, and 272 is fine for SMCS if the Fall MAP validates it.

Wow really? I thought most of the SMCS kids were the 280+ range.

DP here. The mean admitted score is about 280, so half the kids are below that. 272 might be enough if the essay is good and grades.

And 8th grade Fall MAP should be higher than previous year's MAP, since learning happened. That 280ish median is for the 8th grade Fall MAP.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS got down to 261 on MAP M from Winter (272) - He is very upset since he heard that Spring scores only matter for High School Magnet placements. He has been consistently above 99 percentile in Fall and Winter. will that one test really impact ?

It's fine. Focus on grades and essay, and hope for a bounce back in Fall MAP test.

262 is plenty high for all but SMCS, and 272 is fine for SMCS if the Fall MAP validates it.

Wow really? I thought most of the SMCS kids were the 280+ range.

DP here. The mean admitted score is about 280, so half the kids are below that. 272 might be enough if the essay is good and grades.

There is no admitted score. The median was around that. I know of others with 270. I think there are a variety of factors

This is PP above, you are correct, I meant to say median (which is probably clear from the rest of my message), so yes there is a median admitted score (low 280s) and a mean too but that’s less helpful and not usually shared.

The administrator mentioned it last winter. I know kids from this year whose scores range from 270 to 300+. I don't know what the distinguishing factors are but I'd guess the essay may make a difference for kids whose scores are below the median.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just curious what sections are on the application form except the assay (200 words max.)? Awards and honors? Courses?

There are two 25-word entries that you can use for Hobby/Interest/Award/Course info (bullet points are okay)
There's another 25-word entry for "Contributions made to school, student, and community"
And then a 250 word entry/essay with the prompt, "Describe yourself and what you are passionate about as you study, work, and/or interact with others"

Additionally the selection committee gets seventh and eighth grade grades for relevant classes. Meaning not all grades.

Oh yes, you are coming off as completely sane. -DP

Huh? Was something unclear? In case it was, I’ll clarify.

The selection committee for Blair magnet gets grades from 7th and 8th grade for applicants but only for STEM subjects (so your B, C or D in English won’t impact your chances).

For CAP they get relevant grades for that program, over the same period (eg if you had a D in Math first marking period of 8th grade they wouldn’t know)

This was an issue for some teachers/admins in the programs. They had liked the ability, previously, to see/consider the more holistic student profile.

And so on for other magnets

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just curious what sections are on the application form except the assay (200 words max.)? Awards and honors? Courses?

There are two 25-word entries that you can use for Hobby/Interest/Award/Course info (bullet points are okay)
There's another 25-word entry for "Contributions made to school, student, and community"
And then a 250 word entry/essay with the prompt, "Describe yourself and what you are passionate about as you study, work, and/or interact with others"

Additionally the selection committee gets seventh and eighth grade grades for relevant classes. Meaning not all grades.

Oh yes, you are coming off as completely sane. -DP

Huh? Was something unclear? In case it was, I’ll clarify.

The selection committee for Blair magnet gets grades from 7th and 8th grade for applicants but only for STEM subjects (so your B, C or D in English won’t impact your chances).

For CAP they get relevant grades for that program, over the same period (eg if you had a D in Math first marking period of 8th grade they wouldn’t know)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is exactly why the process isn’t transparent. No one wants a 7th grader stressing and sad over a MAP exam. Further, the cut score would need to be different each year depending on the scores of students in a given cycle. And it’s only one factor in creating the classes.

Students should do their best on the exams and the same with the magnet applications and let the chips fall where they may.

There is no “cut” score, but the median score for the past year admissions of available from the magnet coordinator. That helps provide some guidance on what may be high enough. The process is plenty transparent. Just attend the info sessions.

Of we think The process would be transparent if it would allow a student/family to know why, precisely, that student did or did not get selected. That should include:

- each criterion considered
- the weight given each criterion
- all systematic adjustments to those criteria (e.g., for FARMS status, and the algorithm/calculation used)
- for each criterion, the score/grade the student achieved on which a decision was based,
- for each adjustment, whether the student qualified for the adjustment
- for each criterion, the distribution of adjusted scores/grades for those selected/offered a seat
- any additional considerations used in making selections (e.g., distribution across feeder schools, gender balance, etc.)

Limiting this transparency does nothing to keep a student sad & stressing. It is largely the parents who make it so, and they will be doing that whether or not the exact criteria are known. Transparency reduces doubt, though, and can give kids a break in doing so, with fewer thinking they are/were "close" (most of those stressing will consider themselves/their children close until shown otherwise.

The down side is really on the system, and only if it is not employing a good selection heuristic. That level of transparency may provide detail that would support an appeal, but would, at the same time, both dissuade appeals (with more precise justification for non-selection well understood) and provide the ready-made argument against any appeal (with the same). It would allow much faster adjudication of just appeals where inaccurate information was used in the determination.

Anonymous wrote:He did great. There are so few slots for magnets. Don’t count on them.

Well, there's an issue...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just curious what sections are on the application form except the assay (200 words max.)? Awards and honors? Courses?

There are two 25-word entries that you can use for Hobby/Interest/Award/Course info (bullet points are okay)
There's another 25-word entry for "Contributions made to school, student, and community"
And then a 250 word entry/essay with the prompt, "Describe yourself and what you are passionate about as you study, work, and/or interact with others"

Additionally the selection committee gets seventh and eighth grade grades for relevant classes. Meaning not all grades.

Oh yes, you are coming off as completely sane. -DP

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just curious what sections are on the application form except the assay (200 words max.)? Awards and honors? Courses?

There are two 25-word entries that you can use for Hobby/Interest/Award/Course info (bullet points are okay)
There's another 25-word entry for "Contributions made to school, student, and community"
And then a 250 word entry/essay with the prompt, "Describe yourself and what you are passionate about as you study, work, and/or interact with others"

Additionally the selection committee gets seventh and eighth grade grades for relevant classes. Meaning not all grades.

He did great. There are so few slots for magnets. Don’t count on them.

Anonymous wrote:This is exactly why the process isn’t transparent. No one wants a 7th grader stressing and sad over a MAP exam. Further, the cut score would need to be different each year depending on the scores of students in a given cycle. And it’s only one factor in creating the classes.

Students should do their best on the exams and the same with the magnet applications and let the chips fall where they may.

There is no “cut” score, but the median score for the past year admissions of available from the magnet coordinator. That helps provide some guidance on what may be high enough. The process is plenty transparent. Just attend the info sessions.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS got down to 261 on MAP M from Winter (272) - He is very upset since he heard that Spring scores only matter for High School Magnet placements. He has been consistently above 99 percentile in Fall and Winter. will that one test really impact ?

It's fine. Focus on grades and essay, and hope for a bounce back in Fall MAP test.

262 is plenty high for all but SMCS, and 272 is fine for SMCS if the Fall MAP validates it.

Wow really? I thought most of the SMCS kids were the 280+ range.

DP here. The mean admitted score is about 280, so half the kids are below that. 272 might be enough if the essay is good and grades.

There is no admitted score. The median was around that. I know of others with 270. I think there are a variety of factors

This is PP above, you are correct, I meant to say median (which is probably clear from the rest of my message), so yes there is a median admitted score (low 280s) and a mean too but that’s less helpful and not usually shared.