"From TJ over here in Virginia

If you are top 10% of the class Magnet was worth it
50-90% it's a wash
Bottom half of the class not worth it."

50-90% is NOT a wash. It might be a wash for acceptance but once a student shows up they also have to do the work.

50-90% TJ students have learned how to study and have no problems doing the work.

If they had stayed at their home school, they would have developed lots of lazy (or big fish in a small pond) habits.

Many in the bottom half are only in the bottom half because TJ teaches them which subject they like and which they don't. If they don't do well in both, they end up in the bottom half.

They try hard in the classes they like and do little in the ones they don't. This makes it hard for them to get into a top 20-30 school, but they are pointy and shine at the 30+ schools.

At their home schools, the bottom half may not figure things out until they get to college. They might get into the 20th ranked school but that is the last place they should be figuring things out.

"Non magnet for sure.

The kids in schools with magnet programs that aren’t in magnet. They get royally screwed."

This did not happen to our DC. As a standard RM AP student, the RMIB did not alter his acceptance trajectory into engineering schools.

He was never going to get into MIT, Cornell or CMU. Very few of the IB kids did either. They should have gone to Blair.

He was fine at the RPI and UMd level schools.

From my kids RMIB, bunch of them got into top tier colleges. A few more got a full ride at UMDCP. Kids ended up pretty good.

Anonymous wrote:From TJ over here in Virginia

If you are top 10% of the class Magnet was worth it
50-90% it's a wash
Bottom half of the class not worth it. (Plenty of these folks don't even make it into UVA and they would have been shoo ins if they stayed at base school)

But UVA has limits on NOVA admits, needs some from all of NOVA. TJ has , what, 150 or so UVA admit offers each year?

From TJ over here in Virginia

If you are top 10% of the class Magnet was worth it
50-90% it's a wash
Bottom half of the class not worth it. (Plenty of these folks don't even make it into UVA and they would have been shoo ins if they stayed at base school)

Anonymous wrote:If kids are in a magnet because they want to be and can do all the work in a reasonable time, and be happy, that is great.

However, I am seeing more and more kids pushed and trained working past midnight. Stress, sleep deprived, and anxious. Those are the kids forced by mom and dad. It is really hard to watch. Really hard. And you can’t as a teacher, turn to their parents because they don’t want to hear it. And the kids are so scared of disappointing their parents, they will never admit it. The tutors, the test training, the begging for extra credit.

I am glad they have removed parent input into the decisions. I am hopeful they are picking truly gifted kids who just get it. The ones that need to be given more advanced work now. Teachers figure out the parent-pushed kids within weeks even though the parents themselves are clueless.

Well that's a nice sentiment but given how many straight A kids who score in the 99% percentile did not get a slot, if only because there just are not enough slots to send those kids to, then it's more of a cr@p shoot. And this is not to disparage the kids who got in, because I am sure they are all smart kids. It's just that those selected are not the ONLY ones who need to be given more advance work now, or who would have benefited from the magnet programs, that's all.

If kids are in a magnet because they want to be and can do all the work in a reasonable time, and be happy, that is great.

However, I am seeing more and more kids pushed and trained working past midnight. Stress, sleep deprived, and anxious. Those are the kids forced by mom and dad. It is really hard to watch. Really hard. And you can’t as a teacher, turn to their parents because they don’t want to hear it. And the kids are so scared of disappointing their parents, they will never admit it. The tutors, the test training, the begging for extra credit.

I am glad they have removed parent input into the decisions. I am hopeful they are picking truly gifted kids who just get it. The ones that need to be given more advanced work now. Teachers figure out the parent-pushed kids within weeks even though the parents themselves are clueless.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:College matriculation data for Blair and Poolesville would suggest a magnet school, assuming the kid does well. Those schools have better matriculation data than non-magnets.

For having the tippy top kids out of 50,000 students, their matriculation rates are not that impressive. I much rather my kid have a normal high school life with local friends, appropriate amounts of HW, a part time job, and maybe a sport or two. Magnet kids literally are traveling on a bus or studying their entire 4 years of high school. All trying to outdo each other for top spots in colleges that have high suicide rates due to pressure and stress. I am not sure why parents are so competitive and college-crazy these days. If the end goal is an Ivy for you to feel like you were a good parent, go for it. I just want a healthy happy and mentally stable child who doesn’t feel extreme anxiety and pressure to think about a PhD at the age of 12.

My magnet kid walks to high school and is also active in Scouts and several school clubs and takes music lessons.

Most of his best friends live within 3 miles of school. And they are also active in various clubs, etc. And they play a ton of video games together on the weekends.

They're adorable kids, really well balanced and happy. Very supportive of one another. Really get excited about learning - that is what kills me. I love listening to them talk when they're together.

That's all.

Most magnet kids do not walk to their school. 99% of them do not. Being active in scouts is nothing compared to playing a full time sport or having a job. Not sure what your point is.

The point is that the previous poster's dire assessment of what magnet kids are like (was that you?) is a shallow one not based on the reality of the kids as we experience it. Yes, most magnet kids do not walk to their school, but that doesn't mean they are all coming from from far away. As I said, most of my child's closest friends live within 3 miles of the school.

And who in their right minds tries to rank kids' activities like that? You are downgrading scouts because it's "nothing compared to playing a full-time sport or having a job" - really? My kid works full time in the summer. And does odd jobs around the neighborhood for cash during the school year. And does a sport outside of school that is not "full time" or rigorous but he enjoys it and that should be enough, no?

Calm down. I'm glad your child is happy. I have no need to prove otherwise.

+1 PP is obnoxious. Being active in scouts can be a substantial time commitment, and it's no less worthy than playing a full-time sport. Stop trying to win the helicopter parent extracurricular commitment.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:College matriculation data for Blair and Poolesville would suggest a magnet school, assuming the kid does well. Those schools have better matriculation data than non-magnets.

For having the tippy top kids out of 50,000 students, their matriculation rates are not that impressive. I much rather my kid have a normal high school life with local friends, appropriate amounts of HW, a part time job, and maybe a sport or two. Magnet kids literally are traveling on a bus or studying their entire 4 years of high school. All trying to outdo each other for top spots in colleges that have high suicide rates due to pressure and stress. I am not sure why parents are so competitive and college-crazy these days. If the end goal is an Ivy for you to feel like you were a good parent, go for it. I just want a healthy happy and mentally stable child who doesn’t feel extreme anxiety and pressure to think about a PhD at the age of 12.

My magnet kid walks to high school and is also active in Scouts and several school clubs and takes music lessons.

Most of his best friends live within 3 miles of school. And they are also active in various clubs, etc. And they play a ton of video games together on the weekends.

They're adorable kids, really well balanced and happy. Very supportive of one another. Really get excited about learning - that is what kills me. I love listening to them talk when they're together.

That's all.

Most magnet kids do not walk to their school. 99% of them do not. Being active in scouts is nothing compared to playing a full time sport or having a job. Not sure what your point is.

The point is that the previous poster's dire assessment of what magnet kids are like (was that you?) is a shallow one not based on the reality of the kids as we experience it. Yes, most magnet kids do not walk to their school, but that doesn't mean they are all coming from from far away. As I said, most of my child's closest friends live within 3 miles of the school.

And who in their right minds tries to rank kids' activities like that? You are downgrading scouts because it's "nothing compared to playing a full-time sport or having a job" - really? My kid works full time in the summer. And does odd jobs around the neighborhood for cash during the school year. And does a sport outside of school that is not "full time" or rigorous but he enjoys it and that should be enough, no?

Calm down. I'm glad your child is happy. I have no need to prove otherwise.

This conversation is kind of silly. Let your child choose based on their interests and that's it. Many top magnet kids still don't get into HYP Stanford. If you are at Blair, RM, or Poolesville, check out Naviance, and you'll see all the kids with perfect scores who are still not accepted. I am an alumni interviewer, and I am always astounded at how many talented, qualified kids don't get in to my alma mater. I usually find out later that they've all gone on to either honors colleges at state schools or other private universities. Your kids will all be OK.

And for the record, many magnet kids do varsity sports. The swim, wrestling, cross country, field hockey, soccer teams have all had magnet/CAP captains.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:College matriculation data for Blair and Poolesville would suggest a magnet school, assuming the kid does well. Those schools have better matriculation data than non-magnets.

For having the tippy top kids out of 50,000 students, their matriculation rates are not that impressive. I much rather my kid have a normal high school life with local friends, appropriate amounts of HW, a part time job, and maybe a sport or two. Magnet kids literally are traveling on a bus or studying their entire 4 years of high school. All trying to outdo each other for top spots in colleges that have high suicide rates due to pressure and stress. I am not sure why parents are so competitive and college-crazy these days. If the end goal is an Ivy for you to feel like you were a good parent, go for it. I just want a healthy happy and mentally stable child who doesn’t feel extreme anxiety and pressure to think about a PhD at the age of 12.

My magnet kid walks to high school and is also active in Scouts and several school clubs and takes music lessons.

Most of his best friends live within 3 miles of school. And they are also active in various clubs, etc. And they play a ton of video games together on the weekends.

They're adorable kids, really well balanced and happy. Very supportive of one another. Really get excited about learning - that is what kills me. I love listening to them talk when they're together.

That's all.

Most magnet kids do not walk to their school. 99% of them do not. Being active in scouts is nothing compared to playing a full time sport or having a job. Not sure what your point is.

A kid at the top of the magnet has better chances for IVY admission.

A kid in the middle of the magnet (average grades, expected course progression without advanced track, no particular achievement in chosen extracurriculars) has nearly no chances of an IVY admission, but may have done better at the home school.

Before even considering a magnet, you must absolutely make sure that your local state flagship continues to accept A and B magnet students without a question. The minute any state flagship only accepts 20% of TJ / Blair Magnet / RMIB / Poolesville into their programs, the magnets become a devastatingly poor proposition for the 80% of the students who enter the selective admission program.

Of course, changes in admission patterns in Maryland will change the game plan for the relationship between magnet and college admission there. I expect you'll see fewer MIT/Stanford admissions, balanced by more HYP admissions, but with a heavy emphasis on qualified URM students. I also anticipate that some parents of truly gifted middle school students will "establish residency" in a less well regarded school districts in 8th grade to game the cohort-based admission system, bringing the student body back to the currently existing pattern. Then the BOE will come up with another barely-legal admission scheme or just close the programs. Anyway, if you are in Maryland, the magnet landscape will look completely different in 10 years. If you are in VA, then first 3 paragraphs still apply.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:College matriculation data for Blair and Poolesville would suggest a magnet school, assuming the kid does well. Those schools have better matriculation data than non-magnets.

For having the tippy top kids out of 50,000 students, their matriculation rates are not that impressive. I much rather my kid have a normal high school life with local friends, appropriate amounts of HW, a part time job, and maybe a sport or two. Magnet kids literally are traveling on a bus or studying their entire 4 years of high school. All trying to outdo each other for top spots in colleges that have high suicide rates due to pressure and stress. I am not sure why parents are so competitive and college-crazy these days. If the end goal is an Ivy for you to feel like you were a good parent, go for it. I just want a healthy happy and mentally stable child who doesn’t feel extreme anxiety and pressure to think about a PhD at the age of 12.

My magnet kid walks to high school and is also active in Scouts and several school clubs and takes music lessons.

Most of his best friends live within 3 miles of school. And they are also active in various clubs, etc. And they play a ton of video games together on the weekends.

They're adorable kids, really well balanced and happy. Very supportive of one another. Really get excited about learning - that is what kills me. I love listening to them talk when they're together.

That's all.