This thread is cracking me up--it's so much like College Confidential around the time college decisions are released, down to checking UPS notifications to see what kind of package will be arriving.

Here are my kid's stats:

Cogat raw scores V55, Q47, NV 39 (the lowest I've seen on here), which translates to MCPS V97%, Q93%, NV79%, and national 99%, 99%, and 93% for a 99% composite (VQN).
Fall Map-M 249, Map-R 238.
5s on PARCC
All As

Recommended for both Eastern and TPMS.

White boy, high SES (Whitman feeder) ES, not CES. No prepping. Didn't realize he took the Cogat, and, in fact, never heard of it before we got the letter in the mail yesterday. Had not considered the possibility of magnets, so this is all a surprise.

You know what's funny? A lot of us will likely be at one open house or the other. Should we have a secret DCUM sign, or would you prefer to pretend you've never even heard of this site?

Yes, for whatever reason they used the age normed, not the grade normed, which disadvantaged somewhat the kids with fall birthdays (and the red-shirted kids), and advantaged the younger kids in the grade. Since it's an achievement test and not an IQ test, I think it was wildly inappropriate to use the age norms and not the grade norms, as you would not normally think a 5th grader should be compared to a 6th grader in achievement (unless you were prepping that kid outside of school).
I don't care that much, as I didn't want my kid to go to one of those schools, but I just think it's an example of MCPS being sort of irrational about much of this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:98Q national -> 93Q Mcps
99Q national -> 92Q Mcps
You two are in different band

People often exaggerate on DCUM. Consider that 90% of posters have kids in the 1%.

I’m the 98/93 poster above and I’m know I’m not exaggerating but there’s no way for you to know if that’s true.

Another factor worth mentioning is that the letter cites the age normed national percentages not the grade percentages. My child is extremely young compared to the rest of the grade so this was helpful.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You guys got me all freaked out about this. I should know to NEVER rely on DCUM for advice or to trust what I read.

Here’s my reality check with real scores:

Cogat National 99V, 98Q, 99NV
Cogat MCPS, 96V, 93Q, 95NV
MAP math 240s, MAP reading 230s
All As
High 5 on PARCC math, high 4 on PARCC ELA

Recommended for TPMS, wait pool at Eastern

School with moderate poverty rate. No prepping for tests.

That's great for your child. And there are a lot of kids with much higher scores who did not get in. Mine got 99% across the board, (though the Quant was 92% for MCPS) high 5 on PARCC, 99% MAP, all A's, etc, etc. and was in the CES. We did no test prep (had no idea people actually prepped their 10 year old's for this stuff, but should have known better!). I knew from seeing comments last year with very high scorers not getting in that acceptance was pretty unlikely, and made sure to prepare my kid for that possibility. He did not get in to either TPMS or Eastern. Just because this isn't your experience, doesn't mean other people are lying.

NP. My DC has a similar profile and I also prepared him for the likelihood that he'll go to the home MS; he's actually preferred that plan all along (fear of the unknown, since kids in our neighborhood all go to the local MS). So I'm heartened that he will have other bright kids in his class like yours whose parent have healthy attitudes... assuming that even if yours has a different MS there are at least other parents like you out there!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:98Q national -> 93Q Mcps
99Q national -> 92Q Mcps
You two are in different band

People often exaggerate on DCUM. Consider that 90% of posters have kids in the 1%.

Again, consider that 90% of posters are here specifically because their kids are in the 1%
Most people don’t care about the magnets.

Anonymous wrote:98Q national -> 93Q Mcps
99Q national -> 92Q Mcps
You two are in different band

People often exaggerate on DCUM. Consider that 90% of posters have kids in the 1%.

Exactly the point of the second PP.

98Q national -> 93Q Mcps
99Q national -> 92Q Mcps
You two are in different band

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You guys got me all freaked out about this. I should know to NEVER rely on DCUM for advice or to trust what I read.

Here’s my reality check with real scores:

Cogat National 99V, 98Q, 99NV
Cogat MCPS, 96V, 93Q, 95NV
MAP math 240s, MAP reading 230s
All As
High 5 on PARCC math, high 4 on PARCC ELA

Recommended for TPMS, wait pool at Eastern

School with moderate poverty rate. No prepping for tests.

That's great for your child. And there are a lot of kids with much higher scores who did not get in. Mine got 99% across the board, (though the Quant was 92% for MCPS) high 5 on PARCC, 99% MAP, all A's, etc, etc. and was in the CES. We did no test prep (had no idea people actually prepped their 10 year old's for this stuff, but should have known better!). I knew from seeing comments last year with very high scorers not getting in that acceptance was pretty unlikely, and made sure to prepare my kid for that possibility. He did not get in to either TPMS or Eastern. Just because this isn't your experience, doesn't mean other people are lying.

Then 1) you didn’t get 99 percent across the board and 2) your kid’s score was lower than mine. I think the thing here is that people exaggerate their scores by saying things like “99 percent across the board” when they mean 92% quant.

MCPS Cogat scores were 92% quant, and 99% for V and NV. MAP scores were 240 and 248 and Parcc scores were 5. So your kid's score was higher than mine in one metric while mine was higher in others. And it was 99% across the board until seeing the MCPS adjusted Cogats yesterday, so it was not an exaggeration. I realize it's ridiculous to compare kids' scores like this, but the point is there are hundreds if not thousands of kids in MCPS who are qualified, capable and would benefit greatly from the Magnet program. Unfortunately there are not enough spots for them all. Your kid was lucky to get one, but it would do you well to have a little humility instead of assuming that everyone on here is a liar and your child is more deserving of this opportunity.

Not that PP, but I think what she meant is 99% across the board using the national scores. The problem is that you can take two kids with identical raw scores who are both at 99% on the national scores, and one might be at 99% for their MCPS percentile and the other might be at 92% for their MCPS percentile. I think it's kind of misleading for MCPS to report it this way, even though I understand their intent in trying to give more spots to kids from poorer schools. But they should call the MCPS percentile something different, or at least report three different percentiles, so parents can see what their kids really stand in comparison to other kids in this school district.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You guys got me all freaked out about this. I should know to NEVER rely on DCUM for advice or to trust what I read.

Here’s my reality check with real scores:

Cogat National 99V, 98Q, 99NV
Cogat MCPS, 96V, 93Q, 95NV
MAP math 240s, MAP reading 230s
All As
High 5 on PARCC math, high 4 on PARCC ELA

Recommended for TPMS, wait pool at Eastern

School with moderate poverty rate. No prepping for tests.

Congrats to you and your child, PP!
My DD is recommended for Easter and not recommended for TPMS.
Cogat National 99V, 99Q, 97V
Cogat MCPS 99V, 99Q,90MCPS
MAP math 250s, MAP reading 240s, all As, lower 5s on both PARCCs.
WJ cluster, currently not in a CES, no prepping for tests other than one CogAt book from Amazon.

Frankly, I thought DD had a better shot at TPMS than Eastern, since her MAP-M have been high all along, but, I guess, a relatively low CogAT NV did her in. I'm not complaining, though, we are going to the open house.

Congrats! What does your daughter think - was she more interested in math and science? When is the Eastern open house? I’m interested in hearing more in case we get offered a spot.

Thanks! The open house is on the 22nd (one day after the one at TPMS). DD is naturally good at math but is more interested in reading/writing if that makes sense. She said she rated both school as a 5 on the pre-test questionnaire. Go figure.

Are the open houses for waitlisted families too?

They are taking 100 kids each program. Your changes of getting off the wait list are slim.

Really? Based on what? Do you know how many were accepted last year? Or how many are in the waitlist? Our how many were offered spots at both magnets? My kid is thrilled with TPMS but not knowing the answers to those questions and knowing many parents we’ll decide to keep their kid at their local school I think there’s a reasonable chance of getting off the waitlist at Eastern, at least until I get more definitive info to the contrary.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You guys got me all freaked out about this. I should know to NEVER rely on DCUM for advice or to trust what I read.

Here’s my reality check with real scores:

Cogat National 99V, 98Q, 99NV
Cogat MCPS, 96V, 93Q, 95NV
MAP math 240s, MAP reading 230s
All As
High 5 on PARCC math, high 4 on PARCC ELA

Recommended for TPMS, wait pool at Eastern

School with moderate poverty rate. No prepping for tests.

That's great for your child. And there are a lot of kids with much higher scores who did not get in. Mine got 99% across the board, (though the Quant was 92% for MCPS) high 5 on PARCC, 99% MAP, all A's, etc, etc. and was in the CES. We did no test prep (had no idea people actually prepped their 10 year old's for this stuff, but should have known better!). I knew from seeing comments last year with very high scorers not getting in that acceptance was pretty unlikely, and made sure to prepare my kid for that possibility. He did not get in to either TPMS or Eastern. Just because this isn't your experience, doesn't mean other people are lying.

Then 1) you didn’t get 99 percent across the board and 2) your kid’s score was lower than mine. I think the thing here is that people exaggerate their scores by saying things like “99 percent across the board” when they mean 92% quant.

Anonymous wrote:You guys got me all freaked out about this. I should know to NEVER rely on DCUM for advice or to trust what I read.

Here’s my reality check with real scores:

Cogat National 99V, 98Q, 99NV
Cogat MCPS, 96V, 93Q, 95NV
MAP math 240s, MAP reading 230s
All As
High 5 on PARCC math, high 4 on PARCC ELA

Recommended for TPMS, wait pool at Eastern

School with moderate poverty rate. No prepping for tests.

That's great for your child. And there are a lot of kids with much higher scores who did not get in. Mine got 99% across the board, (though the Quant was 92% for MCPS) high 5 on PARCC, 99% MAP, all A's, etc, etc. and was in the CES. We did no test prep (had no idea people actually prepped their 10 year old's for this stuff, but should have known better!). I knew from seeing comments last year with very high scorers not getting in that acceptance was pretty unlikely, and made sure to prepare my kid for that possibility. He did not get in to either TPMS or Eastern. Just because this isn't your experience, doesn't mean other people are lying.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You guys got me all freaked out about this. I should know to NEVER rely on DCUM for advice or to trust what I read.

Here’s my reality check with real scores:

Cogat National 99V, 98Q, 99NV
Cogat MCPS, 96V, 93Q, 95NV
MAP math 240s, MAP reading 230s
All As
High 5 on PARCC math, high 4 on PARCC ELA

Recommended for TPMS, wait pool at Eastern

School with moderate poverty rate. No prepping for tests.

Congrats to you and your child, PP!
My DD is recommended for Easter and not recommended for TPMS.
Cogat National 99V, 99Q, 97V
Cogat MCPS 99V, 99Q,90MCPS
MAP math 250s, MAP reading 240s, all As, lower 5s on both PARCCs.
WJ cluster, currently not in a CES, no prepping for tests other than one CogAt book from Amazon.

Frankly, I thought DD had a better shot at TPMS than Eastern, since her MAP-M have been high all along, but, I guess, a relatively low CogAT NV did her in. I'm not complaining, though, we are going to the open house.

Congrats! What does your daughter think - was she more interested in math and science? When is the Eastern open house? I’m interested in hearing more in case we get offered a spot.

Thanks! The open house is on the 22nd (one day after the one at TPMS). DD is naturally good at math but is more interested in reading/writing if that makes sense. She said she rated both school as a 5 on the pre-test questionnaire. Go figure.

Are the open houses for waitlisted families too?

They are taking 100 kids each program. Your changes of getting off the wait list are slim.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You guys got me all freaked out about this. I should know to NEVER rely on DCUM for advice or to trust what I read.

Here’s my reality check with real scores:

Cogat National 99V, 98Q, 99NV
Cogat MCPS, 96V, 93Q, 95NV
MAP math 240s, MAP reading 230s
All As
High 5 on PARCC math, high 4 on PARCC ELA

Recommended for TPMS, wait pool at Eastern

School with moderate poverty rate. No prepping for tests.

Congrats to you and your child, PP!
My DD is recommended for Easter and not recommended for TPMS.
Cogat National 99V, 99Q, 97V
Cogat MCPS 99V, 99Q,90MCPS
MAP math 250s, MAP reading 240s, all As, lower 5s on both PARCCs.
WJ cluster, currently not in a CES, no prepping for tests other than one CogAt book from Amazon.

Frankly, I thought DD had a better shot at TPMS than Eastern, since her MAP-M have been high all along, but, I guess, a relatively low CogAT NV did her in. I'm not complaining, though, we are going to the open house.

You purchased a book for your child and made her take these tests in them to prep her to get a better CogAt score. Yet, you are actually that delusional to think you didn't test prep. You Tiger parents are unreal.

Not the pp, but the book from amazon is a full bank of cogat mock test. I purchased one also for my DC, who only got 1 wrong in each battery, so we all thought he bombed his real test because he got total 12 wrongs. Turns out his score is still the top on every section. I feel the mock test book is good to let the kids familiarize with the type of questions and don’t get over anxious, and I don’t think that’s a test prep.

Hilarious! You totally prepped.

PP. No, "prepping" is sending your child to a weekend, semester-long, class that explicitly teachers kids how to take CogAt, coupled with 5 timed mock-tests, like 3 parents of a certain race do.
Getting a book - a pretty crappy one, at that - off Amazon and having your child go through it the afternoon before the test is not prepping.