Anonymous wrote:Has anyone not heard from RMIB? We have not heard either way.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OMG!!! My kid got in everywhere! Blair STEM, CAP, Wheaton engineering, RMIB and Kennedy IB!

So proud of him! Apologies for the anonymous bragging here. Can’t really share with anyone else but very excited!

Ick, why did you apply to all?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TPMS kids have a running list of those who made it.

seems to be some social engineering going on for sure. to limit certain groups and get diversity. definitely seems like there is a school/gender quota. and maybe other criteria too. it is all so opaque. and the lack of a test and teacher recs just makes it unfair.

the bar is way higher for males and also for certain races. kids can see the unfairness but they will have to live with it.

What are you even talking about??? My kid has shown me the list and no obvious bias was evident. Sheesh, i hope you didn’t share this ridiculous view with your kid.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel really bad for my child, they are gutted. Not even waitlisted at their school of choice. Does anyone have any advice on the appeals process?

I am so sorry, PP. I am sure your child would have been an enthusiastic and successful student at those schools...it is just hard to get into and sometimes what the decision-makers are looking at is not anything we can control, and maybe they are prioritizing things in a way that's not ideal---or that they aren't looking at things they should.

Sadly for MCPS's gifted children, even those that get admitted (and I DON'T want to rain on other parents' parade tonight...just please go forward with open eyes...) will have numerous disadvantages in the magnet high schools due to things like distance....which creates a burdensome commute, and a disconnect with the school community (because it's far and they can't necessarily do after-school ECs or easily hang out with a classmate after school). Unlike some other schools (e.g those in the Bethesda area), the schools in which the magnets are located typically do not have large, active, well-funded PTSAs/boosters that can enable top-notch extracurriculars like drama, athletics, music, debate team etc. or even events that help develop school spirit. (this is not a knock on those school communities, and it's not due to income levels...our area just has a variety of communities with relatively new Americans who have never heard of the PTA concept in their country of origin so don't have any encouragement to join).

So please do emphasize the positives of his/her home school--community/nearby friends, perhaps more ECs, less time on the bus. And in the meantime, try to do what you can to advocate for gifted children within MCPS as well as your local high school. I don't know about the appeals process for this but MCPS is not responsive to parent concerns from what I've seen (lip service at best) so it stinks....but maybe you can figure out a way to change this status quo (MCCPTA has a gifted education subgroup). Oh, and please join your PTSA if you aren't already a member...even if you aren't planning to spend a lot of time on it (just being a member is a good step) [this plea is for all parents, not just PP]

Thank you for your kind response. I believe going to a magnet middle school actually hurt my child's chances for high school programs. It will indeed be good for them to be closer to home. All of that commuting for middle school, for what?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are the parent of an Asian boy - well-rounded with good grades and high MAP scores looking around you to see kids who may have worse scores getting in, this is just the beginning. wait till you get to college admissions. it is beyond brutal. essentially at this point Asian kids - esp boys - are competing among themselves because the bar is so much higher than for others. being held to different standards as a 13 or 14 year old sucks though.

Admissions for these public school programs is race blind. They have no clue what the applicants race is just gender.

Some kids mentioned it in their essays. It's a work around.

Anonymous wrote:TPMS kids have a running list of those who made it.

seems to be some social engineering going on for sure. to limit certain groups and get diversity. definitely seems like there is a school/gender quota. and maybe other criteria too. it is all so opaque. and the lack of a test and teacher recs just makes it unfair.

the bar is way higher for males and also for certain races. kids can see the unfairness but they will have to live with it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are the parent of an Asian boy - well-rounded with good grades and high MAP scores looking around you to see kids who may have worse scores getting in, this is just the beginning. wait till you get to college admissions. it is beyond brutal. essentially at this point Asian kids - esp boys - are competing among themselves because the bar is so much higher than for others. being held to different standards as a 13 or 14 year old sucks though.

Admissions for these public school programs is race blind. They have no clue what the applicants race is just gender.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel really bad for my child, they are gutted. Not even waitlisted at their school of choice. Does anyone have any advice on the appeals process?

I am so sorry, PP. I am sure your child would have been an enthusiastic and successful student at those schools...it is just hard to get into and sometimes what the decision-makers are looking at is not anything we can control, and maybe they are prioritizing things in a way that's not ideal---or that they aren't looking at things they should.

Sadly for MCPS's gifted children, even those that get admitted (and I DON'T want to rain on other parents' parade tonight...just please go forward with open eyes...) will have numerous disadvantages in the magnet high schools due to things like distance....which creates a burdensome commute, and a disconnect with the school community (because it's far and they can't necessarily do after-school ECs or easily hang out with a classmate after school). Unlike some other schools (e.g those in the Bethesda area), the schools in which the magnets are located typically do not have large, active, well-funded PTSAs/boosters that can enable top-notch extracurriculars like drama, athletics, music, debate team etc. or even events that help develop school spirit. (this is not a knock on those school communities, and it's not due to income levels...our area just has a variety of communities with relatively new Americans who have never heard of the PTA concept in their country of origin so don't have any encouragement to join).

So please do emphasize the positives of his/her home school--community/nearby friends, perhaps more ECs, less time on the bus. And in the meantime, try to do what you can to advocate for gifted children within MCPS as well as your local high school. I don't know about the appeals process for this but MCPS is not responsive to parent concerns from what I've seen (lip service at best) so it stinks....but maybe you can figure out a way to change this status quo (MCCPTA has a gifted education subgroup). Oh, and please join your PTSA if you aren't already a member...even if you aren't planning to spend a lot of time on it (just being a member is a good step) [this plea is for all parents, not just PP]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are the parent of an Asian boy - well-rounded with good grades and high MAP scores looking around you to see kids who may have worse scores getting in, this is just the beginning. wait till you get to college admissions. it is beyond brutal. essentially at this point Asian kids - esp boys - are competing among themselves because the bar is so much higher than for others. being held to different standards as a 13 or 14 year old sucks though.

Admissions for these public school programs is race blind. They have no clue what the applicants race is just gender.

Anonymous wrote:If you are the parent of an Asian boy - well-rounded with good grades and high MAP scores looking around you to see kids who may have worse scores getting in, this is just the beginning. wait till you get to college admissions. it is beyond brutal. essentially at this point Asian kids - esp boys - are competing among themselves because the bar is so much higher than for others. being held to different standards as a 13 or 14 year old sucks though.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OMG!!! My kid got in everywhere! Blair STEM, CAP, Wheaton engineering, RMIB and Kennedy IB!

So proud of him! Apologies for the anonymous bragging here. Can’t really share with anyone else but very excited!

Ick, why did you apply to all?

Anonymous wrote:OMG!!! My kid got in everywhere! Blair STEM, CAP, Wheaton engineering, RMIB and Kennedy IB!

So proud of him! Apologies for the anonymous bragging here. Can’t really share with anyone else but very excited!