Anonymous wrote:I am the OP and my kid is already in the magnet, and loves it. That said, they want to take 4 years of a foreign language and be on the school newspaper. It would be easier if one "magnet" elective could be the newspaper class.

By the by, I think there are many kids in the magnet like mine. Kids who can handle and enjoy the in depth magnet level work and electives, but don't need to squeeze every last drop of STEM out of the 4-year program.

Anonymous wrote:I am the OP and my kid is already in the magnet, and loves it. That said, they want to take 4 years of a foreign language and be on the school newspaper. It would be easier if one "magnet" elective could be the newspaper class.

By the by, I think there are many kids in the magnet like mine. Kids who can handle and enjoy the in depth magnet level work and electives, but don't need to squeeze every last drop of STEM out of the 4-year program.

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Anonymous wrote:Could you take AP Chemistry or AP Physics? I mean sure the magnet Physics and Chem cover some of that but don't prepare students for the AP, which is helpful for those magnet kids who plan to go to college.

Magnet Physics and Chemistry are mostly the full year MCPS class taught over 1 semester instead of 2. They do not prepare kids for the AP exam. I am not aware of kids taking the exam after freshman year. My DC took AP Chem after Magnet Chem and I think that is the norm.

Would taking AP Chem as a Junior as a magnet elective possible before going deeper with analytical chem etc be possible?

I'm mostly curious since there are only so many periods and loading AP Chem on top of 4 magnet classes would be tough with SS, English, PE/Health/Music, FL reqs.

Who are you and why are you asking all these questions? You don't sound like a magnet parent. If you were a magnet parent you'd know that AP Chem, AP Physics and AP Bio are possible but strongly not recommended. The magnet equivalents are more challenging and go into more depth. I think they recommend Genetics and something else instead of AP Chem and they cover nearly all the AP topics and a lot more.

I get that they're challenging but also just semester-long courses that leave out a lot that is covered in a year long AP class.

Right, they are a souped up version of the year long honors class that non-magnet kids take before they take the AP class. AP Chem and AP Physics would cover content that's covered in the magnet electives that you're talking about replacing. Comparing them to the freshmen/sophomore required classes makes no sense.

True AP Chem and AP Physics are year-long courses that cover content that isn't covered by the semester-long magnet courses.

No one is disagreeing with that. But AP Chem has a prerequisite, of honors chem. The semester long magnet course replaces honors chem. So, a magnet kid considering taking AP chem is choosing between AP chem and the advanced magnet chemistry electives. No one is choosing between the semester long required magnet chem and AP chem, so comparing them doesn't make sense.

So taking AP Chem is an alternative to taking the other advanced chem electives. Curiously, the prereqs for those for non-magnet students is AP Chem which is a little confusing.

Not really. The magnet electives are limited to magnet kids, and kids who have exhausted their other options.

No they aren't limited to magnet kids. Each of these classes has a pre-req that allows non-magnet students to take. In fact, many MCPS schools offer some of these same courses and definitely aren't hosting a manget.

How is what you say different from what I said? If a kid has met the prerequisite which is generally the highest non magnet class in that track (e.g. AP chem, or whatever) they can take the next level in the magnet. So, they are limited to magnet kids and kids who have already taken the other classes in the subject available at that school, and exhausted their option for continuing to study it outside the magnet.

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Anonymous wrote:Could you take AP Chemistry or AP Physics? I mean sure the magnet Physics and Chem cover some of that but don't prepare students for the AP, which is helpful for those magnet kids who plan to go to college.

Magnet Physics and Chemistry are mostly the full year MCPS class taught over 1 semester instead of 2. They do not prepare kids for the AP exam. I am not aware of kids taking the exam after freshman year. My DC took AP Chem after Magnet Chem and I think that is the norm.

Would taking AP Chem as a Junior as a magnet elective possible before going deeper with analytical chem etc be possible?

I'm mostly curious since there are only so many periods and loading AP Chem on top of 4 magnet classes would be tough with SS, English, PE/Health/Music, FL reqs.

Who are you and why are you asking all these questions? You don't sound like a magnet parent. If you were a magnet parent you'd know that AP Chem, AP Physics and AP Bio are possible but strongly not recommended. The magnet equivalents are more challenging and go into more depth. I think they recommend Genetics and something else instead of AP Chem and they cover nearly all the AP topics and a lot more.

I get that they're challenging but also just semester-long courses that leave out a lot that is covered in a year long AP class.

Right, they are a souped up version of the year long honors class that non-magnet kids take before they take the AP class. AP Chem and AP Physics would cover content that's covered in the magnet electives that you're talking about replacing. Comparing them to the freshmen/sophomore required classes makes no sense.

True AP Chem and AP Physics are year-long courses that cover content that isn't covered by the semester-long magnet courses.

No one is disagreeing with that. But AP Chem has a prerequisite, of honors chem. The semester long magnet course replaces honors chem. So, a magnet kid considering taking AP chem is choosing between AP chem and the advanced magnet chemistry electives. No one is choosing between the semester long required magnet chem and AP chem, so comparing them doesn't make sense.

So taking AP Chem is an alternative to taking the other advanced chem electives. Curiously, the prereqs for those for non-magnet students is AP Chem which is a little confusing.

Not really. The magnet electives are limited to magnet kids, and kids who have exhausted their other options.

No they aren't limited to magnet kids. Each of these classes has a pre-req that allows non-magnet students to take. In fact, many MCPS schools offer some of these same courses and definitely aren't hosting a manget.

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Anonymous wrote:In 11th and 12th grade, can kids take other, non-magnet electives for the magnet electives that are marked on the website? Like can they take 2 years of computer science and rather than magnet electives take more liberal arts electives? I understand they need 4 years of math and 3 years of science to graduate.

https://old.mbhs.edu/departments/magnet/courses.php

https://old.mbhs.edu/departments/magnet/ParentResources/PlanningGuideJR-SRYrs.pdf

3.5 years of magnet science electives, plus 1 year of magnet or AP science.

This is an old doc but according to this the semester 9th and 10th science classes are a full credit? Is that still the case?

Very interesting! I just looked at ParentVue for my freshman and indeed physics and biology seem to be listed as full credit classes even though they are each a semester long.

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Anonymous wrote:Could you take AP Chemistry or AP Physics? I mean sure the magnet Physics and Chem cover some of that but don't prepare students for the AP, which is helpful for those magnet kids who plan to go to college.

Magnet Physics and Chemistry are mostly the full year MCPS class taught over 1 semester instead of 2. They do not prepare kids for the AP exam. I am not aware of kids taking the exam after freshman year. My DC took AP Chem after Magnet Chem and I think that is the norm.

Would taking AP Chem as a Junior as a magnet elective possible before going deeper with analytical chem etc be possible?

I'm mostly curious since there are only so many periods and loading AP Chem on top of 4 magnet classes would be tough with SS, English, PE/Health/Music, FL reqs.

Who are you and why are you asking all these questions? You don't sound like a magnet parent. If you were a magnet parent you'd know that AP Chem, AP Physics and AP Bio are possible but strongly not recommended. The magnet equivalents are more challenging and go into more depth. I think they recommend Genetics and something else instead of AP Chem and they cover nearly all the AP topics and a lot more.

I get that they're challenging but also just semester-long courses that leave out a lot that is covered in a year long AP class.

Right, they are a souped up version of the year long honors class that non-magnet kids take before they take the AP class. AP Chem and AP Physics would cover content that's covered in the magnet electives that you're talking about replacing. Comparing them to the freshmen/sophomore required classes makes no sense.

True AP Chem and AP Physics are year-long courses that cover content that isn't covered by the semester-long magnet courses.

No one is disagreeing with that. But AP Chem has a prerequisite, of honors chem. The semester long magnet course replaces honors chem. So, a magnet kid considering taking AP chem is choosing between AP chem and the advanced magnet chemistry electives. No one is choosing between the semester long required magnet chem and AP chem, so comparing them doesn't make sense.

So taking AP Chem is an alternative to taking the other advanced chem electives. Curiously, the prereqs for those for non-magnet students is AP Chem which is a little confusing.

Not really. The magnet electives are limited to magnet kids, and kids who have exhausted their other options.