The HS magnet isn't for "college admissions". It's for satisfying a love of STEM and for preparing for success at the most academically advanced and challenging colleges and pathways in the majors.

A non-magnet student trying that would be fighting the home school for special treatment, wasting time on boring required easy busywork before doing their advanced studies, chasing down extra curriculars which have their own commute or are virtual, and doing it without a group of peers for study groups and bonding

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The benefit is one required CS class. But because TP will now be 7 periods, that means your student will not have an elective if they want a foreign language as well.

The science class is also better.

Commute is long.

That's a weak benefit because there are tons of free and paid CS courses that are as good or better than TPMS. Some of that curriculum is even in school (6igital Literacy, 7:Cybersecurity, 8:Foundations of CS track)

Not comparable... TPMS is a tryout for Blair SMCS. If you do well there, your odds of selection are much higher.

Worth noting that unless the family super duper cares about the child’s resume that schlepping all the way across county to the edge of PG to a middling high school with an advanced course program still most likely isn’t their best option. A magnet quality kid will do elite anywhere they go and the extra time saved coupled to the quality of life benefits for the family could be used for various enrichment activities or community service which are way more important for elite college admittance these days.

The commute is bad, but SMCS gets kids into a solid 1-2 years of college level STEM education compared to the highest options at other schools.

Math, CS, and Science are all accelerated and enriched in ways you can't get at other schools.

They finish all of honors+ HS math, science, CS/engineering by mid/end sophomore year, in a accelerated format that doesn't burn elective slots, and then move on to college level AP-ish and post-AP courses for 2 years. (And the CS/engineering is in a bonus period, keeping the schedule open for more courses).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The benefit is one required CS class. But because TP will now be 7 periods, that means your student will not have an elective if they want a foreign language as well.

The science class is also better.

Commute is long.

That's a weak benefit because there are tons of free and paid CS courses that are as good or better than TPMS. Some of that curriculum is even in school (6: Digital Literacy, 7:Cybersecurity, 8:Foundations of CS track)

Not comparable... TPMS is a tryout for Blair SMCS. If you do well there, your odds of selection are much higher.

Citation needed.
Especially post-lottery.

It's probably the opposite, because As are easier to come by outside TPMS (unless maybe you are at a W schools, that offers more advanced math classes than TPMS!)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The benefit is one required CS class. But because TP will now be 7 periods, that means your student will not have an elective if they want a foreign language as well.

The science class is also better.

Commute is long.

That's a weak benefit because there are tons of free and paid CS courses that are as good or better than TPMS. Some of that curriculum is even in school (6igital Literacy, 7:Cybersecurity, 8:Foundations of CS track)

Not comparable... TPMS is a tryout for Blair SMCS. If you do well there, your odds of selection are much higher.

Worth noting that unless the family super duper cares about the child’s resume that schlepping all the way across county to the edge of PG to a middling high school with an advanced course program still most likely isn’t their best option. A magnet quality kid will do elite anywhere they go and the extra time saved coupled to the quality of life benefits for the family could be used for various enrichment activities or community service which are way more important for elite college admittance these days.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The benefit is one required CS class. But because TP will now be 7 periods, that means your student will not have an elective if they want a foreign language as well.

The science class is also better.

Commute is long.

That's a weak benefit because there are tons of free and paid CS courses that are as good or better than TPMS. Some of that curriculum is even in school (6igital Literacy, 7:Cybersecurity, 8:Foundations of CS track)

Not comparable... TPMS is a tryout for Blair SMCS. If you do well there, your odds of selection are much higher.