My kid was accepted in both. I didn’t read the essays. Big reader and loves math.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you only get o e essay and you apply to both RMIB and Blair SMCS, how do you distinguish yourself in the essay?

Yeah I have the same question.

My kid got accepted to both - his essay started with his passion for STEM and then he worked in some of his other interests (literature, history etc) and then tied them together.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you only get o e essay and you apply to both RMIB and Blair SMCS, how do you distinguish yourself in the essay?

The student talks about the themself, and gets matched to a program that fits. You can't go to both program, so you don't have to worry about being being invited to both. It's OK to be honest!

I mean, why would one ever want options? Or a backup in case one doesn't get selected to one's first choice? Certainly, a kid who would might be on the margin for that first choice couldn't possibly be more likely to have a better chance at a second. And why wouldn't they simply want to stay at their home school if they didn't get that first choice? All schools provide equally! And it's not as though kids can have more than one interest growing up. Right? Right?!?!

Anonymous wrote:If you only get o e essay and you apply to both RMIB and Blair SMCS, how do you distinguish yourself in the essay?

The student talks about the themself, and gets matched to a program that fits. You can't go to both program, so you don't have to worry about being being invited to both. It's OK to be honest!

Anonymous wrote:If you only get o e essay and you apply to both RMIB and Blair SMCS, how do you distinguish yourself in the essay?

Yeah I have the same question.

If you only get o e essay and you apply to both RMIB and Blair SMCS, how do you distinguish yourself in the essay?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MAP-R scores are low for RMIB, but could be offset by good essay.

Really? What about extracurriculars and such? And are the MAP-R scores really that low?

Do they really care much about extracurriculars, apart from those who may have won a recognizable and verifiable award relevant to their magnet discipline (math competition, writing award).

Would they really care that a kid is a good swimmer or started a robotics class recently? It’s easy enough for an applicant to make up and not easy for the admissions panel to verify.

Swimming, probably not, but they want people who express an interest in the program.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MAP-R scores are low for RMIB, but could be offset by good essay.

Isn't the essay super short? Doubt that it makes a difference.

College admissions essays are under 650 words but they matter.

Well this is 150 words max. I think it really just comes down to MAP-R scores, presuming everyone applying has straight As and is taking the most challenging classes available (like geometry for SMCS).

They are super clear that is it NOT only MAP scores.
The activities/achievements/essay is very important; it's just subjective and hard to make decisions for the large number of kids on the bubble, so the results are a bit arbitrary.

One hopes that a kid who likes working on his parent's car or who collects wild bugs to study is given the same credit as the kid who is shipped off to expensive camps, but who knows

Oops, swap in the humanities version of that!

It's worse to have such subjective criteria. OP's kid clearly has well-resourced parents willing to drive him to a gazillion activities including at 4 am. And accepting a kid because they write a compelling 150 word essay about the joys of working on their parent's car is also stupid.

Add that to the focus on using a single data point from the gameable MAP-M or MAP-R tests rather than COGAT and you have some very non-robust selection criteria for these magnet programs, despite some people on this board arguing that they're the best and brightest and the future discoverers of the cure of cancer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MAP-R scores are low for RMIB, but could be offset by good essay.

Really? What about extracurriculars and such? And are the MAP-R scores really that low?

Do they really care much about extracurriculars, apart from those who may have won a recognizable and verifiable award relevant to their magnet discipline (math competition, writing award).

Would they really care that a kid is a good swimmer or started a robotics class recently? It’s easy enough for an applicant to make up and not easy for the admissions panel to verify.

Anonymous wrote:MAP-R scores are low for RMIB, but could be offset by good essay.

Really? What about extracurriculars and such? And are the MAP-R scores really that low?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MAP-R scores are low for RMIB, but could be offset by good essay.

Isn't the essay super short? Doubt that it makes a difference.

College admissions essays are under 650 words but they matter.

Well this is 150 words max. I think it really just comes down to MAP-R scores, presuming everyone applying has straight As and is taking the most challenging classes available (like geometry for SMCS).

They are super clear that is it NOT only MAP scores.
The activities/achievements/essay is very important; it's just subjective and hard to make decisions for the large number of kids on the bubble, so the results are a bit arbitrary.

One hopes that a kid who likes working on his parent's car or who collects wild bugs to study is given the same credit as the kid who is shipped off to expensive camps, but who knows

Oops, swap in the humanities version of that!