Anonymous wrote:I worked in college admissions at a top 15 liberal arts college. With similar test scores and similar programs, Kid x who is in the bottom half of the top 20% at a W school is not getting in while kid y who is in the top 10% at Wheaton IS getting in.

At a top 15 LAC, a kid in the top 10% at Wheaton would still have a very low shot of getting in. Get real. It's not a school exactly bursting with high achievers.

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Anonymous wrote:In some cases being at magnet or top school is a hindrance because all the kids are applying to top schools.. Sticking out a a less popular school can increase your odds. That said the top schools do offer more APs etc..

That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. Yes, Harvard is looking at Gaithersburg High students not taking AP classes with a 4.0 the same as a Richard Montgomery IB students with 4.0 because they stick out??? No way.

Depends. If you're #5 in your class at Gaithersburg it might look better than being in the top 30% at RM-IB.

+1

Neither is getting into Harvard, though. These two kids are in the pool for good SLACs.

Depends on test scores IMO.

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Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't move to MoCo. The school system has sold its curriculum to Pearson and has been on a downward slide on performance indicators.

If you can afford it move to the wealthier parts of the county and hope your children graduate at a time when universities still give some values to MCPS graduates.

and you don't eat at chic fil A either?

Actually, if this is the MCPS basher I think it is, I'm pretty sure she looooves Chic Fil A and its politics too.

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Anonymous wrote:In some cases being at magnet or top school is a hindrance because all the kids are applying to top schools.. Sticking out a a less popular school can increase your odds. That said the top schools do offer more APs etc..

That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. Yes, Harvard is looking at Gaithersburg High students not taking AP classes with a 4.0 the same as a Richard Montgomery IB students with 4.0 because they stick out??? No way.

Depends. If you're #5 in your class at Gaithersburg it might look better than being in the top 30% at RM-IB.

+1

Neither is getting into Harvard, though. These two kids are in the pool for good SLACs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In some cases being at magnet or top school is a hindrance because all the kids are applying to top schools.. Sticking out a a less popular school can increase your odds. That said the top schools do offer more APs etc..

That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. Yes, Harvard is looking at Gaithersburg High students not taking AP classes with a 4.0 the same as a Richard Montgomery IB students with 4.0 because they stick out??? No way.

Depends. If you're #5 in your class at Gaithersburg it might look better than being in the top 30% at RM-IB.

+1

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In some cases being at magnet or top school is a hindrance because all the kids are applying to top schools.. Sticking out a a less popular school can increase your odds. That said the top schools do offer more APs etc..

That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. Yes, Harvard is looking at Gaithersburg High students not taking AP classes with a 4.0 the same as a Richard Montgomery IB students with 4.0 because they stick out??? No way.

Depends. If you're #5 in your class at Gaithersburg it might look better than being in the top 30% at RM-IB.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In some cases being at magnet or top school is a hindrance because all the kids are applying to top schools.. Sticking out a a less popular school can increase your odds. That said the top schools do offer more APs etc..

That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. Yes, Harvard is looking at Gaithersburg High students not taking AP classes with a 4.0 the same as a Richard Montgomery IB students with 4.0 because they stick out??? No way.

I've heard Harvard only takes legacy and top athletes.

the top athelestes that wan tto go to harvard, the top atheltes go SEC.

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't move to MoCo. The school system has sold its curriculum to Pearson and has been on a downward slide on performance indicators.

If you can afford it move to the wealthier parts of the county and hope your children graduate at a time when universities still give some values to MCPS graduates.

and you don't eat at chic fil A either?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In some cases being at magnet or top school is a hindrance because all the kids are applying to top schools.. Sticking out a a less popular school can increase your odds. That said the top schools do offer more APs etc..

That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. Yes, Harvard is looking at Gaithersburg High students not taking AP classes with a 4.0 the same as a Richard Montgomery IB students with 4.0 because they stick out??? No way.

I've heard Harvard only takes legacy and top athletes.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In some cases being at magnet or top school is a hindrance because all the kids are applying to top schools.. Sticking out a a less popular school can increase your odds. That said the top schools do offer more APs etc..

That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. Yes, Harvard is looking at Gaithersburg High students not taking AP classes with a 4.0 the same as a Richard Montgomery IB students with 4.0 because they stick out??? No way.

Only dumb when you don't actually read the thread. The point was made that advanced classes are offered at every high school. Nobody suggested a kid without a resume of AP classes is going to a selective school.

Anonymous wrote:In some cases being at magnet or top school is a hindrance because all the kids are applying to top schools.. Sticking out a a less popular school can increase your odds. That said the top schools do offer more APs etc..

That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. Yes, Harvard is looking at Gaithersburg High students not taking AP classes with a 4.0 the same as a Richard Montgomery IB students with 4.0 because they stick out??? No way.

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Anonymous wrote:For yucks, you could read The Overachievers about stress at Whitman.

I think that the meaning you intended this sentence to have is not the meaning I'm getting from it.

Well, we can't control how your mind works. For everybody else out there, the Overachievers is an eye-opening book about the high stress levels and cut-throat academic competition at a W school.

So you did mean to have "yuck" and "Whitman" in the same sentence? That's the meaning I got.

No, I didn't mean it that way! Sorry you understood it that way. I meant "yucks" in the plural as in "laughs" or "chuckles." It was meant to be ironic. Urban Dictionary tells me I'm dated, though, and that your reading is more current: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=yucks

LOL! I'm with the oldster who thinks of yucks as a synonym for laughs, and don't even want to look up what it means these days!

Anonymous wrote:You don't need to go to a specialty school to get in, or an IB program. However, if your school does offer things like APs, your child should probably take some. Universities are familiar with the schools around here and would look at the kid who took honors/AP classes and a lower GPA more favorably than the kid who didn't stretch at all and had a higher GPA.

Having gone through this process very recently, I'd amend this a bit. If the goal is a selective or highly selective school, I'd amend this to "your child should definitely take some AP classes", especially if he or she is not at a specialty school that offers its own advanced classes. PP is right, the highly selective schools want to see that you challenged yourself, and that you earned As in the most challenging classes available. This message, about taking the most challenging classes available, is one that we heard over and over on DC's college tour.

Another reason to take APs is to counter any questions about easy grading at your own high school. Kids who score 5s on their AP exams usually send these scores in with the application, even though they're not required for any colleges' applications.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For yucks, you could read The Overachievers about stress at Whitman.

I think that the meaning you intended this sentence to have is not the meaning I'm getting from it.

Well, we can't control how your mind works. For everybody else out there, the Overachievers is an eye-opening book about the high stress levels and cut-throat academic competition at a W school.

So you did mean to have "yuck" and "Whitman" in the same sentence? That's the meaning I got.

No, I didn't mean it that way! Sorry you understood it that way. I meant "yucks" in the plural as in "laughs" or "chuckles." It was meant to be ironic. Urban Dictionary tells me I'm dated, though, and that your reading is more current: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=yucks

You don't need to go to a specialty school to get in, or an IB program. However, if your school does offer things like APs, your child should probably take some. Universities are familiar with the schools around here and would look at the kid who took honors/AP classes and a lower GPA more favorably than the kid who didn't stretch at all and had a higher GPA.