Anonymous
01/27/2026 14:22
Subject: HS program results out
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I am perplexed. DD IS 95% straight A’s. Not even wait pool for any program. Feel like all the kids that won the elementary lottery at the age of 9 were funneled into magnet Ms at 12, then onto magnet HS How are other kids going to have a shot at these curriculum?
Bingo you have hit the mcps absurdity shady jackpot
yes, because most kids have straight As, it's basically all based on either your MAP-M or MAP-R scores.
And your MAP-M and MAP-R scores may be higher if your parents were pushy enough to insist you be in Algebra in grade 6 rather than grade 7 or 8 because by grade 8 you'll be in 11th grade math and have covered almost the full spectrum of the MAP-M. And since MAP-M is a test of exposure rather than cognitive ability, being exposed to higher level concepts at an early age will give you a boost.
Not necessarily. There are quite a few kids I know with high MAP M or MAP R getting rejected. It seems to be a combination of MAP and Essay this year.
No one said the MAP-M score guarantees you admission, but it’s become that if you don’t have a sky high 99 pct+ score (which is definitely helped by doing Algebra in Grade 6, or some sort of paid for prep course) that you aren’t a candidate at all. It’s no accident that most Blair SMCS kids only come from 4 HS clusters. They’re the ones with the parents who push these programs (Whitman and BCC not caring quite as much as their offerings are decent and closer to home) [/quote
My kid was a 99th percentile scorer in MAP-M but their fall score (271) probably wasn't high enough to gain admission, and I'm fine with that. But it's absolutely not true that "sky high" scores require either Algebra in grade 6 or a "paid for prep course." While these might help, there's nothing preventing a motivated kid to expose themselves to higher-level math (like, geometry in 7th grade) through a free resource like Khan Academy. There's also a series of books called "everything you wanted to know about..." which my kid has used. The series includes algebra and geometry and while not completely free, you can find them on Amazon for less than $20.
Anonymous
01/27/2026 13:52
Subject: HS program results out
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I am perplexed. DD IS 95% straight A’s. Not even wait pool for any program. Feel like all the kids that won the elementary lottery at the age of 9 were funneled into magnet Ms at 12, then onto magnet HS How are other kids going to have a shot at these curriculum?
Bingo you have hit the mcps absurdity shady jackpot
yes, because most kids have straight As, it's basically all based on either your MAP-M or MAP-R scores.
And your MAP-M and MAP-R scores may be higher if your parents were pushy enough to insist you be in Algebra in grade 6 rather than grade 7 or 8 because by grade 8 you'll be in 11th grade math and have covered almost the full spectrum of the MAP-M. And since MAP-M is a test of exposure rather than cognitive ability, being exposed to higher level concepts at an early age will give you a boost.
Not necessarily. There are quite a few kids I know with high MAP M or MAP R getting rejected. It seems to be a combination of MAP and Essay this year.
No one said the MAP-M score guarantees you admission, but it’s become that if you don’t have a sky high 99 pct+ score (which is definitely helped by doing Algebra in Grade 6, or some sort of paid for prep course) that you aren’t a candidate at all. It’s no accident that most Blair SMCS kids only come from 4 HS clusters. They’re the ones with the parents who push these programs (Whitman and BCC not caring quite as much as their offerings are decent and closer to home)
Anonymous
01/27/2026 12:02
Subject: HS program results out
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Yes. Email has been sent out.
Anonymous wrote:Is there an accepted student open house in the near future for Blair smacs? If yes, which day? Thanks!
How are kids coming from private (without an MCPS email address) being informed of the open house info? Is it coming to parents’ emails? Or through ParentVue? I’m not sure we received anything yet.
It’s sent to the email you listed in the application form.
Anonymous
01/27/2026 11:58
Subject: Re:HS program results out
We got separate emails from each of the programs our child applied for. It came to parents email that we provided when applying.
Anonymous
01/27/2026 11:49
Subject: HS program results out
Anonymous wrote:Yes. Email has been sent out.
Anonymous wrote:Is there an accepted student open house in the near future for Blair smacs? If yes, which day? Thanks!
How are kids coming from private (without an MCPS email address) being informed of the open house info? Is it coming to parents’ emails? Or through ParentVue? I’m not sure we received anything yet.
Anonymous
01/27/2026 09:55
Subject: HS program results out
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Is there an accepted student open house in the near future for Blair smacs? If yes, which day? Thanks!
Monday Feb 2 at 7pm.
Thanks! We are current students trying to organize a student-only info session, so need to avoid open house time.
Anonymous
01/27/2026 09:53
Subject: HS program results out
Anonymous wrote:Is there an accepted student open house in the near future for Blair smacs? If yes, which day? Thanks!
Monday Feb 2 at 7pm.
Anonymous
01/27/2026 09:46
Subject: HS program results out
Yes. Email has been sent out.
Anonymous wrote:Is there an accepted student open house in the near future for Blair smacs? If yes, which day? Thanks!
Anonymous
01/27/2026 09:39
Subject: HS program results out
Is there an accepted student open house in the near future for Blair smacs? If yes, which day? Thanks!
Anonymous
01/27/2026 08:35
Subject: HS program results out
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I am perplexed. DD IS 95% straight A’s. Not even wait pool for any program. Feel like all the kids that won the elementary lottery at the age of 9 were funneled into magnet Ms at 12, then onto magnet HS How are other kids going to have a shot at these curriculum?
Bingo you have hit the mcps absurdity shady jackpot
yes, because most kids have straight As, it's basically all based on either your MAP-M or MAP-R scores.
And your MAP-M and MAP-R scores may be higher if your parents were pushy enough to insist you be in Algebra in grade 6 rather than grade 7 or 8 because by grade 8 you'll be in 11th grade math and have covered almost the full spectrum of the MAP-M. And since MAP-M is a test of exposure rather than cognitive ability, being exposed to higher level concepts at an early age will give you a boost.
Not necessarily. There are quite a few kids I know with high MAP M or MAP R getting rejected. It seems to be a combination of MAP and Essay this year.
Anonymous
01/27/2026 06:52
Subject: HS program results out
My kid got rejected from CAP coming from private -- no map score but 90s on other standardized tests.
Anonymous
01/25/2026 12:13
Subject: HS program results out
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:[twitter]Anonymous wrote:Not entirely true. I know a few kids got 240s map r and still invited to RMIB
Anonymous wrote:[twitter]Anonymous wrote:97% math 95% languages arts. Straight As. So are you saying every child that got into a magnet program was in the 99th percentile?Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I am perplexed. DD IS 95% straight A’s. Not even wait pool for any program. Feel like all the kids that won the elementary lottery at the age of 9 were funneled into magnet Ms at 12, then onto magnet HS How are other kids going to have a shot at these curriculum?
95% map? Or 95% A. 99% is not even enough for map score.
99% cut off for map M is 269. All kids I know got in are above 285 or 290.
Not sure about MAP R as all kids I know with a score of 250+ got rejected.
Maybe high farms school? Our low farms school has really low rate of RM acceptance.
HS admission are school blind, but give bonus for personal adversity factors.
Your low farms school has a low rate of acceptance because they have a low rate of students applying.
No, many applications and most rejected with high Map R.
Anonymous
01/25/2026 10:42
Subject: HS program results out
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I am perplexed. DD IS 95% straight A’s. Not even wait pool for any program. Feel like all the kids that won the elementary lottery at the age of 9 were funneled into magnet Ms at 12, then onto magnet HS How are other kids going to have a shot at these curriculum?
Bingo you have hit the mcps absurdity shady jackpot
yes, because most kids have straight As, it's basically all based on either your MAP-M or MAP-R scores.
And your MAP-M and MAP-R scores may be higher if your parents were pushy enough to insist you be in Algebra in grade 6 rather than grade 7 or 8 because by grade 8 you'll be in 11th grade math and have covered almost the full spectrum of the MAP-M. And since MAP-M is a test of exposure rather than cognitive ability, being exposed to higher level concepts at an early age will give you a boost.
Anonymous
01/25/2026 10:13
Subject: HS program results out
Anonymous wrote:Do you apply for criteria based?
You have to apply for all of them. Criteria based has an essay and a few lines for achievements.
Anonymous
01/25/2026 10:12
Subject: HS program results out
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:97% math 95% languages arts. Straight As. So are you saying every child that got into a magnet program was in the 99th percentile?Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I am perplexed. DD IS 95% straight A’s. Not even wait pool for any program. Feel like all the kids that won the elementary lottery at the age of 9 were funneled into magnet Ms at 12, then onto magnet HS How are other kids going to have a shot at these curriculum?
95% map? Or 95% A. 99% is not even enough for map score.
Definitely not every child who got into a magnet program was in the 99th percentile-- there are like 800 kids a year who go to regional or countywide magnets-- but did your kid only apply for the very most selective ones?
Well sure, Kennedy IB selects pretty much everyone who applies with a 98% acceptance rate. These people are talking about RMIB and Blair SMACS soecifically.