Anyone familiar with the School of Science & Math in Durham?

[laureloak]

If so, please let me know how difficult it is to get admitted. What is average SAT?

[mzteris]

1. some info - probably not what you need, though

"Three members of the Class of 2005 were awarded the Park Scholarship from NC State, the university's most coveted scholarship. Additionally, two members of the Class of 2005 were named Morehead scholars at UNC-Chapel Hill while two students won the Belk scholarship from Davidson.

For the second time in four years, NCSSM students won First Place in the team category at the Siemens-Westinghouse Competition for Science, Math and Technology, the nation's most prestigious and challenging research-based academic competition.They brought home $100,000 in scholarship money.

For the fourth year in a row, NCSSM sent the most number of semi-finalists to the Siemens-Westinghouse Competition.

NCSSM students once again boasted the highest average SAT score in the state. What makes this more remarkable is that the scores are received upon our students taking the test as Sophomores and thus compared to scores received across the state by seniors." http://www.ncssm.edu/admissions/



as for getting in - I saw this in a DUKE newsletter: "Byrd got herself out by winning a place at the Durham-based North Carolina School of Science and Math, whose basic admissions policy is to admit two students from every county in the state. There, she says, she "no longer felt like some little outcast."


don't know if that's still true - if it ever was - but you do have to be an NC resident - have exemplary scores and great teacher references.

[NJ Democrats]

2. I'm not sure

I do know it was mentioned to me when I went to look at a couple of high schools, I might go to.

[mzteris]

3. serendipity

I met a guy yesterday who teaches there.

It's very competitive to get in.

WHERE you live can be a factor. If you live in a county/area of NC that is "under-represented" - you have a better chance. More people from say Wake, Durham, Mecklenburg counties will APPLY - and have better chances as they went to schools that would better prepare them to go to NCSSM - as in grades, etc.

But other than that they look at test scores, grades (where you went to school), extra-curricular activities, community service, etc.

[laureloak]

4. How political is it?

Somewhere I read comments by the President of NCSSM, Boardman I think, in which he stated that there might be a student at NCSSM with an SAT score of 900, but there was something special about that student.

I'm sorry, but why would our tax money be spent on a prep school that admits students with SAT scores of 900???? WHAT is the purpose of NCSSM??

[mzteris]

5. I haven't heard that

BUT - there "could be" a very good reason.

Maybe they're a "math genius" who failed the English portion due to an unaccommodated learning disability??

I don't think the process is political - there is a scoring system - of SAT's, grades, what school you went to, county, interview, extra-curricular activities, community service, etc... That said, they try to keep the male/female ratio at 50%, and try to have a strong minority presence spread across all minority groups.

They want kids who will succeed there. They do NOT like to have kids drop out or asked to leave. That said, if you have a D average, you're asked to leave, but you may apply for readmission if you bring your grades back up in your home school.

The purpose is to provide an environment with very small classes, dedicated teachers, and a group of like-minded kids where they can persue an indepth education on a level commensurate with their abilities.

Take a look at their success rate in things like the Westinghouse competition, and their admission/scholarships to top ranked schools.

It's for kids who qualify for a top level education who can't afford an top level private school. ANYONE CAN go - if you have the grades and the attitude to make it.


edit to add:

A couple of more thoughts on the SAT - these are scores taken usually as freshman/sophomores - NOT seniors.

If they are in a "very poor school system" - where education is subpar, yet they still score high (for them/that county) AND all of the other criteria are in place, then that is a good indicator of future success. Especially when placed in an improved environment.

[laureloak]

6. All congressional districts have to be equally

represented. That's 26 from each district unless there aren't enough applicants. If an applicant has Dem parents in a Rep district does that have any bearing on his chances of acceptance?

The school seems to be a HUGH waste of taxpayer dollars.
http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ%2FMGArticle%2FWSJ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031780475908

[supernova]

7. I wouldn't call that a waste of taxpayer dollars

What the article is really complaining about is the fact that a high percentage of students who graduate from there get tuition waivers if they attend a college in the UNC system after graduation. However, we get that back when as adults they choose careers here and settle down with houses, etc.

That's different from saying the school itself is a waste of money, which I don't think it is.

Plenty of places have issues about brain drain. NC is no exception. A lot of these students could go elsewhere: Columbia, MIT, Cal Poly Tech, etc. So we as a society give them incentives to stay here, which is fine.

I personally graduated with someone who, on a regular basis, would get himself in just enough trouble to get detention. Now, he wasn't really a troublemaker. Quite the opposite. He just wanted to be alone to arrange his study day the way he liked. He eventually went to MIT. And yes, this was before NCSSM.

Now, my question to you is: are you looking to apply at NCSSM, or are you just out of joint that it exists?

[laureloak]

9. Why isn't tuition wavier offered to all NC students performing

at a high level rather than just the handful at NCSSM?

I am "out of joint" that it exists because it is unfairly using taxpayer's educational dollars.

[supernova]

10. Do you have any evidence

to back up that claim that it is unfair?

[laureloak]

11. The evidence is that the tuition wavier isn't offered to

ALL students in the state performing at high level, say the top 20% of each high school in the state. THAT would be fair instead of choosing candidates from political districts and giving them boarding school then college at taxpayer expense. BTW, the ones I know that went there weren't leaving money problems behind and probably would have attended in-state schools anyway.

It just adds insult to injury to make a taxpayer pay for boarding school for someone else's kid, then college for someone else's kid, and not have enough left to put their own GIFTED child through a good college. That's "not fair" in my book and I consider it a gross misuse of taxpayer money.

[Richard Steele]

12. So, what is the name of YOUR dog in this fight? nm

[supernova]

13. Actually we don't know that

from the article.

"ALL students in the state performing at high level, say the top 20% of each high school in the state."

That may or may not be true already. We would have to find the data showing tuition showing who gets tuition waivers across the state, not just those coming out of NCSSM. Only then could we learn whether or not there is a heavy favoritism for those students coming out of NCSSM.

[mzteris]

8. The representative doesn't

make the choice - the school does.

Why are you so down on NCSSM?

HUGH waste of taxpayer dollars?

"Science and Math president Gerald Boardman said school records show that 57 percent of alumni pay North Carolina taxes after they graduate. . . The average SAT of entering students this school year was 1,273, the highest in the history of the school.

What's "discriminatory" about scholarships for high-performing students? One thing not mentioned in the article, not *all* graduates get a free ride at UNC - you have to have better than a "C" average. And a B there, is probably better than an "A" at most typical highschools.


I don't understand why you have such a problem with a program that educates NC students at levels that they might never achieve because they can't AFFORD them.

huh.