Posts by mellowskipper

Dana Smith2 said:NASA has always been viewed as a step above the standard technical schools—kind of like a hybrid between a vocational school and a prep academy.

If I recall correctly, you could probably land a spot at a US Army facility in Chicago with maybe 55 or 56 points, but let's be honest—the environment there isn't nearly as stimulating as what you'd find at NASA.
Whatever, I guess that's why NASA can afford to be so picky about their requirements.

Actually, for the US Army program, the cutoff for a computer technician is 65.66 points.

stormymarlin22 said:Yeah, they're right about that. If she gets accepted during early admissions, she’s set—no need to wait for the regular enrollment period. You aren't even supposed to swap schools around once that happens, unlike the standard process. But if she just puts her top choice on the early list, she can either take it or pass and try again during regular enrollment, where she can still pick that same school.

I guess we could have done it that way, but they certainly didn't present it to us like that. They kept suggesting five different schools to us—though, to be fair, the first two were her actual choices. I just had no idea we had the option to reject the others, or rather, ask them to just strike those schools from our list entirely.
It felt almost like they were subliminally nudging us at the college fair to just wait for the regular enrollment cycle instead.

stormymarlin22 said:Did you know they're actually allowed to sit in on both the preliminary exams and the regular ones?

Honestly, I’m at a bit of a loss for words here. I keep getting these incredibly vague, conflicting answers about the whole situation—from the school administration and even from the unemployment office. It’s actually quite disheartening, I suppose, because I feel like I can't get a straight, transparent answer from anyone.
The way it was explained to us was that if, for instance, someone applies to any school listed on the Intel system—even one at the very bottom of the list—they won't be rejected. The only way they wouldn't get in is if they don't qualify for a single school, in which case they could try for the summer session during regular enrollment.
And naturally, we didn't agree to that.
Then, of course, some people tell me the exact opposite...

northerntiger9 said:It’s hard to make a direct comparison since school quality varies so much—it isn't just about the curriculum.

I’ve actually touched on this before when discussing the situation in Cleveland... if you're a STEM-focused student, your options are pretty slim—maybe one or two solid prep schools at most. We don't really have a top-tier technical school, nothing like Rudyard Kipling, so typically, the vocational tracks are filled by students who aren't quite hitting those straight-A marks. That explains why someone might only need 63 points for a Google designer program; let's be honest, it's not exactly an elite program. Anyone with high grades and actual talent would rather head to a specialized math academy than settle for a design track.

I haven't really seen the web design kids acting like the type to breeze through a math academy. They seem more like hybrid creatives and programmers to me. They occupy this middle ground, I guess, but I wouldn't go so far as to call them classic STEM types...

stormymarlin22 said:Will they even get to the prerequisites, considering the Intel situation?

Nope. They discussed it and concluded there is a better chance of getting in during regular enrollment. As for Intel—they are likely only taking 3.

boldbadger1 said:It’s not really a crisis for us specifically—with her score sitting at 74.30, she’d almost certainly land a spot as a Radiology Technician (which is about 90% similar to being a Google designer; she isn't going to be a programmer anyway, a fact I can confidently gauge having spent over 20 years working in IBM), and maybe even a Google designer if the cutoff drops—which is a possibility, given how many people pulled straight 5s during those two weird COVID years. As a backup, Cleveland is only a quick train ride away.

I’m speaking in general terms here—it’s just a shame that kids who graduate with honors and want to pursue a career in IBM-related fields can't, simply because the demand is through the roof. And I assume our school in Savannah doesn't exactly have the capacity or the legal permission to just arbitrarily add more classrooms...

In Chicago, starting this year, they finally added one web design class and one Radiology Technician class. So, yeah, we can only dream about increasing capacity...
The Radiology Technician program seems phenomenal, though; I saw some of the kids during the open house. They had a very distinct, positive vibe.

I don't really have anything to say about albundy0009—not that I’ve been following their posts closely, mind you—but if there was supposed to be a point here, I suppose I missed it. Maybe I just wasn't paying enough attention. Or maybe there isn't much to pay attention to. It's hard to tell sometimes, I guess. mellowskipper says:
I completely agree with you there—and honestly, I’m struggling to see how someone like that would ever deserve priority for high school admission over a student who pulls a 4.0 GPA through sheer grit and self-study. It just doesn't add up. But then again, maybe that's exactly what you're advocating for with this whole system of yours and all those little comments you make. I guess that's just how you see it.

The person who mentioned taking time off was pretty explicit about their reasons—it’s entirely due to teachers failing to fulfill their basic responsibilities, which I suppose is a legitimate grievance. Honestly, it would be nice if you could drop those obnoxious comments about someone not being "cut out" for high school. I mean, seriously... where does that kind of arrogance even come from?

My daughter is studying entirely on her own—and she’s also in an honors program. It seems like most kids in the 10th or 11th grade are constantly getting private tutoring, or their parents are basically sitting there coaching them through everything just so they can maintain a 4.0 GPA and coast into those elite prep schools. My girl is sitting at a 3.7, which is strictly her own doing—no tutors, no hand-holding, nothing—so I guess the real question is... will that be enough to get her into the Graphic Design program she actually wants?
It’s pretty obvious that I’m the idiot here—the one who should have actually sat down and studied alongside my kid, or maybe just shelled out the cash for a private tutor like everyone else seems to be doing.
I ended up taking some time off—just my annual leave—to help her out with that massive mountain of essays and PowerPoints she’s drowning in. She’s managing for now, I suppose, though... the only thing I really did was show her how to use Google Forms to streamline things and hopefully save her a bit of a headache.
According to some people, it's just for Zagorski—a kitchen assistant.
I find myself wondering—though I suppose it’s a bit of a pointless question, really—what kind of schools all those fake fifth graders are actually aiming for? You know the type. They enroll in a prep school or an academy, go through all that unnecessary struggle—whether they make it easy or hard on themselves, I guess—just to graduate and call themselves something they aren't. It's all a bit performative, isn't it?

boldbadger1 said:The local technical high school—they've got Google designer tracks (74.37 - 20 spots), media technician programs (72.4 - 20 spots), and computer technicians (75+ - 40 spots).

Just to give you some perspective on how those designer scores stack up elsewhere:

Scranton - 61.17
Des Moines - 64.90
Indianapolis - 61.99
Seattle - 63.99
Pittsburgh - 61.47
Miami - 67.59
San Diego - 70.06
Charleston - 47.61

Now, over in Washington, D.C., they have entrance exams—so people are hitting those 170 marks—which makes it almost impossible to draw a fair comparison, honestly.

Actually, I think Zadar is holding its ground pretty well. As for Chicago—well, they told me at the Graphic school that you basically need to be north of a 70, plus a massive amount of points from the entrance exam to stand a chance. For the Media Technician program, I'm guessing it’s closer to a 74... maybe? It's hard to say for sure.
They’re only taking one class per grade level—so, if you're doing the math, I guess that works out to about 23 regular students per section. Maybe.
My daughter is going to give it a shot, I suppose—but honestly, it’s pretty discouraging that they only accept one class. I really hope that the straight-A students lean more toward the academic prep schools rather than heading off into Web design.

Kate Jackson4 said:Kate Jackson4, I feel your pain. It’s the same story here in NYC; take NASA, for instance. Last year, you needed a 76.11 just to qualify as a computer technician.

If we weren't living in NYC, 50 points would probably be plenty... 🤣

Look, just check out the suburbs surrounding the metropolitan area—places like suburban outskirts near Chicago or maybe parts of New Jersey. If you really can't make it work elsewhere, they have Computer Technician and Mechatronics programs, and the entry requirements aren't even that steep. There might even be an option to transfer over to the main city center after the first year.

Carol Kelly3 said:Go ahead and keep repeating that if you want, maybe someone will actually buy it. 🤣 I mean, sure, there's pressure on parents, but the real reason grades are being handed out like candy is mostly just lazy teachers.

The pressure exists because the system itself is fundamentally broken. Parents are simply doing the only thing they can within the circumstances they've been handed. Once the flaws in the enrollment system are actually fixed, there won't be any parental pressure left to talk about. I imagine that would be in everyone's best interest, I guess.

Jeffrey Edwards5 said:At least they can still apply and try their luck if they can bump up their scores a bit.

boldbadger1 said:You're being absolutely right there; that "cutoff" was just the lowest score accepted last year. There isn't some official minimum threshold set by the district for enrollment👍

From what I've been hearing through the grapevine from a few professors, everyone is expecting a general dip in grades this academic year—especially when you consider how much those two years of remote learning during the pandemic skewed everything

Which schools are we even talking about here?

rowdypanther12 said:Hey monstera, my colleague’s son is currently enrolling.
He scored a 4.8 in seventh grade and a 4.6 in eighth.
Could you please help him out and let me know which high schools in the area he might be able to get into?

He’ll definitely get into a school in IX. Maybe even a prestigious private academy if that's what he's after.
But I constantly get this impression—I see it all the time from parents at my kid's school—that if a child doesn't end up in a prep school, it's like the world is ending, or like you've somehow failed as a parent...
About six kids in my kid's class are opting for vocational programs, and I swear, during the last parent-teacher meeting, they looked at us like we were aliens or something, just staring with this weird sense of pity... I don't know, that's just the vibe I get....

nimbleviper3 said:When you say "in the grade," what does that actually mean? If there were three classes of about 35 students each, that puts the percentage at roughly 2-3%.
But nowadays, in a standard class of 20-24 students, you'll see at least 18 honor roll students, and 10 to 12 of them are sitting on a perfect 4.0.

It’s the same story at my school. Though, honestly, the school itself is a total disaster. I suspect most of these kids will just pivot toward vocational schools or community colleges because—well, parents of kids who attended this district tell us that all the time. It's statistically impossible to find anyone more eccentric than what we deal with here.
That said, there are some truly phenomenal students out there, and thank God for them. I actually intend to send an email to the principal to personally thank them for their cooperation—*ad nominem*, if you will. As for the others, I won't even bother mentioning them, let alone badmouthing them.

nimbleviper3 said:Look, the real issue is that parents put this insane amount of pressure on teachers regarding grades.
Then, they drop their kids off for freshman year of high school with a perfect 4.0 GPA, only for half of them to fail the very first math and physics placement exams.

Everything stated there is spot on. This backwards system needs an urgent overhaul.

rowdypanther12 said:Yeah, that’s exactly the point.
It's about how standards are slipping and creating this unfair landscape where if you live in a major city like Chicago, you basically have to be a genius just to get into a good academy—and then you end up with some teachers handing out easy A's while others actually stick to the rules.
The whole system feels totally chaotic and inconsistent.

Exactly. In small rural towns, you can get into a local high school with a mediocre score, or maybe a specialized academy with a higher one. And still, 90% of them graduate and head off to college. Some breeze through, some struggle immensely and rely heavily on tutors, but they finish...
That's the difference between living in the boonies and living in New York City.

urbanowl81 said:A quick side note, just for info since we joke about our kid not needing to study—she’ll just enroll in a vocational art or design program and call it a day. But now it looks like if she doesn't study, she won't even get into that. What do kids who pass with decent or passing scores actually end up enrolling in? Just trade schools?

You’ve got it a bit wrong—the graphic design program, at least in Chicago, only takes one student per department, and she’s been practically storming the gates of the school to get in. I know this firsthand because my daughter is actually trying to enroll there.
Kids spend the entire year getting ready for the United States Postal Service—they go through all these prep courses, they have to put together these massive portfolios of their work... But honestly, even then, there’s this scoring threshold you have to clear just to even be allowed to sit for the entrance exam. I guess it's quite a hurdle.
Generally speaking—if my memory serves me correctly—those kids finishing up their junior year usually head straight into three-year vocational programs.

Carl Bishop2 said:I mean, who actually gets by with just "enough"?
Back in the day—like, twenty-five years ago—having solid grades was practically a golden ticket to getting into those specialized vocational schools.

I don't know anyone who's actually passing with two grades—honestly, I doubt it exists. In my class alone, maybe one kid might scrape by with a C.

I suppose I should probably weigh in here—not that my opinion carries much weight in these circles, I guess—but there’s a certain... let's call it an underlying tension regarding how we approach these seasonal shifts. It feels like everyone is rushing toward summer with this misplaced sense of urgency—it's almost frantic, isn't it?—as if the heat itself is some sort of deadline we all have to meet. I was thinking about it earlier while staring at a particularly uninspired cup of coffee—just one of those slow, quiet mornings where nothing really moves—and it struck me how much we obsess over the transition. We prepare for the sun, we prepare for the heat, yet we rarely consider the actual substance of the season itself. Maybe it’s just me being overly cautious, or perhaps I’m just being cynical, but I suspect most people are just performing a role. They act out "summer" because that's what the calendar dictates. It’s a bit performative, don't you think? A bit hollow. Anyway, that's just my two cents—take it or leave it. kaže:
I suppose many kids just get by with something that's barely adequate—or maybe even just slightly above average, if you want to be generous about it. 🤷
I guess there's just no way—looking at the odds for my little one, they aren't even hitting 2.6 to have any chance at all. 🤷

Well, I suppose we’re just looking at two sides of the exact same coin here—if you even want to call it that. It’s all essentially the same thing.

I suppose there isn’t much to say about aliceblue—not that anyone really asked—but if I must weigh in, I might suggest that the whole thing feels somewhat... aimless? I don't know. Maybe I'm just being cynical, which is a habit of mine, I guess. It lacks a certain cohesion—if that makes any sense—and honestly, it feels like we're all just spinning our wheels here without a clear direction. Or perhaps I'm just overthinking it—that's probably a safe bet. Regardless, my take remains largely unchanged. kaže:
The entrance exams for all those STEM-focused high schools—you know, the ones that prioritize math and science—are capped at a maximum of 10 points. And apparently, they’ve announced that this year, the exam process is going to be unified across the board. So, if a school offers an entrance test, students will just sit for one single exam at whichever school they rank as their top choice, and those results will count toward every single STEM academy they applied to. I guess that simplifies things, maybe, though it does feel like a bit of a gamble if you don't get your first pick right.

It’s still not enough—if you ask me. I mean, the weight given to grades versus entrance exams should probably be balanced more evenly—it just feels off. Maybe they should carry equal weight, or at least closer to it, but I guess that's just my two cents.

They also bumped the Sports Academy up from 63 to 70.
It’s a fair move—they’re really raising the bar since they're planning this massive overhaul of the high schools in Washington, D.C.
Though, I suppose it’s actually better that the vocational schools have raised their standards quite significantly as well...

Kate Jackson4 said:Does that mean schools start inputting their data? Because right now, the system is completely empty...

Yeah, I suppose—though I’m honestly not sure if they’re typing it all in manually or if the app just pulls everything directly from the district database. Anyway, the school told us parents that we definitely need to log in between May 29th and mid-June just to double-check that all the data is correct... you know, just to make sure there's enough time to fix any errors before things get finalized.

The high school in my area functions essentially like a specialized science academy—it even offers a specific track where classes are conducted entirely in English.

We could always just hop on a Teams call .

stormymarlin22 said:I just checked, and you definitely need a ton of points to get in—like, maybe 160 or 170. I think the portfolio review covers about 120 points, but who knows what their actual criteria look like..

Yeah, the portfolio review is worth a maximum of 120 points.
They're obviously going to pick the top 26 applicants. As for the specific criteria—well, I don't know—but I imagine they'll be pretty strict.

rowdypanther12 said:I mean, just speaking generally, do you think everything will usually be wrapped up by July 15th? 😁

Well, I was told that the online registration period wraps up by July 15th—at least, that’s what I heard—though I suppose there might be some technicalities later on. It's possible that a few vocational schools might end up requesting some additional paperwork or an in-person visit sometime the following week... maybe, if they feel like being difficult.
I was just wondering about how the annual leave process works—since I really need to get my vacation days logged into the system.

stormymarlin22 said:I guess since the portfolio review counts for more than grades, someone could totally ace the practical part and make it in, even if their GPA isn't quite prep school level.

That’s what I thought too, at least initially—but no, they just laid it out there, plain and simple, without any sugarcoating or cushioning the blow. It doesn't make much sense to me, honestly, but whatever.
The thing is, my kid has decent enough grades—she passes with Bs—but this whole situation has been absolutely exhausting because, apparently, her GPA won't even count toward getting into the academy.
I suppose we'll just see how things shake out when entrance exams roll around—whatever happens, happens.
Though, if she cracks under the pressure mentally... well, that's another story entirely.

stormymarlin22 said:Do they do portfolio reviews or something?

They do—but even with that, it’s been noted that for those top three majors, you're mostly looking at kids who are already scoring high enough to get into the elite prep schools. They end up taking 26 students per class across three different departments, I guess.

Dropped by the local vocational high school today for their open house. Long story short—if you’re aiming for any of the top three programs, you basically need grades that would make an Ivy League recruiter sweat.
They’re only taking in one freshman class per specialization, and honestly, the competition is looking pretty intense.

Dana Smith2 said:My daughter recently checked out that high school over in the suburbs, and I have to say, she really loved the place.
They’ve bumped up the entrance requirement to 70 points.
So, that’s pretty much it—it looks like she’ll probably be staying there for the next few years.

I’m heading over to the printing house tomorrow—well, if everything stays on schedule—and then I have that meeting at the deli on Wednesday. After all that, they’ll finally make a call on what gets featured in No1. I guess we'll see.

urbantinker8 said:So, the 8mas meetup is happening tomorrow over in the Washington, D.C. suburbs, but looking at the weather forecast, things aren't exactly looking great, I guess.🕺

The forecast isn't looking any good—honestly, from what I can gather, it looks like it won't stop pouring until Wednesday at the earliest.

wearysurfer78 said:Hi everyone,

Is it actually possible—assuming you have a referral from a primary care doctor in one city—to request an appointment with a specialist through the public health system in a different city, even if that exact same specialist is available right where he is?

I’m asking regarding an ophthalmology exam (specifically an AT&T type consultation).

The thing is, my father out in the Midwest is extremely unhappy with his current ophthalmologist, so he’s looking to book somewhere else entirely.

Can I just call a clinic in NYC (like the Mayo Clinic or maybe the Brooklyn facility) and ask for a slot for him?

Thanks for the help!

The referral should be visible to everyone in the system. You definitely won't be able to book him over the phone, though—it's strictly via email, fax, or showing up in person. I suppose you should check the specific hospital's website for their booking instructions. Also, just a heads up, Medicare isn't going to cover his travel expenses.