North Carolina School of Science and Math

[conmanlhughes]

Does anyone have some information/ relation to NCSSM? Looks to be a very interesting school, and I would love to hear some opinions on it.

[Reisen]

What do you want to know? I know we have at least one board member who teaches / taught there.

[conmanlhughes]

What do you want to know? I know we have at least one board member who teaches / taught there.

I would love to know what makes the school stand out and what the school in general looks for in students. The website and list of classes make it sound like a very interesting school.

[Lid]

I would love to know what makes the school stand out and what the school in general looks for in students. The website and list of classes make it sound like a very interesting school.

I'm an alum (and I'm sure there are many more here), albeit from the dark ages when it was fairly new. Happy to share my experiences with respect to my experience there, but I can't speak to what they look for in students at this point, beyond broad generalities that I imagine haven't changed. PM me if you're interested in specifics.

[throatybeard]

I was the last baby born there.

I mean, unless they've had a teen pregnancy mishap since 1976.

[allenmurray]

My son just submitted his application - the application process was as thorough and difficult as a college application.

If you are in 9th grade a representative from NCSSM will come to your school district in the fall of your 10th grade year to do a presentation about the school. In addition you can schedule a tour and visit to the campus.

It is highly competitive - if you are not at least a year (preferable two) above your age cohort in math (meaning taking Pre-Cal by 10th grade) you may not be a viable candidate. They get enough applicants who meet the academic requirements that they really do look for "well rounded" students. Make sure you are involved in a lot of extracurricular activities and take a leadership role in some of them. The admissions counsler who presented to my son's school said, "We have plenty of smart kids to choose from - we look for interesting kids"

Rumor has it that the entire reason it was closed as a hospital and later reopened as a specialized school is so they would never have to worry about throatybeard being in the building again. "Close the damn place, we're not dealing with this again" were the last words spoken at Watts Hospital.

[Farlan]

It is highly competitive - if you are not at least a year (preferable two) above your age cohort in math (meaning taking Pre-Cal by 10th grade) you may not be a viable candidate.

While this is certainly true for students from counties such as Durham, Orange and Wake (where there are many qualified candidates) it is not necessarily true for all candidates since the school must draw from all across the state of North Carolina.

[conmanlhughes]

My son just submitted his application - the application process was as thorough and difficult as a college application.

If you are in 9th grade a representative from NCSSM will come to your school district in the fall of your 10th grade year to do a presentation about the school. In addition you can schedule a tour and visit to the campus.

It is highly competitive - if you are not at least a year (preferable two) above your age cohort in math (meaning taking Pre-Cal by 10th grade) you may not be a viable candidate. They get enough applicants who meet the academic requirements that they really do look for "well rounded" students. Make sure you are involved in a lot of extracurricular activities and take a leadership role in some of them. The admissions counsler who presented to my son's school said, "We have plenty of smart kids to choose from - we look for interesting kids"

Rumor has it that the entire reason it was closed as a hospital and later reopened as a specialized school is so they would never have to worry about throatybeard being in the building again. "Close the damn place, we're not dealing with this again" were the last words spoken at Watts Hospital.

Good luck to him as well. I am currently in Integrated Math IV, (common core equivalent of pre calc) and I am wondering how they will deal with the incoming class going through common core instead of the traditional ways.

[Lid]

It is highly competitive - if you are not at least a year (preferable two) above your age cohort in math (meaning taking Pre-Cal by 10th grade) you may not be a viable candidate.

While this is certainly true for students from counties such as Durham, Orange and Wake (where there are many qualified candidates) it is not necessarily true for all candidates since the school must draw from all across the state of North Carolina.

This is a very good point. When I was there, it was certainly more difficult to be admitted from urban centers than from rural, for many reasons. It's more difficult to make the decision to apply/attend from a town 6 hours away vs. 20 minutes, and more difficult if you don't know anyone who's already attended, so there are often fewer applicants from smaller or more distant towns. Geographic diversity is an extremely important part of the student body. They also definitely look for students who make the most of the opportunities they have. If there are more opportunities available to you, it sticks out more if you haven't taken advantage -- there's a reason the school motto is Maius Opus Moveo (Accept the Greater Challenge).

[allenmurray]

Good luck to him as well. I am currently in Integrated Math IV, (common core equivalent of pre calc) and I am wondering how they will deal with the incoming class going through common core instead of the traditional ways.

I can't imagine it will make a difference if a student is on the integrated math track or the older Algebra/Geometry/AlgebraII/Pre-Cal track. They know what they are looking at and what the curriculum encompasses.

Take the SAT multiple times. They accept your highest score on each section, so if you go up in one area but down in another there is no penalty - you get credit for the higher scores.

They do accept proportionally from across the state (by congressional district, and proportionate to population) so if you're from a rural county far from Durham you face less competition than if you are from the Triangle, Triad, or Charlotte area. And clearly if you haven't applied yet you must be in 9th grade, so the fact that you are in integrated Math IV puts you waaaaay ahead of the curve.

[throatybeard]

Rumor has it that the entire reason it was closed as a hospital and later reopened as a specialized school is so they would never have to worry about throatybeard being in the building again. "Close the damn place, we're not dealing with this again" were the last words spoken at Watts Hospital.

It was more that Terry Sanford took one look at me and foreknew that anyone tasked with teaching me math would want to blow their brains out by the third day of instruction.

[conmanlhughes]

I can't imagine it will make a difference if a student is on the integrated math track or the older Algebra/Geometry/AlgebraII/Pre-Cal track. They know what they are looking at and what the curriculum encompasses.

Take the SAT multiple times. They accept your highest score on each section, so if you go up in one area but down in another there is no penalty - you get credit for the higher scores.

They do accept proportionally from across the state (by congressional district, and proportionate to population) so if you're from a rural county far from Durham you face less competition than if you are from the Triangle, Triad, or Charlotte area. And clearly if you haven't applied yet you must be in 9th grade, so the fact that you are in integrated Math IV puts you waaaaay ahead of the curve.

I am in 10th. Finished my application a while ago and now moving onto the teacher recomendations. What is interesting about Integrated Math IV is the fact that no where else in the state besides the Early College programs offers the class currently. The highest normal high schools offer is Common Core Math 3, as far as I know. Thats one of the reasons I was concerned.

I am in Congression District 2, so I have no clue what the competition looks like. It is based off of congressional districts, correct?