Being in a Magnet program is more helpful than staying in School for Advanced Studies because it will help you better in the future.
A magnet program is a program for students that is career focused At Kennedy, there are three magnets: ADDF offers career classes in architecture, digital design, and film; the highly gifted medical magnet offers classes related to the medical field, while GLEAM focuses on classes that look at environmental and leadership careers..
Students who joined this program are offered these choices the career focus they desire. However, they are only able to take one at a time.
On the other hand, the SAS program does not have a career focus. Students who joined this program are only offered honor classes if they wish. It’s an advanced version of a traditional liberal arts education, and while it does help with college, it doesn’t necessarily give students a head start on a specific career.
Going back to the question, I think it is best if students like me who have interest in a specific career join a magnet program.
This is because in this program they are able to enhance their skills and know more about this career.
They’re given a small insight where they could be more motivated on taking this route or re-think it through.
Given that, if they decided to attend a college they would be able to show that they have experience and they are interested in fulfilling this career.
According to Julissa Carrasco, a junior student from John F. Kennedy High School, “The medical magnet helps me in many ways. First of all, it gives me a point of view of what the medical field is like, and it provides me with an insight. Medical magnet also helps me academically; the classes being more advanced benefits me to prepare for college coursework.”
However, being in a Magnet or SAS program doesn’t truly shape your college resume. It is based on the AP classes you took or honor classes.
According to Lorin Abarr, college counselor from Kennedy, “Selective colleges base their admissions decisions on the courses you’ve taken (they like AP and Honors courses), your extracurricular activities, and your essays. Students in the SAS program have the same opportunities as students in the Magnet programs to submit strong college applications, The SAS program is limited, as are the magnet programs. Outside of KE.”
The SAS program is limited, as are the magnet programs. Outside of Kennedy, there are very few SAS programs, but they all feature a higher graduation rate, but nearly 10%, compared to normal school populations.
The magnet programs also produce higher graduation rates for students. According to Mandy Arentoft, a magnet coordinator in John F Kennedy High School, “The graduation rate for the magnet is really in between 99% and 100%.”
Overall both programs have their own advantages. Ultimately, magnet programs are better if a student knows a potential career that they want to pursue, whereas SAS works better for someone who wants a higher level of education but doesn’t know what kind of career they might pursue yet.
