Join us, Wednesday October 11th, 2023 6-7:30pm in the PLD Auditorium, for an informational session about the program, admissions, and to hear from current seniors about their experiences.
FCPS Special Programs Showcase will be Saturday, January 6, 2024. MSTC will have table at this event as well.
Every eighth or ninth grade student who is a resident of Fayette County and who will complete Algebra 1 by the end of the eighth grade is welcome to apply by completing the online application at https://www.fcps.net/apply.
The application window for 2023-2024 is January 6- January 22, 2024.
For current Fayette County students-
IOWA testing can take place at the middle schools during the month of November. If you interested in being tested, please fill out this form by October 18, 2023.
If IOWA testing does not take place in November, you can still apply, and we will schedule a time for you to take the IOWA Math and Science test after the application window.
For students not currently enrolled in an FCPS school:
After an application has been submitted, you will be contacted to arrange IOWA testing which will take place at Dunbar during the school day.
To be eligible for the MSTC program, a student has to have scored at the 89th percentile or higher on the 8th grade MAP math exam (or equivalent norm-referenced test). Eligible applicants will then take the nationally norm-referenced tests in math and science (IOWA math and IOWA science). For those who score at the 96th percentile or higher on at least one of the IOWA exams, a final MSTC Admissions Test will be administered. The selection committee will issue invitations based on the results of these three exams.
Success in the MSTC program requires ability, interest, and maturity. The MSTC school day is one hour longer. MSTC students are, in fact, working at the college level during all four of their high school years. This includes the privilege of having academic and personal freedoms usually reserved for college students.
The IOWA math and IOWA science exams will cover the following topics:
The IOWA math exam consists of 40 items and covers number sense and operations (perform operations, compare and order numbers, properties of numbers, estimating and rounding real numbers), algebraic patterns and connections (solving equations and inequalities, numerical patterns, use operational and relational symbols, use equations to model situations), data analysis, probability and statistics (interpret data and make predictions, apply measures of central tendency and variability), geometry (estimate geometric measurements, geometric properties-patterns-relationships, concepts of perimeter-area-volume, identify-classify-compare geometric figures), and measurement (measure length/distance – time-temperature – weight – mass – and volume, apply rate, estimate measurements with proper precision).
The IOWA science exam consists of 48 questions and covers life science (organisms and their habitat, human body-health-safety, interactions in an ecosystem, changes in organisms), earth and space science (climate and weather, structure of earth, natural events), and physical science (types and properties of matter, forces and motion, forms of and changes in energy).
MSTC Admissions Test is February 10, 2024.
For those students invited to take the MSTC Admissions Test, it is strongly recommended that students review. While the test focuses predominately on Algebra, there are some computational skills assessed as well. The topics covered include:
1. Simplify numerical expressions with and without grouping symbols.
2. Solve equations with variables on one or both sides of the equation.
3. Graph a line and interpret graphs of lines.
4. Find the slope of a line given two points.
5. Find the equation of a line in slope-intercept form, point-slope form, or standard form given 2 points or given a point and slope or given a graph.
6. Determine if lines are parallel, perpendicular, or neither.
7. Simplify expressions involving exponents.
8. Set up and solve word problems involving linear functions.
9. Add, subtract, and multiply polynomials.
10. Evaluate functions using f(x) notation.