Why don't people want to go to tj just because there are "too many" asians?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread makes no sense. TJ is highly selective, right? Obviously a lot of people want to go there. It’s not like only Asian kids are applying.

It's not only Asian kids who are applying, but the usually make up well over 50% of the applicant pool. The number of white applicants has steadily trended downward from over 2,000 back 20-some years ago to about 7-800 per year nowadays.

Whether the stereotype is valid or not, white families are fleeing from TJ nowadays in part because they believe that their kids will have to sell out their extracurriculars in order to "keep up" with Chinese, Korean, and mostly Indian families who are perceived to be solely focused on academics and have an attitude of "whatever it takes" to gain admission to elite universities.

[Anonymous]

DC got in to TJ and went to the welcome event, but felt like an outsider and decided not to attend. Not sure if it was because Dc is white and/or because so many of the kids knew each other from their feeder schools and stayed in groups, but DC didn’t feel they fit in. Kids were flexing their math levels and academic achievements, which isn’t DC’s style. DC went in the gym to learn about the sports teams, but (while nice) many of the athletes had never played their sports before high school, and just weren’t as into sports as my kid. DC would be getting home very late each night after sports and felt that would be a disadvantage in academically competing with the kids who don’t play sports after school. While there are kids at all schools who don’t play sports, DC thought that subset of kids at TJ would be spending all that time studying, while that may not be true at other schools.

[Anonymous]

lol DH is an Asian TJ alum who won’t let our kids apply.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC got in to TJ and went to the welcome event, but felt like an outsider and decided not to attend. Not sure if it was because Dc is white and/or because so many of the kids knew each other from their feeder schools and stayed in groups, but DC didn’t feel they fit in. Kids were flexing their math levels and academic achievements, which isn’t DC’s style. DC went in the gym to learn about the sports teams, but (while nice) many of the athletes had never played their sports before high school, and just weren’t as into sports as my kid. DC would be getting home very late each night after sports and felt that would be a disadvantage in academically competing with the kids who don’t play sports after school. While there are kids at all schools who don’t play sports, DC thought that subset of kids at TJ would be spending all that time studying, while that may not be true at other schools.

DC goes to TJ and chose to play for a travel team instead of at school. Much easier to manage practice and playing times. While it's true TJ is not an athletic-oriented school (you can't really expect the focus of the top 10-15% of the kids at any school to be sports. It is not) there are enough kids that do play sports at an elite level. Of course, the motherhood-and- apple-pie type sports - football, basketball and baseball - are not that big and the teams suck.. You do have to make sure your DC is comfortable though wherever they go to school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC got in to TJ and went to the welcome event, but felt like an outsider and decided not to attend. Not sure if it was because Dc is white and/or because so many of the kids knew each other from their feeder schools and stayed in groups, but DC didn’t feel they fit in. Kids were flexing their math levels and academic achievements, which isn’t DC’s style. DC went in the gym to learn about the sports teams, but (while nice) many of the athletes had never played their sports before high school, and just weren’t as into sports as my kid. DC would be getting home very late each night after sports and felt that would be a disadvantage in academically competing with the kids who don’t play sports after school. While there are kids at all schools who don’t play sports, DC thought that subset of kids at TJ would be spending all that time studying, while that may not be true at other schools.

My DS had a similar experience at the welcome event. He felt really out of place, but ended up deciding to go to TJ. His decision really came down to AP vs IB, since our base high school is IB. He's definitely more of a math/science person and couldn't stand the thought of having to do all of the things required for an IB diploma. He was really unsure of his decision, but rationalized it by saying he could always transfer back to base after a year. Well, he's a TJ senior now and has had a wonderful experience. He has found a great group of friends who I really believe will always be a part of his life, and he's discovered a passion that I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have been exposed to at our base hs. Also, he played a sport every winter, and it was very doable. It's just a matter of time management.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Wow, I'm amazed that this discussion is still going on, and disillusioned by some of the ugliness I'm reading. I'm realizing that people will think what they want based on their own limited experience and perceptions. All I can say is, while there might be some of the bad stuff some people think of as being the entirety of TJ, there are also a lot of amazing people here. AND we do extracurriculars and sports! We don't just do academics! The only difference might be a longer commute, but I actually like it because I can just zone out, listen to music or a podcast, or just chat with a friend. I'm saying goodbye to this discussion now because I don't want to be further disillusioned by humanity. I've said what I wanted to say and hope that I've widened some people's perspectives.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC got in to TJ and went to the welcome event, but felt like an outsider and decided not to attend. Not sure if it was because Dc is white and/or because so many of the kids knew each other from their feeder schools and stayed in groups, but DC didn’t feel they fit in. Kids were flexing their math levels and academic achievements, which isn’t DC’s style. DC went in the gym to learn about the sports teams, but (while nice) many of the athletes had never played their sports before high school, and just weren’t as into sports as my kid. DC would be getting home very late each night after sports and felt that would be a disadvantage in academically competing with the kids who don’t play sports after school. While there are kids at all schools who don’t play sports, DC thought that subset of kids at TJ would be spending all that time studying, while that may not be true at other schools.

DC goes to TJ and chose to play for a travel team instead of at school. Much easier to manage practice and playing times. While it's true TJ is not an athletic-oriented school (you can't really expect the focus of the top 10-15% of the kids at any school to be sports. It is not) there are enough kids that do play sports at an elite level. Of course, the motherhood-and- apple-pie type sports - football, basketball and baseball - are not that big and the teams suck.. You do have to make sure your DC is comfortable though wherever they go to school.

Gotta correct a little bit here - granted, the football team plays an independent schedule but they did go 6-2 last year and won their last five games. It'll never be on the level of a big time public school again but if your kid has some experience they can be a star.

Baseball has been on the rise the last few years and they have a kid playing at Hopkins and one more who is headed to the team at Swarthmore.

And boys basketball is seemingly in the regional tournament every other year (they have a player at Caltech) and the girls won something like 17 games two years ago (with players now at UChicago and York).

All of those teams would be much, much more competitive if the kids who got in all actually came and decided to play.

[Anonymous]

^^^^^
I get the point, but Caltech basketball is a joke. They had a 26 year losing streak.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^^^^
I get the point, but Caltech basketball is a joke. They had a 26 year losing streak.

True, but that ended several years ago and they are now competitive in their league.

[Anonymous]

I don't get the premise of this thread. I know lots of people, Asian and non-Asian, who want to go to TJ, whether they admit it or not.

[Anonymous]

FWIW rumor has it that two players from this years baseball team have committed to play in college and two more are headed to Ivys. Sounds like something is going right with the baseball program.

[Anonymous]

I remember the TJ bumper stickers touting the “new” TJHSST:

“Thomas Jefferson - We Came for the Sports”

[Anonymous]

no one cares.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FWIW rumor has it that two players from this years baseball team have committed to play in college and two more are headed to Ivys. Sounds like something is going right with the baseball program.

If you don't know it's "Ivies," not "Ivys," you shouldn't be posting here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC got in to TJ and went to the welcome event, but felt like an outsider and decided not to attend. Not sure if it was because Dc is white and/or because so many of the kids knew each other from their feeder schools and stayed in groups, but DC didn’t feel they fit in. Kids were flexing their math levels and academic achievements, which isn’t DC’s style. DC went in the gym to learn about the sports teams, but (while nice) many of the athletes had never played their sports before high school, and just weren’t as into sports as my kid. DC would be getting home very late each night after sports and felt that would be a disadvantage in academically competing with the kids who don’t play sports after school. While there are kids at all schools who don’t play sports, DC thought that subset of kids at TJ would be spending all that time studying, while that may not be true at other schools.

DC goes to TJ and chose to play for a travel team instead of at school. Much easier to manage practice and playing times. While it's true TJ is not an athletic-oriented school (you can't really expect the focus of the top 10-15% of the kids at any school to be sports. It is not) there are enough kids that do play sports at an elite level. Of course, the motherhood-and- apple-pie type sports - football, basketball and baseball - are not that big and the teams suck.. You do have to make sure your DC is comfortable though wherever they go to school.

Gotta correct a little bit here - granted, the football team plays an independent schedule but they did go 6-2 last year and won their last five games. It'll never be on the level of a big time public school again but if your kid has some experience they can be a star.

Baseball has been on the rise the last few years and they have a kid playing at Hopkins and one more who is headed to the team at Swarthmore.

And boys basketball is seemingly in the regional tournament every other year (they have a player at Caltech) and the girls won something like 17 games two years ago (with players now at UChicago and York).

All of those teams would be much, much more competitive if the kids who got in all actually came and decided to play.

TJ is good at cross country, golf, tennis and swim/dive. That's it. Otherwise they play in a weak district and are in a class (Class 5) where almost all the teams automatically make the regional tournament. Football plays one or two weak public schools like Lee but otherwise schedules very small schools and organizations of home-schooled kids.

They would not be much better if more of the kids who are admitted tried out. Kids there aren't selected for their athletic talent and it shows.