TJ College Admissions Results

[Anonymous]

I have a kid that applied to TJ this year, and a senior non-TJ kid in a regular public HS so just curious. How is the college admissions from TJ looking so far, now that a lot of EA/ED decisions are out? Are TJ parents happy (so far) with how things turned out? We are not too keen but kid wanted to try taking the test.

[Anonymous]

If you get to TJ, college really doesn't matter. These kids are best of the best.

[Anonymous]

If college admissions prestige is the goal, you are better off at your local HS.

[Anonymous]

I hear getting into UVA, VT is really tough from TJ. A large majority of TJ kids go out of state (with parents footing the bill!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hear getting into UVA, VT is really tough from TJ. A large majority of TJ kids go out of state (with parents footing the bill!)

DS was a senior at TJ last year. Getting into UVA isn't easy for anyone, but I wouldn't say that TJ has it harder, unless you're expecting the vast majority of applicants to get in. DS and about 60 other kids from his year went from TJ to UVA just fine. VT was more of a problem: lots of kids got WL -> R at TJ, including DS and some of his friends. Only about a dozen TJ kids went to VT in the 2022 batch.

Out of state is probably the majority outcome for TJ kids, but the most common schools for TJ kids last year were apparently UVA (in-state), W+M (in-state), and UMD (out-of-state, but not that far and they're pretty generous with scholarships). Make of that what you will, I guess.

[Anonymous]

Your kid should go to TJ because the school is where they will have their best HS experience. It should have nothing to do with where you think they should go to college, because that is 4 years away. A person changes and grows a lot between ages 14 to 18.

[Anonymous]

What are the out of states?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you get to TJ, college really doesn't matter. These kids are best of the best.

Respectfully disagree. I think high school is important, and college is important too. I am not saying the colleges have to be the prestigious colleges or anything. They are both important time periods that influence the kids' development.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hear getting into UVA, VT is really tough from TJ. A large majority of TJ kids go out of state (with parents footing the bill!)

DS was a senior at TJ last year. Getting into UVA isn't easy for anyone, but I wouldn't say that TJ has it harder, unless you're expecting the vast majority of applicants to get in. DS and about 60 other kids from his year went from TJ to UVA just fine. VT was more of a problem: lots of kids got WL -> R at TJ, including DS and some of his friends. Only about a dozen TJ kids went to VT in the 2022 batch.

Out of state is probably the majority outcome for TJ kids, but the most common schools for TJ kids last year were apparently UVA (in-state), W+M (in-state), and UMD (out-of-state, but not that far and they're pretty generous with scholarships). Make of that what you will, I guess.

OP here, thanks for sharing your experiences. I do understand why the in-state colleges may not want to fill the in state slots with TJ kids to spread the wealth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hear getting into UVA, VT is really tough from TJ. A large majority of TJ kids go out of state (with parents footing the bill!)

DS was a senior at TJ last year. Getting into UVA isn't easy for anyone, but I wouldn't say that TJ has it harder, unless you're expecting the vast majority of applicants to get in. DS and about 60 other kids from his year went from TJ to UVA just fine. VT was more of a problem: lots of kids got WL -> R at TJ, including DS and some of his friends. Only about a dozen TJ kids went to VT in the 2022 batch.

Out of state is probably the majority outcome for TJ kids, but the most common schools for TJ kids last year were apparently UVA (in-state), W+M (in-state), and UMD (out-of-state, but not that far and they're pretty generous with scholarships). Make of that what you will, I guess.

I would never consider TJ for my kid with these realities... That said, what a loss for Virginia. Why does it continue spending $$$$$ and resources in all these gifted students, just to gift them to Michigan and Pitt?

The only reason my older child attended Blair Magnet is a virtual guarantee of UMD-CP acceptance, generally to the major or choice. I cannot fathom what Virginia is thinking, but at baseline that is not my concern. I just need to work within the existing system to at least get my kid to UVA or VTech.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a kid that applied to TJ this year, and a senior non-TJ kid in a regular public HS so just curious. How is the college admissions from TJ looking so far, now that a lot of EA/ED decisions are out? Are TJ parents happy (so far) with how things turned out? We are not too keen but kid wanted to try taking the test.

I’d pick your child’s HS based on what they need now not on possible college options. Your child’s needs and interests Viking be very different in four years. Going to an Ivy or T20 college isn’t right for some very bright kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hear getting into UVA, VT is really tough from TJ. A large majority of TJ kids go out of state (with parents footing the bill!)

DS was a senior at TJ last year. Getting into UVA isn't easy for anyone, but I wouldn't say that TJ has it harder, unless you're expecting the vast majority of applicants to get in. DS and about 60 other kids from his year went from TJ to UVA just fine. VT was more of a problem: lots of kids got WL -> R at TJ, including DS and some of his friends. Only about a dozen TJ kids went to VT in the 2022 batch.

Out of state is probably the majority outcome for TJ kids, but the most common schools for TJ kids last year were apparently UVA (in-state), W+M (in-state), and UMD (out-of-state, but not that far and they're pretty generous with scholarships). Make of that what you will, I guess.

To understand how difficult it is to get into UVA/VT from TJ, don't we need to compare it to similar students in similar high schools? What are the rates of entry for kids from Langley, McLean, Madison, and Oakton? What are the average SATs of UVA/VT freshmen from those schools?

It's hard to separate self-selection from university selection without those stats.

[Anonymous]

OP- you haven’t learned where anyone was accepted. Your best bet is to see if there is an IG page where students post their acceptances. For example, if you look up “stalliondecisions” on IG, you will find the page where South County HS students post where they are going.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a kid that applied to TJ this year, and a senior non-TJ kid in a regular public HS so just curious. How is the college admissions from TJ looking so far, now that a lot of EA/ED decisions are out? Are TJ parents happy (so far) with how things turned out? We are not too keen but kid wanted to try taking the test.

For the same level of effort, a kid going to base HS will have far better college outcomes relative to TJ, but a kid going to TJ will get a far better, superior education. MY DC and (several others) breezed through at least sophomore year at top OOS schools, most maintaining 4.0 GPAs. Def. not possible for a kid out of base HS because they don't lay the same foundation. But comparable kids (kids that chose not to go to TJ and kids that were waitlisted but didn't quite make the cut) who went to base HS, mostly got into ivies/T20 schools, which the TJ kids struggled to get into. Pick your poison based on your kid. Mine would not have worked as hard at base as he did at TJ. If your's is like that, TJ is better. If yours is self-driven, motivated, has initiative, etc. base might work out. They will have more time to do all the EC nonsense, start clubs that don't exist, etc. and 'pretty up' their profiles for the college admissions process, more difficult to do at TJ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hear getting into UVA, VT is really tough from TJ. A large majority of TJ kids go out of state (with parents footing the bill!)

DS was a senior at TJ last year. Getting into UVA isn't easy for anyone, but I wouldn't say that TJ has it harder, unless you're expecting the vast majority of applicants to get in. DS and about 60 other kids from his year went from TJ to UVA just fine. VT was more of a problem: lots of kids got WL -> R at TJ, including DS and some of his friends. Only about a dozen TJ kids went to VT in the 2022 batch.

Out of state is probably the majority outcome for TJ kids, but the most common schools for TJ kids last year were apparently UVA (in-state), W+M (in-state), and UMD (out-of-state, but not that far and they're pretty generous with scholarships). Make of that what you will, I guess.

To understand how difficult it is to get into UVA/VT from TJ, don't we need to compare it to similar students in similar high schools? What are the rates of entry for kids from Langley, McLean, Madison, and Oakton? What are the average SATs of UVA/VT freshmen from those schools?

It's hard to separate self-selection from university selection without those stats.

Those are not comparable high schools. Besides, the conventional wisdom is that colleges evaluate HS students against their peers. Madison HS kids are evaluated against other Madison HS students, etc. OP should be able to get the GPA of kids from TJ that made it to UVA. VT does active yield protection so if you score too high but def. want to go to VT, ED is the best option.