TJ admissions now verifying free and reduced price meal status for successful 2026 applicants

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Not all the strong students were picked but there are strong students got picked. Most top national award winners were in.

Nothing in the application gives them a way to identify national award winners. Even if a student writes about a national award in the portrait sheet that in no way ensures a good score for the essays.

The reality is in both last year and this year, most top national award winner were accepted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Not all the strong students were picked but there are strong students got picked. Most top national award winners were in.

Nothing in the application gives them a way to identify national award winners. Even if a student writes about a national award in the portrait sheet that in no way ensures a good score for the essays.

these portrait sheets will stand out and get high scores I believe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Not all the strong students were picked but there are strong students got picked. Most top national award winners were in.

Nothing in the application gives them a way to identify national award winners. Even if a student writes about a national award in the portrait sheet that in no way ensures a good score for the essays.

these portrait sheets will stand out and get high scores I believe.

portrait sheets judged by PoG traits not STEM skills.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Not all the strong students were picked but there are strong students got picked. Most top national award winners were in.

Nothing in the application gives them a way to identify national award winners. Even if a student writes about a national award in the portrait sheet that in no way ensures a good score for the essays.

these portrait sheets will stand out and get high scores I believe.

What reason is there to think that? Nothing in the rubric says that winning a national award is a factor that the reviewers consider. It's a question of how well one embodies the Portrait of a Graduate. Winning awards is at best very tangentially and loosely related to that.

As a previous poster mentioned we know of students who are NJHS officers at top feeder schools and wrote about it in their essays but didn't get admitted. Leadership is one of the Portrait characteristics, so this should count for more than awards according to their criteria (which we can agree are jot the best criteria for identifying top STEM students). But it obviously doesn't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:pp speaking here. think I know the BC-Calculus all of you are speaking of. have heard from DC he is their school's mun club's strongest member (5 gavels i heard) vp last yr and on leadership this yr, national award in quizbowl, science bee national finalist, scioly regional state national awards, is a life scout, captain of quizbowl and sciencebowl teams at old school (led team to some place in regionals last year not sure), njhs, started some tutoring program, organized 2 mun conferences (3rd this summer DC said), gifted in music, strong social skills and writing skills, 3.97 gpa etc. heard some rumor he is selfstudying college level economics & politics. DC and I very surprised he got waitlisted. DC his close friend.

pp adding on to this post with further info from DC, he takes latin 3 with local hs, got perfect score on NLE last year, highest score on PALS in his class (possibly in whole high school he does latin with), qualified for CTY and SET, perfect scores on all admissions tests he has taken, highest orchestra in school, got into some district orchestra, such shame he did not get in. heard his relatives went to tj too poor thing. very nice caring kid. saddens me he is waitlisted.

You should be sad for TJ, not the student. TJ isn’t much to celebrate any longer.

Not exactly. Sure, there aren't enough seats for the many qualified kids, but they picked the strongest candidates from the pool.

same school with BC-Calculus kid (waitlisted) accepted student no strong extracurriculars and B- in Alg1 and waitlisted 4.0 Alg2 NJHS President. not picking strongest by any means.

Not all the strong students were picked but there are strong students got picked. Most top national award winners were in.

The 90s TJ know it all graduate is back. Her BS is off the charts. Claimed that FARMS was not an issue till proven otherwise. She knows nothing - trolls on behalf of TJAAG.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Not all the strong students were picked but there are strong students got picked. Most top national award winners were in.

Nothing in the application gives them a way to identify national award winners. Even if a student writes about a national award in the portrait sheet that in no way ensures a good score for the essays.

these portrait sheets will stand out and get high scores I believe.

What reason is there to think that? Nothing in the rubric says that winning a national award is a factor that the reviewers consider. It's a question of how well one embodies the Portrait of a Graduate. Winning awards is at best very tangentially and loosely related to that.

As a previous poster mentioned we know of students who are NJHS officers at top feeder schools and wrote about it in their essays but didn't get admitted. Leadership is one of the Portrait characteristics, so this should count for more than awards according to their criteria (which we can agree are jot the best criteria for identifying top STEM students). But it obviously doesn't.

They are probably also good on other aspects.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Not all the strong students were picked but there are strong students got picked. Most top national award winners were in.

Nothing in the application gives them a way to identify national award winners. Even if a student writes about a national award in the portrait sheet that in no way ensures a good score for the essays.

these portrait sheets will stand out and get high scores I believe.

What reason is there to think that? Nothing in the rubric says that winning a national award is a factor that the reviewers consider. It's a question of how well one embodies the Portrait of a Graduate. Winning awards is at best very tangentially and loosely related to that.

As a previous poster mentioned we know of students who are NJHS officers at top feeder schools and wrote about it in their essays but didn't get admitted. Leadership is one of the Portrait characteristics, so this should count for more than awards according to their criteria (which we can agree are jot the best criteria for identifying top STEM students). But it obviously doesn't.

They are probably also good on other aspects.

It would be nice to believe that, but it simply isn't how things have worked out. There are many clear cases of top students not being admitted and weaker students from the same school being admitted. They are not only failing to identify the top STEm students, they are failing to identify the top students according to any reasonable metric. Their primary consideration is clearly the press release which indicated increased numbers of URMs and FARMS recipients.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:pp speaking here. think I know the BC-Calculus all of you are speaking of. have heard from DC he is their school's mun club's strongest member (5 gavels i heard) vp last yr and on leadership this yr, national award in quizbowl, science bee national finalist, scioly regional state national awards, is a life scout, captain of quizbowl and sciencebowl teams at old school (led team to some place in regionals last year not sure), njhs, started some tutoring program, organized 2 mun conferences (3rd this summer DC said), gifted in music, strong social skills and writing skills, 3.97 gpa etc. heard some rumor he is selfstudying college level economics & politics. DC and I very surprised he got waitlisted. DC his close friend.

pp adding on to this post with further info from DC, he takes latin 3 with local hs, got perfect score on NLE last year, highest score on PALS in his class (possibly in whole high school he does latin with), qualified for CTY and SET, perfect scores on all admissions tests he has taken, highest orchestra in school, got into some district orchestra, such shame he did not get in. heard his relatives went to tj too poor thing. very nice caring kid. saddens me he is waitlisted.

You should be sad for TJ, not the student. TJ isn’t much to celebrate any longer.

Not exactly. Sure, there aren't enough seats for the many qualified kids, but they picked the strongest candidates from the pool.

same school with BC-Calculus kid (waitlisted) accepted student no strong extracurriculars and B- in Alg1 and waitlisted 4.0 Alg2 NJHS President. not picking strongest by any means.

Not all the strong students were picked but there are strong students got picked. Most top national award winners were in.

The 90s TJ know it all graduate is back. Her BS is off the charts. Claimed that FARMS was not an issue till proven otherwise. She knows nothing - trolls on behalf of TJAAG.

Some of the TJAAG types, having done their utmost to destroy the school, are now even more invested in suggesting that it's not going to miss a beat, when it's clear the school is in turmoil.

[Anonymous]

if there is no strong students at all in TJ, why parents are still waiting for being pulled off from the waiting list? A school is good because it has good students. TJ is still attractive because it still has strong students, even though it is less than before. Keeping this trend, TJ will becomes less attractive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:if there is no strong students at all in TJ, why parents are still waiting for being pulled off from the waiting list? A school is good because it has good students. TJ is still attractive because it still has strong students, even though it is less than before. Keeping this trend, TJ will becomes less attractive.

Yes, TJ has lost some of its luster as a result of this process. However, at no base school do all students have a minimum 3.5, Algebra, and multiple honors courses. Even the weakest slice of eligible TJ applicants are stronger than the student body at any base school. For those who want to be among a class which is overall stronger than their base school, TJ still does offer that - and without the price tag of a private school.

You're right that it would be unfortunate if this trend continues. For those who want to be among the very top classmates, TJ may no longer offer that. For those who want to know that the student body was selected fairly, it surely no longer offers that. For those who want to avoid legal and political battles, it may never again offer that.

Parents can simultaneously (1) want a spot at TJ for their children and (2) rue the unfortunate circumstances surrounding TJ admissions and seek to rectify them. I think that's where many on this forum stand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:if there is no strong students at all in TJ, why parents are still waiting for being pulled off from the waiting list? A school is good because it has good students. TJ is still attractive because it still has strong students, even though it is less than before. Keeping this trend, TJ will becomes less attractive.

Yes, TJ has lost some of its luster as a result of this process. However, at no base school do all students have a minimum 3.5, Algebra, and multiple honors courses. Even the weakest slice of eligible TJ applicants are stronger than the student body at any base school. For those who want to be among a class which is overall stronger than their base school, TJ still does offer that - and without the price tag of a private school.

You're right that it would be unfortunate if this trend continues. For those who want to be among the very top classmates, TJ may no longer offer that. For those who want to know that the student body was selected fairly, it surely no longer offers that. For those who want to avoid legal and political battles, it may never again offer that.

Parents can simultaneously (1) want a spot at TJ for their children and (2) rue the unfortunate circumstances surrounding TJ admissions and seek to rectify them. I think that's where many on this forum stand.

give another reason: TJ has less drug issues than other high schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:if there is no strong students at all in TJ, why parents are still waiting for being pulled off from the waiting list? A school is good because it has good students. TJ is still attractive because it still has strong students, even though it is less than before. Keeping this trend, TJ will becomes less attractive.

Yes, TJ has lost some of its luster as a result of this process. However, at no base school do all students have a minimum 3.5, Algebra, and multiple honors courses. Even the weakest slice of eligible TJ applicants are stronger than the student body at any base school. For those who want to be among a class which is overall stronger than their base school, TJ still does offer that - and without the price tag of a private school.

You're right that it would be unfortunate if this trend continues. For those who want to be among the very top classmates, TJ may no longer offer that. For those who want to know that the student body was selected fairly, it surely no longer offers that. For those who want to avoid legal and political battles, it may never again offer that.

Parents can simultaneously (1) want a spot at TJ for their children and (2) rue the unfortunate circumstances surrounding TJ admissions and seek to rectify them. I think that's where many on this forum stand.

By any objective metric this is no longer the case. Langley, McLean, and Chantilly have entire class cohorts that are superior to TJ and there are several other high schools where it's close.

This is what naturally happens when you choose based on geography, FARMS, and non STEM personality traits over actual STEM talent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:if there is no strong students at all in TJ, why parents are still waiting for being pulled off from the waiting list? A school is good because it has good students. TJ is still attractive because it still has strong students, even though it is less than before. Keeping this trend, TJ will becomes less attractive.

Yes, TJ has lost some of its luster as a result of this process. However, at no base school do all students have a minimum 3.5, Algebra, and multiple honors courses. Even the weakest slice of eligible TJ applicants are stronger than the student body at any base school. For those who want to be among a class which is overall stronger than their base school, TJ still does offer that - and without the price tag of a private school.

You're right that it would be unfortunate if this trend continues. For those who want to be among the very top classmates, TJ may no longer offer that. For those who want to know that the student body was selected fairly, it surely no longer offers that. For those who want to avoid legal and political battles, it may never again offer that.

Parents can simultaneously (1) want a spot at TJ for their children and (2) rue the unfortunate circumstances surrounding TJ admissions and seek to rectify them. I think that's where many on this forum stand.

so some Asians have been put in their place, kids of some well-educated african immigrants and privileged white hispanics are in, and some more white kids are in without the threat of a test, while touting that their way of parenting is superior. massive racism, hate-mongering, and demonization of Asians and creating an environment where subjectivity replaces objectivity. well done folks. you really did your school great service.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:if there is no strong students at all in TJ, why parents are still waiting for being pulled off from the waiting list? A school is good because it has good students. TJ is still attractive because it still has strong students, even though it is less than before. Keeping this trend, TJ will becomes less attractive.

Yes, TJ has lost some of its luster as a result of this process. However, at no base school do all students have a minimum 3.5, Algebra, and multiple honors courses. Even the weakest slice of eligible TJ applicants are stronger than the student body at any base school. For those who want to be among a class which is overall stronger than their base school, TJ still does offer that - and without the price tag of a private school.

You're right that it would be unfortunate if this trend continues. For those who want to be among the very top classmates, TJ may no longer offer that. For those who want to know that the student body was selected fairly, it surely no longer offers that. For those who want to avoid legal and political battles, it may never again offer that.

Parents can simultaneously (1) want a spot at TJ for their children and (2) rue the unfortunate circumstances surrounding TJ admissions and seek to rectify them. I think that's where many on this forum stand.

By any objective metric this is no longer the case. Langley, McLean, and Chantilly have entire class cohorts that are superior to TJ and there are several other high schools where it's close.

This is what naturally happens when you choose based on geography, FARMS, and non STEM personality traits over actual STEM talent.

Not yet. TJ is still stronger right now. Will the admission change back next year? The school board doesn’t have an excuse now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:if there is no strong students at all in TJ, why parents are still waiting for being pulled off from the waiting list? A school is good because it has good students. TJ is still attractive because it still has strong students, even though it is less than before. Keeping this trend, TJ will becomes less attractive.

Yes, TJ has lost some of its luster as a result of this process. However, at no base school do all students have a minimum 3.5, Algebra, and multiple honors courses. Even the weakest slice of eligible TJ applicants are stronger than the student body at any base school. For those who want to be among a class which is overall stronger than their base school, TJ still does offer that - and without the price tag of a private school.

You're right that it would be unfortunate if this trend continues. For those who want to be among the very top classmates, TJ may no longer offer that. For those who want to know that the student body was selected fairly, it surely no longer offers that. For those who want to avoid legal and political battles, it may never again offer that.

Parents can simultaneously (1) want a spot at TJ for their children and (2) rue the unfortunate circumstances surrounding TJ admissions and seek to rectify them. I think that's where many on this forum stand.

It's not difficult to have a minimum 3.5 in middle school and be enrolled in Algebra (or higher) and multiple honors courses. There are quite a few middle schools where that is the norm, if not the floor. It doesn't matter if the weakest slice of eligible TJ applicants is stronger than the weakest slice of students at base schools. That's a given. What matters is whether TJ consistently selects the majority of the top students - which it no longer does - and whether the distinction between TJ and base schools is still sufficiently compelling to warrant the inconvenience of attending a school that's almost in Alexandria City - which may now no longer be the case and surely won't be the case in a few years if things continue down the same path.

You can check the statistics. Carson applications went down from 286 (Class of 2024) to 245 (Class of 2025) and then 215 (Class of 2026). At Longfellow the applications went down from 151 to 149 to 141. At Rocky Run the applications went down from 149 to 127 to 106. These schools have been the three strongest middle schools and top feeders to TJ in the county and they are the canaries in the TJ coal mine.

And maybe that's OK, if the School Board's goal is to advance "equity" by giving selected students at Annandale, Lewis, and Mount Vernon the opportunity to attend a school that's on par with, say, Chantilly. But if they think it's going to stay the #1 school in the country they can kiss that goodbye.