Thomas Jefferson vs any of the private schools

[Anonymous]

If you had to pick TJ vs any of the privates, what one would you pick?

TJ hands down.

[SAM2]

Trying to pick a fight, huh? No thanks.

If you want an interesting comparison, a better question is TJ vs. Blair.

[Anonymous]

TJ has to pick you first.

[Anonymous]

TJ. If you can make it there...you can make it anywhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:TJ. If you can make it there...you can make it anywhere.

Lots of AP classes and it does a good job through normal class sequence of preppin g the kid for AP tests. TJ also does not charge tuition. What % of TJ students take the super advanced math/science classes? Not many. Privates have hard classes that don't prep the kid for AP tests --- classes harder than AP. Privates also don't give GPA bumps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TJ. If you can make it there...you can make it anywhere.

Lots of AP classes and it does a good job through normal class sequence of preppin g the kid for AP tests. TJ also does not charge tuition. What % of TJ students take the super advanced math/science classes? Not many. Privates have hard classes that don't prep the kid for AP tests --- classes harder than AP. Privates also don't give GPA bumps.

I'm not sure how many corporations are lining up to donate to the private schools around here but found this article interesting that these corporation are pouring money into TJ and not others. public or private.

http://www.csmonitor.com/Money/new-economy/2009/1210/thomas-jefferson-high-school-for-science-and-technology-it-takes-a-corporation-to-raise-a-great-school

[Anonymous]

TJ does have to pick you and it has to be the right fit for your child. Not everyone is interested in the type of rigorous science and math curriculum that TJ offers.

[Anonymous]

SAM2 wrote:Trying to pick a fight, huh? No thanks.

If you want an interesting comparison, a better question is TJ vs. Blair.

SAM2, I'd be interested in your views on this. Although since TJ and Blair are in different states, it's not really a practical comparison, but it is an interesting one theoretically.

[Anonymous]

This is a really old topic that's been debated to death on the public and private school threads. If you're only interested in grade having a math/science whiz kid...go to TJ. If you want your kid to be exposed to the "who' who" of DC and the kid has interests beyond math/science -- choose an elite private.

[SAM2]

Anonymous wrote:

SAM2 wrote:If you want an interesting comparison, a better question is TJ vs. Blair.

SAM2, I'd be interested in your views on this. Although since TJ and Blair are in different states, it's not really a practical comparison, but it is an interesting one theoretically.

The numbers I've seen are stronger from Blair than TJ. I suspect the reason Blair has better stats has to do with the smaller class (and higher percentile-scoring student body). Fairfax County in total has about 13,500 students per class year, so TJ has about the top 3% for each class of 450 students. MontCo has about 11,000 students per class year, so Blair is skimming the top 1% with a class of 100 students. Some of that is offset by the fact that Fairfax County is far wealthier, so I'd presume the TJ students have higher SES scores than the Blair students. But in the end I think trying to say one is better than the other is a fool's errand. Both schools are very strong (just like all the top private schools).

[Anonymous]

Elite universities pick more kids from TJ than Mont. Blair.

[Anonymous]

There are competitive-entrance public programs that aren't in math and science. I don't know much about VA. But MoCo has two other very selective programs (entrance is by application and testing) - the IB program at Richard Montgomery and the Communication Arts Program at Blair (geared to journalism-type writing). I believe the entrance rate a year ago was about 1/8 applicants for the IB program and 1/6 for the CAP program.

Both the IB and CAP programs can compete with privates in terms of interesting class offerings, very demanding workload, et cetera. You won't meet the "who's who" at these schools, although I do know two parents who head up foundations who have kids at these programs. RM had maybe 23 national merit scholarship semifinalists last year, so the peer group there is pretty strong. CAP has fewer NMSSFs, but the kids go on to top colleges.

These "other" public magnets get less much attention, at least on DCUM. Not quite sure why, but one factor may be the yearly announcement of Intel winners which generates publicity for the math/science magnets. However, many qualified kids in downcounty MD, where I live, seem apply to one or all of the 3 MoCo magnets (math/science, CAP and IB). (Full disclosure: I have a kid in one of these.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Elite universities pick more kids from TJ than Mont. Blair.

This would stand to reason. TJ has 300 kids in each graduating class, while Blair has 90 or 100 graduating each year.

It also depends a bit what you mean by "elite" - I assume you are including MIT and CalTech in there?

Here's a question that I'm curious about: how many applicants does TJ accept each year? I believe Blair accepts about 1/6 applicants. I'm not sure this sheds any light on the quality of students at either school, because the size of the applicant pool for either school would be affected by the number of alternative magnet offerings, among other things.

[Anonymous]

Let me put it this way pp...every elite university has heard of TJ...not all have heard of MB. I count elite universities as top 20 on the US News list.

[SAM2]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Elite universities pick more kids from TJ than Mont. Blair.

This would stand to reason. TJ has 300 kids in each graduating class, while Blair has 90 or 100 graduating each year.

I think the spread is even wider -- 450 in each TJ class versus 100 in each Blair class -- so it actually would be pretty embarrassing if TJ didn't have lots more students going to top colleges than Blair in terms of absolute numbers. But I think the absolute number comparison is sort of pointless, since the programs are of such different sizes. For example, even if 100% of the students attending the Blair program matriculate to Yale every year, TJ could still claim "more kids" if only 22% of its graduates (101 students) go to top colleges.

If PP has any info suggesting that TJ does better than Blair on college placement on a percentage basis, I'd be very interested to hear what that info is.