Number of Longfellow kids admitted to TJ in 2022
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Anonymous
This is the case for students who are, for lack of a better word, typical TJ students. If your focus is entirely on STEM and you don't plan on getting into anything else in high school, TJ will be a great place for you to be a high school student, but you're not likely to get to the college that you want unless you're an absolute superstar (of which there are maybe 10-20 in each class). The kids whose college prospects are the most boosted for having gone to TJ are the ones who engage in atypical activities once they're there - performing arts, athletics, and non-STEM clubs - in addition to their exceptional coursework in STEM. Kids who are not the cream of the crop from an academic perspective at TJ do very well if they have an impact in non-STEM areas. |
Anonymous
If the primary impact of the changes to the admissions process is that Loudoun families are less interested in TJ, that will be a huge win for the school. |
Anonymous
That's not what I said at all. I said he was accepted and declined. He felt the kids he knew in the program were hyper-competitive and backstabbing. Also, he's a URM and maybe he felt he'd face racial bias, but I don't know. Instead, he elected to attend an elite private. |
Anonymous
I guess if you're not that strong a student you might have better odds at your home school, but for the best of the best their odds are much better at TJ. |
Anonymous
Interesting take, but I think I have a few issues with this as well. First, it's not hard to fix the perception you referenced; simply dispel the rumor that TJ is all academics exclusively. Many people are already aware that there are a wealth of extracurricular activities and sports that students can access (even more so for many varsity sports as compared to competitive sports based base schools). It is harder to some degree to do extracurriculars at TJ if one cannot manage their time, but nevertheless the options are all there and TJ is a large school; it will have many things besides the core academic courses. Second, I'm not sure I'm following your argument about Indians specifically... TJ is majority Asian, but roughly equal percentages of East and South Asians.. is that not so? I don't think it's good to make the claims that you've made about Indians regarding dating/etc. This can be equally true about East Asians and other cultures as well. Every culture has its own norms and stereotypes against other cultures; it's not really relevant to the argument here. |
Anonymous
And see, this is where I take issue. There is functionally no difference between the TJ experience of 15, 20, 25 years ago and the experience of today EXCEPT for the attitudes of students and their families. If the attitudes of students and their families is what is dissuading kids from applying to TJ, and therefore watering down the applicant pool and eventual group of students selected, then the Admissions Office needs to take a hard look at who they're admitting to the school. There's no excuse for application numbers to be below 4-5000 given the growth in the area. |
Anonymous
1) No. South Asians outnumber East and Southeast Asians at TJ by a factor of 2-2.5 to 1. A simple glance at a yearbook will confirm. 2) It's absolutely relevant to the argument here. If parents are coming on boards like this and posting nonsense that is designed to prevent families from being interested in TJ because they don't want those elements in their school, that's a huge problem. And they're not claims - they're observations based on years of experience. |
Anonymous
Right but applications should be an easy fix; market and increase awareness at every middle school. Send flyers about any TJ events such as the yearly Techstravaganza event where everyone can go check out all the exhibits and get excited about the school. And make applications free if they are not. All this if done, would vastly outweigh any kind of noise posted about TJ being 'toxic' on these boards; as the visibility is much wider. In my honest opinion, I think the real culprit today vs 20 years back is that students and parents are more privileged; in the sense that they want more things "for free" or closer to free as before. They realize that TJ is not a golden ticket to a top college even though it could be amazing academically. 20 years ago, students on average were more curious about learning new things. Today on average they are less curious and more focused on "how do I get from A to B as quickly as possible" instead of "how do I learn as much as possible". With the former attitude, TJ doesn't make sense anymore; it's too much work compared to more or less coasting at a base school and being close to home. I agree with you though, that the negative "Asian cutthroat environment" stereotype doesn't help either (and this was different 20 years ago, Asians were not a majority yet). Personally for someone who wants to learn as much as possible and is genuinely interested in math and science, TJ is a no brainer, it operates in a different ballpark than normal high schools. |
Anonymous
PP. We agree on a lot here. For me, the biggest reason to go to TJ was to be in an environment where literally everyone in the building cared about school. The narrative nowadays is that everyone there is "obsessed with grades", which is a very different thing from "caring about school". And while the number of families who are obsessed with grades and college is indeed significantly higher than it was previously, it's getting better through the new admissions process. Put another way, TJ as a means to an end (elite college acceptance) is a terrible idea; TJ as an end unto itself (a phenomenal academic experience with kids who genuinely want to learn) is an incredible idea. |
Anonymous
Exactly, the focus (much of it parent driven) of going to a top college at all costs (often because parents themselves went and therefore child can achieve no less than that) is certainly toxic. This then propagates to many students and creates a toxic atmosphere. I see this all the time, many kids are bright and very capable of learning advanced math but when I show them cool things it's clear that they are simply not interested. They are already busy doing a bunch of other extracurricular activities, they have been conditioned to focus exclusively on grades and the idea that "if it doesn't benefit me in some way, it's not worth doing". Often I'll show kids some stuff that I think is interesting, or put some very interesting problems as optional/bonus on homework because I think they deserve to know that it exists. But most of them will not touch it because they know it doesn't count for their grade. That speaks volumes about our culture. TJ is certainly not unique in this; top privates are likely even worse at this type of elite college admission at all costs. |
Anonymous
Looking back on my wonderful high school experience, it makes me to sad to think of these kids only looking at highschool through the lense of where it will get them into college. I am so glad to have grown up in a different time, and so sad that my kids will face this down the road. |
Anonymous
I think this is an opt-in, opt-out sort of scenario, though. I don't buy for one second that a kid HAS to approach high school this way, even at a place like TJ. |
Anonymous
Given how the TJ graduates that I know have fared post-TJ, I’m not convinced that the TJ experience is appreciably better than attending a strong base school, which has its own advantages in terms of socialization, convenience and sense of community. I do sense that some alumni may not have much on their resumes that’s better than having attended TJ, and it’s critical to this community to tout the school’s alleged advantages, and even as overall interest in the school wanes. They keep trying out different narratives, whether it’s the notion that TJ is a community of self-selected, quirky kids; that it’s an important instrument of social mobility; or that the current admissions process has somehow actually led to a stronger student body than in the past. Mostly they just create noise to try and perpetuate a school that at this juncture could probably be put to other and better uses with far less drama. |
Anonymous
Reality check: Indian parents don't want their kids dating ANYONE. |
Anonymous
... amusing. I would genuinely ask what other and/or better uses the school could be "put to". The notions of a neighborhood school or an academy have already been thoroughly shredded on these fora for reasons that are fairly obvious to anyone with a passing familiarity with the school and its current building, so I'm interested to hear your new, brilliant idea. |