How important is TJ for college?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because the only thing that matters is whether you get into UVA. Your actual high school experience doesn't matter.

Your actual high school experience does matter. Why attend a pressure cooker school to end up at the same school as others who had a less stressful adolescence?

Umm... Perhaps you enjoy the "pressure cooker" experience and whatever goes with it. I know it's hard for some of the dolts that post here, but people have different tastes and desires. If you don't want this experience, don't apply for it. Why take away this choice for others just because you don't like it? Frankly, I think your attitude is fascist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The whole point of this thread is to address the question, "does TJ help with college admissions"?

I have present data reported from the Naviance page showing where kids like my daughter were admitted. My daughter is a good student, mostly A's with an occaisional B and decent PSAT scores (not a NMSF). But she did not take any prep course for the PSAT. She will for the SAT, mostly to get more familitiar with strategies for the test.

The answer was a kid like my daughter probably would have no benefit at TJ for college admissions. She is probably in the top 10% (school does not rank) of her school. Definitely the top 15%.

My point was that someone like my daughter: top 15% at a better school -- and madision is a better school, has a 45% chance at UVA, 73% chance at W & M, and near certainty at Va Tech (not seperating engineering). And they have about a 5-10% chance of getting into an elite.

These numbers are not much different from TJ overall.

or to put it another way TJ helps for the top 10% of TJ who would be awesome at their base schools too but who actually are extremely bright and take advantage of the uniqueness of TJ

for the middle of the class to the top 10% its a wash they would have had similar college results from base school

for the bottom 50% of TJ it hurts and results are lower than if they would have stayed at base school and been 10% vs the bottom half of TJ.

So overall for TJ 10% net positive 40% neutral and 50% negative. You do the math folks

Exactly. And the reason why the top 10% at TJ does better is because of grade inflation/score compression. It used to be that everyone with a A average was brilliant (3.7 and above). Now, any hardworking kid should have an A average. Basically, at the base school, you can not tell the difference statistically between two students at the top. For example, DD will not take 7 AP classes in 11 or 12 because she is in the band. That may hurt her GPA. But, the colleges will not care. On the other hand, she plays a very rare instrument, which they may need (assuming she is good enough). Same thing happens with the SAT score. Compression at the top.

With TJ, there is still compression at the top, but All A's or all A's with one or two B's will have you in the top 10% of a much better class. Of course, it is harder to get the 4.4+ at TJ than the base. So the to 10% at TJ most certainly get into the elites.

From 50%-10%, would be in the top 10% at the base school.

of 0-50 at TJ, they may well have been in the top 10% and probably at the top 20%. They could get into one of the better state schools at the base school.

And for all but the very top, TJ seems to be very stressful for the kids.

Grade inflation at TJ?, that is laughable !

There are so many wholes in this argument and then they are myths.
- Number of TJ graduates who attend elite or national universities is more than 10%. It is closer to at least 20%.
- Not everyone at TJ is stressed and not everyone at base schools who is taking many APs is not stressed.
- Taking many AP/IB courses at base schools along with SAT/ACT tests and extracurricular activities itself is quite challenging for many kids. Go to TJ if the kid has true STEM interests as TJ offers STEM courses that no base school offers.
- If a base school kid plays a rare instrument so does a TJ kid. If a base school kid plays a sport at high level so does a TJ kid. TJ kids have been recruited based on sports too.
- Just like base schools, many kids at TJ with high GPAs do not get into top colleges and settle for in-state. GPA/Test scores may be enough for UVA but not for many national universities no matter what is the high school. The top 10 to 20% is not defined by grades.

Bottom line, a kid who is driven and passionate about learning and self-development will do well at TJ (including bottom) and base school in the long term. It is less about the high school and more about the individual qualities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because the only thing that matters is whether you get into UVA. Your actual high school experience doesn't matter.

Your actual high school experience does matter. Why attend a pressure cooker school to end up at the same school as others who had a less stressful adolescence?

Umm... Perhaps you enjoy the "pressure cooker" experience and whatever goes with it. I know it's hard for some of the dolts that post here, but people have different tastes and desires. If you don't want this experience, don't apply for it. Why take away this choice for others just because you don't like it? Frankly, I think your attitude is fascist.

Here come the insults from the TJ apologists! It’s funny how you have to resort to name calling (“dolts”) when you’re presented with the truth.

[Anonymous]

11:11 (and earlier posts here).

The point of the posts is the there are many reasons to go to TJ -- I am not arguing that. And that is particularly true of the math and science wizzes. But, getting into a better college is not one of the reason.

If the goal is a better college, unless you are at the top of the class (10%? 20%? IDK), there is not advantage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The whole point of this thread is to address the question, "does TJ help with college admissions"?

I have present data reported from the Naviance page showing where kids like my daughter were admitted. My daughter is a good student, mostly A's with an occaisional B and decent PSAT scores (not a NMSF). But she did not take any prep course for the PSAT. She will for the SAT, mostly to get more familitiar with strategies for the test.

The answer was a kid like my daughter probably would have no benefit at TJ for college admissions. She is probably in the top 10% (school does not rank) of her school. Definitely the top 15%.

My point was that someone like my daughter: top 15% at a better school -- and madision is a better school, has a 45% chance at UVA, 73% chance at W & M, and near certainty at Va Tech (not seperating engineering). And they have about a 5-10% chance of getting into an elite.

These numbers are not much different from TJ overall.

or to put it another way TJ helps for the top 10% of TJ who would be awesome at their base schools too but who actually are extremely bright and take advantage of the uniqueness of TJ

for the middle of the class to the top 10% its a wash they would have had similar college results from base school

for the bottom 50% of TJ it hurts and results are lower than if they would have stayed at base school and been 10% vs the bottom half of TJ.

So overall for TJ 10% net positive 40% neutral and 50% negative. You do the math folks

Exactly. And the reason why the top 10% at TJ does better is because of grade inflation/score compression. It used to be that everyone with a A average was brilliant (3.7 and above). Now, any hardworking kid should have an A average. Basically, at the base school, you can not tell the difference statistically between two students at the top. For example, DD will not take 7 AP classes in 11 or 12 because she is in the band. That may hurt her GPA. But, the colleges will not care. On the other hand, she plays a very rare instrument, which they may need (assuming she is good enough). Same thing happens with the SAT score. Compression at the top.

With TJ, there is still compression at the top, but All A's or all A's with one or two B's will have you in the top 10% of a much better class. Of course, it is harder to get the 4.4+ at TJ than the base. So the to 10% at TJ most certainly get into the elites.

From 50%-10%, would be in the top 10% at the base school.

of 0-50 at TJ, they may well have been in the top 10% and probably at the top 20%. They could get into one of the better state schools at the base school.

And for all but the very top, TJ seems to be very stressful for the kids.

Grade inflation at TJ?, that is laughable !

There are so many wholes in this argument and then they are myths.
- Number of TJ graduates who attend elite or national universities is more than 10%. It is closer to at least 20%.
- Not everyone at TJ is stressed and not everyone at base schools who is taking many APs is not stressed.
- Taking many AP/IB courses at base schools along with SAT/ACT tests and extracurricular activities itself is quite challenging for many kids. Go to TJ if the kid has true STEM interests as TJ offers STEM courses that no base school offers.
- If a base school kid plays a rare instrument so does a TJ kid. If a base school kid plays a sport at high level so does a TJ kid. TJ kids have been recruited based on sports too.
- Just like base schools, many kids at TJ with high GPAs do not get into top colleges and settle for in-state. GPA/Test scores may be enough for UVA but not for many national universities no matter what is the high school. The top 10 to 20% is not defined by grades.

Bottom line, a kid who is driven and passionate about learning and self-development will do well at TJ (including bottom) and base school in the long term. It is less about the high school and more about the individual qualities.

I did not mean to suggest trade inflation at TJ. If you had reading comprehension, you would have realized that I was referring to the grade compression at the base school, and TJ provides more differentiation at the top.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because the only thing that matters is whether you get into UVA. Your actual high school experience doesn't matter.

Your actual high school experience does matter. Why attend a pressure cooker school to end up at the same school as others who had a less stressful adolescence?

Umm... Perhaps you enjoy the "pressure cooker" experience and whatever goes with it. I know it's hard for some of the dolts that post here, but people have different tastes and desires. If you don't want this experience, don't apply for it. Why take away this choice for others just because you don't like it? Frankly, I think your attitude is fascist.

Here come the insults from the TJ apologists! It’s funny how you have to resort to name calling (“dolts”) when you’re presented with the truth.

Pardon me, but exactly what "truth" did you present?

[Anonymous]

Here is the data for TJ class of 2016 where 1/3rd of batch went to the so called Top/National universities.

For reference, I have used US news ranking to identify the top 25. I know US News ranking has flaws but so do other rankings.
https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities

The TJ enrolled (not accepted):
http://thebullelephant.com/college-destinations-for-tjhsst-class-of-2016/

Class of 2106: 457 students. Checking from the two links above, 151 went to the top 25 colleges (excluding UVA). That is 33.04%. On top of that, 81 went to UVA, 35 went to VT and 32 sent to WM, all fine instate options.

I have no horse in the equation (TJ v/s anti TJ). But these are facts and there are impressive stats.

[Anonymous]

The fact still remains that even if they stayed at their base school, they would still be going to the same colleges. TJ did not give them an advantage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The fact still remains that even if they stayed at their base school, they would still be going to the same colleges. TJ did not give them an advantage.

But gave them real education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The fact still remains that even if they stayed at their base school, they would still be going to the same colleges. TJ did not give them an advantage.

But gave them real education.

You are just embarrassing yourself here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The fact still remains that even if they stayed at their base school, they would still be going to the same colleges. TJ did not give them an advantage.

But gave them real education.

You are just embarrassing yourself here.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The fact still remains that even if they stayed at their base school, they would still be going to the same colleges. TJ did not give them an advantage.

But gave them real education.

You are just embarrassing yourself here.

Hope your kid is enjoying his/hers Intensified Drooling class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The fact still remains that even if they stayed at their base school, they would still be going to the same colleges. TJ did not give them an advantage.

But gave them real education.

+1
TJ for the experience and education, not for college admission.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The fact still remains that even if they stayed at their base school, they would still be going to the same colleges. TJ did not give them an advantage.

But gave them real education.

+1
TJ for the experience and education, not for college admission.

I see...going to a highly rated HS is of course the best , but going to a highly rated college is meh. Way to peak early.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The fact still remains that even if they stayed at their base school, they would still be going to the same colleges. TJ did not give them an advantage.

But gave them real education.

+1
TJ for the experience and education, not for college admission.

I see...going to a highly rated HS is of course the best , but going to a highly rated college is meh. Way to peak early.

That’s not uncommon for TJ students.