Transfer from TJ to Base HS?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:OP, what do you wish you and your DC would have known before applying or accepting a spot at TJ?

Not OP, and that's an excellent question. It's not in the best interests for anyone to try TJ for a year, and then return to base school. OP's kid seems to be doing fine and hasn't experienced anything atypical for TJ. So, did TJ pull a bait and switch at the open houses and info sessions? Did they make it seem like it wouldn't be as rigorous as it is, and that the norm is getting almost all As? Is it that parents all assume their kid will be a top performer, and they're stunned when that isn't the case? Is it that parents are assuming that their child should be very well prepared for TJ, based on MS grades and the TJ acceptance, only to find out that it isn't the case? What's the disconnect between what prospective TJ families are expecting and what TJ is actually like?

It's like accepting my child into high school basketball team because of their proficiency in essay writing, only to realize that surviving on the court requires constant running, show endurance to run throughout the game, perform dribbling without losing,showing offensive skills, and shooting with accuracy from various distances. An evaluation of middle school basketball skills would have been logical selection criteria, but equity called for essay writing, leaving parents to wait for a year to understand where their child stands relative to the top half of the class.

This sums up the current situation where parents have to wait a year to determine if their child was adequately prepared to start.

Why wait a year? Why blame the system? They were wrong for admitting the kids in but their families wanted it in the first place. If their kids are not top performers in MS, they should talk to the counselors, talk to TJ students, understand their curriculum, and talk to their kids before accepting the offers.

How can kids or parents know if they are top performers or mediocre in their middleschool? Only TJ admissions claims to know that, magically.

They definitely know. They know if they are in Alg 1 while their peers are in Geo Alg 2 and higher. Not to say TJ admissions now are taking in a large percentage of non-AAP students.

Of course, the selection is being done from non-AAP pool, as it would be rather difficult to find many in AAP who are in algbera 1 in 8th grade.

Not true. There are plenty of AAP kids who take Math 7 H and not Algebra 1, some because of test scores and because of choice. The kid doesn't want to take Algebra 1 in 7th grade or the parents think it is better for the kid to not Math 7 H for a variety of reasons. There are far more then 1,200 students in 6th grade AAP and yet that is the number of kids who took the Algebra 1 SOL as 7th graders.

With HOPE and equity based cultural group selections, AAP has a sizeable student strength behind gen ed, who get selected to TJ over advanced students. Restricting selection to just the advanced students in AAP wasnt yielding the desired diversity composition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS is a sophomore at TJ and we are encouraging him to move back to base school. His grades in Freshman year were ok ( 2 B+'s and rest A's) but this year he is struggling. e.g. He is getting a B in Chemistry even after spending quite a bit of time on it ( and he tells me many of his classmates are doing worse than him).

Even though he is enjoying the overall TJ atmosphere and the learning opportunities, the overall the ratio of grades to effort is too small and not appear to be worth it. He has limited time for sports etc.

Maybe TJ is not for him? So we were thinking of moving back to base school while his grades ( and confidence) are good. Base HS is pretty good and has most of the courses he was planning to take

Any advice from parents who might have been in this situation? How will this look on the college applications?

If it is AP chem "B" may be fine. I hear AP chem is hard and most kids do it as Junior/Senior.

Unless student does summer chem, AP chem cant be enrolled as sophomore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not OP - but do colleges regard a B at TJ as something equivalent to a A at a non TJ HS?

I think they would prefer a mostly A's student from a regular HS to a mostly B's student from TJ - assuming the same courses are taken

Nope a B is absolutely a B

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The question is why is math so much harder at TJ than the base school. Are they doing higher level math or is there just more math?

same math, but faster and in depth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:#1 criterion for him is T30-50 type college. OOS is ok. we are full pay

so dont want a bunch of Bs to blow up his chances

A bunch of Bs is going to look terrible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC decided to move back. Chem was just an example of the work required. DC is finding out that Math at TJ is hard, even though curriculum is the same. Currently taking Math 4 ( pre-calculus) - not enjoying it. DC is frustrated as the material and HW assignments are perfectly fine - but the quizzes are a step above in terms of difficulty etc.

No need to take that stress. And I am glad that DC took this decision on his own.

How do the TJ freshman courses show up on the final base HS transcript ? Would the college admissions know student dropped out of TJ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC decided to move back. Chem was just an example of the work required. DC is finding out that Math at TJ is hard, even though curriculum is the same. Currently taking Math 4 ( pre-calculus) - not enjoying it. DC is frustrated as the material and HW assignments are perfectly fine - but the quizzes are a step above in terms of difficulty etc.

No need to take that stress. And I am glad that DC took this decision on his own.

How do the TJ freshman courses show up on the final base HS transcript ? Would the college admissions know student dropped out of TJ?

They would know they changed schools. And if you change schools there is a box you will in explaining the move.