Waitlisted at TJ - now what?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP again. Oh dear. These past few replies have been eye-opening. What can we (fcps parents) do to help make this a better experience for children?

Nothing. It’s one of (if not) the top school in the country, they aren’t changing anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP again. Oh dear. These past few replies have been eye-opening. What can we (fcps parents) do to help make this a better experience for children?

Nothing will change unless the tiger mom goes extinct.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Relax. Not the end of the world. Many TJ kids attending dame school as my non TJ senior. Except mine didn’t get the amount of stress Tj kids went through. Be a strong student at a base school. Tj is way over rated.

Depends on the base school. Let's not act like going to a mediocre base school provides the same peer group as TJ. And the bottom 10% of TJ students attend the same colleges as the top 10% of the base high school students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP again. Oh dear. These past few replies have been eye-opening. What can we (fcps parents) do to help make this a better experience for children?

I have a TJ kid (senior) and a base school kid. TJ has been a fantastic experience for my TJ kid and base school seems good for my base school kid (only a freshman so don’t know how it will go in future). TJ is not overrated but it’s not for everyone.

Anyways, those Pp didn’t answer your question. There will be a preview session for admitted kids and then they will have a decision date. I don’t know the details because I don’t have an 8th grader. This year’s waitlist will be different than previous years because of the school set aside so might be hard to predict when you will hear. In years past, some kids didn’t hear until July.

[Anonymous]

Also, college admissions is not the way to judge TJ. The experience and education those kids receive is its own value, for the right-fit kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also, college admissions is not the way to judge TJ. The experience and education those kids receive is its own value, for the right-fit kid.

This is the most important point IMO. Too many people focus on the outcome and not the journey itself.

Sure, some students from base schools get into the same universities as TJ students. But for the right fit STEM-focused student, the rigorous education and peer group is worth it in and of itself.

At the base school they may be bored out of their minds in class and socially ostracized as weird/nerd/unpopular, while at TJ they'd fit in both academically and socially.

There's a large difference between attending a school where every student is academically motivated and a school where less than 10% of students are academically motivated and the rest resents them.

If one doesn't like TJ, they can always transfer down to a base school. The opposite does not happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, college admissions is not the way to judge TJ. The experience and education those kids receive is its own value, for the right-fit kid.

This is the most important point IMO. Too many people focus on the outcome and not the journey itself.

Sure, some students from base schools get into the same universities as TJ students. But for the right fit STEM-focused student, the rigorous education and peer group is worth it in and of itself.

At the base school they may be bored out of their minds in class and socially ostracized as weird/nerd/unpopular, while at TJ they'd fit in both academically and socially.

There's a large difference between attending a school where every student is academically motivated and a school where less than 10% of students are academically motivated and the rest resents them.

If one doesn't like TJ, they can always transfer down to a base school. The opposite does not happen.

The strongest math and science students that I know were not admitted this year. Those students will stay at their base schools and do very well with a stronger group of peers than in previous years. TJ will not be able to offer more remediation for the bottom without taking away from the top. Have a great day!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Relax. Not the end of the world. Many TJ kids attending dame school as my non TJ senior. Except mine didn’t get the amount of stress Tj kids went through. Be a strong student at a base school. Tj is way over rated.

Depends on the base school. Let's not act like going to a mediocre base school provides the same peer group as TJ. And the bottom 10% of TJ students attend the same colleges as the top 10% of the base high school students.

This is false. The top 10% of our base high school isn't going to Virginia Tech.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Relax. Not the end of the world. Many TJ kids attending dame school as my non TJ senior. Except mine didn’t get the amount of stress Tj kids went through. Be a strong student at a base school. Tj is way over rated.

Depends on the base school. Let's not act like going to a mediocre base school provides the same peer group as TJ. And the bottom 10% of TJ students attend the same colleges as the top 10% of the base high school students.

This is false. The top 10% of our base high school isn't going to Virginia Tech.

Which base school are we talking about and what colleges are they going to instead? Virginia Tech is a very popular destination for the top 10% at most Fairfax County base schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, college admissions is not the way to judge TJ. The experience and education those kids receive is its own value, for the right-fit kid.

This is the most important point IMO. Too many people focus on the outcome and not the journey itself.

Sure, some students from base schools get into the same universities as TJ students. But for the right fit STEM-focused student, the rigorous education and peer group is worth it in and of itself.

At the base school they may be bored out of their minds in class and socially ostracized as weird/nerd/unpopular, while at TJ they'd fit in both academically and socially.

There's a large difference between attending a school where every student is academically motivated and a school where less than 10% of students are academically motivated and the rest resents them.

If one doesn't like TJ, they can always transfer down to a base school. The opposite does not happen.

The strongest math and science students that I know were not admitted this year. Those students will stay at their base schools and do very well with a stronger group of peers than in previous years. TJ will not be able to offer more remediation for the bottom without taking away from the top. Have a great day!

Agreed. I have one

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Relax. Not the end of the world. Many TJ kids attending dame school as my non TJ senior. Except mine didn’t get the amount of stress Tj kids went through. Be a strong student at a base school. Tj is way over rated.

Depends on the base school. Let's not act like going to a mediocre base school provides the same peer group as TJ. And the bottom 10% of TJ students attend the same colleges as the top 10% of the base high school students.

This year top 10% of TJ are attending mediocre schools, my DC is one of them and so are many of her peers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The strongest math and science students that I know were not admitted this year. Those students will stay at their base schools and do very well with a stronger group of peers than in previous years. TJ will not be able to offer more remediation for the bottom without taking away from the top. Have a great day!

Agree. Very well put. We saw this in the elementary schools. Poor teachers spending way more time and attention to "baby sit" the under-performing kids ("remediation"). The kids not needing re-mediation did not get any attention (not learning anything new).

[Anonymous]

They’ve already thrown the baby out with the bath water at TJ and anyone fortunate enough to get turned down lucked out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, college admissions is not the way to judge TJ. The experience and education those kids receive is its own value, for the right-fit kid.

This is the most important point IMO. Too many people focus on the outcome and not the journey itself.

Sure, some students from base schools get into the same universities as TJ students. But for the right fit STEM-focused student, the rigorous education and peer group is worth it in and of itself.

At the base school they may be bored out of their minds in class and socially ostracized as weird/nerd/unpopular, while at TJ they'd fit in both academically and socially.

There's a large difference between attending a school where every student is academically motivated and a school where less than 10% of students are academically motivated and the rest resents them.

If one doesn't like TJ, they can always transfer down to a base school. The opposite does not happen.

All of this is true. I’m a teacher and every few years I get students who come back mid year from TJ. It’s usually for the same reason, they felt they didn’t fit in socially there. It’s a great school but not for everyone. Some may finally find their social peer group but it may not be the high school experience others need. If you are unsure, try it. They can always go back to their base school. It happens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Consider yourself lucky....my child has PTSD from TJ. And I am not kidding.

Did you move the child back to base when you realized that their mental health was being affected?

Different poster. Same experience. We did. Best. Decision. Ever. DC accepted at many schools, heading to top school. Well balanced life and ready for college. In hindsight we would have never sent our DC there in the first place.