Is NCSSM better than TJHSST?
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Anonymous
Why would you put 1/3 of the class in an honors program at a school that has a 20% acceptance rate? A place like UVA doesn't really need an honors program. The whole school is an honors program with how selective they are. |
Anonymous
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Both would be considered the premier school in their respective states and attract uber smart kids. However,
It's a different school than TJ in several ways. First, the students at NCSSM come from all around the state, not just one region. And NC is a big state, so they really can pick the cream of the crop out of its whole population. Plus the school is smaller, so again picking under 1,000 of the best students from the whole state vs. twice that number from just one region of the state. Second, students only go for two years, meaning they don't pick their students until 10th grade which really lets them see how accomplished the students already are. Also, it's not just guaranteed UNC admission for students, but it's FREE tuition to UNC (and any UNC-system school really) for those who go to NCSSM so pretty nice incentive. I live in NC and used to live in NoVA, so am somewhat familiar with both schools. I know several people who go/went to NCSSM. The ones I know are extremely smart. One of my son's friends just got accepted for next year off the waitlist. This kid is crazy smart. Probably the smartest in the grade at our fairly high-achieving high school. My daughter's friend went a few years ago. Again, crazy smart girl (now goes to Northwestern). My friend's daughter goes to the Morganton campus. Both of her parents went to NCSSM in the 90s, so probably has the brains, too. Of course, TJ is/was made up of super smart kids, too. When I lived there, the kids I knew who went were also extremely smart. I have moved away, and I know admissions criteria has changed, so I don't know how that has affected it. But the fact that it's just pulling kids from one region of the state and has twice the number of NCSSM is pretty darn impressive. |
Anonymous
Honors is less about the institutions selectivity and more about giving a group of students special privileges non-honors students don't (e.g. no required classes). Personally, I don't think UVA should have Echols. |
Anonymous
Yes, more than once. |
Anonymous
But TJ has more overall total. NCSSM has a good year. It happens from time to time. |
Anonymous
Pretty much all UVA admits are high-performing. |
Anonymous
It draws from the entire state of NC, and admits students during high school. |
Anonymous
There are still great publics at NC so all the best don't automatically go to NCSSM, similar to with TJ. I think the more surprising thing is schools like Exeter didn't have more since they draw from all over the world. |
Anonymous
It's also mostly residential/boarding so students have more time for their projects. |
Anonymous
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I grew up in NC and know people who went to NCSSM. I’d don’t think “better” applies, because they are very different models.
TJ is an 8-5 high school you attend for 4 years while you live at home, a commutable distance from TJ. It serves a largely UMC, highly educated area. NCSSM is a boarding school that starts junior year and draws from across a state with wide income and resource disparities. It’s the only way kids in some rural areas can access decent STEM. I was a STEM nerd and would have love to attend TJ. But I did not app,Y to NCSSM because I wasn’t readY for what is, essentially, a college environment without living at home or day to day family contact at age 15. One of my kids is a STEM nerd and did attend TJ. There are pros and cons to the model. NCSSM serves the whole state and doesn’t require MS aged kids to decide whether to devote their lives to STEM. But, you do have to leave home two years early, and many kids who could benefit can’t or don’t want to. My TJ kid has ADHD apart from us wanting him at home, he didn’t have the executive functioning skills to succeed academically— let alone in every other facet of life. Another con to NCSSM is that junior year may be to late to really help the kids who need it most. Sure Research triangle and Charlotte have some great high schools. But, poor rural school districts in NC may have very watered down honors, GT, etc., (if they have them at all), no AP classes or AP classes no one passes (my HS had AP English lit and Calc only. 6-8 kids per class. I was the only one my year to pass either). 11 years of poorly taught, watered down classes creates a STEM deficit can’t be overcome in two years, no matter how talented the kid. TJ and Maggie Walker are the biggies. BuT every region of VA has a Governor’s school. Personally, I prefer that model to 2 Years of boarding school. |
Anonymous
Stuyvesant has long held and continues to hold that distinction. Half the school is on free reduced lunch so they frequently have more compelling applications. |
Anonymous
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NCSSM is within walking distance of Duke University,
An 25 minute drive from UNC, and 45 minute drive from NC State. Easy places to find research mentorship for the Research competition. NCSSM draws from the entire 10M population state of NC NCSSM is a boarding school, so only the most dedicated students attend, and they don't have the distractions of a non-school family and social life. Regeneron is not very interesting. It is heavily biased toward who gets the best mentor/lab. |
Anonymous
Plenty of parents here who are Machiavellian enough to map out their lives years in advance to put their kids in position to attend one or the other, based on input from this thread. |
Anonymous
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https://www.ncssm.edu/residential/unc-system-guaranteed-admission#:~:text=NCSSM%20Residential%20program%20graduates%20who,universities%20to%20which%20they%20apply.
It's not UNC Chapel Hill guarantee. One of 16 UNC schools including UNC Chapel Hill, NCSU, ECU, NC A&T and others. |