What exactly is the "holistic review"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are discussing with DC about TJ application. At the TJ admission information session, students asked about the admission criteria. The lady answered that all applications would go through a holistic review. My current 8th grader knows some students who applied for TJ last school year. He knows them by taking the same class or doing the same club activities. Among the student he knows who got admitted, quite a few weren't strong in math and science, but strong in writing instead. Several students who were not strong in either STEM or writing also got admitted including someone who is a continuous free rider in group work. Surprisingly, some students who earned good rank in math competition and Scioly, science bowl didn't get in.
DC is strong in math and science. After watching TJ student's Vlog, as parents, we kinda think that DC might be a good fit to TJ. But DC seems not very motivated to apply for TJ. He is passionate in STEM and has perfect GPA. We tried to persuade him to apply. But based on what he observed, he is still hesitating to apply because of the the ambiguous process and result.
Does anyone know what type of students TJ are looking for. How does TJ decide whether a student should be admitted? How exactly does the "holistic" process work?

The "holistic review" is primarily 2 things:
Experience factors: are you on free/reduced lunch; are you disabled or learning impair3ed; are you an english language learned; etc. The FARM is probably the biggest thing.
The essays: they will almost always ask something about your demonstrated interest in stem; they will ask one stem related essay questions (last year it was one of those, if a train leaves chicago at 5 pm...); they will ask why you want to go to TJ or what you can contribute to TJ, etc.

The admissions process will try to take a minimum of 1.5% of the students from every middle school. Between the allocations for other school systems and the 1.5% allocation for each middle school, there are only 100 out of 550 seats left for "merit"

If your child is really into STEM type things, the juice is qworth the squeeze.
I am a Tj parent and I am very opposed to the new admissions process. But as much as I btch and moan about the racist reasons for changing the admissions process, TJ still manages to collect a large critical mass of like minded students. The bottom of the class really struggles to keep up and frequently does not return for group in Northern Virginia, this is it.

If I were to "sell" TJ to a kid like yours, I would focus on:
The overwhelming number of academically related competitions supported by club activity (math team, science olympiads, etc.)
The science labs are almost as good as small college;
The senior research project is a year long research project where you work on a single research project including stuff like particle physics, artificial intelligence, robotics, biotech, nanochem, etc. The school requires a bunch of pre-requisites and to some extent you chart a course to your desires research project;
If you were ever interested in playing varsity sports, you can probably find a spot on a team here.

Another TJ parent here. Agree with all of this. Believe the "experience factors" account for 40% of a student's total score in the "wholistic review."

My youngest did not have any experience factors. The factors are not something you as a parent, can just buy for your child, like buying Kumon or Mathnasium tutoring.

Please note: we did not do those or any other outside tutoring; my child was the one who drove the whole process and really wanted to go, likely due in part to friends/peer group at middle school.

I do not know what they wrote on the essay. But I believe my child spoke with peer group interested in going to TJ (attended one of the 3 traditional feeder MS). DC said they found the single math problem really easy (though the wording was apparently confusing).

DC did try out for, and make it onto, the Math Counts team in MS. Math Counts is highly competitive at the 3 traditional feeder middle schools. Math Counts participation might have been influential, but there is not much in the way of transparency in any individual case.

Another side of the story to balance, my kid get into TJ and we have experience factor and I believe it helps my kid to get in. We are farm and it is not a privilege of being poor. We are farm not by choice and you don’t know every family story. I would gladly exchange the TJ seat over my farms status, in a heartbeat.
Side note, my kid thriving and never been happier at TJ.

I'm glad it's working out for your kid but they can implement experience factors without eliminating the test. Every year there are kids who come in an struggle and would have been better off never coming. Meanwhile there is some other kid with the exact same income at th3e exact same school that would have flourished at Tj but weren't idnetified because the selection process is such trash.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are discussing with DC about TJ application. At the TJ admission information session, students asked about the admission criteria. The lady answered that all applications would go through a holistic review. My current 8th grader knows some students who applied for TJ last school year. He knows them by taking the same class or doing the same club activities. Among the student he knows who got admitted, quite a few weren't strong in math and science, but strong in writing instead. Several students who were not strong in either STEM or writing also got admitted including someone who is a continuous free rider in group work. Surprisingly, some students who earned good rank in math competition and Scioly, science bowl didn't get in.
DC is strong in math and science. After watching TJ student's Vlog, as parents, we kinda think that DC might be a good fit to TJ. But DC seems not very motivated to apply for TJ. He is passionate in STEM and has perfect GPA. We tried to persuade him to apply. But based on what he observed, he is still hesitating to apply because of the the ambiguous process and result.
Does anyone know what type of students TJ are looking for. How does TJ decide whether a student should be admitted? How exactly does the "holistic" process work?

They admit the very top students from each school.

You have a strange way of defining top. Once the GPAs qualify a student, they are discarded. The test scores end up bunched. The differentiator is experience factors which are ELL, SPED, FARMS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are discussing with DC about TJ application. At the TJ admission information session, students asked about the admission criteria. The lady answered that all applications would go through a holistic review. My current 8th grader knows some students who applied for TJ last school year. He knows them by taking the same class or doing the same club activities. Among the student he knows who got admitted, quite a few weren't strong in math and science, but strong in writing instead. Several students who were not strong in either STEM or writing also got admitted including someone who is a continuous free rider in group work. Surprisingly, some students who earned good rank in math competition and Scioly, science bowl didn't get in.
DC is strong in math and science. After watching TJ student's Vlog, as parents, we kinda think that DC might be a good fit to TJ. But DC seems not very motivated to apply for TJ. He is passionate in STEM and has perfect GPA. We tried to persuade him to apply. But based on what he observed, he is still hesitating to apply because of the the ambiguous process and result.
Does anyone know what type of students TJ are looking for. How does TJ decide whether a student should be admitted? How exactly does the "holistic" process work?

They admit the very top students from each school.

You have a strange way of defining top. Once the GPAs qualify a student, they are discarded. The test scores end up bunched. The differentiator is experience factors which are ELL, SPED, FARMS.

So if 200 kids from a school apply and all have 4.0 and half of those in Algebra 2 and other in Geometry and all take test and 20 all get same scores, who will be the “top 1.5%” and who decides that? Does the “top 1.5%” go back to MS or does Gatehouse decide that? Assuming 1.5% would be 10 students, how does the ranking get weighted? If click all 3 experience factors is that the absolute top and then anyone who clicks 2 factors and then 1 factor and then would it go by student in algebra 2 and then the one in geometry? It’s the 1.5% ranking that I don’t get for schools with so many kids applying, almost guaranteed to have many kids with exact same scores- so when that happens, how are those kids ranked to get the 1.5%?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are discussing with DC about TJ application. At the TJ admission information session, students asked about the admission criteria. The lady answered that all applications would go through a holistic review. My current 8th grader knows some students who applied for TJ last school year. He knows them by taking the same class or doing the same club activities. Among the student he knows who got admitted, quite a few weren't strong in math and science, but strong in writing instead. Several students who were not strong in either STEM or writing also got admitted including someone who is a continuous free rider in group work. Surprisingly, some students who earned good rank in math competition and Scioly, science bowl didn't get in.
DC is strong in math and science. After watching TJ student's Vlog, as parents, we kinda think that DC might be a good fit to TJ. But DC seems not very motivated to apply for TJ. He is passionate in STEM and has perfect GPA. We tried to persuade him to apply. But based on what he observed, he is still hesitating to apply because of the the ambiguous process and result.
Does anyone know what type of students TJ are looking for. How does TJ decide whether a student should be admitted? How exactly does the "holistic" process work?

They admit the very top students from each school.

You have a strange way of defining top. Once the GPAs qualify a student, they are discarded. The test scores end up bunched. The differentiator is experience factors which are ELL, SPED, FARMS.

So if 200 kids from a school apply and all have 4.0 and half of those in Algebra 2 and other in Geometry and all take test and 20 all get same scores, who will be the “top 1.5%” and who decides that? Does the “top 1.5%” go back to MS or does Gatehouse decide that? Assuming 1.5% would be 10 students, how does the ranking get weighted? If click all 3 experience factors is that the absolute top and then anyone who clicks 2 factors and then 1 factor and then would it go by student in algebra 2 and then the one in geometry? It’s the 1.5% ranking that I don’t get for schools with so many kids applying, almost guaranteed to have many kids with exact same scores- so when that happens, how are those kids ranked to get the 1.5%?

Experience factors are points. All things being equal, a kid who takes Algebra in 8th, but has and IEP for a lisp is getting in over a kid who took algebra 2 in 8th, but doesn't have an IEP, is middle class, and a native english speaker.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are discussing with DC about TJ application. At the TJ admission information session, students asked about the admission criteria. The lady answered that all applications would go through a holistic review. My current 8th grader knows some students who applied for TJ last school year. He knows them by taking the same class or doing the same club activities. Among the student he knows who got admitted, quite a few weren't strong in math and science, but strong in writing instead. Several students who were not strong in either STEM or writing also got admitted including someone who is a continuous free rider in group work. Surprisingly, some students who earned good rank in math competition and Scioly, science bowl didn't get in.
DC is strong in math and science. After watching TJ student's Vlog, as parents, we kinda think that DC might be a good fit to TJ. But DC seems not very motivated to apply for TJ. He is passionate in STEM and has perfect GPA. We tried to persuade him to apply. But based on what he observed, he is still hesitating to apply because of the the ambiguous process and result.
Does anyone know what type of students TJ are looking for. How does TJ decide whether a student should be admitted? How exactly does the "holistic" process work?

They admit the very top students from each school.

You have a strange way of defining top. Once the GPAs qualify a student, they are discarded. The test scores end up bunched. The differentiator is experience factors which are ELL, SPED, FARMS.

Agree with PP; top students should be determined by an objective standard like a test score, not by giving bonus points for hardship or because of the middle school SES area. That doesn't make them "top" students. I do agree that we may need another tech magnet if more students are actually qualified for and motivated to do the rigorous coursework. It would be a blessing for those students not to have to travel so far. Note, my kids had no interest in TJ, so I have no horses in the race. It's crazy that the schools are in the hands of these "equity warriors." FCPS can't be in charge of social engineering for the families that have challenges; honestly, that might take a generation or so. That big "Asian advantage" is nothing more than parents and kids who are willing to work hard, rather than whine or expect favors due to experience favors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are discussing with DC about TJ application. At the TJ admission information session, students asked about the admission criteria. The lady answered that all applications would go through a holistic review. My current 8th grader knows some students who applied for TJ last school year. He knows them by taking the same class or doing the same club activities. Among the student he knows who got admitted, quite a few weren't strong in math and science, but strong in writing instead. Several students who were not strong in either STEM or writing also got admitted including someone who is a continuous free rider in group work. Surprisingly, some students who earned good rank in math competition and Scioly, science bowl didn't get in.
DC is strong in math and science. After watching TJ student's Vlog, as parents, we kinda think that DC might be a good fit to TJ. But DC seems not very motivated to apply for TJ. He is passionate in STEM and has perfect GPA. We tried to persuade him to apply. But based on what he observed, he is still hesitating to apply because of the the ambiguous process and result.
Does anyone know what type of students TJ are looking for. How does TJ decide whether a student should be admitted? How exactly does the "holistic" process work?

They admit the very top students from each school.

You have a strange way of defining top. Once the GPAs qualify a student, they are discarded. The test scores end up bunched. The differentiator is experience factors which are ELL, SPED, FARMS.

Agree with PP; top students should be determined by an objective standard like a test score, not by giving bonus points for hardship or because of the middle school SES area. That doesn't make them "top" students. I do agree that we may need another tech magnet if more students are actually qualified for and motivated to do the rigorous coursework. It would be a blessing for those students not to have to travel so far. Note, my kids had no interest in TJ, so I have no horses in the race. It's crazy that the schools are in the hands of these "equity warriors." FCPS can't be in charge of social engineering for the families that have challenges; honestly, that might take a generation or so. That big "Asian advantage" is nothing more than parents and kids who are willing to work hard, rather than whine or expect favors due to experience favors.

All middle schools get the same 1.5%

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are discussing with DC about TJ application. At the TJ admission information session, students asked about the admission criteria. The lady answered that all applications would go through a holistic review. My current 8th grader knows some students who applied for TJ last school year. He knows them by taking the same class or doing the same club activities. Among the student he knows who got admitted, quite a few weren't strong in math and science, but strong in writing instead. Several students who were not strong in either STEM or writing also got admitted including someone who is a continuous free rider in group work. Surprisingly, some students who earned good rank in math competition and Scioly, science bowl didn't get in.
DC is strong in math and science. After watching TJ student's Vlog, as parents, we kinda think that DC might be a good fit to TJ. But DC seems not very motivated to apply for TJ. He is passionate in STEM and has perfect GPA. We tried to persuade him to apply. But based on what he observed, he is still hesitating to apply because of the the ambiguous process and result.
Does anyone know what type of students TJ are looking for. How does TJ decide whether a student should be admitted? How exactly does the "holistic" process work?

They admit the very top students from each school.

You have a strange way of defining top. Once the GPAs qualify a student, they are discarded. The test scores end up bunched. The differentiator is experience factors which are ELL, SPED, FARMS.

Agree with PP; top students should be determined by an objective standard like a test score, not by giving bonus points for hardship or because of the middle school SES area. That doesn't make them "top" students. I do agree that we may need another tech magnet if more students are actually qualified for and motivated to do the rigorous coursework. It would be a blessing for those students not to have to travel so far. Note, my kids had no interest in TJ, so I have no horses in the race. It's crazy that the schools are in the hands of these "equity warriors." FCPS can't be in charge of social engineering for the families that have challenges; honestly, that might take a generation or so. That big "Asian advantage" is nothing more than parents and kids who are willing to work hard, rather than whine or expect favors due to experience favors.

All middle schools get the same 1.5%

That formula, while it guarantees geographic diversity among the students, it in no way ensures that the students admitted are the best of FCPS. They may be "good enough" to do the work or not, but the days of TJ being among the top few schools in the country in terms of academic achievement will be a thing of the past, as recent stats and rankings have shown.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are discussing with DC about TJ application. At the TJ admission information session, students asked about the admission criteria. The lady answered that all applications would go through a holistic review. My current 8th grader knows some students who applied for TJ last school year. He knows them by taking the same class or doing the same club activities. Among the student he knows who got admitted, quite a few weren't strong in math and science, but strong in writing instead. Several students who were not strong in either STEM or writing also got admitted including someone who is a continuous free rider in group work. Surprisingly, some students who earned good rank in math competition and Scioly, science bowl didn't get in.
DC is strong in math and science. After watching TJ student's Vlog, as parents, we kinda think that DC might be a good fit to TJ. But DC seems not very motivated to apply for TJ. He is passionate in STEM and has perfect GPA. We tried to persuade him to apply. But based on what he observed, he is still hesitating to apply because of the the ambiguous process and result.
Does anyone know what type of students TJ are looking for. How does TJ decide whether a student should be admitted? How exactly does the "holistic" process work?

They admit the very top students from each school.

You have a strange way of defining top. Once the GPAs qualify a student, they are discarded. The test scores end up bunched. The differentiator is experience factors which are ELL, SPED, FARMS.

Agree with PP; top students should be determined by an objective standard like a test score, not by giving bonus points for hardship or because of the middle school SES area. That doesn't make them "top" students. I do agree that we may need another tech magnet if more students are actually qualified for and motivated to do the rigorous coursework. It would be a blessing for those students not to have to travel so far. Note, my kids had no interest in TJ, so I have no horses in the race. It's crazy that the schools are in the hands of these "equity warriors." FCPS can't be in charge of social engineering for the families that have challenges; honestly, that might take a generation or so. That big "Asian advantage" is nothing more than parents and kids who are willing to work hard, rather than whine or expect favors due to experience favors.

All middle schools get the same 1.5%

That formula, while it guarantees geographic diversity among the students, it in no way ensures that the students admitted are the best of FCPS. They may be "good enough" to do the work or not, but the days of TJ being among the top few schools in the country in terms of academic achievement will be a thing of the past, as recent stats and rankings have shown.

The top 1.5% of any middle school could succeed at TJ. The problem is that it isn't the top 1.5%, it the top kids with a qualifying GPA and essays that are close enough for experience factors to matter

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Holistic review consistently yields the best possible results. That's why all the best schools use it too.

Umm . . . I'm pretty sure its what was used to discriminate against Asians. Objective measures - GPA, class rank, test scores, etc. would have led to classes at Harvard and Yale that were almost entirely Asian.

[Anonymous]

So there are HS in FCPS that I have heard people describe as being “2 schools”- where one cohort of kids run with the AP classes kids and one cohort of kids that aren’t in AP. What did TJ used to be? I had the impression that while all were different kids, was a school of 1500 SAT and almost all unweighted 4.0 that made up the students. Is it now more the “2 school” school— meaning, classes aren’t being watered down so some kids just won’t take the top science and math classes because they aren’t and won’t be coming in accelerated enough in their classes to do so? So will have now 2 schools where some are 1500/4.0 and another group of just starting geometry (or algebra) and never getting close to the top grades/test scores….. thoughts?

[Anonymous]

If that pattern plays out over time, the principal will be fired

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are discussing with DC about TJ application. At the TJ admission information session, students asked about the admission criteria. The lady answered that all applications would go through a holistic review. My current 8th grader knows some students who applied for TJ last school year. He knows them by taking the same class or doing the same club activities. Among the student he knows who got admitted, quite a few weren't strong in math and science, but strong in writing instead. Several students who were not strong in either STEM or writing also got admitted including someone who is a continuous free rider in group work. Surprisingly, some students who earned good rank in math competition and Scioly, science bowl didn't get in.
DC is strong in math and science. After watching TJ student's Vlog, as parents, we kinda think that DC might be a good fit to TJ. But DC seems not very motivated to apply for TJ. He is passionate in STEM and has perfect GPA. We tried to persuade him to apply. But based on what he observed, he is still hesitating to apply because of the the ambiguous process and result.
Does anyone know what type of students TJ are looking for. How does TJ decide whether a student should be admitted? How exactly does the "holistic" process work?

They admit the very top students from each school.

You have a strange way of defining top. Once the GPAs qualify a student, they are discarded. The test scores end up bunched. The differentiator is experience factors which are ELL, SPED, FARMS.

So if 200 kids from a school apply and all have 4.0 and half of those in Algebra 2 and other in Geometry and all take test and 20 all get same scores, who will be the “top 1.5%” and who decides that? Does the “top 1.5%” go back to MS or does Gatehouse decide that? Assuming 1.5% would be 10 students, how does the ranking get weighted? If click all 3 experience factors is that the absolute top and then anyone who clicks 2 factors and then 1 factor and then would it go by student in algebra 2 and then the one in geometry? It’s the 1.5% ranking that I don’t get for schools with so many kids applying, almost guaranteed to have many kids with exact same scores- so when that happens, how are those kids ranked to get the 1.5%?

They don't look at courses taken as part of the holistic review. They're only looking at GPA and essays. An 8th grader in pre-calc and all AAP classes who got an A- in AAP History and all As otherwise would be rated lower than a kid in Honors Algebra I, Honors English, Honors Science, and gen ed level history with all As. I would imagine that there are a lot of kids at schools like Longfellow with 4.0 GPAs who can write a decent essay. So, there would be a lot of kids clumped at the top. Since experience factors are now so important, I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people try to get their kid an ADHD diagnosis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Holistic review consistently yields the best possible results. That's why all the best schools use it too.

For a review to be 'holistic,' a decent number of inputs are required. All of the best schools do a holistic review using test scores, GPA, list of courses taken and course rigor, letters of recommendation, ECs, significant achievements, essays, etc. You can't do a holistic review with just a gpa and some generic essays.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are discussing with DC about TJ application. At the TJ admission information session, students asked about the admission criteria. The lady answered that all applications would go through a holistic review. My current 8th grader knows some students who applied for TJ last school year. He knows them by taking the same class or doing the same club activities. Among the student he knows who got admitted, quite a few weren't strong in math and science, but strong in writing instead. Several students who were not strong in either STEM or writing also got admitted including someone who is a continuous free rider in group work. Surprisingly, some students who earned good rank in math competition and Scioly, science bowl didn't get in.
DC is strong in math and science. After watching TJ student's Vlog, as parents, we kinda think that DC might be a good fit to TJ. But DC seems not very motivated to apply for TJ. He is passionate in STEM and has perfect GPA. We tried to persuade him to apply. But based on what he observed, he is still hesitating to apply because of the the ambiguous process and result.
Does anyone know what type of students TJ are looking for. How does TJ decide whether a student should be admitted? How exactly does the "holistic" process work?

They admit the very top students from each school.

You have a strange way of defining top. Once the GPAs qualify a student, they are discarded. The test scores end up bunched. The differentiator is experience factors which are ELL, SPED, FARMS.

Agree with PP; top students should be determined by an objective standard like a test score, not by giving bonus points for hardship or because of the middle school SES area. That doesn't make them "top" students. I do agree that we may need another tech magnet if more students are actually qualified for and motivated to do the rigorous coursework. It would be a blessing for those students not to have to travel so far. Note, my kids had no interest in TJ, so I have no horses in the race. It's crazy that the schools are in the hands of these "equity warriors." FCPS can't be in charge of social engineering for the families that have challenges; honestly, that might take a generation or so. That big "Asian advantage" is nothing more than parents and kids who are willing to work hard, rather than whine or expect favors due to experience favors.

Another TJ type school somewhere near Chantilly would be pretty nice. So many rocky run kids not going to Tj because of the commute. So many loudon county kids would go if the commute was 30 minutes instead of an hour

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are discussing with DC about TJ application. At the TJ admission information session, students asked about the admission criteria. The lady answered that all applications would go through a holistic review. My current 8th grader knows some students who applied for TJ last school year. He knows them by taking the same class or doing the same club activities. Among the student he knows who got admitted, quite a few weren't strong in math and science, but strong in writing instead. Several students who were not strong in either STEM or writing also got admitted including someone who is a continuous free rider in group work. Surprisingly, some students who earned good rank in math competition and Scioly, science bowl didn't get in.
DC is strong in math and science. After watching TJ student's Vlog, as parents, we kinda think that DC might be a good fit to TJ. But DC seems not very motivated to apply for TJ. He is passionate in STEM and has perfect GPA. We tried to persuade him to apply. But based on what he observed, he is still hesitating to apply because of the the ambiguous process and result.
Does anyone know what type of students TJ are looking for. How does TJ decide whether a student should be admitted? How exactly does the "holistic" process work?

They admit the very top students from each school.

You have a strange way of defining top. Once the GPAs qualify a student, they are discarded. The test scores end up bunched. The differentiator is experience factors which are ELL, SPED, FARMS.

Agree with PP; top students should be determined by an objective standard like a test score, not by giving bonus points for hardship or because of the middle school SES area. That doesn't make them "top" students. I do agree that we may need another tech magnet if more students are actually qualified for and motivated to do the rigorous coursework. It would be a blessing for those students not to have to travel so far. Note, my kids had no interest in TJ, so I have no horses in the race. It's crazy that the schools are in the hands of these "equity warriors." FCPS can't be in charge of social engineering for the families that have challenges; honestly, that might take a generation or so. That big "Asian advantage" is nothing more than parents and kids who are willing to work hard, rather than whine or expect favors due to experience favors.

All middle schools get the same 1.5%

That formula, while it guarantees geographic diversity among the students, it in no way ensures that the students admitted are the best of FCPS. They may be "good enough" to do the work or not, but the days of TJ being among the top few schools in the country in terms of academic achievement will be a thing of the past, as recent stats and rankings have shown.

The top 1.5% of any middle school could succeed at TJ. The problem is that it isn't the top 1.5%, it the top kids with a qualifying GPA and essays that are close enough for experience factors to matter

There's no reason to believe that the kids selected are the best 1.5% from their school. The admissions criteria is too vague.