TJ student sleep hours

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP - not comparing with other kids. I am in the medical field and am aware of problems associated with sleep deprivation. Want to understand what I am signing up my kid for. Is staying up late is the ‘cultural’ norm? Does the level of competition indirectly promote it as acceptable?

The sad thing is I heard parents brag about it - that their child at TJ goes to sleep after them ("them" being parents who sleep around midnight)!

I heard this after child joined TJ, otherwise we would have reconsidered.

[Anonymous]

Thank you to the parents who have shared their 2c'. Very helpful!

[Anonymous]

Our nephew attends MIT and mentioned that most students go to bed after midnight and wake up late. Is this common at other top STEM institutions as well?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This was my #1 concern before accepting TJ's offer. My top priorities were (1) 8 hours of sleep and (2) ample free time and let grades and college admissions fall as they may. I was told that if the student is very strong academically, then it should not be a concern.

My child is able to get to bed by 10 PM until sophomore year and 11 PM in junior year, except for maybe 4-5 nights when HW took longer than expected and they went to bed maybe 1-2 hours later. Senior year, it is more socializing that keeps child up rather than HW or tests.

Ended up being top 5% of class and a couple of HYPSM admits.

Because sleep is one thing I keep pestering my child, this is a constant source of discussion. "All my friends go to bed 2-3 hours after me, why do I have to go to bed so early?" I did learn from child that most students stay up very late at night like 2 or 3 PM.

This was very much my child’s experience also. My child was able to get to bed by 10 or 11 most nights. I drove him in each day, so he could sleep till 7 or so each morning. Also did sports at TJ and an outside club sport all year.

It was the kids who were having a more difficult time with handling the work at TJ who tended to stay up until the wee hours of the morning. Some of the kids he knew had prepped heavily to get into TJ and needed tutors on a consistent basis to get through the coursework.

[Anonymous]

Do the students admitted with lowest math tend to stay up until the wee hours of the morning?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP - not comparing with other kids. I am in the medical field and am aware of problems associated with sleep deprivation. Want to understand what I am signing up my kid for. Is staying up late is the ‘cultural’ norm? Does the level of competition indirectly promote it as acceptable?

They talk about how important sleep is but then don't do the things necessary to reduce late nights.

I didn't know any kids going to sleep before 10 ever. Mostly midnight or later.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our nephew attends MIT and mentioned that most students go to bed after midnight and wake up late. Is this common at other top STEM institutions as well?

This is common at every college.

[Anonymous]

DD is a junior. She goes to bed at 10 most nights (occasionally 11 on a very heavy night) since she needs sleep. She says it is very common for her friends to stay up to midnight but in her view a lot of that is due to procrastination and bad time management. For context, DD does a year round sport, does the TJ season of it, does marching band and a very small amount of club/volunteer hours the last year. She’s busy but has time to decompress, do her ECs and still study and get As. She did NOT take Spanish though. She does use the weekends to work ahead on homework for the coming week. Normally one day will be pretty full with that and the other is relaxing or other stuff.

[Anonymous]

^
DD only has a 30 min commute to TJ though. Kids from far away have a tougher schedule.

[Anonymous]

My kid is top 1% IQ and has always made straight As. She went to TJ and amonst the student body it was a sense of pride and bragging rights to study all night and complain about it. We fought over this unhealthy dynamic. The straw that made me pull her from the school was the conversation about how talk of suicide is normalized amonst her peers. "I'm going to kill myself if l get a 90" type stuff. It stems from the hyper-competitive parents who don't understand what really makes a kid successful IRL. The parents love to brag about the kids grades and the fact that they are TJ students, which adds to this unhealthy dynamic. I'd never seen anything like it. DD is back at her private thriving with healthy and socially normal peers. Every time I look back at that TJ all I see is sickness in our society. We are not even considering it for my younger child. Private might be academically not as rigorous, but it prepares the kids to be successful, knowing it takes more than academics and education for success.

So to answer your question, yes, studyingall night is normal. It's not necessary, but the kids do it and brag about it.

[Anonymous]

If student is weak in math, that homework alone takes most of the evening. Other courses are equally demanding. Hard to prioritize sleep.

[Anonymous]

Could current TJ families share more of their experience? Esp. 9th grade transitioning from MS to HS. Was it a shock to your DC?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Could current TJ families share more of their experience? Esp. 9th grade transitioning from MS to HS. Was it a shock to your DC?

I posted above about my kid konking out by 10 normally. The transition was easier than I worried it would be. The first month was tough - mainly due to Research Statistics (no longer a 9th grade class I hear) and how the teacher took a more indirect approach to teaching math vs direct instruction one. Similar for CS. After the first month this seemed to have worked itself out though.

DD was just so much happier socially at TJ that the greater stress demands were far outweighed by that. So overall plus for mental health. This is going to vary so much kid to kid though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Could current TJ families share more of their experience? Esp. 9th grade transitioning from MS to HS. Was it a shock to your DC?

I posted above about my kid konking out by 10 normally. The transition was easier than I worried it would be. The first month was tough - mainly due to Research Statistics (no longer a 9th grade class I hear) and how the teacher took a more indirect approach to teaching math vs direct instruction one. Similar for CS. After the first month this seemed to have worked itself out though.

DD was just so much happier socially at TJ that the greater stress demands were far outweighed by that. So overall plus for mental health. This is going to vary so much kid to kid though.

Thanks! I heard many kids skip sports to "save time" for studying and clubs, is that true?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Could current TJ families share more of their experience? Esp. 9th grade transitioning from MS to HS. Was it a shock to your DC?

I posted above about my kid konking out by 10 normally. The transition was easier than I worried it would be. The first month was tough - mainly due to Research Statistics (no longer a 9th grade class I hear) and how the teacher took a more indirect approach to teaching math vs direct instruction one. Similar for CS. After the first month this seemed to have worked itself out though.

DD was just so much happier socially at TJ that the greater stress demands were far outweighed by that. So overall plus for mental health. This is going to vary so much kid to kid though.

Thanks! I heard many kids skip sports to "save time" for studying and clubs, is that true?

academically struggling kids skip sports especially after TJ freshman year when grades are glaring in the face. The only students who can afford to spend additional two to three hours after school ends are the smart students. Very different scenario from base school, where athletic students have very little academic pressure.