Confused about TJ

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve read so many negative things about TJ on this forum, it’s starting to sound like the worst school around here. Some comments even make it seem like 90% of the students struggle to get into good universities.
I’m honestly curious- why do so many parents still want their kids to go there? Are they not doing enough research before applying?

Stop, just stop. It is a great school, the students love it, and it gives kids that would be shunned at their base school a place to flourish. College admissions standards are much higher for TJ students, but getting into a Top 10 is not the reason you should go and not the reason your kid will love it if they are brilliant and motivated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve read so many negative things about TJ on this forum, it’s starting to sound like the worst school around here. Some comments even make it seem like 90% of the students struggle to get into good universities.
I’m honestly curious- why do so many parents still want their kids to go there? Are they not doing enough research before applying?

TJ is a great school for the right kid. It is a STEM school with specialized STEM programs for HS. Kids who love math and science and are advanced in academics are likely to be a good fit. They should know that pretty much all of the classes move at a faster pace than similar classes at their base schools, the other students are all smart and ahead, and that the expectations for the teachers are going to be higher. They are less likely to be the big fish because they are attending school with all of the big fishes from their HS.

I would guess that the kids coming from the major feeders, Carson, Cooper, Longfellow, and Rocky Run are at something of an advantage because they will know more kids as Freshman and they are used to being at schools were there are many kids who are smart and ahead. Kids coming from other schools will have fewer people that they know to start and are probably used to being the smartest kid in their class. It could be a rough transition for them.

The fact that there are people posting here that they did not know that their kids had to complete Calculus to graduate from TJ tells you that there are people posting who have not done any research. They could be parents of kids who come from schools that typically send fewer kids who have kids who were urged to apply. Maybe their kids were in Algebra 1 in 8th grade and they have had less exposure to TJ then parents of kids at the four feeders.

This is so not true. Especially now there are top kids not getting into TJ and thriving at their base schools, and some less than top kids getting into TJ and struggling.

There are also those still thrilled to get the TJ gold star and doing fine, and their parents often act like they are undeniably still the best and the brightest. However, that's simply no longer the case.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve read so many negative things about TJ on this forum, it’s starting to sound like the worst school around here. Some comments even make it seem like 90% of the students struggle to get into good universities.
I’m honestly curious- why do so many parents still want their kids to go there? Are they not doing enough research before applying?

Stop, just stop. It is a great school, the students love it, and it gives kids that would be shunned at their base school a place to flourish. College admissions standards are much higher for TJ students, but getting into a Top 10 is not the reason you should go and not the reason your kid will love it if they are brilliant and motivated.

If they'd be shunned at their base school, they are going to be awkward nerds at TJ, too, with a somewhat larger peer group of awkward nerds.

Most TJ kids would do just fine at a base school both socially and academically.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because haters will always be the loudest.
Because the easiest way to shape opinions for whatever intent is thru social media influence, and dcum is the easiest tool.
Because it is become a political target.
Because majority of TJ families are not in here and most haters in here are not TJ parents.

Yes, TJ is not always the best fit for every students, TJ might soul crushing, TJ is hard, very competitive (and there is cheat), rigorous and not always have the best teachers.
But please advise (I want to know) any other school that has better college outcomes in general (in majority of the students), not just cherry pick 2-3 examples.

I think the point is, TJ students trained to be prepare for colleges, and it doesn’t matter what colleges, they will likely will doing well in life.

Signed -
(Parents of TJ student, who no longer having “straight A” but kid find joy at TJ, who is never targeting HYPSM, and not worry what college kid will land in).

PREACH!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve read so many negative things about TJ on this forum, it’s starting to sound like the worst school around here. Some comments even make it seem like 90% of the students struggle to get into good universities.
I’m honestly curious- why do so many parents still want their kids to go there? Are they not doing enough research before applying?

TJ is a great school for the right kid. It is a STEM school with specialized STEM programs for HS. Kids who love math and science and are advanced in academics are likely to be a good fit. They should know that pretty much all of the classes move at a faster pace than similar classes at their base schools, the other students are all smart and ahead, and that the expectations for the teachers are going to be higher. They are less likely to be the big fish because they are attending school with all of the big fishes from their HS.

I would guess that the kids coming from the major feeders, Carson, Cooper, Longfellow, and Rocky Run are at something of an advantage because they will know more kids as Freshman and they are used to being at schools were there are many kids who are smart and ahead. Kids coming from other schools will have fewer people that they know to start and are probably used to being the smartest kid in their class. It could be a rough transition for them.

The fact that there are people posting here that they did not know that their kids had to complete Calculus to graduate from TJ tells you that there are people posting who have not done any research. They could be parents of kids who come from schools that typically send fewer kids who have kids who were urged to apply. Maybe their kids were in Algebra 1 in 8th grade and they have had less exposure to TJ then parents of kids at the four feeders.

This is so not true. Especially now there are top kids not getting into TJ and thriving at their base schools, and some less than top kids getting into TJ and struggling.

There are also those still thrilled to get the TJ gold star and doing fine, and their parents often act like they are undeniably still the best and the brightest. However, that's simply no longer the case.

Second kid going through TJ and if say t least half the kids that would have gotten into TJ in previous years are getting in now from our school. But there are definitely some head scratcher from our school too.

So the environment is definitely enriched but there is also a noticable population of kids that are not really academically focused and would have more balance and be happier at their base school. It's not that these kids aren't smart, they just aren't as into school and academics as you want to be to really get the most of of TJ. A lot of times, they are unprepared for the rigor and they get discouraged.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve read so many negative things about TJ on this forum, it’s starting to sound like the worst school around here. Some comments even make it seem like 90% of the students struggle to get into good universities.
I’m honestly curious- why do so many parents still want their kids to go there? Are they not doing enough research before applying?

Stop, just stop. It is a great school, the students love it, and it gives kids that would be shunned at their base school a place to flourish. College admissions standards are much higher for TJ students, but getting into a Top 10 is not the reason you should go and not the reason your kid will love it if they are brilliant and motivated.

If they'd be shunned at their base school, they are going to be awkward nerds at TJ, too, with a somewhat larger peer group of awkward nerds.

Most TJ kids would do just fine at a base school both socially and academically.

Yes and no. There are plenty of "cool kids" at TJ but there is a critical mass of awkward nerds at TJ that the social pecking order is different. Primarily, there is no real social pecking order to speak of.

Smart nerdy kids that are social will have the opportunity to be very social.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks for all the replies. But oh wow… i was just trying to understand things better, not start WWIII here. Anyway, I think I’m starting to get a clearer picture now. It seems like most TJ parents and their kids are really happy with the school, and a lot of negative comments seem to be from people with no real ties to the school.

[Anonymous]

“ It seems like most TJ parents and their kids are really happy with the school, and a lot of negative comments seem to be from people with no real ties to the school.”

Yes, OP. That’s a fair sum

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve read so many negative things about TJ on this forum, it’s starting to sound like the worst school around here. Some comments even make it seem like 90% of the students struggle to get into good universities.
I’m honestly curious- why do so many parents still want their kids to go there? Are they not doing enough research before applying?

tl;dr


First, many students at TJ are happy to be there, as are their families.

Next, TJ is legitimately a good option for a student who wants to go specifically to college and study Engineering.

Further, some parents see TJ as a good way to prep their students for a pre-med track in college. While many TJ grads do go into engineering or CS, I have been surprised by the number of TJ grads who do not study engineering or CS in college.

Separately, some parents who happen to be from countries where college admissions from “top ranked” schools (whatever that might mean) are easier or better, want TJ not because DC is really interested in STEM, but because they perceive TJ as “top”. Let me quickly note that countries like this exist on *every* continent.

Also, many people (not everyone) believes it is better to be in the top X% of a base HS than to be in the bottom Y% of TJ. (Opinions vary widely on the numbers for X and Y.)

Last, and more personally, “Asian” is an incredibly broad category. It is too broad to be meaningful, in fact. There are huge historical, linguistic, religious, and other differences between W Asians (including the Middle East), S Asians, SE Asians, and E Asians. After all, Asia is the largest single continent by population.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve read so many negative things about TJ on this forum, it’s starting to sound like the worst school around here. Some comments even make it seem like 90% of the students struggle to get into good universities.
I’m honestly curious- why do so many parents still want their kids to go there? Are they not doing enough research before applying?

tl;dr


First, many students at TJ are happy to be there, as are their families.

Next, TJ is legitimately a good option for a student who wants to go specifically to college and study Engineering.

Further, some parents see TJ as a good way to prep their students for a pre-med track in college. While many TJ grads do go into engineering or CS, I have been surprised by the number of TJ grads who do not study engineering or CS in college.

Separately, some parents who happen to be from countries where college admissions from “top ranked” schools (whatever that might mean) are easier or better, want TJ not because DC is really interested in STEM, but because they perceive TJ as “top”. Let me quickly note that countries like this exist on *every* continent.

Also, many people (not everyone) believes it is better to be in the top X% of a base HS than to be in the bottom Y% of TJ. (Opinions vary widely on the numbers for X and Y.)

Last, and more personally, “Asian” is an incredibly broad category. It is too broad to be meaningful, in fact. There are huge historical, linguistic, religious, and other differences between W Asians (including the Middle East), S Asians, SE Asians, and E Asians. After all, Asia is the largest single continent by population.

NP and TJ parent: agree completely with this comprehensive response.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve read so many negative things about TJ on this forum, it’s starting to sound like the worst school around here. Some comments even make it seem like 90% of the students struggle to get into good universities.
I’m honestly curious- why do so many parents still want their kids to go there? Are they not doing enough research before applying?

Hi OP!

TJ parent (and also a parent volunteer). We love TJ and our child is happy there. Some other person up thread write a wonderful summation of TJ; most students love TJ.

But your observation is also true: you said you have read so many negative things about TJ here on DCUM. How can both be true?

Maybe the real problem is: DCUM.