TJ GPA calculation for FCPS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My younger son who got in to TJ had a 4.42 weighted gpa when he was applying.

Weighted how?

Normally Honors classes receive a .5 point bump. An A in an honors class is a 4.5 while an A in a regular class is a 4.0. The highest GPA most kids applying to TJ should have is a 4.5, if they count the weighted grades. TJ doesn’t count the weighted grades for admission so the highest GPA is a 4.0.

Thanks, that tracks.

[Anonymous]

My DD has A for every class, including Geometry and other AAP classes, without any retakes. The lowest is 97/100. She is well-rounded, not screaming STEM. Does this kind of kid benefit from going to TJ?? Does this type of GPA very common or competitive? She is from a TJ feeder school if that makes a difference.

[Anonymous]

My kid got in with 3.65 gpa. Geometry in 8th, all honors. If your essay is extremely good and you know how to answer their questions well, you will get in. All these people saying don’t go if you have anything lower than a 4.0 just want an advantage. My kid is doing great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My younger son who got in to TJ had a 4.42 weighted gpa when he was applying.

Weighted how?

Normally Honors classes receive a .5 point bump. An A in an honors class is a 4.5 while an A in a regular class is a 4.0. The highest GPA most kids applying to TJ should have is a 4.5, if they count the weighted grades. TJ doesn’t count the weighted grades for admission so the highest GPA is a 4.0.

But middle schoolers can't take AP classes, can they?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My younger son who got in to TJ had a 4.42 weighted gpa when he was applying.

Weighted how?

Normally Honors classes receive a .5 point bump. An A in an honors class is a 4.5 while an A in a regular class is a 4.0. The highest GPA most kids applying to TJ should have is a 4.5, if they count the weighted grades. TJ doesn’t count the weighted grades for admission so the highest GPA is a 4.0.

But middle schoolers can't take AP classes, can they?

No, MS students don’t take AP classes. AP classes receive a 1 point weight so an A = 5.0 instead of a 4.5 (honors) or 4.0 (regular)

MS stuents take AAP classes, which show up as AA classes on schedules and the report card. Those are weighted the same as Honors classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD has A for every class, including Geometry and other AAP classes, without any retakes. The lowest is 97/100. She is well-rounded, not screaming STEM. Does this kind of kid benefit from going to TJ?? Does this type of GPA very common or competitive? She is from a TJ feeder school if that makes a difference.

Most kids at TJ have 4.0 grades, I think the average last year for incoming freshman was a 3.96. Most have 4 honors classes, not three. They all look well rounded on paper because the are doing well in all of their classes. Especially at the feeder schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid got in with 3.65 gpa. Geometry in 8th, all honors. If your essay is extremely good and you know how to answer their questions well, you will get in. All these people saying don’t go if you have anything lower than a 4.0 just want an advantage. My kid is doing great.

...seriously? By great you mean has a few Cs?

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the reality check. It’s aligned with my thinking.
For kids that are generally motivated, but not the hardest worker, do well in self study, somewhat competitive, self-disciplined, but not super STEM focused, like not making Mathcount team, only score average on AMC8 etc, do they have a chance to excel at TJ? For “excel”, I mean in the top 50th percentile, or even 25th. Or they are more fit for base school, which is also a great one.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD has A for every class, including Geometry and other AAP classes, without any retakes. The lowest is 97/100. She is well-rounded, not screaming STEM. Does this kind of kid benefit from going to TJ?? Does this type of GPA very common or competitive? She is from a TJ feeder school if that makes a difference.

Most kids at TJ have 4.0 grades, I think the average last year for incoming freshman was a 3.96. Most have 4 honors classes, not three. They all look well rounded on paper because the are doing well in all of their classes. Especially at the feeder schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for the reality check. It’s aligned with my thinking.
For kids that are generally motivated, but not the hardest worker, do well in self study, somewhat competitive, self-disciplined, but not super STEM focused, like not making Mathcount team, only score average on AMC8 etc, do they have a chance to excel at TJ? For “excel”, I mean in the top 50th perceontile, or even 25th. Or they are more fit for base school, which is also a great one.

Most kids are not taking the AMC 8 so your child is more motivated then most.

Did she try out for Mathcounts? I know that there are 120 or so kids who try out for Mathcounts at Carson and only 30 are invited into the club. Only 4 of those kids in the club will make the team of 4. If she tried out, she has more of an interest then most of the kids, even at Carson.

I don't know why a kid who is not STEM focused would want to go to TJ. It is a STEM school with advanced STEM classes. The history, government, and LA classes are the same as at their base school.

I have never seen anyone correlate AMC 8 scores with success at TJ. I know my 8th grader applying to TJ is taking the AMC 10 this week. He was in the 95th percentile on the AMC 10 last year and people on this board were telling me that he was good at math but not great with those scores. It was funny reading because I know how many kids take the AMC 10 and that a smaller percentage of the kids taking that test are 7th graders and a smaller percentage of 7th graders are in the 95th percentile. But there are kids at TJ who made the AIME and the JUSMO in 7th or 8th grade and that is who they are comparing my kid against.

So that is the environment your daughter is applying for. Your daughter shows a higher level of interest if she asked to participate in the AMC 8 and tried out for Mathcounts. If you sent her to take the AMC 8, and it wasn't her choice, or suggested she try out for Mathcounts but didn't make it then it would not be a good place for her. But if she wanted to do those things then she has a far higher then average interest in the subject then most students, excluding the ones applying for TJ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid got in with 3.65 gpa. Geometry in 8th, all honors. If your essay is extremely good and you know how to answer their questions well, you will get in. All these people saying don’t go if you have anything lower than a 4.0 just want an advantage. My kid is doing great.

...seriously? By great you mean has a few Cs?

Just because a kid did bad in middle school does not mean you can assume the same in high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD has A for every class, including Geometry and other AAP classes, without any retakes. The lowest is 97/100. She is well-rounded, not screaming STEM. Does this kind of kid benefit from going to TJ?? Does this type of GPA very common or competitive? She is from a TJ feeder school if that makes a difference.

Does she want to? IB curriculum might be a good fit if she is well-rounded.