Does Thomas Jefferson really matter?

[Anonymous]

I would think that AAP is more important for a kid than going to TJ -- the kids will spend 6 years in AAP's more accelerated program and with more advanced peers (and more focused parents. TJ is more about your kids' interests and ambition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would think that AAP is more important for a kid than going to TJ -- the kids will spend 6 years in AAP's more accelerated program and with more advanced peers (and more focused parents. TJ is more about your kids' interests and ambition.

You clearly don't know what TJ is... TJ doesn't need AAP. TJ IS AAP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would think that AAP is more important for a kid than going to TJ -- the kids will spend 6 years in AAP's more accelerated program and with more advanced peers (and more focused parents. TJ is more about your kids' interests and ambition.

How? Such an odd statement.

[Anonymous]

Going back to my own hs days, before TJ existed, I ad a problem being picked on/bullied for being smart and knowing the answers. I imagine that does not happen at TJ

[Anonymous]

No, they find other reasons to tease kids.

Kids are kids and it doesn't matter where they go to school, there will be the 'popular' kids and the 'awkwardly UNpopular kids.' I grew up in this area and knew more than a few kids who went to TJ, and I assure you that while kids aren't getting shoved in their lockers for being brainy, they aren't attending some sort of smart kid utopia where everyone loves everyone and they hold hands and sing Kumbya every day before school. There are still cliques and there are still different social levels. There just isn't a layer for the 'smart kids.'

[Anonymous]

So here is the question.....

If Bob the Senior at TJ has a class rank that is in the bottom 5% of his class (after all, everyone can't be Valedictorian), and he applies to UVA, and Joe the Senior at Lake Braddock has a class rank in the top 10% of his class, which one do you think gets in, assuming their SATs are equal?

[Anonymous]

Neither.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Neither.

Agreed. Bob, coming from a FCPS, would need above a 4.0 GPA to be even considered for UVA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So here is the question.....

If Bob the Senior at TJ has a class rank that is in the bottom 5% of his class (after all, everyone can't be Valedictorian), and he applies to UVA, and Joe the Senior at Lake Braddock has a class rank in the top 10% of his class, which one do you think gets in, assuming their SATs are equal?

This is a trick question, right? Because Bob the senior at TJ is applying to Virginia Tech, not UVA.

But to answer your question, lowest 5 percent of his class at TJ is still higher than top 10% elsewhere. The standards are just different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So here is the question.....

If Bob the Senior at TJ has a class rank that is in the bottom 5% of his class (after all, everyone can't be Valedictorian), and he applies to UVA, and Joe the Senior at Lake Braddock has a class rank in the top 10% of his class, which one do you think gets in, assuming their SATs are equal?

This is a trick question, right? Because Bob the senior at TJ is applying to Virginia Tech, not UVA.

But to answer your question, lowest 5 percent of his class at TJ is still higher than top 10% elsewhere. The standards are just different.

Funny. 120 2011 TJ grads are currently freshmen at UVA (don't know how many are at VA Tech, but I'm sure someone here knows). And I don't have the data for proof, but I wouldn't assume that the bottom 5% of TJ is better than the top 10% in other Fairfax County high schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In a word, no.

TJ doesn't matter

Ivies don't matter either.

I know people who went to Harvard, Cornell, and Duke who are struggling right now. And I know people who went to GMU, VA Tech, and VCU who are exceedingly successful. It doesn't matter where you go as much as it matters what you do with your education. And I would also venture to say that 95% of success is personality, attitude, and outlook. Those also have very litle to do with where you went to school.

True that!!!! I may have been the awkward weird one in high school but now I am raking in 150k at age 31! Jokes on you jocks and home coming king/queen who ended up studying Communications or Liberal Arts. (Went to GMU and got under and grad degree in IS and Software, no student loans).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:True that!!!! I may have been the awkward weird one in high school but now I am raking in 150k at age 31! Jokes on you jocks and home coming king/queen who ended up studying Communications or Liberal Arts. (Went to GMU and got under and grad degree in IS and Software, no student loans).

And a charming personality as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So here is the question.....

If Bob the Senior at TJ has a class rank that is in the bottom 5% of his class (after all, everyone can't be Valedictorian), and he applies to UVA, and Joe the Senior at Lake Braddock has a class rank in the top 10% of his class, which one do you think gets in, assuming their SATs are equal?

This is a trick question, right? Because Bob the senior at TJ is applying to Virginia Tech, not UVA.

But to answer your question, lowest 5 percent of his class at TJ is still higher than top 10% elsewhere. The standards are just different.

Funny. 120 2011 TJ grads are currently freshmen at UVA (don't know how many are at VA Tech, but I'm sure someone here knows). And I don't have the data for proof, but I wouldn't assume that the bottom 5% of TJ is better than the top 10% in other Fairfax County high schools.

I graduated from TJ. When I went there, the classes were not ranked. I don't think that has changed, but I could be wrong.

[Anonymous]

Went to an info session about TJ for parents/students in 7th and 8th grade last month. TJ rep said that the bulk of TJ graduates go to UVA, vatech, w&m, duke and Carnegie Mellon. Also said that TJ grads are compared to other TJ grads in the college admissions process, not necessarily against other fcps grads who are also compared to grads of their own high schools. Being ranked highly at a local HS holds more weight than being in the mid to bottom range at TJ. Not what we expected to hear but that was what the TJ rep said. Also, most of the parents at the session were asian, most were asking questions regarding the essay portion of the entrance exam and rumors of quotas limiting Asians being admitted to TJ in the coming years. There were three other caucasion parents and a few indian parents, but thats it. Definitely an eye opening experience. I recommend that anyone considering TJ for their kids go to one of these informational sessions so you can get the info first hand that you are looking for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So here is the question.....

If Bob the Senior at TJ has a class rank that is in the bottom 5% of his class (after all, everyone can't be Valedictorian), and he applies to UVA, and Joe the Senior at Lake Braddock has a class rank in the top 10% of his class, which one do you think gets in, assuming their SATs are equal?

This is a trick question, right? Because Bob the senior at TJ is applying to Virginia Tech, not UVA.

But to answer your question, lowest 5 percent of his class at TJ is still higher than top 10% elsewhere. The standards are just different.

That's actually wrong. Because the number of qualified applicants to TJ far exceeds the number of spots, and because the application to TJ is holistic and somewhat subjective beyond the entrance exam, there are lots of kids who would have been highly successful at TJ who don't get accepted and continue attending their base schools. Conversely, because the test is actually not that difficult, it only sets a minimum standard for getting into the semifinalist pool, so that the SIS, recommendations etc. carry outsize influence in the admissions process even though they probably have a low correlation with academic ability--in other words, once you're in the pool it becomes much harder to discriminate the very good students from the outstanding ones. Every year there are stories in the paper around the time admission decisions are sent out, about such and such Math Olympiad student or science fair winner who wasn't admitted "even though much weaker students got in."
There are also children who are admitted and in the end decide not to attend TJ and remain at their base school.
Finally, while colleges are duly impressed by TJ, they are not just looking for STEM candidates and will seek out terrific students who, in the absence of a humanities magnet, stayed at their base school because they have little interest in STEM.