WaPo Story on Marshall Student Accpeted to USC at 16 - Read This if DC Did Not Get Into TJ.

[Anonymous]

L.A. - yuck. I have to go there because MIL lives in Lancaster, but I hate that town.

[Anonymous]

Most of Sophomore students at TJ can attend college if they want to. They are taking first year college classes by Sophomore year such as BC calculus, AP biology, and AP computer science. My DD at TJ got perfect score (800) in Math portion of SAT when she took it in Oct 2012 and got perfect score (800)in Math 2 Subject test as well. Does TJ student make a big deal out of it? No!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most of Sophomore students at TJ can attend college if they want to. They are taking first year college classes by Sophomore year such as BC calculus, AP biology, and AP computer science. My DD at TJ got perfect score (800) in Math portion of SAT when she took it in Oct 2012 and got perfect score (800)in Math 2 Subject test as well. Does TJ student make a big deal out of it? No!

She took the SAT when she was 15.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most of Sophomore students at TJ can attend college if they want to. They are taking first year college classes by Sophomore year such as BC calculus, AP biology, and AP computer science. My DD at TJ got perfect score (800) in Math portion of SAT when she took it in Oct 2012 and got perfect score (800)in Math 2 Subject test as well. Does TJ student make a big deal out of it? No!

This made me laugh very hard. I think the lack of an article before "TJ student" in the sentence "Does TJ student make a big deal out of it" was the best part.

And I assume the answer is "No, she just keeps working on flute and Ivy applications."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I read this and hoped someone would mention it.
Nobody can take away from her that she scored a perfect 800 on the math portion of the SAT.
However, I wonder how the article got into the post in the first place?
The mom said when her daughter didn't get into TJ it was the worst day of her life as a parent. Woah. Now there's a healthy perspective on parenting.
Hmm.

Or maybe it's a reflection of the fact that she's been lucky enough to avoid anything really bad.

My kid didn't get into the high school of his choice. It was hard, not devastating of course, but hard to see your kid not get something they worked really hard for. I'd much rather be disappointed than see my kid disappointed. My kid has also had some pretty major medical issues, so this was far from the "worst day of my life as a parent", but I can see how a family who hadn't faced our challenges might say that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:L.A. - yuck. I have to go there because MIL lives in Lancaster, but I hate that town.

Los Angeles poster here again.

I lived in the Washington, DC, area for 18 years, many of those years spent in McLean, VA. As you know, Washington is a beautiful, educated, affluent and idyllic area -- a wonderful city area in which to raise children.

My DH and I moved our family to Los Angeles, where neither of us had ever lived, for professional reasons. The beauty of Southern California, and Los Angeles in particular, is admittedly not readily apparent -- especially for those of us who grew up and live in the verdant and lush East Coast or Midwest. It took me personally about a year to appreciate the desert climate, the colder Pacific waters, the unique, filtered light of day. The city is also extremely diverse, and for those of us from the relatively homogenous Washington area where there is not as much socieconomic or ethinic diversity -- that can take some getting used to.

In L.A., it seems that so many people come from somewhere else (in the world), and at times it is like another country. (Perhaps it should be!). You are sometimes as likely to hear someone speak Chinese, Spanish, Armenian, Korean, Lebanese, Filipino, Taiwanese, or Persian, as speak English. And my children have gone from having mostly caucasian and/or affluent classmates, to having friends from very ethnically and socio-economically mixed backgrounds.

The Los Angeles you describe as "yuck" is not one that I recognize. And looking in on my life you would not describe anything about it that way. I live in one of the most beautiful, old neighborhoods of L.A. in a gorgeous house with year-round flowers, citrus trees, the most lovely smells wafting through the air, no humidity to speak of, and no mosquitoes or other bugs to fly in my wide-open doors and windows. To top it all off I have my own pool.

My children attend wonderful schools where their classrooms open directly to the outdoors, and they play their sports outside year round. The focus on arts and music in this city (unlike DC) is unparalleled. California life -- whether eating, playing, concerts, ducation, parties, exercise -- is more-often than not celebrated outside. The "beauty" of Los Angeles may not be immediatey apparent -- but it is everywhere to be found in this great American city.

I am sorry that you consider your in-law's hometown of Lancaster to be "yuck", but I hope that you may one day have the opportunity to spend some extended time here and come to appreciate southern California for yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:L.A. - yuck. I have to go there because MIL lives in Lancaster, but I hate that town.

Los Angeles poster here again.

I lived in the Washington, DC, area for 18 years, many of those years spent in McLean, VA. As you know, Washington is a beautiful, educated, affluent and idyllic area -- a wonderful city area in which to raise children.

My DH and I moved our family to Los Angeles, where neither of us had ever lived, for professional reasons. The beauty of Southern California, and Los Angeles in particular, is admittedly not readily apparent -- especially for those of us who grew up and live in the verdant and lush East Coast or Midwest. It took me personally about a year to appreciate the desert climate, the colder Pacific waters, the unique, filtered light of day. The city is also extremely diverse, and for those of us from the relatively homogenous Washington area where there is not as much socieconomic or ethinic diversity -- that can take some getting used to.

In L.A., it seems that so many people come from somewhere else (in the world), and at times it is like another country. (Perhaps it should be!). You are sometimes as likely to hear someone speak Chinese, Spanish, Armenian, Korean, Lebanese, Filipino, Taiwanese, or Persian, as speak English. And my children have gone from having mostly caucasian and/or affluent classmates, to having friends from very ethnically and socio-economically mixed backgrounds.

The Los Angeles you describe as "yuck" is not one that I recognize. And looking in on my life you would not describe anything about it that way. I live in one of the most beautiful, old neighborhoods of L.A. in a gorgeous house with year-round flowers, citrus trees, the most lovely smells wafting through the air, no humidity to speak of, and no mosquitoes or other bugs to fly in my wide-open doors and windows. To top it all off I have my own pool.

My children attend wonderful schools where their classrooms open directly to the outdoors, and they play their sports outside year round. The focus on arts and music in this city (unlike DC) is unparalleled. California life -- whether eating, playing, concerts, ducation, parties, exercise -- is more-often than not celebrated outside. The "beauty" of Los Angeles may not be immediatey apparent -- but it is everywhere to be found in this great American city.

I am sorry that you consider your in-law's hometown of Lancaster to be "yuck", but I hope that you may one day have the opportunity to spend some extended time here and come to appreciate southern California for yourself.

I meant "ethnic" and "education".

[Anonymous]

CA is a beautiful place with awesome weather, not too hot or cold and little humidity. The beach, mountains and desert are all nearby. Lancaster is out near the desert and not much going on there.

[Anonymous]

L.A. poster: most of what you say is right, no question. But I went to grad school at USC. It is in a very bad neighborhood. You wouldn't be so complimentary of your environs if you lived in South Central.

As for USC, we joked it was a corporation that ran a very profitable football program with a university attached to it.
The UCLA students called USC the "University fo Spoiled Children."

I do think it has improved academically since then but would not send my kid there. I would be too nervous for his/her safety.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:L.A. poster: most of what you say is right, no question. But I went to grad school at USC. It is in a very bad neighborhood. You wouldn't be so complimentary of your environs if you lived in South Central.

As for USC, we joked it was a corporation that ran a very profitable football program with a university attached to it.
The UCLA students called USC the "University fo Spoiled Children."

I do think it has improved academically since then but would not send my kid there. I would be too nervous for his/her safety.

Los Angeles poster again. I am the poster who permits their pre-teen, and teenage childrens to walk to the restaurants around USC when they have swim meets adjacent to the Coliseum. Though you are correct that I live in a nice area, I also volunteer in the less-privileged neighborhoods of L.A., working for a non-profit that provides much-needed clothing and supplies to LA Unified schoolchildren.

I personally find a lot to admire and much beauty in even the more humble neighborhoods of L.A. We share the same great weather, year-round flowering, scented florals and citrus trees, hard work ethic, desire for a better life and good education, general proximity to the ocean, a city where music, arts, and performing arts are still emphasized and valued, the same filtered light, and beautiful mountains and sunsets.

Even the less-privileged areas of Los Angeles are full of beauty, in my opinion. It is my impression that the city (and USC) have both changed for the better since your grad school days.

[Anonymous]

^ well I won't argue with you Pollyanna. Your failure to mention crime, smog, traffic and urban blight in South Central LA makes your posts somewhat suspect.
Do not get an apartment off campus. Your chances of being burglarized or mugged is high. I hope the young lady who is the subject of this thread stays safe, but I do not want my kids going there. UCLA would be better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most of Sophomore students at TJ can attend college if they want to. They are taking first year college classes by Sophomore year such as BC calculus, AP biology, and AP computer science. My DD at TJ got perfect score (800) in Math portion of SAT when she took it in Oct 2012 and got perfect score (800)in Math 2 Subject test as well. Does TJ student make a big deal out of it? No!

This made me laugh very hard. I think the lack of an article before "TJ student" in the sentence "Does TJ student make a big deal out of it" was the best part.

And I assume the answer is "No, she just keeps working on flute and Ivy applications."

You must be an English major. That's why TJ did not accept you. HaHaHa

[Anonymous]

Are TJ students true outliers or average or above average students who are very good standardized test takers?

[Anonymous]

The mother lists the daughter as one of her projects on her Linked In profile. No wonder the girl wants to leave home and start college early.

http://www.linkedin.com/in/christinaayiotis?_mSplash=1

[Anonymous]

USC does not even make the top 100 among "unsafe campuses" in rankings of campus crime and safety. Meanwhile....

#2 Harvard
#16 UPenn
#17 Brown
#18 Columbia
#19 Stanford
#25 Yale

More at: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2010/09/14/most-dangerous-college-campuses-ranked.html