Any regrets about not accepting TJ admission?

[Anonymous]

No, I was trying to respond to the notion that kids who are not all STEM, all the time, should turn down TJ. That's not true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's been a while. My daughter is a college senior this year. No regrets. I honestly do not think it would have been a good fit for her.

Which college is she attending and what's her major?

University of Florida. Pre-Med. She is in the Accelerated Degree Program. Very competitive, but a great program!

http://www.admissions.ufl.edu/ugrad/combdegreespec.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And our DC is laid back, smart, into a lot of things including STEM (has been involved in community theater and school drama, Model UN, odd sports), is very gifted in languages ... and is going to TJ. DC's looking forward to the challenge. DC would do great at the home school (Langley), was accepted to great private schools, but chose TJ because of the unique experience there. Where else can you combine Chemistry and Humanities for an amazing cross-curricular course? Where else do they offer BioNanoTechnology?

Great choice. My DC has enjoyed his TJ experience and learned much from his peers and school activities (stem and Non-stem) not just from from his teachers. He is confident he is ready and prepared for any college and graduate school work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And our DC is laid back, smart, into a lot of things including STEM (has been involved in community theater and school drama, Model UN, odd sports), is very gifted in languages ... and is going to TJ. DC's looking forward to the challenge. DC would do great at the home school (Langley), was accepted to great private schools, but chose TJ because of the unique experience there. Where else can you combine Chemistry and Humanities for an amazing cross-curricular course? Where else do they offer BioNanoTechnology?

"If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere, TJ, VA"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, I was trying to respond to the notion that kids who are not all STEM, all the time, should turn down TJ. That's not true.

Completely agree. My child enjoys his non-stem activities like debate, MUN and Spanish Honor Society etc. TJ is definitely not only about science and math and it has dozens of non-stem clubs and activities, great humanities program as well as excellent band, orchestra, drama programs and sport teams.

[Anonymous]

^^ No one ever said TJ was all about science and math. But TJ is a science and math magnet and it's original intention was to prepare the smartest kids in science and math for careers in STEM.

Many parents now regularly ignore this, determined to get their children into what they view as the area's top high school. As a result, some of the areas brightest STEM students get turned away. it's sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^ No one ever said TJ was all about science and math. But TJ is a science and math magnet and it's original intention was to prepare the smartest kids in science and math for careers in STEM.

Many parents now regularly ignore this, determined to get their children into what they view as the area's top high school. As a result, some of the areas brightest STEM students get turned away. it's sad.

There are many posters who say TJ is for kids that are good at STEM only and say that is why they/kids are not interested. While the school has a STEM focus, that does not mean the school does not have a great humanities program and other excellent non-stem activities. While it may be hard for TJ haters to accept this, TJ has great music program, good drama program, good sport program, strong foreign language program etc. So yes, many posters did say or imply TJ was all about science and math. There are many kids who excel in both stem and non-stem subjects and activities contrary to what some would say.

Please don't use "TJ is science and math only" excuse if your kid is either not interested in TJ for whatever reason or if they have virtually no chance of being accepted. Also, please don't use the old " I want my kid to have a well rounded education" or "I don't want my kid to be in a cut throat environment" either since TJ does provide well rounded education and there are DCPS high schools that are truly cut throat or competitive in terms of academic/social/club environment much worse than TJ.

Bright stem kids are turned away but that is due more to a defective admission system than due to non-stem kids who are only interested in non-stem subjects. These non-stem kids still have to take many stem courses to graduate. This is an admissions issue and separate from the notion that TJ does not have a good humanities program or good non-stem activities.

[Anonymous]

DCPS should be FCPS

[Anonymous]

Agree. The kids who do get into TJ are strong at STEM and other subjects. For example , they have straight As or higher in honors classes across the board. They are not taking slots from kids with better grades. That some gifted STEM students do fall through the admissions process suggests something went awry with their essays or recommendations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:About 95% accept the admission offer so the number not accepting the offer is very low each year.

I wonder what % of the kids accepted transfer back to their base schools after 1-2 years...

Approximately 25 to 50 kids transfer out each year due to various reasons including academic reasons. About 480 are accepted each year.

I must know all of them from our class. They drop out because (one or more): the commute is too far. The course work is too hard or time consuming. They don't like the culture of the school. Many say they suffer from "stress and anxiety" They find out they are not that into STEM after all.

[Anonymous]

^^Or as our neighbor kid say: "It was too much math and science."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:About 95% accept the admission offer so the number not accepting the offer is very low each year.

I wonder what % of the kids accepted transfer back to their base schools after 1-2 years...

Approximately 25 to 50 kids transfer out each year due to various reasons including academic reasons. About 480 are accepted each year.

I must know all of them from our class. They drop out because (one or more): the commute is too far. The course work is too hard or time consuming. They don't like the culture of the school. Many say they suffer from "stress and anxiety" They find out they are not that into STEM after all.

What is the culture of the school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agree. The kids who do get into TJ are strong at STEM and other subjects. For example , they have straight As or higher in honors classes across the board. They are not taking slots from kids with better grades. That some gifted STEM students do fall through the admissions process suggests something went awry with their essays or recommendations.

Keep telling yourself this. But you're wrong. All the kids who get into TJ are not strong in STEM or there would be no need for remedial math classes. All TJ kids do not have straight A's or higher in honors classes (what would higher be btw? Is there a grade above A?) Because some in admissions at TJ have bought into the we're the #1 school BS, they do accept kids who are good at sports or have hooks like dance or theatre even when their grades, aptitudes and abilities are not at the level of kids who are rejected. If you'd done any research at all you would know this.

Yes, TJ has tinkered with the admissions process to make it more fair, but the real factor in good kids getting turned away is not that their essays or recommendations went awry. It's numbers. TJ only has room for a fraction of the kids who could excel there. Sadly, the Einstein types who are better at original thought than they are at self-promotion and the paint by numbers method of getting into a program, are often the ones who lose out.

[Anonymous]

"All the kids who get into TJ are not strong in STEM or there would be no need for remedial math classes."

If you know anything about the TJ remedial math, it is far from any math being taken by 9th graders below the Honors level. It's because there is a difference between what kids get taught at different middle schools in Algebra I Honors and Geometry I Honors (which are high school level classes). TJ found they could not assume the same very high level of all students. For example. our DC came from Longfellow where Vern Williams teaches Geometry Honors with Advanced Problem Solving (which goes beyond even Geometry Honors). Apparently some other county Middle Schools don't get through the entire Geometry Honors curriculum. The remediation is to get the incoming 9th graders to about the 11th grade Honors level, not traditional "bad in math or science" remediation.

To this point, starting this fall, instead of dealing with "remediation," they have decided that every incoming 9th grader will take a semester of AP level Statistics, because they all will need that grounding for their scientific research (which starts with a major biology project in 9th grade). That's a high level HS course. After that they will be grouped in one of 5 math levels for semester courses (the teachers having seen what they are capable of). The lowest level starts where Algebra I Honors leaves off. Kid who took Geometry and grasped it will start in Level 3. This is the type of "remediation" -- all kids at a high level, just some are higher. All kids are way above the average level of a non-math / science Honors student.

And as to how you get better than a 4.0? These kids are all taking HS Honors classes. many have a .50 GPA bump. So they are starting TJ with a weighted 4.50 GPA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"All the kids who get into TJ are not strong in STEM or there would be no need for remedial math classes."

If you know anything about the TJ remedial math, it is far from any math being taken by 9th graders below the Honors level. It's because there is a difference between what kids get taught at different middle schools in Algebra I Honors and Geometry I Honors (which are high school level classes). TJ found they could not assume the same very high level of all students. For example. our DC came from Longfellow where Vern Williams teaches Geometry Honors with Advanced Problem Solving (which goes beyond even Geometry Honors). Apparently some other county Middle Schools don't get through the entire Geometry Honors curriculum. The remediation is to get the incoming 9th graders to about the 11th grade Honors level, not traditional "bad in math or science" remediation.

To this point, starting this fall, instead of dealing with "remediation," they have decided that every incoming 9th grader will take a semester of AP level Statistics, because they all will need that grounding for their scientific research (which starts with a major biology project in 9th grade). That's a high level HS course. After that they will be grouped in one of 5 math levels for semester courses (the teachers having seen what they are capable of). The lowest level starts where Algebra I Honors leaves off. Kid who took Geometry and grasped it will start in Level 3. This is the type of "remediation" -- all kids at a high level, just some are higher. All kids are way above the average level of a non-math / science Honors student.

And as to how you get better than a 4.0? These kids are all taking HS Honors classes. many have a .50 GPA bump. So they are starting TJ with a weighted 4.50 GPA.

Yes, thought of the weighted GPA thing after I posted. As for remedial math: I do know that it was started a couple of years ago because there was a perceived need for it -- ie., a third of freshman were not doing as well math has they had been in the past. Prior to that TJ teachers didn't see so many kids who struggled with TJ math. So something changed and I doubt it was a sudden decline in teaching in middle school. Most kids who are good at math just get it, so even if their geometry teacher wasn't Vern Williams, chances are they'd catch on quickly enough to not need remediation. Perhaps this is the explanation TJ is using to let in kids incapable of the work. But the fact remains that in a STEM magnet, remedial anything should be unnecessary when you have hundreds of kids being turned away each year who could actually do the work from day 1.