TJ admissions results out?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son who is smarter than my other DC who attends TJ didnt get accepted. He is a geek.

Do you know any others that got in from your MS? Would you say your son is more qualified than they are?

I dont know any from his school. Yes I can say that with conviction my son is more qualified. I dont want to list his achievememts here if I do if someone from his school is reading they will know who I am talking about.

Maybe they didn't like his essay. Is he in private school?

Yes could be his english is weak. He is stem focused not really interested in reading. not in private.

IDK. My kid got in with a B+ in standard (not HN) English in both 7th and 8th. Dyslexic with an IEP. No real STEM ECs— unless you count his Minecraft addiction. I was surprised he got in. Especially since he is taking Algebra I in 8th, with a B first semester. Then again, he should have gotten “experience points” for the learning disorder.

I’m excited for him. I had always thought the dyslexia would be a deal killer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son who is smarter than my other DC who attends TJ didnt get accepted. He is a geek.

Do you know any others that got in from your MS? Would you say your son is more qualified than they are?

I dont know any from his school. Yes I can say that with conviction my son is more qualified. I dont want to list his achievememts here if I do if someone from his school is reading they will know who I am talking about.

Did you lie about lunch?

It wouldn’t matter if the PP lied. FCPS checks their own system to see if a kid qualifies for free lunch. Stop with the lunch conspiracy.

+1000 but it feeds my sense of grievance which right-wingers love

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In! RRMS. I was afraid having a couple of Bs, being in Algebra I and not take all honors in core classes would disqualify my kid. So thankful Admissions is looking past the resume fluff and over acceleration and more “normal” kids who aren’t all STEM all the time a getting in.

This is very likely a troll post.

My kid. Not a troll, but it’s not like I’m giving you his name. Why is there someone on this thread constantly on the lookout for trolls? Believe. Don’t believe. Whatever helps you sleep at night. My kid is 1 of 500. Maybe the other 499 are more ”worthy” under PP’s definition of the term.

For those who asked, a B in 7th grade elective (during DL— don’t ask ) and B in 8th grade English. Which I guess counts as a part year/ less than a 7th grade B? Has a 504 for ADHD. I was never able to figure out if that counted for the extra weight, or if it was only IEPs.

A friend of mine has kids in the class of 2023 and 2025. She says there we almost no kids coming in with just Algebra I in 2023, and a significant number of Algebra I students in 2025. Also, that taking summer Geometry was a bad idea, because under the new plan, the kids who come in with just Algebra I get a lot extra attention and supports/services.

I’m excited for my kid. If PP were gracious, she’d say Congrats and not yell troll. I think it’s sad than an 8th grade Core B, a 7th grade, DL, elective B and being on track in math with Algebra I in 8th (after all the COVID disruptions) is so inferior OP can’t believe my kid is worthy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In! RRMS. I was afraid having a couple of Bs, being in Algebra I and not take all honors in core classes would disqualify my kid. So thankful Admissions is looking past the resume fluff and over acceleration and more “normal” kids who aren’t all STEM all the time a getting in.

Good luck in TJ then. If B's in MS translates to Cs at TJ. My all As ended getting Bs.

They’re changing the grading for this new crop of kids.

Completely false.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In! RRMS. I was afraid having a couple of Bs, being in Algebra I and not take all honors in core classes would disqualify my kid. So thankful Admissions is looking past the resume fluff and over acceleration and more “normal” kids who aren’t all STEM all the time a getting in.

This is very likely a troll post.

My kid. Not a troll, but it’s not like I’m giving you his name. Why is there someone on this thread constantly on the lookout for trolls? Believe. Don’t believe. Whatever helps you sleep at night. My kid is 1 of 500. Maybe the other 499 are more ”worthy” under PP’s definition of the term.

For those who asked, a B in 7th grade elective (during DL— don’t ask ) and B in 8th grade English. Which I guess counts as a part year/ less than a 7th grade B? Has a 504 for ADHD. I was never able to figure out if that counted for the extra weight, or if it was only IEPs.

A friend of mine has kids in the class of 2023 and 2025. She says there we almost no kids coming in with just Algebra I in 2023, and a significant number of Algebra I students in 2025. Also, that taking summer Geometry was a bad idea, because under the new plan, the kids who come in with just Algebra I get a lot extra attention and supports/services.

I’m excited for my kid. If PP were gracious, she’d say Congrats and not yell troll. I think it’s sad than an 8th

grade Core B, a 7th grade, DL, elective B and being on track in math with Algebra I in 8th (after all the COVID disruptions) is so inferior OP can’t believe my kid is worthy.

You will figure it out at TJ. If your kid can maintain a 4.0 GPA at the least go for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In! RRMS. I was afraid having a couple of Bs, being in Algebra I and not take all honors in core classes would disqualify my kid. So thankful Admissions is looking past the resume fluff and over acceleration and more “normal” kids who aren’t all STEM all the time a getting in.

Good luck in TJ then. If B's in MS translates to Cs at TJ. My all As ended getting Bs.

They’re changing the grading for this new crop of kids.

Completely false.

True. Lots of freshmen failed math this year. Admin is giving them credit recovery.

[Anonymous]

Loudoun Parents..

What benefit does TJ provide that justifies our kids needing to wake up at or before 6AM? To ride the bus for an hour

Why should Loudoun kids go to TJ .. instead of our already strong schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid has already committed elsewhere so we are out.

We have a pending application @ TJ, but have also decided against going, regardless of the decision.

Why's that?

It was DD’s decision.

Our local HS is excellent, she decided she wants to be around friends she has, and her focus is now more on medical school and less on engineering (and she does not feel TJ is necessary for her career path).

+1. This is my DD. She is interested in medical school and we have an excellent base school a mile from our home.

So TJ is not the right school for medical school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
And it's ironic that you'd use inflammatory rhetoric to attack those trying to preserve what they saw as a merit-based process when the current School Board could just as readily be accused of doing its utmost to tear the place apart by favoring students with "experience factors" that are a soft proxy for race and lower SES.

Or pretending to use experience factors. They are using a question that every student can answer yes and get those experience factors.
They just want to be seen as taking more low-income kids, knowing that they are just taking high-income kids who checked the box.

+1. The free meals question should have been thrown out.

I heard they checked this and disqualified anyone who lied.

The way it was worded everyone could have answered yes. It would be easy enough to verify.

Not really people knew they were lying and should be disqualified if they answered yes when financially they don’t qualify.

OR

THE TJ ADMISSIONS OFFICE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN HOW TO WRITE THESE KINDS OF QUESTIONS.

Seriously. Did they not have ANYONE with half a brain read the meals questions ahead of time?

I was wondering if the question was purposely worded the way it was. That way the admissions office could claim “economic diversity” wink wink nod nod.

I’ve wondered this as well. Would not surprise me. It was pointed out to the admissions office and they choose not to fix or address it.

Wasn't lunch free for everyone?

Yes. The question is more appropriate for years were lunch isn't free for everyone because it identifies kids who have been at an economic disadvantage and less likely to have had some of the extra curriculars that other kids have done. COVID funds have been used to make lunch free for everyone so some people felt they were being clever by saying that they qualified for free meals. It wasn't a lie, because everyone was eligible for free meals, but it is not what the admissions people were looking for. Legally allowable, ethically questionable but some folks don't care because they see it as a way of increasing their chance to be selected for TJ and that is all that matters to them. Because the TJ Admissions folks won't see through that BS when they are looking at the candidates from MS that feed into the high SES high schools and see that the number of kids "eligible for free meals" applying for TJ is far higher then the number of FARMS kids attending those MS.

Exactly. If you ask better questions, you get better data. That's how it works.

If the TJ Admissions office is going to give 90 experience points, they should actually write a question that everyone agrees on how it should be answered.

For the class of 2025, 387 applicants checked "Yes" to one or both of the meals questions. Of those applicants, 35.7% (n=138) were admitted. There were 2,647 applicants that did not check "Yes" to either question. Of these applicants, 15.6% (n=412) were admitted. Checking "Yes" to the meals questions gives a tremendous advantage.

How many said “yes” that they were actively receiving free meals? The second question.

I wonder what the second question is actually asking. What consistututes currently receiving meals? That you picked up the free meal once this school year? You pick them up one or more times a week?

Another example of how the TJ Admissions office wrote terrible questions to evaluate "economically disadvantaged".

From the application:
"Are you eligible for free meals? Yes No

Are you currently receiving free meals? Yes No"

I would assume sometime recently - within the last month or so.

That is your assumption. Someone else could read it entirely different. There are multiple ways to interpret the meals questions. That’s why so many people are angry at the TJ admissions office.

Ok. So maybe families were receiving meals a few months ago.

So what?

If TJ really cared it would be easy enough to get FARMS info from the schools. They had to request GPA records from the schools. Instead they put a vague question on the application.

They do this. They also have all of the other demographic information from the respective public schools as well. They have less of it from the private schools - hence the need for the questions.

Interesting. Do the base schools have information about a parent's income? If not, how else could the TJ admissions office verify parental income and household size?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In! RRMS. I was afraid having a couple of Bs, being in Algebra I and not take all honors in core classes would disqualify my kid. So thankful Admissions is looking past the resume fluff and over acceleration and more “normal” kids who aren’t all STEM all the time a getting in.

This is very likely a troll post.

My kid. Not a troll, but it’s not like I’m giving you his name. Why is there someone on this thread constantly on the lookout for trolls? Believe. Don’t believe. Whatever helps you sleep at night. My kid is 1 of 500. Maybe the other 499 are more ”worthy” under PP’s definition of the term.

For those who asked, a B in 7th grade elective (during DL— don’t ask ) and B in 8th grade English. Which I guess counts as a part year/ less than a 7th grade B? Has a 504 for ADHD. I was never able to figure out if that counted for the extra weight, or if it was only IEPs.

A friend of mine has kids in the class of 2023 and 2025. She says there we almost no kids coming in with just Algebra I in 2023, and a significant number of Algebra I students in 2025. Also, that taking summer Geometry was a bad idea, because under the new plan, the kids who come in with just Algebra I get a lot extra attention and supports/services.

I’m excited for my kid. If PP were gracious, she’d say Congrats and not yell troll. I think it’s sad than an 8th grade Core B, a 7th grade, DL, elective B and being on track in math with Algebra I in 8th (after all the COVID disruptions) is so inferior OP can’t believe my kid is worthy.

Congratulations to your kid! Ignore the troll post idiot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In! RRMS. I was afraid having a couple of Bs, being in Algebra I and not take all honors in core classes would disqualify my kid. So thankful Admissions is looking past the resume fluff and over acceleration and more “normal” kids who aren’t all STEM all the time a getting in.

Good luck in TJ then. If B's in MS translates to Cs at TJ. My all As ended getting Bs.

They’re changing the grading for this new crop of kids.

Completely false.

True. Lots of freshmen failed math this year. Admin is giving them credit recovery.

+1. My kids in class of 2024. If he’d failed math, he’d have been returned to base school. So much for TJ not watering down it’s standards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In! RRMS. I was afraid having a couple of Bs, being in Algebra I and not take all honors in core classes would disqualify my kid. So thankful Admissions is looking past the resume fluff and over acceleration and more “normal” kids who aren’t all STEM all the time a getting in.

Good luck in TJ then. If B's in MS translates to Cs at TJ. My all As ended getting Bs.

They’re changing the grading for this new crop of kids.

Completely false.

True. Lots of freshmen failed math this year. Admin is giving them credit recovery.

+1. My kids in class of 2024. If he’d failed math, he’d have been returned to base school. So much for TJ not watering down it’s standards.

I am trying to understand. Are you saying your kids were among those who failed math and so were given assistance? So you agree that TJ is lowering its standards?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
And it's ironic that you'd use inflammatory rhetoric to attack those trying to preserve what they saw as a merit-based process when the current School Board could just as readily be accused of doing its utmost to tear the place apart by favoring students with "experience factors" that are a soft proxy for race and lower SES.

Or pretending to use experience factors. They are using a question that every student can answer yes and get those experience factors.
They just want to be seen as taking more low-income kids, knowing that they are just taking high-income kids who checked the box.

+1. The free meals question should have been thrown out.

I heard they checked this and disqualified anyone who lied.

The way it was worded everyone could have answered yes. It would be easy enough to verify.

Not really people knew they were lying and should be disqualified if they answered yes when financially they don’t qualify.

OR

THE TJ ADMISSIONS OFFICE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN HOW TO WRITE THESE KINDS OF QUESTIONS.

Seriously. Did they not have ANYONE with half a brain read the meals questions ahead of time?

I was wondering if the question was purposely worded the way it was. That way the admissions office could claim “economic diversity” wink wink nod nod.

I’ve wondered this as well. Would not surprise me. It was pointed out to the admissions office and they choose not to fix or address it.

Wasn't lunch free for everyone?

Yes. The question is more appropriate for years were lunch isn't free for everyone because it identifies kids who have been at an economic disadvantage and less likely to have had some of the extra curriculars that other kids have done. COVID funds have been used to make lunch free for everyone so some people felt they were being clever by saying that they qualified for free meals. It wasn't a lie, because everyone was eligible for free meals, but it is not what the admissions people were looking for. Legally allowable, ethically questionable but some folks don't care because they see it as a way of increasing their chance to be selected for TJ and that is all that matters to them. Because the TJ Admissions folks won't see through that BS when they are looking at the candidates from MS that feed into the high SES high schools and see that the number of kids "eligible for free meals" applying for TJ is far higher then the number of FARMS kids attending those MS.

Exactly. If you ask better questions, you get better data. That's how it works.

If the TJ Admissions office is going to give 90 experience points, they should actually write a question that everyone agrees on how it should be answered.

For the class of 2025, 387 applicants checked "Yes" to one or both of the meals questions. Of those applicants, 35.7% (n=138) were admitted. There were 2,647 applicants that did not check "Yes" to either question. Of these applicants, 15.6% (n=412) were admitted. Checking "Yes" to the meals questions gives a tremendous advantage.

How many said “yes” that they were actively receiving free meals? The second question.

I wonder what the second question is actually asking. What consistututes currently receiving meals? That you picked up the free meal once this school year? You pick them up one or more times a week?

Another example of how the TJ Admissions office wrote terrible questions to evaluate "economically disadvantaged".

From the application:
"Are you eligible for free meals? Yes No

Are you currently receiving free meals? Yes No"

I would assume sometime recently - within the last month or so.

That is your assumption. Someone else could read it entirely different. There are multiple ways to interpret the meals questions. That’s why so many people are angry at the TJ admissions office.

Ok. So maybe families were receiving meals a few months ago.

So what?

If TJ really cared it would be easy enough to get FARMS info from the schools. They had to request GPA records from the schools. Instead they put a vague question on the application.

They do this. They also have all of the other demographic information from the respective public schools as well. They have less of it from the private schools - hence the need for the questions.

Interesting. Do the base schools have information about a parent's income? If not, how else could the TJ admissions office verify parental income and household size?

FCPS does not have current data on parental income. The only data that the TJ admissions office has is:
- FARMS status in 2019-2020 and prior
- The responses to the two meals questions
- (optional) if a family choose to fill out the FARMs form this year. (Only a tiny percentage of the FCPS families filed this form because free meals were automatic.

Am I missing any data that FCPS has that relates to income?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
And it's ironic that you'd use inflammatory rhetoric to attack those trying to preserve what they saw as a merit-based process when the current School Board could just as readily be accused of doing its utmost to tear the place apart by favoring students with "experience factors" that are a soft proxy for race and lower SES.

Or pretending to use experience factors. They are using a question that every student can answer yes and get those experience factors.
They just want to be seen as taking more low-income kids, knowing that they are just taking high-income kids who checked the box.

+1. The free meals question should have been thrown out.

I heard they checked this and disqualified anyone who lied.

The way it was worded everyone could have answered yes. It would be easy enough to verify.

Not really people knew they were lying and should be disqualified if they answered yes when financially they don’t qualify.

OR

THE TJ ADMISSIONS OFFICE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN HOW TO WRITE THESE KINDS OF QUESTIONS.

Seriously. Did they not have ANYONE with half a brain read the meals questions ahead of time?

I was wondering if the question was purposely worded the way it was. That way the admissions office could claim “economic diversity” wink wink nod nod.

I’ve wondered this as well. Would not surprise me. It was pointed out to the admissions office and they choose not to fix or address it.

Wasn't lunch free for everyone?

Yes. The question is more appropriate for years were lunch isn't free for everyone because it identifies kids who have been at an economic disadvantage and less likely to have had some of the extra curriculars that other kids have done. COVID funds have been used to make lunch free for everyone so some people felt they were being clever by saying that they qualified for free meals. It wasn't a lie, because everyone was eligible for free meals, but it is not what the admissions people were looking for. Legally allowable, ethically questionable but some folks don't care because they see it as a way of increasing their chance to be selected for TJ and that is all that matters to them. Because the TJ Admissions folks won't see through that BS when they are looking at the candidates from MS that feed into the high SES high schools and see that the number of kids "eligible for free meals" applying for TJ is far higher then the number of FARMS kids attending those MS.

Exactly. If you ask better questions, you get better data. That's how it works.

If the TJ Admissions office is going to give 90 experience points, they should actually write a question that everyone agrees on how it should be answered.

For the class of 2025, 387 applicants checked "Yes" to one or both of the meals questions. Of those applicants, 35.7% (n=138) were admitted. There were 2,647 applicants that did not check "Yes" to either question. Of these applicants, 15.6% (n=412) were admitted. Checking "Yes" to the meals questions gives a tremendous advantage.

How many said “yes” that they were actively receiving free meals? The second question.

I wonder what the second question is actually asking. What consistututes currently receiving meals? That you picked up the free meal once this school year? You pick them up one or more times a week?

Another example of how the TJ Admissions office wrote terrible questions to evaluate "economically disadvantaged".

From the application:
"Are you eligible for free meals? Yes No

Are you currently receiving free meals? Yes No"

I would assume sometime recently - within the last month or so.

That is your assumption. Someone else could read it entirely different. There are multiple ways to interpret the meals questions. That’s why so many people are angry at the TJ admissions office.

Ok. So maybe families were receiving meals a few months ago.

So what?

If TJ really cared it would be easy enough to get FARMS info from the schools. They had to request GPA records from the schools. Instead they put a vague question on the application.

They do this. They also have all of the other demographic information from the respective public schools as well. They have less of it from the private schools - hence the need for the questions.

Interesting. Do the base schools have information about a parent's income? If not, how else could the TJ admissions office verify parental income and household size?

FCPS does not have current data on parental income. The only data that the TJ admissions office has is:
- FARMS status in 2019-2020 and prior
- The responses to the two meals questions
- (optional) if a family choose to fill out the FARMs form this year. (Only a tiny percentage of the FCPS families filed this form because free meals were automatic.

Am I missing any data that FCPS has that relates to income?

There is a poster who keeps citing FCPS access to some data that can validate FARMS eligibility. They cannot. They cannot access tax records. All they have is whether the kid was FARMS in prior years. But that means nothing as Covid upturned many lives.

And FCPS cannot overrule me if I say yes to the FARMS question - unless they give me notice.

[Anonymous]

I am curious how many 2025 students couldn’t satisfy TJ’s requirements on maintaining GPA as B.