TJ Class 2025 Admission Data

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a white mother of a Kilmer student from several years ago - DS currently attends Marshall HS.

When DS was in 8th grade, I went to the TJ information session in September. I got a lot of good information from the presenters there and was considering encouraging DS to apply, even though he was reticent.

When they opened the floor for Q&A, one of DS's friends' fathers stood up and accused the admissions people of using affirmative action because the previous year's incoming class was only 75% Asian. I watched several parents, including friends of mine, nod in agreement. Horrifying. Thankfully the admissions people tamped it down.

That father's kid is currently at TJ. I decided to follow my son's wishes and not have him apply after I heard that comment and the stunning amount of approval it got.

You are the kind of person who sees no problem wit 90% blacks for basketball and football teams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a white mother of a Kilmer student from several years ago - DS currently attends Marshall HS.

When DS was in 8th grade, I went to the TJ information session in September. I got a lot of good information from the presenters there and was considering encouraging DS to apply, even though he was reticent.

When they opened the floor for Q&A, one of DS's friends' fathers stood up and accused the admissions people of using affirmative action because the previous year's incoming class was only 75% Asian. I watched several parents, including friends of mine, nod in agreement. Horrifying. Thankfully the admissions people tamped it down.

That father's kid is currently at TJ. I decided to follow my son's wishes and not have him apply after I heard that comment and the stunning amount of approval it got.

You are the kind of person who sees no problem wit 90% blacks for basketball and football teams.

You are correct. Those are sports teams. This is a school. Comparing them is stupid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a white mother of a Kilmer student from several years ago - DS currently attends Marshall HS.

When DS was in 8th grade, I went to the TJ information session in September. I got a lot of good information from the presenters there and was considering encouraging DS to apply, even though he was reticent.

When they opened the floor for Q&A, one of DS's friends' fathers stood up and accused the admissions people of using affirmative action because the previous year's incoming class was only 75% Asian. I watched several parents, including friends of mine, nod in agreement. Horrifying. Thankfully the admissions people tamped it down.

That father's kid is currently at TJ. I decided to follow my son's wishes and not have him apply after I heard that comment and the stunning amount of approval it got.

You are the kind of person who sees no problem wit 90% blacks for basketball and football teams.

OMG, this nonsense again. The point of TJ is not to win anything, it's to serve Northern Virginia and the STEM community by delivering a quality STEM-focused education to students interested in possibly pursuing those fields.

Someone is REALLY butthurt that no one cares about what their kid does.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a white mother of a Kilmer student from several years ago - DS currently attends Marshall HS.

When DS was in 8th grade, I went to the TJ information session in September. I got a lot of good information from the presenters there and was considering encouraging DS to apply, even though he was reticent.

When they opened the floor for Q&A, one of DS's friends' fathers stood up and accused the admissions people of using affirmative action because the previous year's incoming class was only 75% Asian. I watched several parents, including friends of mine, nod in agreement. Horrifying. Thankfully the admissions people tamped it down.

That father's kid is currently at TJ. I decided to follow my son's wishes and not have him apply after I heard that comment and the stunning amount of approval it got.

You are the kind of person who sees no problem wit 90% blacks for basketball and football teams.

OMG, this nonsense again. The point of TJ is not to win anything, it's to serve Northern Virginia and the STEM community by delivering a quality STEM-focused education to students interested in possibly pursuing those fields.

Someone is REALLY butthurt that no one cares about what their kid does.

The point is not many Asians are obsessed with basketball or football and not many blacks are obsessed with studying and pursuing stem fields.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a white mother of a Kilmer student from several years ago - DS currently attends Marshall HS.

When DS was in 8th grade, I went to the TJ information session in September. I got a lot of good information from the presenters there and was considering encouraging DS to apply, even though he was reticent.

When they opened the floor for Q&A, one of DS's friends' fathers stood up and accused the admissions people of using affirmative action because the previous year's incoming class was only 75% Asian. I watched several parents, including friends of mine, nod in agreement. Horrifying. Thankfully the admissions people tamped it down.

That father's kid is currently at TJ. I decided to follow my son's wishes and not have him apply after I heard that comment and the stunning amount of approval it got.

You are the kind of person who sees no problem wit 90% blacks for basketball and football teams.

OMG, this nonsense again. The point of TJ is not to win anything, it's to serve Northern Virginia and the STEM community by delivering a quality STEM-focused education to students interested in possibly pursuing those fields.

Someone is REALLY butthurt that no one cares about what their kid does.

The point is not many Asians are obsessed with basketball or football and not many blacks are obsessed with studying and pursuing stem fields.

^ Litmus test number 2

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a white mother of a Kilmer student from several years ago - DS currently attends Marshall HS.

When DS was in 8th grade, I went to the TJ information session in September. I got a lot of good information from the presenters there and was considering encouraging DS to apply, even though he was reticent.

When they opened the floor for Q&A, one of DS's friends' fathers stood up and accused the admissions people of using affirmative action because the previous year's incoming class was only 75% Asian. I watched several parents, including friends of mine, nod in agreement. Horrifying. Thankfully the admissions people tamped it down.

That father's kid is currently at TJ. I decided to follow my son's wishes and not have him apply after I heard that comment and the stunning amount of approval it got.

You are the kind of person who sees no problem wit 90% blacks for basketball and football teams.

OMG, this nonsense again. The point of TJ is not to win anything, it's to serve Northern Virginia and the STEM community by delivering a quality STEM-focused education to students interested in possibly pursuing those fields.

Someone is REALLY butthurt that no one cares about what their kid does.

The point is not many Asians are obsessed with basketball or football and not many blacks are obsessed with studying and pursuing stem fields.

<hl>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsACIr5fEus</hl>

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

OMG, this nonsense again. The point of TJ is not to win anything, it's to serve Northern Virginia and the STEM community by delivering a quality STEM-focused education to students interested in possibly pursuing those fields.

Someone is REALLY butthurt that no one cares about what their kid does.

But what is the point of TJ, really? The VDOE governor's schools say that the point is to provide a rigorous education to gifted children whose needs can't be met in their regular schools. If so, then they need to ensure that they're finding and admitting those gifted children, no matter what race they might be. TJ already admits many kids who are not gifted and don't "need" TJ, so they would still have plenty of slots to use to capture a population more representative of Fairfax.

If the point of TJ is to provide STEM opportunities to kids interested in STEM, as you say, then they should turn it into an academy program with classes open to any kid who meets the pre-requisites.

If part of the point of TJ is to be ranked as one of the top high schools in the country and have teams or students who win prestigious contests, then they should stick with standardized tests and admitting the top scorers.

FCPS needs a clear mission statement on what they're trying to do with TJ. I'm very critical of the changes, mostly because I think FCPS deep down views the third choice as the point of TJ, but they're using a lot of magical thinking on how they can achieve that. They seem to be changing the admissions in a way that will most likely just lead to more above average but not particularly gifted white kids getting in and fewer highly gifted kids being identified by the process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

OMG, this nonsense again. The point of TJ is not to win anything, it's to serve Northern Virginia and the STEM community by delivering a quality STEM-focused education to students interested in possibly pursuing those fields.

Someone is REALLY butthurt that no one cares about what their kid does.

But what is the point of TJ, really? The VDOE governor's schools say that the point is to provide a rigorous education to gifted children whose needs can't be met in their regular schools. If so, then they need to ensure that they're finding and admitting those gifted children, no matter what race they might be. TJ already admits many kids who are not gifted and don't "need" TJ, so they would still have plenty of slots to use to capture a population more representative of Fairfax.

If the point of TJ is to provide STEM opportunities to kids interested in STEM, as you say, then they should turn it into an academy program with classes open to any kid who meets the pre-requisites.

If part of the point of TJ is to be ranked as one of the top high schools in the country and have teams or students who win prestigious contests, then they should stick with standardized tests and admitting the top scorers.

FCPS needs a clear mission statement on what they're trying to do with TJ. I'm very critical of the changes, mostly because I think FCPS deep down views the third choice as the point of TJ, but they're using a lot of magical thinking on how they can achieve that. They seem to be changing the admissions in a way that will most likely just lead to more above average but not particularly gifted white kids getting in and fewer highly gifted kids being identified by the process.

PP. I agree with the vast majority of what you said here and quite frankly am not thrilled with the ham-handed way that they've gone about a lot of this. And I am one of the most vocal pro-reform people on this board.

The biggest issue that I have is that there have been too many kids getting into TJ of late who are not particularly gifted. They are simply advanced, and have been misidentified by a process that favors pay-to-play, mostly in the form of the exam. As others have mentioned, you don't really have to be that bright to get into Algebra in 7th grade - or even 6th, to be honest. You just have to be sufficiently prepared and advanced.

I think they made a huge mistake in removing the teacher recommendations rather than re-engineering them, because while they can be prone to bias, they're the best window we have into the way a student actually contributes in the classroom. Teachers know these kids as students better than anyone, and their testimony is critical to admissions personnel being able to construct a narrative.

In the end, I have always believed that the population and its demographics will not change that much through all of this, unless the new admissions process attracts a HUGE shift in the pool of quality applicants. And if that happens, that's good news on the whole, I believe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a white mother of a Kilmer student from several years ago - DS currently attends Marshall HS.

When DS was in 8th grade, I went to the TJ information session in September. I got a lot of good information from the presenters there and was considering encouraging DS to apply, even though he was reticent.

When they opened the floor for Q&A, one of DS's friends' fathers stood up and accused the admissions people of using affirmative action because the previous year's incoming class was only 75% Asian. I watched several parents, including friends of mine, nod in agreement. Horrifying. Thankfully the admissions people tamped it down.

That father's kid is currently at TJ. I decided to follow my son's wishes and not have him apply after I heard that comment and the stunning amount of approval it got.

Nice try. This did not happen. Don't lie.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

OMG, this nonsense again. The point of TJ is not to win anything, it's to serve Northern Virginia and the STEM community by delivering a quality STEM-focused education to students interested in possibly pursuing those fields.

Someone is REALLY butthurt that no one cares about what their kid does.

But what is the point of TJ, really? The VDOE governor's schools say that the point is to provide a rigorous education to gifted children whose needs can't be met in their regular schools. If so, then they need to ensure that they're finding and admitting those gifted children, no matter what race they might be. TJ already admits many kids who are not gifted and don't "need" TJ, so they would still have plenty of slots to use to capture a population more representative of Fairfax.

If the point of TJ is to provide STEM opportunities to kids interested in STEM, as you say, then they should turn it into an academy program with classes open to any kid who meets the pre-requisites.

If part of the point of TJ is to be ranked as one of the top high schools in the country and have teams or students who win prestigious contests, then they should stick with standardized tests and admitting the top scorers.

FCPS needs a clear mission statement on what they're trying to do with TJ. I'm very critical of the changes, mostly because I think FCPS deep down views the third choice as the point of TJ, but they're using a lot of magical thinking on how they can achieve that. They seem to be changing the admissions in a way that will most likely just lead to more above average but not particularly gifted white kids getting in and fewer highly gifted kids being identified by the process.

Yes but when 70% just buy the test answers it's time to rethink admissions because those high scores carry no weight.

[Anonymous]

Where do private school kids fit in -- in the middle school they would otherwise go to?

[Anonymous]

Gifted or not, TJ's mission is to provide a foundation for interested students to advance in STEM. TJ is not a GT/Advance Placement school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Gifted or not, TJ's mission is to provide a foundation for interested students to advance in STEM. TJ is not a GT/Advance Placement school.

The mission statement says it is. So there's that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Gifted or not, TJ's mission is to provide a foundation for interested students to advance in STEM. TJ is not a GT/Advance Placement school.

Uhhhh... what? It's a Governor's School for gifted STEM kids. It is literally what you just said it is not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gifted or not, TJ's mission is to provide a foundation for interested students to advance in STEM. TJ is not a GT/Advance Placement school.

Uhhhh... what? It's a Governor's School for gifted STEM kids. It is literally what you just said it is not.

Real Gifted? How many we can find per year in a MS school? Max 5 ?

Is WISC Score more than 150 a gifted?