TJ results

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When a student who got in does not accept admission, do they pick a waitlisted student from same school or pick the top waitlisted student across all schools?

TBH, it’s arbitrary at that point. FCPS no longer bounds waitpool acceptances to the school from where the accepted but declined student may have come from. But technically, there is no ranking in the waitpool so who knows?

Another poster says there IS ranking in the wait pool. Who is right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When a student who got in does not accept admission, do they pick a waitlisted student from same school or pick the top waitlisted student across all schools?

TBH, it’s arbitrary at that point. FCPS no longer bounds waitpool acceptances to the school from where the accepted but declined student may have come from. But technically, there is no ranking in the waitpool so who knows?

I believe there is ranking in the general waitpool, that is why the feeder schools always end up sent the most.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When a student who got in does not accept admission, do they pick a waitlisted student from same school or pick the top waitlisted student across all schools?

TBH, it’s arbitrary at that point. FCPS no longer bounds waitpool acceptances to the school from where the accepted but declined student may have come from. But technically, there is no ranking in the waitpool so who knows?

I believe there is ranking in the general waitpool, that is why the feeder schools always end up sent the most.

There is almost certainly ranking in the WL but the ranking is based on arbitrary essays.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anybody with a sub 4.0 get accepted?

Or anybody with a 4.0 waitlisted?

Plenty. Most applicants are 4.0

If only there were a way to add in other merit-based factors that could be used to help differentiate people.

Yup. They need to do an interview. These days, kids need more than just the STEM. They need the confident communication to back it up…

Do you know how long ti would take to interview 2,762 candidates? The written essays are a way of judging communication skills.

Merit-based factors? I would give you a few ideas:
Should these include a math test, standardized scores (such as SOLs), or performance in competitions? As it stands, the evaluation process is very subjective and lacks meaningful, objective criteria.

Not equitable - more rich kids participate in that

The smart kids pretty much all participate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:According to DD, the PSE this year seemed like it was 5th/6th grade difficulty, which would mean that it would have been even harder to fairly decide who to waitlist this year.

My DC got accepted with an incorrect PSE

I mean, if all they're doing is just rolling the dice, they should just call it the lottery that it is and stop pretending that it's still an elite school.

They legally can't

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hey, my kid is happy on the waitlist. His friends are waitlisted or rejected. All bright kids who spent thousands on TJ prep classes… he doesn’t even want to go anymore, so may just pull off the waitlist. He didn’t do the prep classes except a couple online sessions, so he thought he would just get rejected compared to kids who did the classes. I think we are thinking base school is better as a chance to stick out more and also have time to participate in more extracurriculars, sports etc. and have more of a normal high school experience. Everyone has their preference.

We had the opposite story - DD was in tears because all of her friends got in, even the ones with inconsistent grades, or that left out parts of their SPS, or that she's helped tutor in school. I'm not sure she was planning to go to begin with, but the unfairness of it really hit her - the fact that she did everything that was up to her right, but the county couldn't be bothered to know or care whether she belonged.

\\

There is a froshmore process, look into it. Some of the most successful TJ students are froshmores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2,762 kids applied and they have space for 500 or so kids. Lots of kids with great grades, who are in geometry or algebra 2, and who think they did well on the math problem are not going to be accepted. And if they had a quant test, many of those kids would have the same score, it wouldn’t change much.

The vast majority of the kids not selected have a good case for being selected. So do the kids who were accepted.

I think you're defending the indefensible here. If you have a group as large as 2,762 kids and you're trying to make the argument that they're all basically the same, it just doesn't fly. If you can't find some reasonable, objective way to determine their individual talents rather than treat them as a big homogeneous group, some of the good ones will be treated unfairly, and they'll know it because they know who their peers are.

2700+ kids wanting in means you have several highschools worth of kids who want that sort of academic experience.

Its a shame FCPS won't open another speciality high school.

A lot of these kids were pushed by their tiger parents into applying, and most of those turned down will have plenty of opportunities at their base schools.

There was never a need for TJ in the first place. It was just a marketing tool that a Republican-controlled Board of Supervisors came up with at a time when Jefferson High's enrollment was down. Opening TJ did real long-term damage to the Alexandria/Annandale neighborhoods left without a neighborhood school.

Nope, you’re mixing it up with the older, regular TJ high school that used to be in that building before TJHSST took over. It doesn’t help that people now just call TJHSST as “TJ,” which adds to the confusion. current TJ has added long-term value, except for the disgruntled few who hate this lovely school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2,762 kids applied and they have space for 500 or so kids. Lots of kids with great grades, who are in geometry or algebra 2, and who think they did well on the math problem are not going to be accepted. And if they had a quant test, many of those kids would have the same score, it wouldn’t change much.

The vast majority of the kids not selected have a good case for being selected. So do the kids who were accepted.

I think you're defending the indefensible here. If you have a group as large as 2,762 kids and you're trying to make the argument that they're all basically the same, it just doesn't fly. If you can't find some reasonable, objective way to determine their individual talents rather than treat them as a big homogeneous group, some of the good ones will be treated unfairly, and they'll know it because they know who their peers are.

The selection criteria currently being used is pretty bad at objectively determining individual talent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For the parents that had children fall short and are upset, it’s a reflection on you not the child.

Their children didn't fall short, the selection criteria was stupid and they waited until their kid didn't meet the arbitrary criteria to complain about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:According to DD, the PSE this year seemed like it was 5th/6th grade difficulty, which would mean that it would have been even harder to fairly decide who to waitlist this year.

My DC got accepted with an incorrect PSE

I mean, if all they're doing is just rolling the dice, they should just call it the lottery that it is and stop pretending that it's still an elite school.

he average GPA of accepted kids is going to be something like a 3.9, in all honors/AAP, with at least Algebra 1, although most will have Geometry or Algebra 2. Many probably have 2 years of a foreign language. How is that not elite? Because they cannot accept every kid with similar stats?

Because it's not that hard to get a 4.0 GPA in middle school? Which might be why some kids are applying for an elite school to begin with?

Students don't even have to finish an easy PSE to get in. That's not elite by any stretch of the imagination.

This is a public school. It is meant to serve kids who are interested in STEM and need more of a challenge. A small number of kids will be accepted with a GPS below a 3.9 but the majority are going to be higher than that.

I agree, kids who didn’t finish the essays or the math problem should not have been accepted.

As for grades, plenty of MS kids would tell you that it is hard to get a 4.0, especially in honors/AAP. I know you won’t believe that but most kids are not earning a 4.0. I understand being disappointed but calling kids who were accepted names and saying that they are not “elite” is unnecessary.

You could take only kids with 4.0 GPAs who completed everything and still not accept all the kids, then what is your argument?

Nobody is calling kids names here. And for the record, this wasn’t my post—but I’m sorry if it came across that way to you.
The real concern is the process itself and how subjective it is. When there isn’t clear consistency, like students being admitted without completing essays, it raises fair questions about how decisions are being made.
As for GPA, if a student is already struggling to maintain a 4.0, it’s reasonable to question whether TJ is the right fit. That’s not an insult to anyone. It’s just being realistic about what a highly demanding school requires.

Plenty of 4.0 students in 8th grade pulling a 3.0 at TJ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Waitlisted but relieved. DC got into a very competitive private school and this makes me feel better about the money I’m about to spend. Bye FCPS! It’s been a shitshow.

Out of the frying pan, into the fire.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2,762 kids applied and they have space for 500 or so kids. Lots of kids with great grades, who are in geometry or algebra 2, and who think they did well on the math problem are not going to be accepted. And if they had a quant test, many of those kids would have the same score, it wouldn’t change much.

The vast majority of the kids not selected have a good case for being selected. So do the kids who were accepted.

I think you're defending the indefensible here. If you have a group as large as 2,762 kids and you're trying to make the argument that they're all basically the same, it just doesn't fly. If you can't find some reasonable, objective way to determine their individual talents rather than treat them as a big homogeneous group, some of the good ones will be treated unfairly, and they'll know it because they know who their peers are.

2700+ kids wanting in means you have several highschools worth of kids who want that sort of academic experience.

Its a shame FCPS won't open another speciality high school.

The governor's school is a bit different. FCPS gets paid to run TJ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hey, my kid is happy on the waitlist. His friends are waitlisted or rejected. All bright kids who spent thousands on TJ prep classes… he doesn’t even want to go anymore, so may just pull off the waitlist. He didn’t do the prep classes except a couple online sessions, so he thought he would just get rejected compared to kids who did the classes. I think we are thinking base school is better as a chance to stick out more and also have time to participate in more extracurriculars, sports etc. and have more of a normal high school experience. Everyone has their preference.

We had the opposite story - DD was in tears because all of her friends got in, even the ones with inconsistent grades, or that left out parts of their SPS, or that she's helped tutor in school. I'm not sure she was planning to go to begin with, but the unfairness of it really hit her - the fact that she did everything that was up to her right, but the county couldn't be bothered to know or care whether she belonged.

\\

There is a froshmore process, look into it. Some of the most successful TJ students are froshmores.

Entering as froshmore has a ton of challenges, deprives the student of their freshman TJ experience, which is the foundational year for other three.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2,762 kids applied and they have space for 500 or so kids. Lots of kids with great grades, who are in geometry or algebra 2, and who think they did well on the math problem are not going to be accepted. And if they had a quant test, many of those kids would have the same score, it wouldn’t change much.

The vast majority of the kids not selected have a good case for being selected. So do the kids who were accepted.

I think you're defending the indefensible here. If you have a group as large as 2,762 kids and you're trying to make the argument that they're all basically the same, it just doesn't fly. If you can't find some reasonable, objective way to determine their individual talents rather than treat them as a big homogeneous group, some of the good ones will be treated unfairly, and they'll know it because they know who their peers are.

2700+ kids wanting in means you have several highschools worth of kids who want that sort of academic experience.

Its a shame FCPS won't open another speciality high school.

A lot of these kids were pushed by their tiger parents into applying, and most of those turned down will have plenty of opportunities at their base schools.

There was never a need for TJ in the first place. It was just a marketing tool that a Republican-controlled Board of Supervisors came up with at a time when Jefferson High's enrollment was down. Opening TJ did real long-term damage to the Alexandria/Annandale neighborhoods left without a neighborhood school.

A lot of the kids that get turned down were pushed by tiger parents. It's just so random that once you are a 4.0 geometry student in 8th grade, you basically have a lottery ticket.

TJ was assigned to FCPS by a Democratic governor. It's not some partisan tool and it's pretty silly of you to try and make it out to be one.

[Anonymous]

If your on the waitlist and someone declines the offer at your school, does the spot go to the general pool or the next best at the same school?