TJ results

[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.

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

It makes sense they are successful at TJ and in the college application process because the froshmore process is based on rigor, grades, and PSAT scores.

[Anonymous]

From the enrollment numbers, it looks like a decent chunk of freshman spots are going to students who end up leaving and heading back to their base school during or after the first year. To fill those gaps, there’s some pretty aggressive push here for families to apply as froshmores for 10th grade admissions. Is the concern that if those empty freshman spots aren’t backfilled, the admissions process might swing back toward being merit-based?

[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.

FCPS has to educate the entire population, not just the kids interested in TJ. There is no specialty school for the arts, even though there is demand. There is no Vo Tech school, even though there is demand. You would be able to full a school of the arts with a huge waiting list and a fully functional Vo Tech school easily.

I would argue that Fairfax Academy, tho part of Fairfax HS, and Chantilly Academy would fit the bill as specialty schools for the arts and VOC, respectively. And FCPS HS do bus kids to those schools during the day. Also don’t forget Skyview.

[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?

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

Source (one of many): https://www.admission.org/answer/what-is-the-difference-between-a-waitlist-and-a-wait-pool#:~:text=Waitlisted%20students%20are%20often%20ranked,What%20is%20the%20waitlist?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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?

General pool I think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From the enrollment numbers, it looks like a decent chunk of freshman spots are going to students who end up leaving and heading back to their base school during or after the first year. To fill those gaps, there’s some pretty aggressive push here for families to apply as froshmores for 10th grade admissions. Is the concern that if those empty freshman spots aren’t backfilled, the admissions process might swing back toward being merit-based?

Those freshman spots don't just have to be backfilled, they have to be backfilled with students that will elevate the stats.

Better SAT scores, better academic competition results, better college admissions. That is who they accept as froshmores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Sure, but if you did not get accepted as a freshman, going as a froshmore has it's benefits too.

You likely have a straight A average your freshman year. About 80% of TJ freshmen cannot say that at the end of their freshman year.
You have the confidence of knowing that you are academically ready for TJ if you get in through the froshmore process.
You got to stagger the leaps in rigor so instead of going from 8th grade rigor to TJ rigor, you get to go from 8th grade rigor to high school rigor to TJ high school rigor. That two stage increase makes it easier to acclimate yourself.

[Anonymous]

Has no one FOIAd TJ results?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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?

I think that if there is a slot open from your MS quota, the 1.5%, then the top kid from that school on the waitlist gets it. Once all the 1.5% quoat slots are full or an unawarded, they go to the general pool waitlist.

[Anonymous]

Katherine Johnson, 4.0 GPA, good SPS, incorrect PSE, Algebra
Waitlist

[Anonymous]

Longfellow, Algebra 2, 4.0 gpa, small mistake on pse, ok sps, waitlisted

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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?

I think that if there is a slot open from your MS quota, the 1.5%, then the top kid from that school on the waitlist gets it. Once all the 1.5% quoat slots are full or an unawarded, they go to the general pool waitlist.

This makes sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I actually think it makes sense to put a lot of weight on the essay portion. All the kids who are applying are taking accelerated math with good grades, we know that from their GPA and transcript. It’s harder to tell if people write well unless you see it due to variability in classes. TJ wants well-rounded kids.

accelerated math with good grades AND essay prep. That's what got us in. Yes, TJ wants well rounded kids!

I mean...dont you think most people here have accelerated math, good grades and essay prep. 😀

I think it is okay to admit some of its luck.

We didn't do essay prep

You mean your student, right? Very telling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I actually think it makes sense to put a lot of weight on the essay portion. All the kids who are applying are taking accelerated math with good grades, we know that from their GPA and transcript. It’s harder to tell if people write well unless you see it due to variability in classes. TJ wants well-rounded kids.

accelerated math with good grades AND essay prep. That's what got us in. Yes, TJ wants well rounded kids!

I mean...dont you think most people here have accelerated math, good grades and essay prep. 😀

I think it is okay to admit some of its luck.

We didn't do essay prep

You mean your student, right? Very telling.

Not really, my kid’s the smart one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Sure, but if you did not get accepted as a freshman, going as a froshmore has it's benefits too.

You likely have a straight A average your freshman year. About 80% of TJ freshmen cannot say that at the end of their freshman year.
You have the confidence of knowing that you are academically ready for TJ if you get in through the froshmore process.
You got to stagger the leaps in rigor [u]so instead of going from 8th grade rigor to TJ rigor, you get to go from 8th grade rigor to high school rigor to TJ high school rigor. That two stage increase makes it easier to acclimate yourself.

Mostly these kids (froshmores) would fit in TJ from the first year, they do not have much benefit from the staggering the leaps in rigor.