Are TJ college admissions a mess this year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:19 to Harvard

This is certainly not right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:19 to Harvard

This would be like something out of the late 90's and early 2000s. While several did not accept those offers, this is a number that would make sense back then - but probably not in terms of early admissions, which were much less a thing back then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:19 to Harvard

This would be like something out of the late 90's and early 2000s. While several did not accept those offers, this is a number that would make sense back then - but probably not in terms of early admissions, which were much less a thing back then.

I think the PP was joking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It worth knowing if colleges are comparing TJ kids among only TJ kids, 1550 SAT might be in the mid or low range for TJ but high compared to FCPS high schools overall performance.

Because of the opacity of college admissions, all conjecture below. But having looked at the trend of the admission results of last several years (bear in mind, not everyone reports), selective colleges compare TJ kids with other TJ kids (however, I don't think SAT counts for much. GPA definitely). At the same time, there is an increased soft quota allocated because it's TJ e.g. MIT will offer 10 places whereas in other FCPS schools, they'll offer 1-2 max if any.

The number of spots offered per college also seem to be relatively constant across several years e.g. college X will take 4, college Y will take 8 etc

And there are yet some other colleges that clearly like TJ perhaps based on previously yields from TJ or quality perceived from a TJ education based on past matriculated cohorts.

Just my opinion - nobody really knows.

All of that has been perceived as true since at least the early 2000s when I was a student there.

When I was there in the 1990s, when standards were lower, there were at least 10 or so admitted to HYP each, more to MIT. One class had 150 or so people attend UVA (ATTEND, not be admitted) if the rumor is true.
If you think about the # of kids per high school siphoning off students likely to go to MIT regardless of the HS they attend, the number of TJ students admitted is probably low.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which among HYPSM do TJ kids have more success with admissions? Which are more popular to apply to?

I would say of all of those, Stanford receives the fewest applications from TJ and also the fewest admits. The other four see roughly similar application numbers at the moment because the applicants are still coming from the old TJ admissions process, which tended to produce prestige-oriented families rather than an appropriate focus on fit. I think Yale tends to admit the fewest, MIT the most, and the other two are largely toss-ups.

This sounds about right... pulling from the information as reported in the senior issues of TJ Today for class of 2019, 2022, and 2023 (I don't have 2020 or 2021, anyone have the links?) the average attending per year were:
6.3 MIT
5.0 Harvard
4.3 Princeton
4.0 Yale
2.7 Stanford

Also the total per year varied... 24 in 2019, 29 in 2022, vs. only 14 in 2023. TBD obviously for 2024.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which among HYPSM do TJ kids have more success with admissions? Which are more popular to apply to?

I would say of all of those, Stanford receives the fewest applications from TJ and also the fewest admits. The other four see roughly similar application numbers at the moment because the applicants are still coming from the old TJ admissions process, which tended to produce prestige-oriented families rather than an appropriate focus on fit. I think Yale tends to admit the fewest, MIT the most, and the other two are largely toss-ups.

This sounds about right... pulling from the information as reported in the senior issues of TJ Today for class of 2019, 2022, and 2023 (I don't have 2020 or 2021, anyone have the links?) the average attending per year were:
6.3 MIT
5.0 Harvard
4.3 Princeton
4.0 Yale
2.7 Stanford

Also the total per year varied... 24 in 2019, 29 in 2022, vs. only 14 in 2023. TBD obviously for 2024.

Two things are worth noting here:

1) The senior issue of tjTODAY, while it is the best public source of information about schools attended, is very incomplete. In the past several years it has been missing about 100 students each because it relies on self-reporting.

2) TJ is the sort of place where a student can be admitted to Harvard, Princeton, and Yale but attend none of them. Those numbers (incomplete as they are) represent students who matriculated or planned on doing so, not those who were admitted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:19 to Harvard

No only 7 for Harvard.

[Anonymous]

This is the last class under the old system. It will be great to compare outcomes from this year with next year. Outcomes can be college outcomes, Average scores or anything else with objective measures. If there is an objective determination of “less toxicity” then let us measure that as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is the last class under the old system. It will be great to compare outcomes from this year with next year. Outcomes can be college outcomes, Average scores or anything else with objective measures. If there is an objective determination of “less toxicity” then let us measure that as well.

Average scores will go down slightly because the old process overselected for test-taking ability (which is very different from intelligence or content area knowledge in an environment where boutique prep is ubiquitous). It pretty much goes without saying that if you remove a metric from a selection process, that metric will decline. Doesn't mean the caliber of students is declining unless you have a myopic view that student quality can be captured adequately by standardized exams in a vacuum.

College admissions will go up because of the increased emphasis on socioeconomic diversity that is taking place at elite colleges around America, which they have determined is good for business. Fewer TJ students look the same on paper, and as a consequence you'll see more of them filling the different types of spaces that are available at these elite schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is the last class under the old system. It will be great to compare outcomes from this year with next year. Outcomes can be college outcomes, Average scores or anything else with objective measures. If there is an objective determination of “less toxicity” then let us measure that as well.

Average scores will go down slightly because the old process overselected for test-taking ability (which is very different from intelligence or content area knowledge in an environment where boutique prep is ubiquitous). It pretty much goes without saying that if you remove a metric from a selection process, that metric will decline. Doesn't mean the caliber of students is declining unless you have a myopic view that student quality can be captured adequately by standardized exams in a vacuum.

College admissions will go up because of the increased emphasis on socioeconomic diversity that is taking place at elite colleges around America, which they have determined is good for business. Fewer TJ students look the same on paper, and as a consequence you'll see more of them filling the different types of spaces that are available at these elite schools.

How does the above explain the recent decision by multiple well known colleges to reinstate SATs as a required part of a college application?

[Anonymous]

How to know if DC is in top 5% or 10% of TJ class? Currently a junior but not sure where they stand relative to other students. What are the GPA at end of Junior year for the top kids? DC has decent rigor (BC Calc, bunch of other AP/AV classes) but not tippy top (just honors physics)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How to know if DC is in top 5% or 10% of TJ class? Currently a junior but not sure where they stand relative to other students. What are the GPA at end of Junior year for the top kids? DC has decent rigor (BC Calc, bunch of other AP/AV classes) but not tippy top (just honors physics)

What is their unweighted and weighted GPA?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How to know if DC is in top 5% or 10% of TJ class? Currently a junior but not sure where they stand relative to other students. What are the GPA at end of Junior year for the top kids? DC has decent rigor (BC Calc, bunch of other AP/AV classes) but not tippy top (just honors physics)

There is no official class rank. But an unweighted 3.98+, weighted 4.6+ would most likely place them in top 5 to 10%

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How to know if DC is in top 5% or 10% of TJ class? Currently a junior but not sure where they stand relative to other students. What are the GPA at end of Junior year for the top kids? DC has decent rigor (BC Calc, bunch of other AP/AV classes) but not tippy top (just honors physics)

There is no official class rank. But an unweighted 3.98+, weighted 4.6+ would most likely place them in top 5 to 10%

4.6+ at end of junior year? Even with a 3.98 unweighted my DC can’t get to 4.6+ until end of senior year. Will have 4.5 weighted at end of junior year if grades stay consistent though. Had to take language since freshman year (unweighted class) and PE, design & tech also unweighted. Was not trying to maximize weighted GPA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:19 to Harvard

This is certainly not right.

I wouldn't be surprised. The new admission process has resulted in higher caliber of student.