What changes in the TJ admissions procedure do you predict this year ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCPS has just driven all of the TJ Prep companies out of business, which made the admissions test “pay to play”. This will also make it unnecessary for Asians to move in droves to areas where the MS has historically sent the most kids to TJ. Now, they would be better served moving to different areas. Lastly, Asian children will no longer have to spend 5 years of their life preparing for TJ. This will result in diversity. The other unintended consequences remain to be seen.

Are you joking?

My asian kid will still be preparing like crazy for college. This is something that we do as a culture even back in our home countries. Our kids will still be going to weekend language classes, STEM camps, extra math sessions and the like. Our kids grades won't suddenly drop by any means by destroying TJ.

You are right about moving patterns and housing values. Though you might see an influx of asian kids into areas that have had fewer kids who went to TJ to take advantage of that.

fortunately college are getting better at seeing through that and disregarding it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Instead of a lottery, can't they just tweak the admissions process - the application/paperwork would be purely paperwork- grades, letters, test scores, etc.
Any multiple choice questions about race or gender are eliminated. Even home address, school pyramid, and full name should be done away with. Purely clinical.
You'd be identified solely by your student ID number that all fcps kids have.

They are looking to focus on race, not make it a blind process.

But if race seems to be defining factor, then take it out completely of the admissions process. What is the harm in a blind process? You're weeding out the "men from the boys" to achieve that desirable academic vigor that defines TJ.

It was race blind before. They didn’t like the outcome so now they want to change the selection to change the racial makeup.

It was NOT race blind. Those prep program were filled with Asians paying to play. That is not race blind.

Prep programs were open to anyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe TJ will be able to field a real football team now.

Hey, they did go 6-2 last year and beat both of the public schools they played.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Instead of a lottery, can't they just tweak the admissions process - the application/paperwork would be purely paperwork- grades, letters, test scores, etc.
Any multiple choice questions about race or gender are eliminated. Even home address, school pyramid, and full name should be done away with. Purely clinical.
You'd be identified solely by your student ID number that all fcps kids have.

They are looking to focus on race, not make it a blind process.

But if race seems to be defining factor, then take it out completely of the admissions process. What is the harm in a blind process? You're weeding out the "men from the boys" to achieve that desirable academic vigor that defines TJ.

It was race blind before. They didn’t like the outcome so now they want to change the selection to change the racial makeup.

It was NOT race blind. Those prep program were filled with Asians paying to play. That is not race blind.

Prep programs were open to anyone.

So then why were substantially 100% of the 133 names that Curie posted of South Asian descent? It's not open to everyone if a) people don't know about it, b) a lot of people can't afford it, and c) they siphon off kids several weeks in who they think can't hack it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCPS has just driven all of the TJ Prep companies out of business, which made the admissions test “pay to play”. This will also make it unnecessary for Asians to move in droves to areas where the MS has historically sent the most kids to TJ. Now, they would be better served moving to different areas. Lastly, Asian children will no longer have to spend 5 years of their life preparing for TJ. This will result in diversity. The other unintended consequences remain to be seen.

This isn't going to happen with a lottery. Well-educated Asians will be even more likely to live in the "top" pyramids. Their kids will still take a chance with the lottery. TJ lottery crap shoot vs. Langley/McLean/Oakton/Chantilly sure thing = win/win.

If the plan was to take the 70 highest-scoring kids in each of the five regions, you might see some arbitrage by region, especially with people moving to Region 3. That's not the proposal.

People are free to live where they want. Is this controversial?

Not at all. Predictions that Asian parents will stop seeking out what are considered the stronger pyramids, though, don't seem very realistic.

[Anonymous]

My European neighbors send their DD to TJ prep school twice a week and she studies on weekends. Lot of parental pressure to study, music, and extra activities... I feel bad for her.

Parents who can afford the prep schools and tutoring, can afford to send their kids to private school.

WHO CARES if TJ loses its top spot. My tax dollars want STEM labs/activities for all students and all high schools!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCPS has just driven all of the TJ Prep companies out of business, which made the admissions test “pay to play”. This will also make it unnecessary for Asians to move in droves to areas where the MS has historically sent the most kids to TJ. Now, they would be better served moving to different areas. Lastly, Asian children will no longer have to spend 5 years of their life preparing for TJ. This will result in diversity. The other unintended consequences remain to be seen.

This isn't going to happen with a lottery. Well-educated Asians will be even more likely to live in the "top" pyramids. Their kids will still take a chance with the lottery. TJ lottery crap shoot vs. Langley/McLean/Oakton/Chantilly sure thing = win/win.

If the plan was to take the 70 highest-scoring kids in each of the five regions, you might see some arbitrage by region, especially with people moving to Region 3. That's not the proposal.

People are free to live where they want. Is this controversial?

Not at all. Predictions that Asian parents will stop seeking out what are considered the stronger pyramids, though, don't seem very realistic.

I agree with this....it's not exactly super-easy to keep moving from place to place constantly, and these families will be better served having a shot at TJ and falling back to a Langley or Chantilly than having a slightly better shot at TJ (but not a guarantee) and falling back to a Hayfield or a Mt. Vernon.

Imagine you move to go to Sandburg for a year thinking that you'll have a better shot, and you don't even end up making the lottery pool because Admissions doesn't like your questionnaire.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
My European neighbors send their DD to TJ prep school twice a week and she studies on weekends. Lot of parental pressure to study, music, and extra activities... I feel bad for her.

Parents who can afford the prep schools and tutoring, can afford to send their kids to private school.

WHO CARES if TJ loses its top spot. My tax dollars want STEM labs/activities for all students and all high schools!

Love this perspective.

[Anonymous]

How many middle school kids have a 3.5GPA? Is it 1/4 of the class or something? And if it is a merit lottery, they need to take the subjective portion out completely. It does not sound like a neutral evaluation to get into the lottery. There is still a subjective component if you have to fill out a questionairre or write an essay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Instead of a lottery, can't they just tweak the admissions process - the application/paperwork would be purely paperwork- grades, letters, test scores, etc.
Any multiple choice questions about race or gender are eliminated. Even home address, school pyramid, and full name should be done away with. Purely clinical.
You'd be identified solely by your student ID number that all fcps kids have.

They are looking to focus on race, not make it a blind process.

But if race seems to be defining factor, then take it out completely of the admissions process. What is the harm in a blind process? You're weeding out the "men from the boys" to achieve that desirable academic vigor that defines TJ.

It was race blind before. They didn’t like the outcome so now they want to change the selection to change the racial makeup.

It was NOT race blind. Those prep program were filled with Asians paying to play. That is not race blind.

Prep programs were open to anyone.

yep, tons of whites hispanic and black kids frequenting Currie

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
My European neighbors send their DD to TJ prep school twice a week and she studies on weekends. Lot of parental pressure to study, music, and extra activities... I feel bad for her.

Parents who can afford the prep schools and tutoring, can afford to send their kids to private school.

WHO CARES if TJ loses its top spot. My tax dollars want STEM labs/activities for all students and all high schools!

Love this perspective.

+1. This is what equitable access to these programs should look like -- all schools need to give their students opportunities for enrichment and deeper learning instead of hoarding those resources in a single school's programming.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
My European neighbors send their DD to TJ prep school twice a week and she studies on weekends. Lot of parental pressure to study, music, and extra activities... I feel bad for her.

Parents who can afford the prep schools and tutoring, can afford to send their kids to private school.

WHO CARES if TJ loses its top spot. My tax dollars want STEM labs/activities for all students and all high schools!

Love this perspective.

Test prep/tutoring costs way less than recurring costs of private school.

The School Board should care if TJ loses it's top spot, but it apparently doesn't. They are busy destroying the last crown jewel of FCPS in the name of "equity".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
My European neighbors send their DD to TJ prep school twice a week and she studies on weekends. Lot of parental pressure to study, music, and extra activities... I feel bad for her.

Parents who can afford the prep schools and tutoring, can afford to send their kids to private school.

WHO CARES if TJ loses its top spot. My tax dollars want STEM labs/activities for all students and all high schools!

I care, and I'm perfectly fine with parental pressure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
My European neighbors send their DD to TJ prep school twice a week and she studies on weekends. Lot of parental pressure to study, music, and extra activities... I feel bad for her.

Parents who can afford the prep schools and tutoring, can afford to send their kids to private school.

WHO CARES if TJ loses its top spot. My tax dollars want STEM labs/activities for all students and all high schools!

Love this perspective.

+1. This is what equitable access to these programs should look like -- all schools need to give their students opportunities for enrichment and deeper learning instead of hoarding those resources in a single school's programming.

But that's not what's happening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:


The School Board should care if TJ loses it's top spot, but it apparently doesn't. They are busy destroying the last crown jewel of FCPS in the name of "equity".

why should they care? The overwhelming majority of students derive no benefit from that ranking. Far more students would benefit if the resources were spread across multiple schools