TJ results

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interestingly, kids who are not in AAP but advanced in math and not in feeder schools like Franklin etc. got in. I know a few. I’m sure they are very smart but also makes me wonder the point of our kids being in AAP and going to schools like Carson, Cooper etc.

The determining feature once again is GPA and test performance. I agree with your point though. Why should my kid who takes geometry in AAP eighth grade have his first quarter GPA come from geometry while somebody else who is in non-AP algebra has that GPA come from a less difficult course?

I know! I spent a lot on prep to ensure my kids got advanced math by 8th too. It's so unfair.

[Anonymous]

I know students taking pre-calculus was waitlisted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Am I likely to get in from waitlist? Im kinda distraught

4.0 GPA
Decent SPS
Perfect PSE
1st in Catholic National Math Comp
Private School (big nerf)
100 in Geometry Hnrs in first trimester

Is it like srsly that hard for private school kids to get in??

Well, there are no seats assigned to any private schools so you are competing for a limited number of open seats.

I know plenty of families from places like Nysmith and other privates but the number of kids from nysmith went from a lot to a little after the change in admissions.

I will echo the comments about the froshmore process. Getting a year of high school under your belt gives you a bit of time to acclimate to high cschool academics while getting straight As.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Interestingly, kids who are not in AAP but advanced in math and not in feeder schools like Franklin etc. got in. I know a few. I’m sure they are very smart but also makes me wonder the point of our kids being in AAP and going to schools like Carson, Cooper etc.

Avoiding center schools improves your chances

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interestingly, kids who are not in AAP but advanced in math and not in feeder schools like Franklin etc. got in. I know a few. I’m sure they are very smart but also makes me wonder the point of our kids being in AAP and going to schools like Carson, Cooper etc.

People have been posting for ages that the only thing in AAP that matters in the math. Kids in Advanced Math do just fine and can get into TJ. The rest of AAP really isn’t a big deal. My kid deferred AAP until they got to Carson, they took Advanced Math in ES, and was accepted into TJ.

But your kid has no idea what the third most important cash crop was for Pennsylvania in 1776.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Am I likely to get in from waitlist? Im kinda distraught

4.0 GPA
Decent SPS
Perfect PSE
1st in Catholic National Math Comp
Private School (big nerf)
100 in Geometry Hnrs in first trimester

Is it like srsly that hard for private school kids to get in??

Yes, there at very few spots for private kids. At the TJ info session they said they said it is a public school and priority is given to kids within the public system.

dang, does the waitlist also prioritize public over private?

Probably. AAP and TJ are public school entities, there has been a clear history of FCPS not prioritizing private school kids for either program. If you don’t want to attend public schools for the regular program, why would you want to come only for the specialized programs?

I get this but private school students are also county residents and pay taxes. They go to private schools for whatever specialized curriculum, private schools offer over public schools. So when they see a public school offering some specialized curriculum that’s that fits with their needs, why not?

Because, that's why.

Honestly it makes no sense.

Neither does the penalty for attending center schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At TJ, the calculus BC is very hard, this course does not have retake. many students can not finish the unit test in 60 min even if you know how to do. so it is very hard to get good score in this course. Furthermore, this course do not give you enough time to study . Last week, this course is finished , the students will continue study multiple calculus after AP test until the ending of this quarter. That is why so many smart students burn out . TJ , really is fit for those students who can self-push and really like stem.Otherwise , it is a four years ' big torture in mental and physical.

Is it better then to take Calculus AB first and then BC as a freshman? (DS is currently taking Honors Pre-calculus in 8th)

Take the most difficult class you can get an A in.
It is very hard to get an A in calculus BC as a freshman at TJ unless your kid lives for math.
Have they taken the AMC 10 or 12 and qualified for AIME?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Am I likely to get in from waitlist? Im kinda distraught

4.0 GPA
Decent SPS
Perfect PSE
1st in Catholic National Math Comp
Private School (big nerf)
100 in Geometry Hnrs in first trimester

Is it like srsly that hard for private school kids to get in??

Yes, there at very few spots for private kids. At the TJ info session they said they said it is a public school and priority is given to kids within the public system.

dang, does the waitlist also prioritize public over private?

Probably. AAP and TJ are public school entities, there has been a clear history of FCPS not prioritizing private school kids for either program. If you don’t want to attend public schools for the regular program, why would you want to come only for the specialized programs?

I get this but private school students are also county residents and pay taxes. They go to private schools for whatever specialized curriculum, private schools offer over public schools. So when they see a public school offering some specialized curriculum that’s that fits with their needs, why not?

I don’t think what I am going to type represents the school or the County position.

Public schools were not good enough for your kid when it was the regular class but seem to be of interest only when it is something high prestige, like AAP or TJ. Sorry, but I have no problem with there being a priority for the kids and families and that were public school kids leading into the TJ decision. You decided that the public school environment wasnt good enough for your kid or wasn’t a good fit for your kid but want it when it comes to TJ? Feel free to join the private school prestige hunt at the big 3 or 5 or where ever.

There are seats for private school kids, it is probably a small number. Each of the MSs get seats for 1.5% of their 8th grade class, that is the majority of the space across the participating counties. Everything else is based on the pool. You want to increase your odds at TJ? Go to one of the MS like most of the other kids do.

DP
I think you are confused about why people want to go to TJ.
They don't want to go to TJ for the prestige, they want to go because it is the best place for their kid.
And who told you AAP is prestigious? It is an extremely low bar.

-Public school parent who sent kids to TJ.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Would like to stay on topic and see more responses regarding acceptance/rejects/waitlist please! [/quote]

I would like to see aggregate data from schools, I don’t find much value in individual accept/reject/waitlist info.[/quote]


DP.

FCPS makes it difficult to access that data, but will certainly emphasize making at least one “offer” to every MS.

However, here a few general trends:

- the “traditional feeder-middle school” were and still are: Longfellow, Kilmer, Carson, (and sometimes Cooper),

- these MS would send up to 80 students prior to 2021, but the shift (including the 1.5 cap), means they now send about 30 to 40 students to TJ;

- the 2021 changes included an internal admissions points-based score sheet to evaluate applicants and the score sheet reflects that if a student has any of the “experience factors” (they are listed on the admissions website), then the experience factors = 40% of the admissions points,

- for the class of 2028, there were 8 offers made to BASIS McLean students. There is traditionally at least one offer made to an applicant who was home-schooled each year.[/quote]

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Would like to stay on topic and see more responses regarding acceptance/rejects/waitlist please! [/quote]

I would like to see aggregate data from schools, I don’t find much value in individual accept/reject/waitlist info.[/quote]


DP.

FCPS makes it difficult to access that data, but will certainly emphasize making at least one “offer” to every MS.

However, here a few general trends:

- the “traditional feeder-middle school” were and still are: Longfellow, Kilmer, Carson, (and sometimes Cooper),

- these MS would send up to 80 students prior to 2021, but the shift (including the 1.5 cap), means they now send about 30 to 40 students to TJ;

- the 2021 changes included an internal admissions points-based score sheet to evaluate applicants and the score sheet reflects that if a student has any of the “experience factors” (they are listed on the admissions website), then the experience factors = 40% of the admissions points,

- for the class of 2028, there were 8 offers made to BASIS McLean students. There is traditionally at least one offer made to an applicant who was home-schooled each year.[/quote]

meant to add to my post:

TJ is NOT and FCPS high school, although it is managed by FCPS.

TJ is a Virginia Governor’s school, which is why it is open to several school jurisdictions beyond FCPS.

While every student residing in Virginia is entitled to a free public education within their district, admission to TJ is not an entitlement; its admission is competitive, like all Virginia Governor's school programs.[/quote]

Presumably all the fairfax families paying fairfax taxes are also paying virginia taxes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:God forbid a parent want to provide religious education for their child. A person that can afford private school probably pays 1K a month in rent to the government for the home they own, as a Citizen and Tax Payer, they have access to what they are paying for when it comes time for TJ. The school is meritocracy if your child wasn’t admitted that means they are not at that level, but excluding a child because the parent wants to ground them in their faith is disgusting, and maybe take a cue that grounding your child in faith and traditional education has benefits versus educating children on whatever leftist cause de jour is in FCPS at the moment.

I agree that it is wrong to discriminate against private school students but it is not clear how much (if any) discrimination there is.
I suspect your private school kid has about as much of a chance as the mclean kids at cooper middle school. The entire admissions process is bad but I don't think it is worse for you than the kids at Carson.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:God forbid a parent want to provide religious education for their child. A person that can afford private school probably pays 1K a month in rent to the government for the home they own, as a Citizen and Tax Payer, they have access to what they are paying for when it comes time for TJ. The school is meritocracy if your child wasn’t admitted that means they are not at that level, but excluding a child because the parent wants to ground them in their faith is disgusting, and maybe take a cue that grounding your child in faith and traditional education has benefits versus educating children on whatever leftist cause de jour is in FCPS at the moment.

There are plenty of people who provide religious education at home and don't attend religious schools. You made a choice that fits your families needs and values, one of the possible outcomes is that your child is less likely to gain admittance at schools like TJ. The impression I get from the private school forum is that most of the private schools do not provide the same depth of education in math and science. The kids who end up at TJ from privates tend to be kids out of schools like Basis and Nysmith that are more focused on math and science. The religious schools are very much seen as not doing a good job with math and science.

Plenty of kids are not selected who are a good fit at TJ because there are not enough seats for all the kids who are interested. There are 4.0 GPA students who are in Algebra 2 who were not accepted at TJ. No one would say that htose kids were not at "that level." FCPS knows what math is being taught in intensive math in APS and in Loudon County and in FCPS. They know what the kids had to do to get an A in Algebra 1, the minimum requirement, and what it means to get an A in Geometry or Algebra 2. They have far less of an idea about what math looks like at your kids religious school.

Do they even have math in religious school. I mean 3=1 and the use of the transitive property is insane.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Out of curiosity, did any students with Algebra II get waitlisted or rejected? I’m wondering how much higher level math is a predictor of acceptance.

It's not. 1/3 of the class of 2025 took algebra in 8th grade.

[Anonymous]

on a side note, anyone have an idea of when the first round of waitlist offers might go up? I see some saying late July- august and some saying mid-late may.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Out of curiosity, did any students with Algebra II get waitlisted or rejected? I’m wondering how much higher level math is a predictor of acceptance.

Along the same lines, I am wondering whether the two years of language credits make a meaningful difference, if any. The admissions process appears to be deliberately ambiguous. We are aware of at least three children who were waitlisted that are exceptionally gifted. It is difficult to believe that these students performed poorly on the essay portions to such an extent.