TJ College Admissions Results

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was reading these posts about the Ivy League/Stanford not taking as many TJ grads. The trend is clear and it should not be surprising given the decision of the Ivy League and Stanford (and many other elite colleges) to go test optional, and to take at least 1/3 or so of their admissions classes from HS graduates who don't report (aka they don't want to report) their SAT/ACT scores.

The reason these schools have gone test optional started with Covid, but it has continued with the Harvard Supreme Court case alleging that Harvard is discriminating against Asian students in admissions decisions. The primary evidence against Harvard is SAT scores. Harvard and the rest of the Ivy League anticipate losing this case and they know that the only way for them to continue to racially balance their classes without being sued again is to deemphasize standardized tests.

Why? Because whites and especially Asians, ON AVERAGE, score significantly higher than Blacks and non-white white Hispanics on standardized tests. The assumption of these schools and their administrators is that these tests must somehow be racist against these low-scoring groups. This Ivy trend of deemphasizing testing has been going on for years.

Because the TJ classes of this year and past years were required to take standardized tests to be admitted to TJ, and have historically scored well on these tests, their historical admittance rates to these top schools were based on their high test scores. With these scores being deemphasized, the TJ admittance rates to top schools have been falling.

But not all colleges are playing along with this Ivy League trend of deemphasizing standardized tests and bypassing TJ grads. The University of Chicago in particular has stepped into the breach and is taking as many if not more TJ students than it dis historically.

Word is there are at least 15 TJHSST University of Chicago admits this year and their were 14/15 last year. One of the TJ parents heard directly from an admissions officer at UC that they are aware of the current trend of Ivy League freezing out TJ grads (and grads from other magnet schools) and are specifically focusing on grabbing up these top students.

It shouldn't be that surprising as University of Chicago has historically, placed a high emphasis on standardized tests. The college with the highest average SAT/ACT scores is not MIT or Caltech, and certainly not Harvard, or Yale or Princeton but instead the University of Chicago.

The University of Chicago's decision should not be completely surprising given its history. In particular, in the early part of the 20th century Chicago refused to play along with the Ivy league and their self-imposed "Jewish quota" effort to boycott admitting Jewish HS graduates, with the University of Chicago taking many brilliant Jewish students that the Ivy League passed over.

Perhaps it wouldn't be an issue if every TJ kid weren't applying to be a CS major. Maybe it is true that the ivy's are imposing a quota on magnet students but that doesn't explain why UVA acceptances are down too. Off course these kids are well qualified to be admitted in any school but it is too simplistic of an argument to say Test Optional is the reason why these kids aren't being admitted to ivys.

College admission process is broken and that not just for the magnet school kids or Asian and white kids. It is broken for everyone and has always been broken for the minority communities. And yes SAT scores do not account for the wealth disparity and income inequality that exist between different communities. So making it easier for kids from these communities to be admitted to elite schools is one way to fix that imbalance. If that means my kid has to sacrifice then let it be -

Signed

A TJ parent of an Ivy reject kid with a perfect SAT score.

I'm really sorry to hear that. Assuming your kid did well at TJ grade wise, there is no reason that he or she shouldn't be climbing Ivy covered walls or hanging out at Chicago or Stanford or MIT. It's a real tragedy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was reading these posts about the Ivy League/Stanford not taking as many TJ grads. The trend is clear and it should not be surprising given the decision of the Ivy League and Stanford (and many other elite colleges) to go test optional, and to take at least 1/3 or so of their admissions classes from HS graduates who don't report (aka they don't want to report) their SAT/ACT scores.

The reason these schools have gone test optional started with Covid, but it has continued with the Harvard Supreme Court case alleging that Harvard is discriminating against Asian students in admissions decisions. The primary evidence against Harvard is SAT scores. Harvard and the rest of the Ivy League anticipate losing this case and they know that the only way for them to continue to racially balance their classes without being sued again is to deemphasize standardized tests.

Why? Because whites and especially Asians, ON AVERAGE, score significantly higher than Blacks and non-white white Hispanics on standardized tests. The assumption of these schools and their administrators is that these tests must somehow be racist against these low-scoring groups. This Ivy trend of deemphasizing testing has been going on for years.

Because the TJ classes of this year and past years were required to take standardized tests to be admitted to TJ, and have historically scored well on these tests, their historical admittance rates to these top schools were based on their high test scores. With these scores being deemphasized, the TJ admittance rates to top schools have been falling.

But not all colleges are playing along with this Ivy League trend of deemphasizing standardized tests and bypassing TJ grads. The University of Chicago in particular has stepped into the breach and is taking as many if not more TJ students than it dis historically.

Word is there are at least 15 TJHSST University of Chicago admits this year and their were 14/15 last year. One of the TJ parents heard directly from an admissions officer at UC that they are aware of the current trend of Ivy League freezing out TJ grads (and grads from other magnet schools) and are specifically focusing on grabbing up these top students.

It shouldn't be that surprising as University of Chicago has historically, placed a high emphasis on standardized tests. The college with the highest average SAT/ACT scores is not MIT or Caltech, and certainly not Harvard, or Yale or Princeton but instead the University of Chicago.

The University of Chicago's decision should not be completely surprising given its history. In particular, in the early part of the 20th century Chicago refused to play along with the Ivy league and their self-imposed "Jewish quota" effort to boycott admitting Jewish HS graduates, with the University of Chicago taking many brilliant Jewish students that the Ivy League passed over.

Perhaps it wouldn't be an issue if every TJ kid weren't applying to be a CS major. Maybe it is true that the ivy's are imposing a quota on magnet students but that doesn't explain why UVA acceptances are down too. Off course these kids are well qualified to be admitted in any school but it is too simplistic of an argument to say Test Optional is the reason why these kids aren't being admitted to ivys.

College admission process is broken and that not just for the magnet school kids or Asian and white kids. It is broken for everyone and has always been broken for the minority communities. And yes SAT scores do not account for the wealth disparity and income inequality that exist between different communities. So making it easier for kids from these communities to be admitted to elite schools is one way to fix that imbalance. If that means my kid has to sacrifice then let it be -

Signed

A TJ parent of an Ivy reject kid with a perfect SAT score.

I'm really sorry to hear that. Assuming your kid did well at TJ grade wise, there is no reason that he or she shouldn't be climbing Ivy covered walls or hanging out at Chicago or Stanford or MIT. It's a real tragedy.

Apparently you have a very poor reading comprehension ability.

[Anonymous]

My DC enjoyed TJ. She says all her friends and piers were so helpful. She had some of the amazing teachers. She learned discipline and got a community inclusive feeling. In terms of college admission experience, she says we were all good and found our choice of school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DC enjoyed TJ. She says all her friends and piers were so helpful. She had some of the amazing teachers. She learned discipline and got a community inclusive feeling. In terms of college admission experience, she says we were all good and found our choice of school.

She can't say for others. Not everyone was good and not everyone found their choice of school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

It shouldn't be that surprising as University of Chicago has historically, placed a high emphasis on standardized tests. The college with the highest average SAT/ACT scores is not MIT or Caltech, and certainly not Harvard, or Yale or Princeton but instead the University of Chicago.

You are ignoring the fact that UChicago was the first top school to make SATs optional, probably about 10 years ago. As a result, the only reported scores UChicago uses are obviously the scores from students who submitted them. No kid scoring below the 98th percentile would submit their test score as a result.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

It shouldn't be that surprising as University of Chicago has historically, placed a high emphasis on standardized tests. The college with the highest average SAT/ACT scores is not MIT or Caltech, and certainly not Harvard, or Yale or Princeton but instead the University of Chicago.

You are ignoring the fact that UChicago was the first top school to make SATs optional, probably about 10 years ago. As a result, the only reported scores UChicago uses are obviously the scores from students who submitted them. No kid scoring below the 98th percentile would submit their test score as a result.

We place so much emphasis on them that we made them optional.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DC enjoyed TJ. She says all her friends and piers were so helpful. She had some of the amazing teachers. She learned discipline and got a community inclusive feeling. In terms of college admission experience, she says we were all good and found our choice of school.

My kid is a freshman at TJ. I am hoping this will be the case for her. She is average and we are encouraging her to focus on learning and having a good experience at TJ and not worry too much about grades.

We are ok with oos - full pay. so that eases the pressure somewhat.

[Anonymous]

Based on the class of 2023 college destination, there is no significant shift in where TJ students end up. Number of students going to few of the top schools are a bit lower this year than previous years but those do not seem to be because of any specific policies adopted by those schools to shut TJ kids out. Standford, MIT, Yale and Cornell are the major ones where the enrollments numbers are lower than expected. UChicago is getting about the same number of kids from TJ they get every year. There is a significant jump in the enrollment at VTech this year compared to previous years. Other than that everything else is more or less the same year over year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your kid should go to TJ because the school is where they will have their best HS experience. It should have nothing to do with where you think they should go to college, because that is 4 years away. A person changes and grows a lot between ages 14 to 18.

This is such an annoyingly pompous response. You have no idea what criteria OP or their kid will use to make their decision, and it is ridiculous to take the position that it isn’t worth having the facts on this issue and understanding what a student is getting into with regard to college admissions.

[Anonymous]

NEW. TJ HS class of 2023 admission decisions have been published. https://issuu.com/tjtoday/docs/2023seniorissue

Begins on page 18.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NEW. TJ HS class of 2023 admission decisions have been published. https://issuu.com/tjtoday/docs/2023seniorissue

Begins on page 18.

Impressive numbers as you would expect...of course, someone needs to help the publisher with geography. Not sure where North Hampshire is located .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NEW. TJ HS class of 2023 admission decisions have been published. https://issuu.com/tjtoday/docs/2023seniorissue

Begins on page 18.

UVA-44
UMD-29
WM-24
VT-23
UIUC-18

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was reading these posts about the Ivy League/Stanford not taking as many TJ grads. The trend is clear and it should not be surprising given the decision of the Ivy League and Stanford (and many other elite colleges) to go test optional, and to take at least 1/3 or so of their admissions classes from HS graduates who don't report (aka they don't want to report) their SAT/ACT scores.

The reason these schools have gone test optional started with Covid, but it has continued with the Harvard Supreme Court case alleging that Harvard is discriminating against Asian students in admissions decisions. The primary evidence against Harvard is SAT scores. Harvard and the rest of the Ivy League anticipate losing this case and they know that the only way for them to continue to racially balance their classes without being sued again is to deemphasize standardized tests.

Why? Because whites and especially Asians, ON AVERAGE, score significantly higher than Blacks and non-white white Hispanics on standardized tests. The assumption of these schools and their administrators is that these tests must somehow be racist against these low-scoring groups. This Ivy trend of deemphasizing testing has been going on for years.

Because the TJ classes of this year and past years were required to take standardized tests to be admitted to TJ, and have historically scored well on these tests, their historical admittance rates to these top schools were based on their high test scores. With these scores being deemphasized, the TJ admittance rates to top schools have been falling.

But not all colleges are playing along with this Ivy League trend of deemphasizing standardized tests and bypassing TJ grads. The University of Chicago in particular has stepped into the breach and is taking as many if not more TJ students than it dis historically.

Word is there are at least 15 TJHSST University of Chicago admits this year and their were 14/15 last year. One of the TJ parents heard directly from an admissions officer at UC that they are aware of the current trend of Ivy League freezing out TJ grads (and grads from other magnet schools) and are specifically focusing on grabbing up these top students.

It shouldn't be that surprising as University of Chicago has historically, placed a high emphasis on standardized tests. The college with the highest average SAT/ACT scores is not MIT or Caltech, and certainly not Harvard, or Yale or Princeton but instead the University of Chicago.

The University of Chicago's decision should not be completely surprising given its history. In particular, in the early part of the 20th century Chicago refused to play along with the Ivy league and their self-imposed "Jewish quota" effort to boycott admitting Jewish HS graduates, with the University of Chicago taking many brilliant Jewish students that the Ivy League passed over.

Perhaps it wouldn't be an issue if every TJ kid weren't applying to be a CS major. Maybe it is true that the ivy's are imposing a quota on magnet students but that doesn't explain why UVA acceptances are down too. Off course these kids are well qualified to be admitted in any school but it is too simplistic of an argument to say Test Optional is the reason why these kids aren't being admitted to ivys.

College admission process is broken and that not just for the magnet school kids or Asian and white kids. It is broken for everyone and has always been broken for the minority communities. And yes SAT scores do not account for the wealth disparity and income inequality that exist between different communities. So making it easier for kids from these communities to be admitted to elite schools is one way to fix that imbalance. If that means my kid has to sacrifice then let it be -

Signed

A TJ parent of an Ivy reject kid with a perfect SAT score.

Good that you recognize that. Your kid has the support system in place to do exceedingly well wherever they go. The lower income kid who "gets their spot" at a T20 school could now be on a trajectory to a completely different life---where they go to college can truly change their life and that of their future family. Some of us that come from a place of privilege recognize that, but not nearly enough

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NEW. TJ HS class of 2023 admission decisions have been published. https://issuu.com/tjtoday/docs/2023seniorissue

Begins on page 18.

UVA-44
UMD-29
WM-24
VT-23
UIUC-18

Those aren't admissions decisions. That's who is actually going to go there. You can assume 2-4 times as many were accepted.

[Anonymous]

Ivy/T20 acceptances seem a little low this year