How does one prep place account for 25% of TJ Admissions?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe encourage more students to apply from all racial groups. Do they need to advertise the TJ school and admission process more to students and parents?

Perhaps, do a universal testing of all students in 8th grade and for students who meet a threshold help them to apply? I mean if a community does not have a tradition of academic success then there are no well-trodden pathways to follow for students in that community.

This is part of the change process in addition to improving standards to include more valuable metrics of merit.

[Anonymous]

Who wants to work hard for 4 years with relentless pressure and not have a normal teen dating/social life? C'mon and sign up here! Is TJ's program attractive to more students or is it a case of only interested students are signing up?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do these expensive prep places help kids develop skills that are generally useful in life, or are they mostly learning how to perform well on a specific type of test? If you're going to spend that much time and effort on an extracurricular, you should walk away with some skills beyond being good at the TJ test.

I don't know what's covered at Curie, and they may already be doing a lot of this. I'd love to see the TJ admission metrics changed, because kids would be better off learning higher level math, learning grammar and writing, learning computer programming, learning another language, or playing a musical instrument than they would be with spending so much time learning how to take a test.

Yes, the students in TJ actually do all of this too. They are just multi-talented superior students. With metrics changed by TJ to include all of the above, we may be able to make TJ demographics to reach 80% Asian-American students.

I know that many students in TJ do all of this too. Do the kids who are spending so much time at prep centers have time for all of the extracurricular academics, or do they mostly just prep? There are only so many hours in the day, and I'd hate to think that kids are choosing to attend prep camp rather than participating in activities that will give them actual skills.

This is the great unfortunate reality of the whole prep situation. So many parents, convinced that they need to optimize the TJ admissions process, force their kids in to expensive and exhaustive prep courses and STEM-only activities, and they end up having to drop activities that they excel in, or are passionate about, at 11 or 12 or in some cases even younger. And the majority of the kids who do this don't even get into TJ. It's a big part of the reason why TJ students routinely characterize the environment as "joyless" and "toxic".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who wants to work hard for 4 years with relentless pressure and not have a normal teen dating/social life? C'mon and sign up here! Is TJ's program attractive to more students or is it a case of only interested students are signing up?

Part of solving the overall TJ problem is eliminating this aspect of the culture there. Admitting far fewer students who have spent their entire middle school careers gunning for TJ, and fewer students who will spend their entire high school career gunning for college, is a huge step in the right direction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

73% of applicants were Asian-Americans but only 25% were selected? Wow! Shame on you FCPS. A brain is a terrible thing to waste. Were the rejected students academically less than the admitted Whites or Others?

Sorry, the table is hard to read. It doesn't render very well here. 56% of applicants (1423 of 2539) were asians. 73% of admitted (355 of 486) were asians. 25% of asian applicants (355 out of 1423) were admitted. Best if you open up the link in a browser (http://www.fcag.org/TJ Admissions class of 2024.pdf).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

73% of applicants were Asian-Americans but only 25% were selected? Wow! Shame on you FCPS. A brain is a terrible thing to waste. Were the rejected students academically less than the admitted Whites or Others?

Sorry, the table is hard to read. It doesn't render very well here. 56% of applicants (1423 of 2539) were asians. 73% of admitted (355 of 486) were asians. 25% of asian applicants (355 out of 1423) were admitted. Best if you open up the link in a browser (http://www.fcag.org/TJ Admissions class of 2024.pdf).

So if we presume that, say, half of the admitted Asian cohort is South Asian, then Curie is responsible for 133 out of let's say 180 of them. Nearly 3/4.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Hop on to the Curie Learning Facebook page and scroll through their photos. The lists from the class of 2023 and 2022 are in there. They deleted the list from 2024 after posting it on 8/17 - likely because they've been exposed.

If you read the names, they're literally almost all very obviously South Asian. There might be a couple of Sri Lankan or Bangladeshi names in there, but the level of consistency is staggering.

And yes, a big reason for the overwhelming Asian population majority of TJ is the applicant numbers. Numbers from demographics besides Asian have dropped precipitously as the school has become more Asian over the years, which is a source for some concern. Of bigger concern is that total applications have dropped by 20% since the class of 2022.

Substantially all of the kids at Curie are south asian/indian. But Curie is not TJ. My guess (based purely on my observation, not having access to any public data), the mix at TJ among asians between south and east asians would be 50:50. Data for other groups is publicly available (http://www.fcag.org/tjstatistics.shtml).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Hop on to the Curie Learning Facebook page and scroll through their photos. The lists from the class of 2023 and 2022 are in there. They deleted the list from 2024 after posting it on 8/17 - likely because they've been exposed.

If you read the names, they're literally almost all very obviously South Asian. There might be a couple of Sri Lankan or Bangladeshi names in there, but the level of consistency is staggering.

And yes, a big reason for the overwhelming Asian population majority of TJ is the applicant numbers. Numbers from demographics besides Asian have dropped precipitously as the school has become more Asian over the years, which is a source for some concern. Of bigger concern is that total applications have dropped by 20% since the class of 2022.

Substantially all of the kids at Curie are south asian/indian. But Curie is not TJ. My guess (based purely on my observation, not having access to any public data), the mix at TJ among asians between south and east asians would be 50:50. Data for other groups is publicly available (http://www.fcag.org/tjstatistics.shtml).

I think that's a pretty fair guess, 50:50. Although you have to wonder in this new class if that will still be the case under the current circumstances. Let's say Curie claims half of the South Asians in the current 2024 class. Meaning 260 or so South Asians and 100 or so East Asians. If we see that, I promise you that the Korean and Chinese communities will immediately become highly invested in CurieGate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm probably the most active TJ reform advocate on these boards, and I don't have any need to see Curie or any individual students punished for what clearly happened here.

And what they did would not be an issue at all if the Quant-Q exam was not supposed to be secured. The SAT, ACT, LSAT, ACT Aspires, SHSAT, SSAT - all of these are unsecured exams.

Of all the prep academies that are out there - Optimal TJ Prep, Kate Dalby, Kumon, Mathnasium - this company got 51 kids in the first year, then 95 the second year, then 133 the third year. Those are enormous spikes for a company that has existed for as long as they have, in competition with a ton of other well-regarded companies in the area.

What we know because of what happened is that the secured exam is compromised. TJ Admissions makes a big deal every year about the fact that there's no prep available for this exam (unlike the two ACTs), and as a consequence, people believe that they must go into it blind. But there IS prep available, if you have $4200 and 16 months to spend on a company that has privileged access to it, that only exists in a part of Northern Virginia that is extremely far away from the major population centers of every race OTHER than Indian.

FCPS and TJ Admissions are not permitted to put out any prep material on the Quant-Q. They are disallowed legally by the company who makes the exam every year from doing so.

Other people want to go after Curie and the kids - fine. Whatever. My only point is that the exam is very obviously compromised at this point and therefore cannot be used(especially on a nationally-normed basis) to evaluate candidates for TJ.

In a year where holding the TJ exam under any circumstances is probably impossible because of COVID anyway, and where doing so would cause even more families to choose not to participate in the process, TJ Admissions needs to recognize that they have to make a change.

No. I do not agree with what you are saying. Mainly because what you are saying is informed by your envy and racism. The secure exam is not compromised. Pictures of the leaked paper or it did not happen. Who are you? Spawn of Trump? If you have guts and proof come out to Washington Post or even Fox. You are just a racist POS who is angry because your own kids are not up to par. Or are you a Mathnasium owner who is seeing your best Indian-American students flee to Curie?

I am not surprised by the spike in numbers for Curie admits. Indian parents will do their due diligence. If they like what Curie is teaching, if they like what the feedback is of their children and their friend's children and they see good results, they will give their money to that prep school. I am not surprised that many of the best Indian-American students with means went to Curie. No one wants to give their money to the unproven one. I predict next year it will be another 10% or more increase.

so a good example of trumpism is when you accuse someone of being what you are..... told on yourself a little bit here big guy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who wants to work hard for 4 years with relentless pressure and not have a normal teen dating/social life? C'mon and sign up here! Is TJ's program attractive to more students or is it a case of only interested students are signing up?

Maybe 10% will end up at an Ivy League school. 50% of those who apply to UVA will be rejected.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who wants to work hard for 4 years with relentless pressure and not have a normal teen dating/social life? C'mon and sign up here! Is TJ's program attractive to more students or is it a case of only interested students are signing up?

Maybe 10% will end up at an Ivy League school. 50% of those who apply to UVA will be rejected.

Unless the school starts admitting more well-rounded kids - if they do, watch those numbers go up QUICK

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Hop on to the Curie Learning Facebook page and scroll through their photos. The lists from the class of 2023 and 2022 are in there. They deleted the list from 2024 after posting it on 8/17 - likely because they've been exposed.

If you read the names, they're literally almost all very obviously South Asian. There might be a couple of Sri Lankan or Bangladeshi names in there, but the level of consistency is staggering.

And yes, a big reason for the overwhelming Asian population majority of TJ is the applicant numbers. Numbers from demographics besides Asian have dropped precipitously as the school has become more Asian over the years, which is a source for some concern. Of bigger concern is that total applications have dropped by 20% since the class of 2022.

Substantially all of the kids at Curie are south asian/indian. But Curie is not TJ. My guess (based purely on my observation, not having access to any public data), the mix at TJ among asians between south and east asians would be 50:50. Data for other groups is publicly available (http://www.fcag.org/tjstatistics.shtml).

I think that's a pretty fair guess, 50:50. Although you have to wonder in this new class if that will still be the case under the current circumstances. Let's say Curie claims half of the South Asians in the current 2024 class. Meaning 260 or so South Asians and 100 or so East Asians. If we see that, I promise you that the Korean and Chinese communities will immediately become highly invested in CurieGate.

There is no CurieGate. Assuming you are an adult, please stop perpetuating this without any basis other than a couple anecdotes from teenagers on TJ Vents. You are demeaning groups of people you don't know and have never met without any basis. Parents/children who are motivated to try for TJ prep for it. Curie is the most popular prep center among south asians, just as Sunshine Academy is for east asians (which claims 85 of their students admitted in CO 2024). There might be other prep centers. I just don't know of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who wants to work hard for 4 years with relentless pressure and not have a normal teen dating/social life? C'mon and sign up here! Is TJ's program attractive to more students or is it a case of only interested students are signing up?

Maybe 10% will end up at an Ivy League school. 50% of those who apply to UVA will be rejected.

Unless the school starts admitting more well-rounded kids - if they do, watch those numbers go up QUICK

What are "well-rounded kids"? Why do you assume TJ kids are not well-rounded?

[Anonymous]

Too many Asians at that school, that is the problem. Too many of any other race at any school is ok, but definitely not too many Asians.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who wants to work hard for 4 years with relentless pressure and not have a normal teen dating/social life? C'mon and sign up here! Is TJ's program attractive to more students or is it a case of only interested students are signing up?

Maybe 10% will end up at an Ivy League school. 50% of those who apply to UVA will be rejected.

Unless the school starts admitting more well-rounded kids - if they do, watch those numbers go up QUICK

What are "well-rounded kids"? Why do you assume TJ kids are not well-rounded?

Plenty of TJ kids are well-rounded. Plenty of them are also not. If you are around TJ in any capacity, you know this. If they were, they'd have more success getting into schools like UVA. Perhaps not the Ivies, but definitely UVA.