2023 TJHSST Student - Ask me anything

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This discussion seems purely planted

+1. It showed up at the same time the admissions contact info started getting posted all over the place.

I repeat my “meh.”

I am not a plant.

Not convinced OP is either.

Post your evidence or go away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:how many 2025 students decided or had to return to the base school? Is the number more than usual?

This year there seems to be about 20 freshmen who dropped out. For a class with 500+ people, that's a pretty small amount... I'm not really sure about previous years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you recommend any summer courses for the rising freshman? If yes, which ones?

As far as I know the only summer course you can take before coming to TJ is summer RS, but you have to complete pre-calculus in 8th grade to take this. I think some do take AP Calculus alongside RS, but there's not a whole lot of people who take calc their freshman year, so I don't really know the number of students who take RS over the summer before they come into TJ. FYI, RS stands for research statistics (essentially the AP Statistics curriculum) and it's a mandatory course for all freshmen. This year the school decided to implement experimental RS which is basically using RStudio to learn, and apparently it's much easier than regular RS (I think a lot of students tend to struggle with it a bit).

Besides RS, I really don't know any summer courses TJ offers to rising freshmen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:how many 2025 students decided or had to return to the base school? Is the number more than usual?

This year there seems to be about 20 freshmen who dropped out. For a class with 500+ people, that's a pretty small amount... I'm not really sure about previous years.

You mean 13?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:how many 2025 students decided or had to return to the base school? Is the number more than usual?

This year there seems to be about 20 freshmen who dropped out. For a class with 500+ people, that's a pretty small amount... I'm not really sure about previous years.

How would you know the exact number?

An odd response, no? Most kids would reply with " just a few" or not really notice at all (especially if it really is only 20).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP you sound great & thanks for creating this thread! Wish you all the best.

These 2 questions are NOT for you specifically, but:

- what do other TJ students think about the school board’s alterations to TJ admissions? Also,

- how do other / older students view those students who were only admitted because of the SB’s alterations to the admissions policy?

DP but also a current TJ student!

1. As far as what other TJ students think about the admissions changes, it obviously varies a lot depending on who you're talking to. Almost everyone will talk about how their parents are upset about the changes because they think that they'll devalue our diplomas and the prestige of going to TJ, but a lot of students aren't really worried about that. There are a lot of students who think it was a mistake and there are a lot of other students who think it's great to have more students coming from different places. For me, coming from RCMS, it was kind of awkward to go to TJ and immediately have almost 100 kids that I knew there already - it sort of made it hard to reach out and make new friends because it was so easy to fall back in with my middle school crowd. The new classes still have plenty of kids from RC but it's not like a quarter of your IBET will be from there.

2. There's a couple of ways to answer this question. There are obviously some kids, like I mentioned before, who think that any kid who shows up from PW, or a school like Whitman, or is Black or Hispanic only got in because of the new process. But the reality that most of us understand is that there have always been SOME kids who are from those schools that don't send many kids, and there have always been A FEW Black kids and Hispanic kids and kids from PW. So there's really no way for us to know who is who, and it's kinda mean to just assume. And I mean, even if they did get in because of the new process, it's not their fault. They didn't get to choose the process.

Before this year, I could go an entire day at TJ without seeing a single Black kid. I've only ever had one in any of my classes. I think it's really cool that those kids don't have to feel alone anymore. And the same goes for the kids who got in from less represented schools. While coming in here with a hundred other kids was weird, it would have been a lot worse to be the only one, and the new process makes sure no one is in that position.

Thanks - A thorough and thoughtful response; I appreciate it!

As parents/admin/SB battle over TJ, my hope is the voices of TJ students are not drowned out, but rather, considered and valued.

PP - thanks! We students hope so too. The admins seem to be providing more opportunities for us to be heard - enough that it seems intentional.

Did you and other Asian kids at TJ want more diversity? Just curious

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did you post on DCUM as an 8th grader?

Have you made disparaging comments about class of 2025/26?

No, and no. I love our current freshmen and I can't wait to meet our new ones!

Yesterday during TJ open house we saw mostly Asians. If 50% of freshman is non-Asians where were the other 50%?

[Anonymous]

What options do kids have if they later realize they don't like STEM labs TJ offers? Do they have to fit into the Labs offered for graduation?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did you post on DCUM as an 8th grader?

Have you made disparaging comments about class of 2025/26?

No, and no. I love our current freshmen and I can't wait to meet our new ones!

Yesterday during TJ open house we saw mostly Asians. If 50% of freshman is non-Asians where were the other 50%?

+1000. My daughter said the same thing and we are Asian

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What options do kids have if they later realize they don't like STEM labs TJ offers? Do they have to fit into the Labs offered for graduation?

They can opt to do a mentorship project instead.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did you post on DCUM as an 8th grader?

Have you made disparaging comments about class of 2025/26?

No, and no. I love our current freshmen and I can't wait to meet our new ones!

Yesterday during TJ open house we saw mostly Asians. If 50% of freshman is non-Asians where were the other 50%?

+1000. My daughter said the same thing and we are Asian

It might have been where you were in the building. Not sure if every student attended last night either. We will know when they release the admissions data.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did you post on DCUM as an 8th grader?

Have you made disparaging comments about class of 2025/26?

No, and no. I love our current freshmen and I can't wait to meet our new ones!

Yesterday during TJ open house we saw mostly Asians. If 50% of freshman is non-Asians where were the other 50%?

+1000. My daughter said the same thing and we are Asian

It might have been where you were in the building. Not sure if every student attended last night either. We will know when they release the admissions data.

Whole purpose was to visit which helps in their decision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did you post on DCUM as an 8th grader?

Have you made disparaging comments about class of 2025/26?

No, and no. I love our current freshmen and I can't wait to meet our new ones!

Yesterday during TJ open house we saw mostly Asians. If 50% of freshman is non-Asians where were the other 50%?

The test prep center told them to check the free meals box.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP you sound great & thanks for creating this thread! Wish you all the best.

These 2 questions are NOT for you specifically, but:

- what do other TJ students think about the school board’s alterations to TJ admissions? Also,

- how do other / older students view those students who were only admitted because of the SB’s alterations to the admissions policy?

DP but also a current TJ student!

1. As far as what other TJ students think about the admissions changes, it obviously varies a lot depending on who you're talking to. Almost everyone will talk about how their parents are upset about the changes because they think that they'll devalue our diplomas and the prestige of going to TJ, but a lot of students aren't really worried about that. There are a lot of students who think it was a mistake and there are a lot of other students who think it's great to have more students coming from different places. For me, coming from RCMS, it was kind of awkward to go to TJ and immediately have almost 100 kids that I knew there already - it sort of made it hard to reach out and make new friends because it was so easy to fall back in with my middle school crowd. The new classes still have plenty of kids from RC but it's not like a quarter of your IBET will be from there.

2. There's a couple of ways to answer this question. There are obviously some kids, like I mentioned before, who think that any kid who shows up from PW, or a school like Whitman, or is Black or Hispanic only got in because of the new process. But the reality that most of us understand is that there have always been SOME kids who are from those schools that don't send many kids, and there have always been A FEW Black kids and Hispanic kids and kids from PW. So there's really no way for us to know who is who, and it's kinda mean to just assume. And I mean, even if they did get in because of the new process, it's not their fault. They didn't get to choose the process.

Before this year, I could go an entire day at TJ without seeing a single Black kid. I've only ever had one in any of my classes. I think it's really cool that those kids don't have to feel alone anymore. And the same goes for the kids who got in from less represented schools. While coming in here with a hundred other kids was weird, it would have been a lot worse to be the only one, and the new process makes sure no one is in that position.

Thanks - A thorough and thoughtful response; I appreciate it!

As parents/admin/SB battle over TJ, my hope is the voices of TJ students are not drowned out, but rather, considered and valued.

PP - thanks! We students hope so too. The admins seem to be providing more opportunities for us to be heard - enough that it seems intentional.

Did you and other Asian kids at TJ want more diversity? Just curious

Second student poster from before.

I am South Asian. I can tell you for sure that a good number of my Asian classmates did not want more diversity. A lot of them have younger siblings or family friends who are interested in TJ and it's a big thing in our community to share our experiences both with the school and the admissions process. I think when I was a freshman I honestly might have felt the same way - my parents have some feelings about Black people that are pretty backwards but that they don't think are racist, and I was raised with a lot of the same ideas. I think the biggest thing that changed my view, looking back, was hearing from the parents and my friends who wanted to fight against the changes - the things that they said about Black kids and poorer kids and their idea of "merit" started to sound really gross to me. I've always felt lucky to have been accepted to TJ, because a lot of my friends weren't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What options do kids have if they later realize they don't like the STEM labs TJ offers? Do they have to fit into the Labs offered for graduation?

They can opt to do a mentorship project instead.

The mentorship project would again be in the specified STEM areas that TJ offers. The student has to complete the pre-requisites in one of the STEM areas.