Is TJ worth it for student aiming aiming for top schools like HPSM, Duke, Caltech?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hello,

Planning ahead for DS. We understand that a big advantage of TJ is simply the peer group and great teachers. However, for college admissions we are wondering if sticking out and graduating high in the base HS is better than going to TJ and risking being in the middle of the pack. I recognize admissions for TJ are also different now and getting in is never guaranteed anyways.

If you kid is an Asian male, then no.
If you plan on applying for something hyper-competive like Computer Science, then no.
If you guys have experience with HYPSM admissions (through another kid, or family) or are willing to spend a ton of money on high-end college admissions counselors who can help you game the process, then yes.
If you ignore the college rat race and want your kid to do well in college, they absolutely, yes. The level of learning and discipline that kids get out of TJ is phenomenal and will help them wherever they go. The first 2 years of college will be a breeze for them.

About 50% of TJ kids end up going to a T25 school anyways so unless your family pride is linked to getting into the top 5 or 10 schools, I'd say go for it as long as your child is willing to do the work AND genuinely wants to go there. It is, after all, the # 1 school in the country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do yourself a favor and look at the Private School forums. You will see the topics addressing admissions and bemoaning that the money spent on private school has not improved many kids chances of getting into the Ivies or the top 20 schools.

The selective schools have limited spots and tons of applications. They are in a position to hand pick what their classes look like every year. They don't want their classes to be compromised of all kids from Sidwell or GDS or TJ type schools so they choose a number of kids from each of those schools. The selective colleges also choose a limited number of kids from the Public Schools. That means that it is near impossible to choose a school that is going to get you into those selective colleges. If a student is not a legacy or an athletic stand out, then they will be competing against 100's of student who have similar transcripts and similar backgrounds.

Focusing on gaming the system to get into TJ or a select college is only adding stress to your life and your kids life. Look for the schools that you think will challenge your child and help them grow as a person and a student. A student who is doing well academically and has activities that they enjoy will end up doing well in college even if it means not getting into a highly selective college.

+1. Hyper-fixating on a T[insert number here] school is setting yourself up for disappointment, and besides, your kid will spend just as much time in high school as they will in college. Wouldn’t you want them to get as much as possible out of those four years? TJ is great if your kid is passionate about STEM, and while the workload is absolutely challenging, it’ll give them some self-confidence once they come out the other side (“I got through TJ, I can do this!”) as well as a strong work ethic and a lot of knowledge.

[Anonymous]

I've been interested in this matriculation question in the past, so pulled together matriculation info from recent years, including McLean 2018, TJ 2019, Potomac 2019-2022, Maret 2018-2022, and Bullis 2021-22.

Looking at %s not raw numbers, and limiting to the "college-bound" students from these, TJ had the highest HYPSM rate at ~8% (Potomac and Maret ~6%). McLean only 1%... though to be fair McLean has by far the highest % of students going to schools like George Mason or NVCC, so that dilutes their % a shade.

I then defined two more tiers beyond that... Tier 2:
SLAC Top 5 (Williams, Pomona, Amherst)
Private Top 6-14 (Penn, Northwestern)
Public Top 4 (UVA, Michigan)
Intl Top 5 (Toronto, Oxford))

And Tier 3:
SLAC Top 6-13 (Washington & Lee, Middlebury)
Private Top 15-26 (NYU, Wash U St. Louis)
Public Top 6-15 (William & Mary, Illinois UrbChamp)
Intl Top 6-15 (British Columbia, Edinburgh)

TJ again has the highest percentage of students that matriculated to Tier 2... 26% Tier 2 vs. 22% for Potomac and Maret, 14% McLean and 13% Bullis.

And TJ again has the highest percentage of students that matriculated to Tier 3... 32% Tier 2 vs. 28% for Potomac, 20% Maret and Bullis, and 13% McLean

Again, caveating that McLean's numbers may be a bit low by comparison because their school has a larger cohort of local public-school level kids that shifts the percentages... if you adjusted for that McLean would be a few % higher on tiers 2 and 3.

But combining the above, that means roughly 2/3 of TJ students are matriculating to "Tier 3 or better" schools, 1/2 of Potomac and Maret, and more like 1/3 of McLean and Bullis.

If anyone can point me to links with additional matriculation data for graduating classes from these or other HS of interest in the area in recent years, I'd love to add more data points to this analysis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've been interested in this matriculation question in the past, so pulled together matriculation info from recent years, including McLean 2018, TJ 2019, Potomac 2019-2022, Maret 2018-2022, and Bullis 2021-22.

Looking at %s not raw numbers, and limiting to the "college-bound" students from these, TJ had the highest HYPSM rate at ~8% (Potomac and Maret ~6%). McLean only 1%... though to be fair McLean has by far the highest % of students going to schools like George Mason or NVCC, so that dilutes their % a shade.

I then defined two more tiers beyond that... Tier 2:
SLAC Top 5 (Williams, Pomona, Amherst)
Private Top 6-14 (Penn, Northwestern)
Public Top 4 (UVA, Michigan)
Intl Top 5 (Toronto, Oxford))

And Tier 3:
SLAC Top 6-13 (Washington & Lee, Middlebury)
Private Top 15-26 (NYU, Wash U St. Louis)
Public Top 6-15 (William & Mary, Illinois UrbChamp)
Intl Top 6-15 (British Columbia, Edinburgh)

TJ again has the highest percentage of students that matriculated to Tier 2... 26% Tier 2 vs. 22% for Potomac and Maret, 14% McLean and 13% Bullis.

And TJ again has the highest percentage of students that matriculated to Tier 3... 32% Tier 2 vs. 28% for Potomac, 20% Maret and Bullis, and 13% McLean

Again, caveating that McLean's numbers may be a bit low by comparison because their school has a larger cohort of local public-school level kids that shifts the percentages... if you adjusted for that McLean would be a few % higher on tiers 2 and 3.

But combining the above, that means roughly 2/3 of TJ students are matriculating to "Tier 3 or better" schools, 1/2 of Potomac and Maret, and more like 1/3 of McLean and Bullis.

If anyone can point me to links with additional matriculation data for graduating classes from these or other HS of interest in the area in recent years, I'd love to add more data points to this analysis.

That must have been a lot of work. Well done!

My TJ Class of 2020 kid did not do especially well getting into tippy top schools (think Williams. Amherst, Swarthmore, Carleton), but did get into some excellent colleges (W&M, Grinnell, Union). His grades were excellent (4.4+ wGPA and he had a 35 ACT, but his EC profile was pretty thin). I think he took some pride in making it through the TJ grinder and has certainly found that college has been that hard (CS/Math double major at W&M). I don't think TJ is a significant boost for getting into college, but it does prepare you to succeed once you are there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've been interested in this matriculation question in the past, so pulled together matriculation info from recent years, including McLean 2018, TJ 2019, Potomac 2019-2022, Maret 2018-2022, and Bullis 2021-22.

Looking at %s not raw numbers, and limiting to the "college-bound" students from these, TJ had the highest HYPSM rate at ~8% (Potomac and Maret ~6%). McLean only 1%... though to be fair McLean has by far the highest % of students going to schools like George Mason or NVCC, so that dilutes their % a shade.

I then defined two more tiers beyond that... Tier 2:
SLAC Top 5 (Williams, Pomona, Amherst)
Private Top 6-14 (Penn, Northwestern)
Public Top 4 (UVA, Michigan)
Intl Top 5 (Toronto, Oxford))

And Tier 3:
SLAC Top 6-13 (Washington & Lee, Middlebury)
Private Top 15-26 (NYU, Wash U St. Louis)
Public Top 6-15 (William & Mary, Illinois UrbChamp)
Intl Top 6-15 (British Columbia, Edinburgh)

TJ again has the highest percentage of students that matriculated to Tier 2... 26% Tier 2 vs. 22% for Potomac and Maret, 14% McLean and 13% Bullis.

And TJ again has the highest percentage of students that matriculated to Tier 3... 32% Tier 2 vs. 28% for Potomac, 20% Maret and Bullis, and 13% McLean

Again, caveating that McLean's numbers may be a bit low by comparison because their school has a larger cohort of local public-school level kids that shifts the percentages... if you adjusted for that McLean would be a few % higher on tiers 2 and 3.

But combining the above, that means roughly 2/3 of TJ students are matriculating to "Tier 3 or better" schools, 1/2 of Potomac and Maret, and more like 1/3 of McLean and Bullis.

If anyone can point me to links with additional matriculation data for graduating classes from these or other HS of interest in the area in recent years, I'd love to add more data points to this analysis.

That must have been a lot of work. Well done!

My TJ Class of 2020 kid did not do especially well getting into tippy top schools (think Williams. Amherst, Swarthmore, Carleton), but did get into some excellent colleges (W&M, Grinnell, Union). His grades were excellent (4.4+ wGPA and he had a 35 ACT, but his EC profile was pretty thin). I think he took some pride in making it through the TJ grinder and has certainly found that college has been that hard (CS/Math double major at W&M). I don't think TJ is a significant boost for getting into college, but it does prepare you to succeed once you are there.

"certainly found that college has not been that hard"

[Anonymous]

the admissions rate to the ivies out of TJ is approximately the same or a bit higher. for MIT it is almost 2x. so while it certainly feels like very few from TJ get into the ivies, the admission rate is about the same. The TJ experience (aside from the wing-nuts called parents) has been great for my kid. we're in the anxiety-inducing wait-for-college-decisions phase, but no matter how it shakes out this was definitely the correct path. absolutely do not go to TJ because you will or will not get into an ivy. go to TJ because you love math/science and want the opportunities that TJ provides. if you go for any other reason, those 4 years have the potential to be pretty miserable.

[Anonymous]

“getting in is never guaranteed anyways.”. Focus on this, plan on being rejected, and proceed accordingly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've been interested in this matriculation question in the past, so pulled together matriculation info from recent years, including McLean 2018, TJ 2019, Potomac 2019-2022, Maret 2018-2022, and Bullis 2021-22.

Looking at %s not raw numbers, and limiting to the "college-bound" students from these, TJ had the highest HYPSM rate at ~8% (Potomac and Maret ~6%). McLean only 1%... though to be fair McLean has by far the highest % of students going to schools like George Mason or NVCC, so that dilutes their % a shade.

I then defined two more tiers beyond that... Tier 2:
SLAC Top 5 (Williams, Pomona, Amherst)
Private Top 6-14 (Penn, Northwestern)
Public Top 4 (UVA, Michigan)
Intl Top 5 (Toronto, Oxford))

And Tier 3:
SLAC Top 6-13 (Washington & Lee, Middlebury)
Private Top 15-26 (NYU, Wash U St. Louis)
Public Top 6-15 (William & Mary, Illinois UrbChamp)
Intl Top 6-15 (British Columbia, Edinburgh)

TJ again has the highest percentage of students that matriculated to Tier 2... 26% Tier 2 vs. 22% for Potomac and Maret, 14% McLean and 13% Bullis.

And TJ again has the highest percentage of students that matriculated to Tier 3... 32% Tier 2 vs. 28% for Potomac, 20% Maret and Bullis, and 13% McLean

Again, caveating that McLean's numbers may be a bit low by comparison because their school has a larger cohort of local public-school level kids that shifts the percentages... if you adjusted for that McLean would be a few % higher on tiers 2 and 3.

But combining the above, that means roughly 2/3 of TJ students are matriculating to "Tier 3 or better" schools, 1/2 of Potomac and Maret, and more like 1/3 of McLean and Bullis.

If anyone can point me to links with additional matriculation data for graduating classes from these or other HS of interest in the area in recent years, I'd love to add more data points to this analysis.

Putting Toronto and Oxford in the same tier is a genuine travesty.

[Anonymous]

How do you know if your kid is in the top 10% at TJ if they don’t rank? What GPA by end of 10th or 11th grade would be considered in the top 10% or top 50 kids in the class?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do you know if your kid is in the top 10% at TJ if they don’t rank? What GPA by end of 10th or 11th grade would be considered in the top 10% or top 50 kids in the class?

I have no idea. My kid ended up with a 4.41 (class of 2020) and I always assumed it was towards the top 20% at least, but I really don't know. He had a (relatively) rough freshman year (2 B+'s, a B, and B-), but then had straight A's the rest of the way, except for 1 B+ as sophomore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you know if your kid is in the top 10% at TJ if they don’t rank? What GPA by end of 10th or 11th grade would be considered in the top 10% or top 50 kids in the class?

I have no idea. My kid ended up with a 4.41 (class of 2020) and I always assumed it was towards the top 20% at least, but I really don't know. He had a (relatively) rough freshman year (2 B+'s, a B, and B-), but then had straight A's the rest of the way, except for 1 B+ as sophomore.

I heard TJ kids hacked Naviance and found a way to get their class ranking but it was patched by the school later. According to my kids group exchange of messages a 4.5 can land you in the top 10%. I am not sure so take it with a grain of salt.

[Anonymous]

So at TJ, is 4.5 weighted with many AP/Post AP the floor for being competitive for HYPSM Caltech? Or need to be more in the 4.6 range (how is that even possible? ) Do accepted URM or recruited athletes have lower GPAs from TJ than non hooked peers that get accepted?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you know if your kid is in the top 10% at TJ if they don’t rank? What GPA by end of 10th or 11th grade would be considered in the top 10% or top 50 kids in the class?

I have no idea. My kid ended up with a 4.41 (class of 2020) and I always assumed it was towards the top 20% at least, but I really don't know. He had a (relatively) rough freshman year (2 B+'s, a B, and B-), but then had straight A's the rest of the way, except for 1 B+ as sophomore.

Did your kid apply to very selective colleges? What was outcome if you don’t mind sharing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you know if your kid is in the top 10% at TJ if they don’t rank? What GPA by end of 10th or 11th grade would be considered in the top 10% or top 50 kids in the class?

I have no idea. My kid ended up with a 4.41 (class of 2020) and I always assumed it was towards the top 20% at least, but I really don't know. He had a (relatively) rough freshman year (2 B+'s, a B, and B-), but then had straight A's the rest of the way, except for 1 B+ as sophomore.

Did your kid apply to very selective colleges? What was outcome if you don’t mind sharing

He applied to very selective SLAC's, and generally did not get into the top ones (Williams, Amherst Swarthmore, Carleton). He did get into Grinnell and Union with a very nice merit aid packages. He was not interested in, and did not apply to, any of the Ivy League schools or similar types of universities (except for UVa, where he was deferred during Early Action but ultimately admitted during the RD round). After seriously considering Grinnell, he decided to go to William and Mary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you know if your kid is in the top 10% at TJ if they don’t rank? What GPA by end of 10th or 11th grade would be considered in the top 10% or top 50 kids in the class?

I have no idea. My kid ended up with a 4.41 (class of 2020) and I always assumed it was towards the top 20% at least, but I really don't know. He had a (relatively) rough freshman year (2 B+'s, a B, and B-), but then had straight A's the rest of the way, except for 1 B+ as sophomore.

Did your kid apply to very selective colleges? What was outcome if you don’t mind sharing

He applied to very selective SLAC's, and generally did not get into the top ones (Williams, Amherst Swarthmore, Carleton). He did get into Grinnell and Union with a very nice merit aid packages. He was not interested in, and did not apply to, any of the Ivy League schools or similar types of universities (except for UVa, where he was deferred during Early Action but ultimately admitted during the RD round). After seriously considering Grinnell, he decided to go to William and Mary.

Congrats to your son to have a bunch of great choices. Are SLACs popular among TJ kids or prefer larger research universities?