Why is getting into TJ such a big deal?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Outside of the top 1% of students, it seems like most kids that graduate from TJ end up working normal-ish corporate jobs. I grew up in an affluent neighborhood and a bunch of my friends ended up going to TJ and then to UVA/Tech/other state schools. Two went to ivies and they both burned out, barely graduated and one works as a preschool teacher now, the other works at a mathnasium part time while trying to figure out his next career move. The others that went to state schools were considered "average" at TJ and work in the same technical field as me now.

So what are the advantages of going to TJ?

The kids from non-affluent neighborhoods, who didn't buy their résumé, and still got into TJ, were more academically successful in colleges and beyond.

Yes, they had what it takes to succeed in spite of hardship and obstacles. Many did it without their parents constantly pushing or the help conferred by years of attending prep centers. These are the real outliers not just someone who was prepped to appear gifted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Outside of the top 1% of students, it seems like most kids that graduate from TJ end up working normal-ish corporate jobs. I grew up in an affluent neighborhood and a bunch of my friends ended up going to TJ and then to UVA/Tech/other state schools. Two went to ivies and they both burned out, barely graduated and one works as a preschool teacher now, the other works at a mathnasium part time while trying to figure out his next career move. The others that went to state schools were considered "average" at TJ and work in the same technical field as me now.

So what are the advantages of going to TJ?

The kids from non-affluent neighborhoods, who didn't buy their résumé, and still got into TJ, were more academically successful in colleges and beyond.

Yes, they had what it takes to succeed in spite of hardship and obstacles. Many did it without their parents constantly pushing or the help conferred by years of attending prep centers. These are the real outliers not just someone who was prepped to appear gifted.

Inspiring but "Good Will Hunting" already got made into a movie.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Outside of the top 1% of students, it seems like most kids that graduate from TJ end up working normal-ish corporate jobs. I grew up in an affluent neighborhood and a bunch of my friends ended up going to TJ and then to UVA/Tech/other state schools. Two went to ivies and they both burned out, barely graduated and one works as a preschool teacher now, the other works at a mathnasium part time while trying to figure out his next career move. The others that went to state schools were considered "average" at TJ and work in the same technical field as me now.

So what are the advantages of going to TJ?

The kids from non-affluent neighborhoods, who didn't buy their résumé, and still got into TJ, were more academically successful in colleges and beyond.

Yes, they had what it takes to succeed in spite of hardship and obstacles. Many did it without their parents constantly pushing or the help conferred by years of attending prep centers. These are the real outliers not just someone who was prepped to appear gifted.

It's common sense but many privileged parents are still bitter they can't manipulate selection like before.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TJ’s open house was a huge success with all the passionate and friendly student volunteers.

DC is from a Loudoun middle school. About a handful students from his school were admitted by TJ. All were in Loudoun’s GT program. Most of them also had offers from Academies of Loudoun.

Before TJ’s open house, only one of the admitted kids was committed to go to TJ. The rest wanted to go to Academies of Loudoun, or stay at home school due to the long distance from TJ to their homes.

After the open house, all of the kids decided to go to TJ. I was surprised because during the event, they were commenting on how run down TJ was compared to Academies of Loudoun’s modern and shiny campus. ACL’s open house had been hosted several weeks earlier. What ACL lacked in the orientation was the enthusiastic student volunteers. ACL had some students present as well, but much fewer, and they were mainly just handing out the building maps.

DC’s elementary school and middle school do not have a lot of academic opportunities. No Math Olympiad or Science Olympiad clubs were ever formed in their schools due to the low participation rates. They are excited that they can meet some like minded students in their future high school.

Run down lol. TJ just got renovated six years ago. It’s far from run down.

That’s because Academies of Loudoun looks like a four-star resort compared to TJ. TJ has a large area where the ceiling was so low that my not so tall 8th grader was able to touch it when tip toeing. LOL. But the kids looked beyond that and still chose TJ in the end.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TJ’s open house was a huge success with all the passionate and friendly student volunteers.

DC is from a Loudoun middle school. About a handful students from his school were admitted by TJ. All were in Loudoun’s GT program. Most of them also had offers from Academies of Loudoun.

Before TJ’s open house, only one of the admitted kids was committed to go to TJ. The rest wanted to go to Academies of Loudoun, or stay at home school due to the long distance from TJ to their homes.

After the open house, all of the kids decided to go to TJ. I was surprised because during the event, they were commenting on how run down TJ was compared to Academies of Loudoun’s modern and shiny campus. ACL’s open house had been hosted several weeks earlier. What ACL lacked in the orientation was the enthusiastic student volunteers. ACL had some students present as well, but much fewer, and they were mainly just handing out the building maps.

DC’s elementary school and middle school do not have a lot of academic opportunities. No Math Olympiad or Science Olympiad clubs were ever formed in their schools due to the low participation rates. They are excited that they can meet some like minded students in their future high school.

Run down lol. TJ just got renovated six years ago. It’s far from run down.

That’s because Academies of Loudoun looks like a four-star resort compared to TJ. TJ has a large area where the ceiling was so low that my not so tall 8th grader was able to touch it when tip toeing. LOL. But the kids looked beyond that and still chose TJ in the end.

... that's an odd thing to highlight, but go off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Going to TJ would have been really special for my kid, who has a passion for math and science and would have really been fitted from the special lane. Being waitlisted has been a huge disappointment and though the base high school is good, there is just no excitement about it.

So I think for the math/science kids the curriculum is really what they want.

There are many more talented and qualified kids than there are seats at TJ.

All the more reason not to select unqualified kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Going to TJ would have been really special for my kid, who has a passion for math and science and would have really been fitted from the special lane. Being waitlisted has been a huge disappointment and though the base high school is good, there is just no excitement about it.

So I think for the math/science kids the curriculum is really what they want.

There are many more talented and qualified kids than there are seats at TJ.

All the more reason not to select unqualified kids.

Fortunately, TJ isn’t anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:TJ’s open house was a huge success with all the passionate and friendly student volunteers.

DC is from a Loudoun middle school. About a handful students from his school were admitted by TJ. All were in Loudoun’s GT program. Most of them also had offers from Academies of Loudoun.

Before TJ’s open house, only one of the admitted kids was committed to go to TJ. The rest wanted to go to Academies of Loudoun, or stay at home school due to the long distance from TJ to their homes.

After the open house, all of the kids decided to go to TJ. I was surprised because during the event, they were commenting on how run down TJ was compared to Academies of Loudoun’s modern and shiny campus. ACL’s open house had been hosted several weeks earlier. What ACL lacked in the orientation was the enthusiastic student volunteers. ACL had some students present as well, but much fewer, and they were mainly just handing out the building maps.

DC’s elementary school and middle school do not have a lot of academic opportunities. No Math Olympiad or Science Olympiad clubs were ever formed in their schools due to the low participation rates. They are excited that they can meet some like minded students in their future high school.

I saw kids at ACL in the classrooms discussing the classes. I'm not sure that they have clubs like TJ, so for example you won't be able to take AMC10 there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That’s because Academies of Loudoun looks like a four-star resort compared to TJ. TJ has a large area where the ceiling was so low that my not so tall 8th grader was able to touch it when tip toeing. LOL. But the kids looked beyond that and still chose TJ in the end.

... that's an odd thing to highlight, but go off.

My kid went to TJ for a programming contest, and that detail was what he told me about the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Going to TJ would have been really special for my kid, who has a passion for math and science and would have really been fitted from the special lane. Being waitlisted has been a huge disappointment and though the base high school is good, there is just no excitement about it.

So I think for the math/science kids the curriculum is really what they want.

There are many more talented and qualified kids than there are seats at TJ.

All the more reason not to select unqualified kids.

Fortunately, TJ isn’t anymore.

They are. Some are getting talked out of attending, but perhaps they shouldn't be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is just much happier there, having found “her people” and enjoying being in classes with kids that mostly all take it seriously.

This. The best thing about going to TJ is being at a school where virtually 100% of the students care about school.

This. And given the choice, would you willingly send your DC to Falls Church HS? Justice? Herndon? Edison? Annandale? Lewis?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is just much happier there, having found “her people” and enjoying being in classes with kids that mostly all take it seriously.

This. The best thing about going to TJ is being at a school where virtually 100% of the students care about school.

This. And given the choice, would you willingly send your DC to Falls Church HS? Justice? Herndon? Edison? Annandale? Lewis?

Even Langley, McLean, and Chantilly don’t have anywhere close to 100% of their kids invested in academics. Nowhere close.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Going to TJ would have been really special for my kid, who has a passion for math and science and would have really been fitted from the special lane. Being waitlisted has been a huge disappointment and though the base high school is good, there is just no excitement about it.

So I think for the math/science kids the curriculum is really what they want.

There are many more talented and qualified kids than there are seats at TJ.

All the more reason not to select unqualified kids.

They don't. The problem is you are qualified to pass these judgements.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Outside of the top 1% of students, it seems like most kids that graduate from TJ end up working normal-ish corporate jobs. I grew up in an affluent neighborhood and a bunch of my friends ended up going to TJ and then to UVA/Tech/other state schools. Two went to ivies and they both burned out, barely graduated and one works as a preschool teacher now, the other works at a mathnasium part time while trying to figure out his next career move. The others that went to state schools were considered "average" at TJ and work in the same technical field as me now.

So what are the advantages of going to TJ?

Life is about exploring your potential, and for some, TJ is a great place to do that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is just much happier there, having found “her people” and enjoying being in classes with kids that mostly all take it seriously.

This. The best thing about going to TJ is being at a school where virtually 100% of the students care about school.

This. And given the choice, would you willingly send your DC to Falls Church HS? Justice? Herndon? Edison? Annandale? Lewis?

That’s what TJ has become in a nutshell. An escape valve to avoid the worst high schools. The students are like charity cases getting the chance to attend summer camp if only we’ll contribute to the NYT summer camp fund.