My child graduated from TJ and he/she is now..................

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid's public elementary school teacher is a TJ grad.

Is this supposed to signal some kind of failure on the part of the TJ grad? You are lucky to have a well-educated teacher.

You are interpreting this incorrectly. The point is with the near obsession to enter TJ and other similar programs, the reality is that TJ graduates may well end up in careers that do not require a TJ type of education to qualify. It is not a knock on being an elementary school teacher or any other profession.

I don't have concrete statistics to prove it but my hunch is that many TJ graduates end up in colleges and jobs that they could just as easily have got with an education from any decent public school.

It is not a knock on TJ either because it is a just a great school. My son went there and it is the best thing that happened to him in terms of his education.

[Anonymous]

I have worked with three people who went to TJ. They were all technically good, but all had issues...one always complained, one would not think of anything new at all -- but perform the assigned task perfectly, and one must of had aspergers or something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Virginia parents are cheap. They'll send their TJ kid to a very good Va college instead of an Ivy. They'll spend more money remodeling their kitchen.

I have absolutely seen this too. I grew up in NoVA and have always been surprised to see so many very wealthy parents going bananas over trying to get their kids into a VA state school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With all of the discussion that is going on about TJ, I am wondering how much of a difference it has made in terms of colleges attended, careers chosen or jobs obtained subsequent to graduation.

I think there is a tendency to assume that graduating from TJ is something of a passport for future success. I am wondering how accurate this assumption is in real life. I am sure that many do very well but I somehow believe that probably the majority fare about as well as they would have even if they did not graduate from TJ but instead one of the other excellent high schools in Northern Virginia.

Would parents who have children who graduated from TJ or posters who know others whose kids graduated from TJ post what their/these kids are doing today?

I think a lot of the discussion regarding TJ's admission policies and selective admission is because there is a belief that graduating from TJ will ensure success for a kid in college and thereafter. Perhaps this is true ........ but maybe this is an incorrect premise.

To those whose children have done very well after graduating from TJ, would he/she have likely done just as well if graduation had been from a regular school?

My husband's college roommate at Williams was a TJ grad. Not sure what he studied undergrad but he ended up going to UVA law school and is a state AAG now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Virginia parents are cheap. They'll send their TJ kid to a very good Va college instead of an Ivy. They'll spend more money remodeling their kitchen.

I have absolutely seen this too. I grew up in NoVA and have always been surprised to see so many very wealthy parents going bananas over trying to get their kids into a VA state school.

This is called BEING SMART and DEMANDING VALUE FOR MONEY.

The bang for the buck of UVA is HUGE. I'd be happier to see my kid there than at some stupid Ivy where you are paying through the nose for "prestige" not education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On a related note, what are the statistics on TJ graduates (a) going to the top 10 colleges such as MIT, Stanford, Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon, and the like, in fields such as science and engineering, (b) later on pursuing advanced degrees such as Masters or Ph.D. in science and engineering from top 10 schools, and (c) making it to top positions in professional careers (successful entrepreneurs of the kind in Silicon Valley, CEO's, CTO's of fortune 500 companies, well known professors in academia, top scientists or engineers in our national laboratories, and the like)?

I'd also be interested in the same statistic for the FCPS AAP, that seems to be so sought after. How many of the TJ or AAP grads are really creative or out of the box thinkers and achievers in their higher education or professional careers?

Most of what I have seen are TJ grads going to William and Mary, GMU, and UVa and the like. No offense to these schools, but they are not in the same league as the top schools, and for a high school and a school district that touts to be one of the top in the nation, i'd think that the product of the system needs to be sought after by the best and brightest institutions and organizations in the country.

For the last 6 to 7 years, approximate average acceptances per year: about 8 to 14 accepted to Stanford, about 15 to 27 accepted to Berkeley, about 15 to 20 accepted to Princeton, about 13 to 18 accepted to MIT, about 30 to 40 accepted to Cornell, about 11 to 15 accepted to Columbia, about 10 to 14 accepted to UPenn, about 10 to 16 accepted to Dartmouth/Brown, about 5 to 10 accepted to CalTech and about 9 to 14 accepted to Yale. As for VA schools, each year on average about 90 to 100 attend UVA, about 60 to 70 attend W&M, about 50 attend VATech and about 5 to 7 attend GMU.

Thanks! That is useful.

Really, I was going to say not useful because as described, it could be same kids getting into multiple schools. Only relevant statistics are matriculation, which if this is that, not described correctly by pp.

"There may be multiple acceptances but one should also consider additional factors that counter balance as well:

Approximately 70 - 75% of TJ seniors use some form of early decision/action and many decide to attend the early acceptance school if accepted early so that cuts down on multiple acceptances. Also, there are students who have the credentials to potentially be accepted to top 15 schools who either do not apply to those schools and apply instead to schools like UVA, W&M, Michigan, Carnegie-Mellon, RPI or similar schools. There are also students who were accepted to top schools but choose to attend UVA, W&M etc. for variety of reasons including scholarships, financial aid etc."

This is so vague as to be completely useless. Does specific matriculation data not exist? My highly rated public (not in this area) would publish in the spring each year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid's public elementary school teacher is a TJ grad.

So did Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters. He attended TJ...

He went to TJ before it was TJHSST.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Virginia parents are cheap. They'll send their TJ kid to a very good Va college instead of an Ivy. They'll spend more money remodeling their kitchen.

I have absolutely seen this too. I grew up in NoVA and have always been surprised to see so many very wealthy parents going bananas over trying to get their kids into a VA state school.

This is called BEING SMART and DEMANDING VALUE FOR MONEY.

The bang for the buck of UVA is HUGE. I'd be happier to see my kid there than at some stupid Ivy where you are paying through the nose for "prestige" not education.

Ohhhhhh, and are Ivys and UVA the only possible options? Dodo head.

[Anonymous]

I don't see why people are so down on UVA- it is an excellent school and out of state kids are desperate to get in. If I had high school aged kids in va I'd urge them to go there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On a related note, what are the statistics on TJ graduates (a) going to the top 10 colleges such as MIT, Stanford, Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon, and the like, in fields such as science and engineering, (b) later on pursuing advanced degrees such as Masters or Ph.D. in science and engineering from top 10 schools, and (c) making it to top positions in professional careers (successful entrepreneurs of the kind in Silicon Valley, CEO's, CTO's of fortune 500 companies, well known professors in academia, top scientists or engineers in our national laboratories, and the like)?

I'd also be interested in the same statistic for the FCPS AAP, that seems to be so sought after. How many of the TJ or AAP grads are really creative or out of the box thinkers and achievers in their higher education or professional careers?

Most of what I have seen are TJ grads going to William and Mary, GMU, and UVa and the like. No offense to these schools, but they are not in the same league as the top schools, and for a high school and a school district that touts to be one of the top in the nation, i'd think that the product of the system needs to be sought after by the best and brightest institutions and organizations in the country.

For the last 6 to 7 years, approximate average acceptances per year: about 8 to 14 accepted to Stanford, about 15 to 27 accepted to Berkeley, about 15 to 20 accepted to Princeton, about 13 to 18 accepted to MIT, about 30 to 40 accepted to Cornell, about 11 to 15 accepted to Columbia, about 10 to 14 accepted to UPenn, about 10 to 16 accepted to Dartmouth/Brown, about 5 to 10 accepted to CalTech and about 9 to 14 accepted to Yale. As for VA schools, each year on average about 90 to 100 attend UVA, about 60 to 70 attend W&M, about 50 attend VATech and about 5 to 7 attend GMU.

Thanks! That is useful.

Really, I was going to say not useful because as described, it could be same kids getting into multiple schools. Only relevant statistics are matriculation, which if this is that, not described correctly by pp.

"There may be multiple acceptances but one should also consider additional factors that counter balance as well:

Approximately 70 - 75% of TJ seniors use some form of early decision/action and many decide to attend the early acceptance school if accepted early so that cuts down on multiple acceptances. Also, there are students who have the credentials to potentially be accepted to top 15 schools who either do not apply to those schools and apply instead to schools like UVA, W&M, Michigan, Carnegie-Mellon, RPI or similar schools. There are also students who were accepted to top schools but choose to attend UVA, W&M etc. for variety of reasons including scholarships, financial aid etc."

This is so vague as to be completely useless. Does specific matriculation data not exist? My highly rated public (not in this area) would publish in the spring each year.

Class of 2010
College Acceptance Data
(Listing reflects schools where ten or more students
were accepted).
College Accepted
University of Virginia 233
College of William and Mary 186
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University 155
Carnegie Mellon University 54
Duke University 44
Cornell University 43
George Mason University 31
Virginia Commonwealth University 29
James Madison University 28
University of Michigan 27
Georgia Institute of Technology 26
Washington University in St. Louis 26
Princeton University 24
Massachusetts Institute of Technology 23
Pennsylvania State University, University Park 23
University of Chicago 20
University of Pennsylvania 20
Brown University 19
Boston University 18
Johns Hopkins University 18
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 18
New York University 17
Georgetown University 16
Dartmouth College 15
Northwestern University 15
University of Notre Dame 15
University of Pittsburgh 15
Rice University 15
Yale University 15
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 14
University of Maryland, College Park 14
Case Western Reserve University 13
Drexel University 13
The George Washington University 13
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 13
Columbia University 12
University of Mary Washington 11
Oberlin College 11
University of Southern California 11
Rochester Institute of Technology 10
Stanford University 10
Vanderbilt University 10
Wake Forest University 10

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Virginia parents are cheap. They'll send their TJ kid to a very good Va college instead of an Ivy. They'll spend more money remodeling their kitchen.

I have absolutely seen this too. I grew up in NoVA and have always been surprised to see so many very wealthy parents going bananas over trying to get their kids into a VA state school.

This is called BEING SMART and DEMANDING VALUE FOR MONEY.

The bang for the buck of UVA is HUGE. I'd be happier to see my kid there than at some stupid Ivy where you are paying through the nose for "prestige" not education.

Is Asperger's hereditary?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On a related note, what are the statistics on TJ graduates (a) going to the top 10 colleges such as MIT, Stanford, Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon, and the like, in fields such as science and engineering, (b) later on pursuing advanced degrees such as Masters or Ph.D. in science and engineering from top 10 schools, and (c) making it to top positions in professional careers (successful entrepreneurs of the kind in Silicon Valley, CEO's, CTO's of fortune 500 companies, well known professors in academia, top scientists or engineers in our national laboratories, and the like)?

I'd also be interested in the same statistic for the FCPS AAP, that seems to be so sought after. How many of the TJ or AAP grads are really creative or out of the box thinkers and achievers in their higher education or professional careers?

Most of what I have seen are TJ grads going to William and Mary, GMU, and UVa and the like. No offense to these schools, but they are not in the same league as the top schools, and for a high school and a school district that touts to be one of the top in the nation, i'd think that the product of the system needs to be sought after by the best and brightest institutions and organizations in the country.

For the last 6 to 7 years, approximate average acceptances per year: about 8 to 14 accepted to Stanford, about 15 to 27 accepted to Berkeley, about 15 to 20 accepted to Princeton, about 13 to 18 accepted to MIT, about 30 to 40 accepted to Cornell, about 11 to 15 accepted to Columbia, about 10 to 14 accepted to UPenn, about 10 to 16 accepted to Dartmouth/Brown, about 5 to 10 accepted to CalTech and about 9 to 14 accepted to Yale. As for VA schools, each year on average about 90 to 100 attend UVA, about 60 to 70 attend W&M, about 50 attend VATech and about 5 to 7 attend GMU.

Thanks! That is useful.

Really, I was going to say not useful because as described, it could be same kids getting into multiple schools. Only relevant statistics are matriculation, which if this is that, not described correctly by pp.

"There may be multiple acceptances but one should also consider additional factors that counter balance as well:

Approximately 70 - 75% of TJ seniors use some form of early decision/action and many decide to attend the early acceptance school if accepted early so that cuts down on multiple acceptances. Also, there are students who have the credentials to potentially be accepted to top 15 schools who either do not apply to those schools and apply instead to schools like UVA, W&M, Michigan, Carnegie-Mellon, RPI or similar schools. There are also students who were accepted to top schools but choose to attend UVA, W&M etc. for variety of reasons including scholarships, financial aid etc."

This is so vague as to be completely useless. Does specific matriculation data not exist? My highly rated public (not in this area) would publish in the spring each year.

Class of 2010
College Acceptance Data
(Listing reflects schools where ten or more students
were accepted).
College Accepted
University of Virginia 233
College of William and Mary 186
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University 155
Carnegie Mellon University 54
Duke University 44
Cornell University 43
George Mason University 31
Virginia Commonwealth University 29
James Madison University 28
University of Michigan 27
Georgia Institute of Technology 26
Washington University in St. Louis 26
Princeton University 24
Massachusetts Institute of Technology 23
Pennsylvania State University, University Park 23
University of Chicago 20
University of Pennsylvania 20
Brown University 19
Boston University 18
Johns Hopkins University 18
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 18
New York University 17
Georgetown University 16
Dartmouth College 15
Northwestern University 15
University of Notre Dame 15
University of Pittsburgh 15
Rice University 15
Yale University 15
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 14
University of Maryland, College Park 14
Case Western Reserve University 13
Drexel University 13
The George Washington University 13
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 13
Columbia University 12
University of Mary Washington 11
Oberlin College 11
University of Southern California 11
Rochester Institute of Technology 10
Stanford University 10
Vanderbilt University 10
Wake Forest University 10

Same problem here in that a student may have had multiple acceptances to several select schools. So the information is of limited value.

[Anonymous]

Ph.D. in physics from Harvard. Works on Wallstreet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ph.D. in physics from Harvard. Works on Wallstreet.

Wow. Such a boon for the science and math community....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ph.D. in physics from Harvard. Works on Wallstreet.

Wow. Such a boon for the science and math community....

At least the Ph.D is in physics which is definitely STEM. You can't really blame the person if he/she wants to make money. Isn't capitalism ultimately all about the dollar? Maybe this person will go into teaching/research after accumulating enough wealth to take on less lucrative positions.