Which type of kids excel at TJ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Asian parents have their students practicing the exams to get in, A LOT. Multiple guess exams do not show mastery or creativity or even ability to grasp complex ideas. But our system is lynch pinned to test results. If you want to get in then practice taking exams, over and over again.

TJ admissions use secret sauce "holistic admissions" that they refuse to disclose to the public with heavy emphasis on SIS (shorter essays) and 1 longer essay for the final admissions decisions so the test results and grades are not as important compared to these factors. Some believe this is further attempt to limit Asians and increase URMs which fairfax county has been trying for many years.

Yet TJ is still 70% Asian, so even with the "secret formula" the algorithm must weight test scores higher than anything else.

Tell that to the many applicants with perfect GPA and almost perfect test scores with excellent STEM activities who are denied admission to TJ each year.

I think it is a myth that the activities the applicant is involved in need to be specifically STEM activities. TJ wants kids who are involved in activities outside of school that show that they can be successful without spending all their time on academics.

My personal observation has been that some of the most successful TJ kids were the ones who were involved in non-academic activities during their after school hours. I think the admissions committee saw that these kids have what it takes to do well at TJ without the necessity of spending every outside of school moment on academics and that these kids have something to offer the TJ community. Part of what makes TJ special is the way the kids can learn from the interests and activities of their peers, so it is a benefit to the school to accept students with a wide variety of interests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: You think all the Asians who were admitted had their essays written for them by a tutor? Maybe you can tell us how they managed that?

Easy. Memorize the essay written by whoever and type it in the "controlled setting". Hell, you don't even need to know English to do that.

If they knew what the prompt(s) is prior to the essay/SIS since they change each year. I wonder how they would know that.

Well, the last few years they really haven't changed all that much. They may change the wording slightly, but the subject is similar enough that one could learn and practice writing essays ahead of time that would fit the questions with minor changes.

But they do change the questions enough so that just memorizing particular answers to particular questions and regurgitating them without responding to the applicable questions will be immediately noticeable since the TJ admissions office staff and the admissions readers are not idiots.

+1

Maybe that is what you tell your kids to do but that is not a way to gain admission to TJ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Asian parents have their students practicing the exams to get in, A LOT. Multiple guess exams do not show mastery or creativity or even ability to grasp complex ideas. But our system is lynch pinned to test results. If you want to get in then practice taking exams, over and over again.

TJ admissions use secret sauce "holistic admissions" that they refuse to disclose to the public with heavy emphasis on SIS (shorter essays) and 1 longer essay for the final admissions decisions so the test results and grades are not as important compared to these factors. Some believe this is further attempt to limit Asians and increase URMs which fairfax county has been trying for many years.

Yet TJ is still 70% Asian, so even with the "secret formula" the algorithm must weight test scores higher than anything else.

Tell that to the many applicants with perfect GPA and almost perfect test scores with excellent STEM activities who are denied admission to TJ each year.

I think it is a myth that the activities the applicant is involved in need to be specifically STEM activities. TJ wants kids who are involved in activities outside of school that show that they can be successful without spending all their time on academics.

My personal observation has been that some of the most successful TJ kids were the ones who were involved in non-academic activities during their after school hours. I think the admissions committee saw that these kids have what it takes to do well at TJ without the necessity of spending every outside of school moment on academics and that these kids have something to offer the TJ community. Part of what makes TJ special is the way the kids can learn from the interests and activities of their peers, so it is a benefit to the school to accept students with a wide variety of interests.

+1

I have a kid at TJ. He did not have all As in MS, but did very well on the test. He also had a range of activities that he participated in, including elite travel sports. He's found a group of people like him and is excelling. For example, he no longer is teased on sports team for being a nerd. For a socially awkward adolescent that's huge. He's also very technically oriented so TJ was just a really good fit for him.