Middle school feeder data for TJ admissions?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Holy cow!! Carson for the win!! Those are some lopsided numbers. And no-- about 2700-2800 applied. All the "TS" school numbers aren't included

show me the school with the most Asians, I'll show you the school that gets the most kids into TJ. Not rocket science.

Well, yes, that would be Carson. But Rocky Run has more Asian students than Longfellow, and Longfellow got more kids into TJ than Rocky Run this year. So it's not a completely linear relationship.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Almost a fifth of the class comes from Carson. 45 from Longfellow. 37 from Rocky Run. Wow! Then Kilmer and Frost with low 20s. Not bad for LB either.

But I get PPs point about Eastern FFX supporting this school when it doesn't demographically reflect the county.

Eastern Farifax == crappy schools == lower housing values == lower property taxes == providing less $$ for TJ.

Also, parents who really want the best education for their kids and provide the academic supports necessary to have a kid get into TJ and succeed there are not buying in Eastern Fairfax. Once again. Crappy schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Almost a fifth of the class comes from Carson. 45 from Longfellow. 37 from Rocky Run. Wow! Then Kilmer and Frost with low 20s. Not bad for LB either.

But I get PPs point about Eastern FFX supporting this school when it doesn't demographically reflect the county.

Eastern Farifax == crappy schools == lower housing values == lower property taxes == providing less $$ for TJ.

Also, parents who really want the best education for their kids and provide the academic supports necessary to have a kid get into TJ and succeed there are not buying in Eastern Fairfax. Once again. Crappy schools.

Your logic doesn't hold up. Average single-family home in 20170, where Carson is located, is worth $512K. Average single-family home in 22308, where Sandburg is located, is $651K. This is about the focus that middle-class Asian families in western Fairfax place on education, and getting their kids into the TJ magnet, not who is paying the most in property taxes to fund TJ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What happened? Normally Carson, RR & Longfellow have pretty comparable number. Not this year...

It would be interesting to see if the applications rates have declined. I know anecdotally that among my circle, TJ is not the end game and this is a change from 5-6 years ago. We are at McLean HS. It may explain also why the number of NMSF has increased at McLean HS recent years.

If you assume that the kids from the AAP center middle schools are in the AAP program, more kids from Carson AAP apply (78%) than from Longfellow or Rocky Run AAP (both 56%). Maybe that means more kids at those schools are happy with their base HS options, but it could also just mean that the success at Carson triggers more interest.

Carson and RR have a lot of overlap in base school HS options. But speaking for Carson, there is an enormous peer pressure within the AAP program to get in to TJ. And enormous parent support. The kids take Geometry over the summer and Algebra II in 8th, tutor, tutor and tutor some more in math, etc. but also the parents take over running the very, very high caliber nationally competitive academic extracurriculars that give them an added resume boost-- MathCounts, TARC, TSA, FLL, debate, Model UN etc. and the kids who beat out 200-300 other kids to make one of these teams easily put in 20+ hours each week, every week on these extracurriculars. And the math and science teachers are excellent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Almost a fifth of the class comes from Carson. 45 from Longfellow. 37 from Rocky Run. Wow! Then Kilmer and Frost with low 20s. Not bad for LB either.

But I get PPs point about Eastern FFX supporting this school when it doesn't demographically reflect the county.

Eastern Farifax == crappy schools == lower housing values == lower property taxes == providing less $$ for TJ.

Also, parents who really want the best education for their kids and provide the academic supports necessary to have a kid get into TJ and succeed there are not buying in Eastern Fairfax. Once again. Crappy schools.

Your logic doesn't hold up. Average single-family home in 20170, where Carson is located, is worth $512K. Average single-family home in 22308, where Sandburg is located, is $651K. This is about the focus that middle-class Asian families in western Fairfax place on education, and getting their kids into the TJ magnet, not who is paying the most in property taxes to fund TJ.

Correct. Where do all the Indians live. Western Fairfax Co. around Chantilly, Herndon and feed into Carson.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Almost a fifth of the class comes from Carson. 45 from Longfellow. 37 from Rocky Run. Wow! Then Kilmer and Frost with low 20s. Not bad for LB either.

But I get PPs point about Eastern FFX supporting this school when it doesn't demographically reflect the county.

I don't understand why admitted students don't need to be better distributed around the county. The other counties have limits on how many of their students can be admitted related to their financial support of the school, why shouldn't the different areas of Fairfax County be represented? We all pay taxes, it truly isn't right that one area of the county receives more of the benefits of TJ than other parts of the county. I think there should be limits similar to the limits in the other counties so that students from all over the county can benefit from TJ.

It's merit based admissions. The kids at Carson kill themselves for years to get in. I'm sure kids from other AAP Centers who work equally hard with that goal get in and benefit.

There are limitations on the numbers admitted from Arlington, Prince William, and Loudoun counties. Those kids work hard too, but only a certain number are admitted and that number is related to the financial support their county provides to Fairfax for TJ.

Why can't FCPS be divided up into areas, dollar amount that supports the schools in terms of real estate taxes be taken into account, and then each area be assigned a number of admission slots just as we already do for the other counties? Every homeowner in the county pays taxes (and renters pay through their monthly rental payment). It really does seem a bit unbalanced that large areas of the county send very few students to TJ even though the residents are supporting the school through their taxes to the same extent as those who live in areas who send many more students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Almost a fifth of the class comes from Carson. 45 from Longfellow. 37 from Rocky Run. Wow! Then Kilmer and Frost with low 20s. Not bad for LB either.

But I get PPs point about Eastern FFX supporting this school when it doesn't demographically reflect the county.

I don't understand why admitted students don't need to be better distributed around the county. The other counties have limits on how many of their students can be admitted related to their financial support of the school, why shouldn't the different areas of Fairfax County be represented? We all pay taxes, it truly isn't right that one area of the county receives more of the benefits of TJ than other parts of the county. I think there should be limits similar to the limits in the other counties so that students from all over the county can benefit from TJ.

It's merit based admissions. The kids at Carson kill themselves for years to get in. I'm sure kids from other AAP Centers who work equally hard with that goal get in and benefit.

There are limitations on the numbers admitted from Arlington, Prince William, and Loudoun counties. Those kids work hard too, but only a certain number are admitted and that number is related to the financial support their county provides to Fairfax for TJ.

Why can't FCPS be divided up into areas, dollar amount that supports the schools in terms of real estate taxes be taken into account, and then each area be assigned a number of admission slots just as we already do for the other counties? Every homeowner in the county pays taxes (and renters pay through their monthly rental payment). It really does seem a bit unbalanced that large areas of the county send very few students to TJ even though the residents are supporting the school through their taxes to the same extent as those who live in areas who send many more students.

They can only admit those students who apply. The applications are highly skewed toward, Vienna, Chantilly, Herndon ares.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Almost a fifth of the class comes from Carson. 45 from Longfellow. 37 from Rocky Run. Wow! Then Kilmer and Frost with low 20s. Not bad for LB either.

But I get PPs point about Eastern FFX supporting this school when it doesn't demographically reflect the county.

I don't understand why admitted students don't need to be better distributed around the county. The other counties have limits on how many of their students can be admitted related to their financial support of the school, why shouldn't the different areas of Fairfax County be represented? We all pay taxes, it truly isn't right that one area of the county receives more of the benefits of TJ than other parts of the county. I think there should be limits similar to the limits in the other counties so that students from all over the county can benefit from TJ.

It's merit based admissions. The kids at Carson kill themselves for years to get in. I'm sure kids from other AAP Centers who work equally hard with that goal get in and benefit.

There are limitations on the numbers admitted from Arlington, Prince William, and Loudoun counties. Those kids work hard too, but only a certain number are admitted and that number is related to the financial support their county provides to Fairfax for TJ.

Why can't FCPS be divided up into areas, dollar amount that supports the schools in terms of real estate taxes be taken into account, and then each area be assigned a number of admission slots just as we already do for the other counties? Every homeowner in the county pays taxes (and renters pay through their monthly rental payment). It really does seem a bit unbalanced that large areas of the county send very few students to TJ even though the residents are supporting the school through their taxes to the same extent as those who live in areas who send many more students.

They can only admit those students who apply. The applications are highly skewed toward, Vienna, Chantilly, Herndon ares.

This. Also, beware the law of unintended consequences. Many, many Indian parents buy in a Carson zone for the sole purpose of sending a kid to TJ. Say you cap each school at 25 kids. These parents just move to Twain or Sandberg or where ever admit rates are lowest to give their kids a leg up. So the same kids end up at TJ. On top of that, many parents have said they do not want to send their kid to a TJ crazy middle school. Well, guess what? Your MS is now TJ crazy. And you kid probably has a lower chance of getting in than they do now because there are 60 Indian kids taking Geometry in summer school and test prepping to death and moving heaven and Earth to beat your kid out. If you don't live in TJ crazy, you don't get just how crazy it is. Will an Indian mom rent in the Eastern part of the county for 2 years if it gives their kid a good shot at TJ? That's a no brainier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Almost a fifth of the class comes from Carson. 45 from Longfellow. 37 from Rocky Run. Wow! Then Kilmer and Frost with low 20s. Not bad for LB either.

But I get PPs point about Eastern FFX supporting this school when it doesn't demographically reflect the county.

I don't understand why admitted students don't need to be better distributed around the county. The other counties have limits on how many of their students can be admitted related to their financial support of the school, why shouldn't the different areas of Fairfax County be represented? We all pay taxes, it truly isn't right that one area of the county receives more of the benefits of TJ than other parts of the county. I think there should be limits similar to the limits in the other counties so that students from all over the county can benefit from TJ.

It's merit based admissions. The kids at Carson kill themselves for years to get in. I'm sure kids from other AAP Centers who work equally hard with that goal get in and benefit.

There are limitations on the numbers admitted from Arlington, Prince William, and Loudoun counties. Those kids work hard too, but only a certain number are admitted and that number is related to the financial support their county provides to Fairfax for TJ.

Why can't FCPS be divided up into areas, dollar amount that supports the schools in terms of real estate taxes be taken into account, and then each area be assigned a number of admission slots just as we already do for the other counties? Every homeowner in the county pays taxes (and renters pay through their monthly rental payment). It really does seem a bit unbalanced that large areas of the county send very few students to TJ even though the residents are supporting the school through their taxes to the same extent as those who live in areas who send many more students.

They can only admit those students who apply. The applications are highly skewed toward, Vienna, Chantilly, Herndon ares.

This. Also, beware the law of unintended consequences. Many, many Indian parents buy in a Carson zone for the sole purpose of sending a kid to TJ. Say you cap each school at 25 kids. These parents just move to Twain or Sandberg or where ever admit rates are lowest to give their kids a leg up. So the same kids end up at TJ. On top of that, many parents have said they do not want to send their kid to a TJ crazy middle school. Well, guess what? Your MS is now TJ crazy. And you kid probably has a lower chance of getting in than they do now because there are 60 Indian kids taking Geometry in summer school and test prepping to death and moving heaven and Earth to beat your kid out. If you don't live in TJ crazy, you don't get just how crazy it is. Will an Indian mom rent in the Eastern part of the county for 2 years if it gives their kid a good shot at TJ? That's a no brainier.

Man this shit is crazy. People do crazier shit to get their kids into TJ than to get their kids into Sidwell or Potomac. Really your kid couldn't be successful at Chantilly, McLean or God Forbid, Edison?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Almost a fifth of the class comes from Carson. 45 from Longfellow. 37 from Rocky Run. Wow! Then Kilmer and Frost with low 20s. Not bad for LB either.

But I get PPs point about Eastern FFX supporting this school when it doesn't demographically reflect the county.

I don't understand why admitted students don't need to be better distributed around the county. The other counties have limits on how many of their students can be admitted related to their financial support of the school, why shouldn't the different areas of Fairfax County be represented? We all pay taxes, it truly isn't right that one area of the county receives more of the benefits of TJ than other parts of the county. I think there should be limits similar to the limits in the other counties so that students from all over the county can benefit from TJ.

It's merit based admissions. The kids at Carson kill themselves for years to get in. I'm sure kids from other AAP Centers who work equally hard with that goal get in and benefit.

There are limitations on the numbers admitted from Arlington, Prince William, and Loudoun counties. Those kids work hard too, but only a certain number are admitted and that number is related to the financial support their county provides to Fairfax for TJ.

Why can't FCPS be divided up into areas, dollar amount that supports the schools in terms of real estate taxes be taken into account, and then each area be assigned a number of admission slots just as we already do for the other counties? Every homeowner in the county pays taxes (and renters pay through their monthly rental payment). It really does seem a bit unbalanced that large areas of the county send very few students to TJ even though the residents are supporting the school through their taxes to the same extent as those who live in areas who send many more students.

They can only admit those students who apply. The applications are highly skewed toward, Vienna, Chantilly, Herndon ares.

This. Also, beware the law of unintended consequences. Many, many Indian parents buy in a Carson zone for the sole purpose of sending a kid to TJ. Say you cap each school at 25 kids. These parents just move to Twain or Sandberg or where ever admit rates are lowest to give their kids a leg up. So the same kids end up at TJ. On top of that, many parents have said they do not want to send their kid to a TJ crazy middle school. Well, guess what? Your MS is now TJ crazy. And you kid probably has a lower chance of getting in than they do now because there are 60 Indian kids taking Geometry in summer school and test prepping to death and moving heaven and Earth to beat your kid out. If you don't live in TJ crazy, you don't get just how crazy it is. Will an Indian mom rent in the Eastern part of the county for 2 years if it gives their kid a good shot at TJ? That's a no brainier.

Man this shit is crazy. People do crazier shit to get their kids into TJ than to get their kids into Sidwell or Potomac. Really your kid couldn't be successful at Chantilly, McLean or God Forbid, Edison?

It is crazy. It is also 100% true. Before you demand equal representation at TJ, be sure you are willing to bear your fair share of TJ crazy. If you are, God Bless (you will need it)-- (non-Indian) Carson AAP mom (there are a (very) few of us )

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

This. Also, beware the law of unintended consequences. Many, many Indian parents buy in a Carson zone for the sole purpose of sending a kid to TJ. Say you cap each school at 25 kids. These parents just move to Twain or Sandberg or where ever admit rates are lowest to give their kids a leg up. So the same kids end up at TJ. On top of that, many parents have said they do not want to send their kid to a TJ crazy middle school. Well, guess what? Your MS is now TJ crazy. And you kid probably has a lower chance of getting in than they do now because there are 60 Indian kids taking Geometry in summer school and test prepping to death and moving heaven and Earth to beat your kid out. If you don't live in TJ crazy, you don't get just how crazy it is. Will an Indian mom rent in the Eastern part of the county for 2 years if it gives their kid a good shot at TJ? That's a no brainier.

+1. I don't really know what some people here want. They have negative things to say about TJ, or the TJ-obsessiveness of some parents in the primary TJ feeders, but then they want to spread it around more? The data seems to indicate that Carson is pulling away from other middle schools in placing kids at TJ, and that there's less interest in TJ elsewhere in the county. Why should that bother anyone - it's just the natural result of a trend that has been years in the making - with the possible exception of people who moved into the Carson area thinking it was a typical middle school.

[Anonymous]

Brief antidote from TJ crazy land. Our neighbor's DD has been prepping for TJ (like formally 5 hours each Sunday, plus homework) since 6th grade. Really nice kid. Smart, hardworking, etc. but did not get into TJ. Which so disgraced her family that she was SENT TO INDIA as punishment/ motivation/ attitude adjustment (her attitude is great) the second she finished her last final. Did not get to attend the last two weeks of 8th grade, do all the celebrations, end of year party, say good bye to friends, etc. Will apparently be allowed to come home the day before high school starts, and is expected to have fixed her problems and under no circumstances fail to get into an Ivy.

Umm okay...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Brief antidote from TJ crazy land. Our neighbor's DD has been prepping for TJ (like formally 5 hours each Sunday, plus homework) since 6th grade. Really nice kid. Smart, hardworking, etc. but did not get into TJ. Which so disgraced her family that she was SENT TO INDIA as punishment/ motivation/ attitude adjustment (her attitude is great) the second she finished her last final. Did not get to attend the last two weeks of 8th grade, do all the celebrations, end of year party, say good bye to friends, etc. Will apparently be allowed to come home the day before high school starts, and is expected to have fixed her problems and under no circumstances fail to get into an Ivy.

Umm okay...

Are you sure she isn't just visiting family?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Brief antidote from TJ crazy land. Our neighbor's DD has been prepping for TJ (like formally 5 hours each Sunday, plus homework) since 6th grade. Really nice kid. Smart, hardworking, etc. but did not get into TJ. Which so disgraced her family that she was SENT TO INDIA as punishment/ motivation/ attitude adjustment (her attitude is great) the second she finished her last final. Did not get to attend the last two weeks of 8th grade, do all the celebrations, end of year party, say good bye to friends, etc. Will apparently be allowed to come home the day before high school starts, and is expected to have fixed her problems and under no circumstances fail to get into an Ivy.

Umm okay...

Are you sure she isn't just visiting family?

She has family in India. But she was meant to stay home with her parents and sibling this summer until she failed to get into TJ. She was sent to get her priorities in order, according to Mom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Almost a fifth of the class comes from Carson. 45 from Longfellow. 37 from Rocky Run. Wow! Then Kilmer and Frost with low 20s. Not bad for LB either.

But I get PPs point about Eastern FFX supporting this school when it doesn't demographically reflect the county.

I don't understand why admitted students don't need to be better distributed around the county. The other counties have limits on how many of their students can be admitted related to their financial support of the school, why shouldn't the different areas of Fairfax County be represented? We all pay taxes, it truly isn't right that one area of the county receives more of the benefits of TJ than other parts of the county. I think there should be limits similar to the limits in the other counties so that students from all over the county can benefit from TJ.

It's merit based admissions. The kids at Carson kill themselves for years to get in. I'm sure kids from other AAP Centers who work equally hard with that goal get in and benefit.

There are limitations on the numbers admitted from Arlington, Prince William, and Loudoun counties. Those kids work hard too, but only a certain number are admitted and that number is related to the financial support their county provides to Fairfax for TJ.

Why can't FCPS be divided up into areas, dollar amount that supports the schools in terms of real estate taxes be taken into account, and then each area be assigned a number of admission slots just as we already do for the other counties? Every homeowner in the county pays taxes (and renters pay through their monthly rental payment). It really does seem a bit unbalanced that large areas of the county send very few students to TJ even though the residents are supporting the school through their taxes to the same extent as those who live in areas who send many more students.

They can only admit those students who apply. The applications are highly skewed toward, Vienna, Chantilly, Herndon ares.

This. Also, beware the law of unintended consequences. Many, many Indian parents buy in a Carson zone for the sole purpose of sending a kid to TJ. Say you cap each school at 25 kids. These parents just move to Twain or Sandberg or where ever admit rates are lowest to give their kids a leg up. So the same kids end up at TJ. On top of that, many parents have said they do not want to send their kid to a TJ crazy middle school. Well, guess what? Your MS is now TJ crazy. And you kid probably has a lower chance of getting in than they do now because there are 60 Indian kids taking Geometry in summer school and test prepping to death and moving heaven and Earth to beat your kid out. If you don't live in TJ crazy, you don't get just how crazy it is. Will an Indian mom rent in the Eastern part of the county for 2 years if it gives their kid a good shot at TJ? That's a no brainier.

My kid was accepted to TJ without going crazy about it. No tutoring, no prepping, no summer geometry. Extracurriculars were athletic and arts activities. He had an extremely successful career at TJ and is now going to a top ten STEM college. Lots of the heavily prepped and tutored kids ended up back at their assigned high schools during my kid's time at TJ. The committee needs to do a better job of picking kids who are not prepping for TJ and are smart kids who are really good at math and science. Splitting the county into different tax regions for TJ application purposes might just help to reduce the crazy for TJ level.