FCPS TJ Class of 2024 Press Release - Buried; AA Admits "TS" to Mention

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just don’t think middle school and even high school kids are so damn special and exceptional that they cannot survive if there are *gasp* unprepared students in their classes. It’s high school for god sake, not a PhD program. Maybe I’m too laid back for this area. If equity means admitting some kids mostly because of their race and giving them a trial by fire chance to better prepared for college, I am okay with that. If they don’t like the challenge they’ll leave TJ.

Ha ha ha! You ARE too laid back for this area. I know several kids that got into TJ through the competitive process and couldn't run away fast enough after the 1st year with terrible grades. Think about it. Suppose you are a black kid, extremely smart and your parents are aware of the opportunities that are possible for someone like you. You go to base school - play a sport (assuming you are into it), time for other ECs, have a girlfriend, party, etc and still make great grades and can literally walk into any top college. You go to TJ, it's a LOT of hard work in every subject. starting with day 1 of summer school before freshman year. There are 100s of highly motivated, driven and likely smarter kids than you and you will get creamed unless you are a super-genius (in which case you'd have gotten in anyways). Why would you do that? I suspect a lot of the aware URM families are doing just that. Letting someone in just because they are URM is a bad idea for the kid.

A lot of White families do that too.. It's way easier to get into a good college from a base HS than from TJ. Pretty much every white person is talking down on "prepping" and "asian culture" in the APP thread. Move over to the college forum and you will see that every one of them has a master plan - Kids who spent early school years focusing on fencing, lacrosse, crew, playing the harp or spending tons of money to train in a sport. Kids going to private high school because those schools have "connected" counselors, kids with a plan for grad school (it's actually the parents but it's OK when you are white), etc.

They don't like the fact that they have to compete and lose at TJ and choose not to go. They would love to have low performing kids at TJ so they can look good. Don't fall for that.

So, what's the point of all this? Kids going to TJ on a "quota" will be gone after the first year.. that too, badly wounded. As many others have pointed out, why not find such kids, encourage them to study/prep (or whatever it takes to get them on the same footing as the other kids) and help them win? Why continue to foster the mindset that they need a handout? Intelligence is equally distributed across all ethnicities so there are equally smart URM kids as a % of the population as there are Asian or White kids.

As uncomfortable as this is to say, intelligence is definitely not distributed equally among ethnicities. Look up the data on that.

That has been pointed out by several people but I don't buy it. The whole idea of IQ testing has been questioned by several reputed scholars who think the testing gives an advantage to the more educated. There used to be a time when people thought Whites were superior intellectually, then it was the Jews followed by Asians (Chinese/Japanese). A fair number of top IT jobs are now held by Indians and this is not going to change for a long time. That does not make them more intelligent than anyone else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m still not sure what asian privilege is? All I see is they are systematically disadvantaged and discriminated in a lot of things including college application and leadership positions.
Is earning a higher income through legal means and hard work a crime in this country?

Yes, and how dare you imply Asians don't have white privilege. Are you paying attention!

[Anonymous]

The first question on the TJ essay test was "what I can do to bring diversity to TJ". They're trying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just don’t think middle school and even high school kids are so damn special and exceptional that they cannot survive if there are *gasp* unprepared students in their classes. It’s high school for god sake, not a PhD program. Maybe I’m too laid back for this area. If equity means admitting some kids mostly because of their race and giving them a trial by fire chance to better prepared for college, I am okay with that. If they don’t like the challenge they’ll leave TJ.

Ha ha ha! You ARE too laid back for this area. I know several kids that got into TJ through the competitive process and couldn't run away fast enough after the 1st year with terrible grades. Think about it. Suppose you are a black kid, extremely smart and your parents are aware of the opportunities that are possible for someone like you. You go to base school - play a sport (assuming you are into it), time for other ECs, have a girlfriend, party, etc and still make great grades and can literally walk into any top college. You go to TJ, it's a LOT of hard work in every subject. starting with day 1 of summer school before freshman year. There are 100s of highly motivated, driven and likely smarter kids than you and you will get creamed unless you are a super-genius (in which case you'd have gotten in anyways). Why would you do that? I suspect a lot of the aware URM families are doing just that. Letting someone in just because they are URM is a bad idea for the kid.

A lot of White families do that too.. It's way easier to get into a good college from a base HS than from TJ. Pretty much every white person is talking down on "prepping" and "asian culture" in the APP thread. Move over to the college forum and you will see that every one of them has a master plan - Kids who spent early school years focusing on fencing, lacrosse, crew, playing the harp or spending tons of money to train in a sport. Kids going to private high school because those schools have "connected" counselors, kids with a plan for grad school (it's actually the parents but it's OK when you are white), etc.

They don't like the fact that they have to compete and lose at TJ and choose not to go. They would love to have low performing kids at TJ so they can look good. Don't fall for that.

So, what's the point of all this? Kids going to TJ on a "quota" will be gone after the first year.. that too, badly wounded. As many others have pointed out, why not find such kids, encourage them to study/prep (or whatever it takes to get them on the same footing as the other kids) and help them win? Why continue to foster the mindset that they need a handout? Intelligence is equally distributed across all ethnicities so there are equally smart URM kids as a % of the population as there are Asian or White kids.

As uncomfortable as this is to say, intelligence is definitely not distributed equally among ethnicities. Look up the data on that.

Not sure about that, but hard work work is definitely not equally distributed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just don’t think middle school and even high school kids are so damn special and exceptional that they cannot survive if there are *gasp* unprepared students in their classes. It’s high school for god sake, not a PhD program. Maybe I’m too laid back for this area. If equity means admitting some kids mostly because of their race and giving them a trial by fire chance to better prepared for college, I am okay with that. If they don’t like the challenge they’ll leave TJ.

Ha ha ha! You ARE too laid back for this area. I know several kids that got into TJ through the competitive process and couldn't run away fast enough after the 1st year with terrible grades. Think about it. Suppose you are a black kid, extremely smart and your parents are aware of the opportunities that are possible for someone like you. You go to base school - play a sport (assuming you are into it), time for other ECs, have a girlfriend, party, etc and still make great grades and can literally walk into any top college. You go to TJ, it's a LOT of hard work in every subject. starting with day 1 of summer school before freshman year. There are 100s of highly motivated, driven and likely smarter kids than you and you will get creamed unless you are a super-genius (in which case you'd have gotten in anyways). Why would you do that? I suspect a lot of the aware URM families are doing just that. Letting someone in just because they are URM is a bad idea for the kid.

A lot of White families do that too.. It's way easier to get into a good college from a base HS than from TJ. Pretty much every white person is talking down on "prepping" and "asian culture" in the APP thread. Move over to the college forum and you will see that every one of them has a master plan - Kids who spent early school years focusing on fencing, lacrosse, crew, playing the harp or spending tons of money to train in a sport. Kids going to private high school because those schools have "connected" counselors, kids with a plan for grad school (it's actually the parents but it's OK when you are white), etc.

They don't like the fact that they have to compete and lose at TJ and choose not to go. They would love to have low performing kids at TJ so they can look good. Don't fall for that.

So, what's the point of all this? Kids going to TJ on a "quota" will be gone after the first year.. that too, badly wounded. As many others have pointed out, why not find such kids, encourage them to study/prep (or whatever it takes to get them on the same footing as the other kids) and help them win? Why continue to foster the mindset that they need a handout? Intelligence is equally distributed across all ethnicities so there are equally smart URM kids as a % of the population as there are Asian or White kids.

As uncomfortable as this is to say, intelligence is definitely not distributed equally among ethnicities. Look up the data on that.

That has been pointed out by several people but I don't buy it. The whole idea of IQ testing has been questioned by several reputed scholars who think the testing gives an advantage to the more educated. There used to be a time when people thought Whites were superior intellectually, then it was the Jews followed by Asians (Chinese/Japanese). A fair number of top IT jobs are now held by Indians and this is not going to change for a long time. That does not make them more intelligent than anyone else.

+1 The Asians who moved here primarily to have their kids attend TJ are typically intelligent. That does not imply all Asians as a group are more intelligent than other races.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m still not sure what asian privilege is? All I see is they are systematically disadvantaged and discriminated in a lot of things including college application and leadership positions.
Is earning a higher income through legal means and hard work a crime in this country?

Yes, and how dare you imply Asians don't have white privilege. Are you paying attention!

So what is that privilege exactly?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m still not sure what asian privilege is? All I see is they are systematically disadvantaged and discriminated in a lot of things including college application and leadership positions.
Is earning a higher income through legal means and hard work a crime in this country?

Yes, and how dare you imply Asians don't have white privilege. Are you paying attention!

So what is that privilege exactly?

nvm. I misread

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any student, no matter his or her race, will not do well once admitted to TJ if they are not able to handle the rigor. Same goes for gender. We are not doing any one any favors by putting them in a school that they will do poorly in.

Do you think kids are doomed from the start? Kids are resilient and can catch up, you know.

Not pp, but I don’t think TJ or even STEM is the only way to success So no one is doomed if they don’t do STEM or go to TJ. But resilience of kids has nothing to do with whether they can catch up. Being successful in STEM field requires a solid foundation that can only be built up with years and years of effort and progress in the area, regardless of one’s resilience.

That is why emphasis must be on AAP from the elementary school years.How many non-AAP kids actually get into schools like TJ? Virtually none. Let's revamp the entire AAP program including the selection/appeals process. It should reflect the county demographics.

It may be okay to have a separate AAP program just for the URM kids who weren't already in the regular AAP. To force a black quota in the regular AAP program would be a racist act in the name of equality because it's unfair to other kids.

How so? There is no limit on the number of people who get into AAP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCUM and many FCPS parents show a staggering amount of racism against Asian-American students.

This is a two way street if ever there was one. And with what's going on lately, you finally have both East and South Asians on various social media platforms acknowledging their privileged status and their baked-in familial animus towards Latinx and ESPECIALLY Black Americans.

Calling you out. Do not deflect the point made that there is a lot of hostility on this site toward Asian-Americans by pitting POC groups against each other.

[Anonymous]

TJ applications are down over 25% from where they were eight years ago, despite growing enrollments in the participating jurisdictions. Turns out fewer and fewer kids and families look favorably upon a segregated, gender-imbalanced school that doesn't even provide kids with much of a leg-up when it comes to college admissions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:TJ applications are down over 25% from where they were eight years ago, despite growing enrollments in the participating jurisdictions. Turns out fewer and fewer kids and families look favorably upon a segregated, gender-imbalanced school that doesn't even provide kids with much of a leg-up when it comes to college admissions.

true. Going to TJ does not boost college admission. This is why the number of applications has been going down year over year especially among the non-asian population.

[Anonymous]

TJ has some unique STEM classes and labs that other high schools don't have. Open some of those classes to interested kids from other FCPS high schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCUM and many FCPS parents show a staggering amount of racism against Asian-American students.

This is a two way street if ever there was one. And with what's going on lately, you finally have both East and South Asians on various social media platforms acknowledging their privileged status and their baked-in familial animus towards Latinx and ESPECIALLY Black Americans.

Complete BS - dont impute naked racism to Asians toward black adults or students just because they get into TJ and apply to TJ at higher rates. The affirmative action and how it should be implemented or if there should or shouldn't be explicit racial quotas or racial composition goals is a separate policy and legal debate. BUT is is extremely cowardly and intellectualy lazy to piggy back this debate on top of the police brutality and racism towards colored people issues that are part of the george Floyd protests.

How self-serving can you be?

Recognizing that the privileged at TJ would like to say the Floyd protests are just about police brutality, they have led to a larger discussion about discrimination and racism in our society. In that context, it's pathetic for FCPS to announce this week that there is no place for racism in FCPS while it operates a selective magnet school that extends admission offers to so few black kids they aren't even willing to disclose the exact number.

The advantages that both Asians and whites enjoy relative to URMs in our schools absolutely needs to be on the table NOW.

Asian American here. My parents came to the US with nothing. I had to fill out every single form when I was a child, translate to my parents and then they would sign the forms. I found out about a magnet school late in middle school and applied by myself. I was a free lunch kid. I lived in an entirely black neighborhood in Philadelphia with crack on the streets. Everything I have I had to work for on my own. When I was in college, I sent my parents money because they could never cover all the bills.

DH had a similar immigrant experience. His friend’s dad registered him for baseball and drove DH. DH worked at a local Chinese restaurant and paid for his own tennis lessons.

We now have a seven figure income and we support both sides of our parents. We have always been the token Asian in all of our jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:TJ applications are down over 25% from where they were eight years ago, despite growing enrollments in the participating jurisdictions. Turns out fewer and fewer kids and families look favorably upon a segregated, gender-imbalanced school that doesn't even provide kids with much of a leg-up when it comes to college admissions.

Maybe that's why Whites and Blacks are not even trying to get in? So what's the point of opening the doors so to speak to everyone if no one wants to attend?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCUM and many FCPS parents show a staggering amount of racism against Asian-American students.

This is a two way street if ever there was one. And with what's going on lately, you finally have both East and South Asians on various social media platforms acknowledging their privileged status and their baked-in familial animus towards Latinx and ESPECIALLY Black Americans.

Calling you out. Do not deflect the point made that there is a lot of hostility on this site toward Asian-Americans by pitting POC groups against each other.

baked-in animus? Where do you get that from? Like in, asiam families came to the US with these prejudices built-in? We didn't even know about black or hispanic issues before we came to this country nor have we ever seem any of those people? How do you think any prejudice developed? Some great help from the Whites and Blacks/LatinX folks (with their counter-prejudice against each other) maybe?