Reasons why one would not accept TJ offer?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not wanting to be surrounded by myopic students solely focused on grades. I’ve heard some white students say it’s too Asian.

Gross comment.
(not that the stats don’t support the statement that majority of student pop is Asian since prior to new criteria the student population was over 72% Asian…but what is “too” Asian to a white kid? More than 10%?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Colleges care ONLY about GPA.

If you think your child cannot land in the top half of the TJ class AND get a 4.0 (w) or above GPA - then avoid TJ.

The overall curriculum at TJ is same as any base HS - they all cover mostly the same courses such as AP Stats, AP Cal A/B or B/C, AP Physics.

Well TJ has been forcefully transformed into being more of a base HS, while the original intent was for it have a much higher curriculum than that of base HS's.

As originally designed, TJ historically drew the attention of exceptional students because those students saw it as their only public school choice to get access to advanced curriculum that went beyond AP levels. These students were not coming to TJ to finish at AP level, but start there and progress further. For instance with math, an academically advanced TJ student historically expected to complete AP calculus BC in freshman/sophomore, MultiVariable & Linear in sophomore/junior, differential & discrete in junior/senior, and adv math techniques & scientific math in senior year. While these courses still exist currently, the enrollment in these courses is very low due to the caliber of admitted class. The middle schools in the past have supported and nurtured exceptional students by providing access to precalculus courses in the middle school itself, allowing them to go far beyond AP level if they chose TJ.

Over the past two decades, the rise of equity and diversity politics in FCPS and other feeder county schools has created roadblocks for these exceptional students in achieving precalculus or calculus by the end of middle school. The maximum access they now have is for Algebra 2 Trig, and even this requires numerous approvals and summer course enrollment. As a result, the pool of top talent entering TJ with trig and, at most, precalculus credits from middle school has been drastically reduced to less than a fifth of the new class. Currently, fewer than a hundred students in a TJ class enroll in courses beyond Multivariable/Linear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Colleges care ONLY about GPA.

If you think your child cannot land in the top half of the TJ class AND get a 4.0 (w) or above GPA - then avoid TJ.

The overall curriculum at TJ is same as any base HS - they all cover mostly the same courses such as AP Stats, AP Cal A/B or B/C, AP Physics.

This is total nonsense. You're not taking multiple semester courses in Bioinformatics or AI or Oceanography at a base school, to say nothing of the senior Techlab experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Colleges care ONLY about GPA.

If you think your child cannot land in the top half of the TJ class AND get a 4.0 (w) or above GPA - then avoid TJ.

The overall curriculum at TJ is same as any base HS - they all cover mostly the same courses such as AP Stats, AP Cal A/B or B/C, AP Physics.

Well TJ has been forcefully transformed into being more of a base HS, while the original intent was for it have a much higher curriculum than that of base HS's.

As originally designed, TJ historically drew the attention of exceptional students because those students saw it as their only public school choice to get access to advanced curriculum that went beyond AP levels. These students were not coming to TJ to finish at AP level, but start there and progress further. For instance with math, an academically advanced TJ student historically expected to complete AP calculus BC in freshman/sophomore, MultiVariable & Linear in sophomore/junior, differential & discrete in junior/senior, and adv math techniques & scientific math in senior year. While these courses still exist currently, the enrollment in these courses is very low due to the caliber of admitted class. The middle schools in the past have supported and nurtured exceptional students by providing access to precalculus courses in the middle school itself, allowing them to go far beyond AP level if they chose TJ.

Over the past two decades, the rise of equity and diversity politics in FCPS and other feeder county schools has created roadblocks for these exceptional students in achieving precalculus or calculus by the end of middle school. The maximum access they now have is for Algebra 2 Trig, and even this requires numerous approvals and summer course enrollment. As a result, the pool of top talent entering TJ with trig and, at most, precalculus credits from middle school has been drastically reduced to less than a fifth of the new class. Currently, fewer than a hundred students in a TJ class enroll in courses beyond Multivariable/Linear.

The obsession with math advancement in this forum borders on psychopathy. There is so much more to being a strong STEM-focused student than math advancement.

The bottom line is that parents want a clear-cut, foolproof method of getting their kids into TJ so they can streamline their middle school experience to be narrowly tailored to the admissions standards. The reality is that a major motivator for parents to advance their children in math to the levels that you're describing was to position them to be admitted to TJ, not for them to succeed when they got there.

Yes, we need some minimal level of continued improvement to the TJ Admissions process, probably starting with the return of teacher recommendations so that we make certain that we're getting the right kids from Carson, Longfellow, Rocky Run, and the like. And we may need to revisit the minimum percentage threshold - I would be in favor of looking at 1% rather than 1.5%. But we need to stop with this pernicious narrative that the kids who are there now don't deserve it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Colleges care ONLY about GPA.

If you think your child cannot land in the top half of the TJ class AND get a 4.0 (w) or above GPA - then avoid TJ.

The overall curriculum at TJ is same as any base HS - they all cover mostly the same courses such as AP Stats, AP Cal A/B or B/C, AP Physics.

Well TJ has been forcefully transformed into being more of a base HS, while the original intent was for it have a much higher curriculum than that of base HS's.

As originally designed, TJ historically drew the attention of exceptional students because those students saw it as their only public school choice to get access to advanced curriculum that went beyond AP levels. These students were not coming to TJ to finish at AP level, but start there and progress further. For instance with math, an academically advanced TJ student historically expected to complete AP calculus BC in freshman/sophomore, MultiVariable & Linear in sophomore/junior, differential & discrete in junior/senior, and adv math techniques & scientific math in senior year. While these courses still exist currently, the enrollment in these courses is very low due to the caliber of admitted class. The middle schools in the past have supported and nurtured exceptional students by providing access to precalculus courses in the middle school itself, allowing them to go far beyond AP level if they chose TJ.

Over the past two decades, the rise of equity and diversity politics in FCPS and other feeder county schools has created roadblocks for these exceptional students in achieving precalculus or calculus by the end of middle school. The maximum access they now have is for Algebra 2 Trig, and even this requires numerous approvals and summer course enrollment. As a result, the pool of top talent entering TJ with trig and, at most, precalculus credits from middle school has been drastically reduced to less than a fifth of the new class. Currently, fewer than a hundred students in a TJ class enroll in courses beyond Multivariable/Linear.

When was this? (From you post, apparently this was 3-4 decades ago. As an FCPS alum myself, I'm not sure I can agree with you on this.)

FWIW, "equity and diversity politics" have only been around for the past 5 years or so. That is not why middle schools do not offer precal classes. (At TJ, 00 freshmen have completed trig/precal and go straight to calculus? Are they all from Loudoun County?)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Colleges care ONLY about GPA.

If you think your child cannot land in the top half of the TJ class AND get a 4.0 (w) or above GPA - then avoid TJ.

The overall curriculum at TJ is same as any base HS - they all cover mostly the same courses such as AP Stats, AP Cal A/B or B/C, AP Physics.

Well TJ has been forcefully transformed into being more of a base HS, while the original intent was for it have a much higher curriculum than that of base HS's.

As originally designed, TJ historically drew the attention of exceptional students because those students saw it as their only public school choice to get access to advanced curriculum that went beyond AP levels. These students were not coming to TJ to finish at AP level, but start there and progress further. For instance with math, an academically advanced TJ student historically expected to complete AP calculus BC in freshman/sophomore, MultiVariable & Linear in sophomore/junior, differential & discrete in junior/senior, and adv math techniques & scientific math in senior year. While these courses still exist currently, the enrollment in these courses is very low due to the caliber of admitted class. The middle schools in the past have supported and nurtured exceptional students by providing access to precalculus courses in the middle school itself, allowing them to go far beyond AP level if they chose TJ.

Over the past two decades, the rise of equity and diversity politics in FCPS and other feeder county schools has created roadblocks for these exceptional students in achieving precalculus or calculus by the end of middle school. The maximum access they now have is for Algebra 2 Trig, and even this requires numerous approvals and summer course enrollment. As a result, the pool of top talent entering TJ with trig and, at most, precalculus credits from middle school has been drastically reduced to less than a fifth of the new class. Currently, fewer than a hundred students in a TJ class enroll in courses beyond Multivariable/Linear.

Equity politics mantra: Restricting the top talent is much easier than to go through the hassles of lifting the bottom masses.

[Anonymous]

I still see middle school offers precal, kids have to go to base HS for the class though. That’s my experience. My DC is taking AP Pre-Cal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I still see middle school offers precal, kids have to go to base HS for the class though. That’s my experience. My DC is taking AP Pre-Cal.

This is how it works in most jurisdictions. I had to do this during both elementary school (to take Pre-Alg in 5th grade) and middle school (to take Alg2 in 8th). And those were a GT center and a magnet school before TJ. I just got dropped off at the middle and high schools for 1st period and caught a bus with 5-7 other kids back to my elementary and middle schools. It was honestly kind of a cool and unique experience and got me accustomed to those environments a year early.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Colleges care ONLY about GPA.

If you think your child cannot land in the top half of the TJ class AND get a 4.0 (w) or above GPA - then avoid TJ.

The overall curriculum at TJ is same as any base HS - they all cover mostly the same courses such as AP Stats, AP Cal A/B or B/C, AP Physics.

Well TJ has been forcefully transformed into being more of a base HS, while the original intent was for it have a much higher curriculum than that of base HS's.

As originally designed, TJ historically drew the attention of exceptional students because those students saw it as their only public school choice to get access to advanced curriculum that went beyond AP levels. These students were not coming to TJ to finish at AP level, but start there and progress further. For instance with math, an academically advanced TJ student historically expected to complete AP calculus BC in freshman/sophomore, MultiVariable & Linear in sophomore/junior, differential & discrete in junior/senior, and adv math techniques & scientific math in senior year. While these courses still exist currently, the enrollment in these courses is very low due to the caliber of admitted class. The middle schools in the past have supported and nurtured exceptional students by providing access to precalculus courses in the middle school itself, allowing them to go far beyond AP level if they chose TJ.

Over the past two decades, the rise of equity and diversity politics in FCPS and other feeder county schools has created roadblocks for these exceptional students in achieving precalculus or calculus by the end of middle school. The maximum access they now have is for Algebra 2 Trig, and even this requires numerous approvals and summer course enrollment. As a result, the pool of top talent entering TJ with trig and, at most, precalculus credits from middle school has been drastically reduced to less than a fifth of the new class. Currently, fewer than a hundred students in a TJ class enroll in courses beyond Multivariable/Linear.

When was this? (From you post, apparently this was 3-4 decades ago. As an FCPS alum myself, I'm not sure I can agree with you on this.)

FWIW, "equity and diversity politics" have only been around for the past 5 years or so. That is not why middle schools do not offer precal classes. (At TJ, 00 freshmen have completed trig/precal and go straight to calculus? Are they all from Loudoun County?)

If you're unaware of FCPS's history of racial quota-based admissions to TJ dating back to the mid-'90s, you were probably not yet born or likely in preschool. Many younger activists are manipulated into thinking they are starting this equity battle anew, to have you take ownership of it, and work for free. Politicians define the battle to their benefit. Activist is merely a pawn in their battle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
If the reports from DCUM are to be believed, not all of the kids with Algebra 2 are accepted as Freshman at TJ. I would assume the ones not accepted are from Carson, Longfellow, and Cooper. I would guess that the Algebra 2 kids from the schools that tend to send fewer kids, the ones without numbers reported, are more likely to have been accepted since those are likely in the top 1.5% of the pool and would be the most likely to apply from the less represented MS.

Why would you assume that? The top 1.5% is based on essays, GPA, and experience factors. There are no bonus points given for the kid's math level.

Please explain the “experience factors” score.

I do not recall seeing it on children’s report cards.

It's subjective fluff that would be used as justification in case FCPS gets sued for racial balancing.

Selection is a race blind process. Anything else is illegal in the US.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Colleges care ONLY about GPA.

If you think your child cannot land in the top half of the TJ class AND get a 4.0 (w) or above GPA - then avoid TJ.

The overall curriculum at TJ is same as any base HS - they all cover mostly the same courses such as AP Stats, AP Cal A/B or B/C, AP Physics.

Well TJ has been forcefully transformed into being more of a base HS, while the original intent was for it have a much higher curriculum than that of base HS's.

As originally designed, TJ historically drew the attention of exceptional students because those students saw it as their only public school choice to get access to advanced curriculum that went beyond AP levels. These students were not coming to TJ to finish at AP level, but start there and progress further. For instance with math, an academically advanced TJ student historically expected to complete AP calculus BC in freshman/sophomore, MultiVariable & Linear in sophomore/junior, differential & discrete in junior/senior, and adv math techniques & scientific math in senior year. While these courses still exist currently, the enrollment in these courses is very low due to the caliber of admitted class. The middle schools in the past have supported and nurtured exceptional students by providing access to precalculus courses in the middle school itself, allowing them to go far beyond AP level if they chose TJ.

Over the past two decades, the rise of equity and diversity politics in FCPS and other feeder county schools has created roadblocks for these exceptional students in achieving precalculus or calculus by the end of middle school. The maximum access they now have is for Algebra 2 Trig, and even this requires numerous approvals and summer course enrollment. As a result, the pool of top talent entering TJ with trig and, at most, precalculus credits from middle school has been drastically reduced to less than a fifth of the new class. Currently, fewer than a hundred students in a TJ class enroll in courses beyond Multivariable/Linear.

When was this? (From you post, apparently this was 3-4 decades ago. As an FCPS alum myself, I'm not sure I can agree with you on this.)

FWIW, "equity and diversity politics" have only been around for the past 5 years or so. That is not why middle schools do not offer precal classes. (At TJ, 00 freshmen have completed trig/precal and go straight to calculus? Are they all from Loudoun County?)

If you're unaware of FCPS's history of racial quota-based admissions to TJ dating back to the mid-'90s, you were probably not yet born or likely in preschool. Many younger activists are manipulated into thinking they are starting this equity battle anew, to have you take ownership of it, and work for free. Politicians define the battle to their benefit. Activist is merely a pawn in their battle.

There is no such history since it's always been illegal. This is just misinformation spread by some bitter parents with an axe to grind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Colleges care ONLY about GPA.

If you think your child cannot land in the top half of the TJ class AND get a 4.0 (w) or above GPA - then avoid TJ.

The overall curriculum at TJ is same as any base HS - they all cover mostly the same courses such as AP Stats, AP Cal A/B or B/C, AP Physics.

Well TJ has been forcefully transformed into being more of a base HS, while the original intent was for it have a much higher curriculum than that of base HS's.

As originally designed, TJ historically drew the attention of exceptional students because those students saw it as their only public school choice to get access to advanced curriculum that went beyond AP levels. These students were not coming to TJ to finish at AP level, but start there and progress further. For instance with math, an academically advanced TJ student historically expected to complete AP calculus BC in freshman/sophomore, MultiVariable & Linear in sophomore/junior, differential & discrete in junior/senior, and adv math techniques & scientific math in senior year. While these courses still exist currently, the enrollment in these courses is very low due to the caliber of admitted class. The middle schools in the past have supported and nurtured exceptional students by providing access to precalculus courses in the middle school itself, allowing them to go far beyond AP level if they chose TJ.

Over the past two decades, the rise of equity and diversity politics in FCPS and other feeder county schools has created roadblocks for these exceptional students in achieving precalculus or calculus by the end of middle school. The maximum access they now have is for Algebra 2 Trig, and even this requires numerous approvals and summer course enrollment. As a result, the pool of top talent entering TJ with trig and, at most, precalculus credits from middle school has been drastically reduced to less than a fifth of the new class. Currently, fewer than a hundred students in a TJ class enroll in courses beyond Multivariable/Linear.

When was this? (From you post, apparently this was 3-4 decades ago. As an FCPS alum myself, I'm not sure I can agree with you on this.)

FWIW, "equity and diversity politics" have only been around for the past 5 years or so. That is not why middle schools do not offer precal classes. (At TJ, 00 freshmen have completed trig/precal and go straight to calculus? Are they all from Loudoun County?)

If you're unaware of FCPS's history of racial quota-based admissions to TJ dating back to the mid-'90s, you were probably not yet born or likely in preschool. Many younger activists are manipulated into thinking they are starting this equity battle anew, to have you take ownership of it, and work for free. Politicians define the battle to their benefit. Activist is merely a pawn in their battle.

There is no such history since it's always been illegal. This is just misinformation spread by some bitter parents with an axe to grind.

"FCPS created a race-based affirmative action program to admit more black and Hispanic students. The program was in effect for the admissions process for the graduating classes of 1997 through 2002; the county ended it because of legal challenges to similar programs. Following the end of this program, the share of black and Hispanic students at the school decreased from 9.4 percent in 1997–98 to 3.5 percent in 2003–04."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jefferson_High_School_for_Science_and_Technology

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
If the reports from DCUM are to be believed, not all of the kids with Algebra 2 are accepted as Freshman at TJ. I would assume the ones not accepted are from Carson, Longfellow, and Cooper. I would guess that the Algebra 2 kids from the schools that tend to send fewer kids, the ones without numbers reported, are more likely to have been accepted since those are likely in the top 1.5% of the pool and would be the most likely to apply from the less represented MS.

Why would you assume that? The top 1.5% is based on essays, GPA, and experience factors. There are no bonus points given for the kid's math level.

Please explain the “experience factors” score.

I do not recall seeing it on children’s report cards.

It's subjective fluff that would be used as justification in case FCPS gets sued for racial balancing.

Selection is a race blind process. Anything else is illegal in the US.

It never was race blind, and it is certainly not now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Colleges care ONLY about GPA.

If you think your child cannot land in the top half of the TJ class AND get a 4.0 (w) or above GPA - then avoid TJ.

The overall curriculum at TJ is same as any base HS - they all cover mostly the same courses such as AP Stats, AP Cal A/B or B/C, AP Physics.

Well TJ has been forcefully transformed into being more of a base HS, while the original intent was for it have a much higher curriculum than that of base HS's.

As originally designed, TJ historically drew the attention of exceptional students because those students saw it as their only public school choice to get access to advanced curriculum that went beyond AP levels. These students were not coming to TJ to finish at AP level, but start there and progress further. For instance with math, an academically advanced TJ student historically expected to complete AP calculus BC in freshman/sophomore, MultiVariable & Linear in sophomore/junior, differential & discrete in junior/senior, and adv math techniques & scientific math in senior year. While these courses still exist currently, the enrollment in these courses is very low due to the caliber of admitted class. The middle schools in the past have supported and nurtured exceptional students by providing access to precalculus courses in the middle school itself, allowing them to go far beyond AP level if they chose TJ.

Over the past two decades, the rise of equity and diversity politics in FCPS and other feeder county schools has created roadblocks for these exceptional students in achieving precalculus or calculus by the end of middle school. The maximum access they now have is for Algebra 2 Trig, and even this requires numerous approvals and summer course enrollment. As a result, the pool of top talent entering TJ with trig and, at most, precalculus credits from middle school has been drastically reduced to less than a fifth of the new class. Currently, fewer than a hundred students in a TJ class enroll in courses beyond Multivariable/Linear.

When was this? (From you post, apparently this was 3-4 decades ago. As an FCPS alum myself, I'm not sure I can agree with you on this.)

FWIW, "equity and diversity politics" have only been around for the past 5 years or so. That is not why middle schools do not offer precal classes. (At TJ, 00 freshmen have completed trig/precal and go straight to calculus? Are they all from Loudoun County?)

If you're unaware of FCPS's history of racial quota-based admissions to TJ dating back to the mid-'90s, you were probably not yet born or likely in preschool. Many younger activists are manipulated into thinking they are starting this equity battle anew, to have you take ownership of it, and work for free. Politicians define the battle to their benefit. Activist is merely a pawn in their battle.

There is no such history since it's always been illegal. This is just misinformation spread by some bitter parents with an axe to grind.

Not some bitter parents but majority of FCPS parent community fought back race-based TJ admissions of late nineties. Many hardworking black and hispanic parents also were against undermining individual student effort in favor of skin color. If not for those collaborative efforts, the en masse of HS graduates over past two decades including yourself could not have had fair merit based educational opportunities in various FCPS programs. Show some gratitude.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Colleges care ONLY about GPA.

If you think your child cannot land in the top half of the TJ class AND get a 4.0 (w) or above GPA - then avoid TJ.

The overall curriculum at TJ is same as any base HS - they all cover mostly the same courses such as AP Stats, AP Cal A/B or B/C, AP Physics.

Well TJ has been forcefully transformed into being more of a base HS, while the original intent was for it have a much higher curriculum than that of base HS's.

As originally designed, TJ historically drew the attention of exceptional students because those students saw it as their only public school choice to get access to advanced curriculum that went beyond AP levels. These students were not coming to TJ to finish at AP level, but start there and progress further. For instance with math, an academically advanced TJ student historically expected to complete AP calculus BC in freshman/sophomore, MultiVariable & Linear in sophomore/junior, differential & discrete in junior/senior, and adv math techniques & scientific math in senior year. While these courses still exist currently, the enrollment in these courses is very low due to the caliber of admitted class. The middle schools in the past have supported and nurtured exceptional students by providing access to precalculus courses in the middle school itself, allowing them to go far beyond AP level if they chose TJ.

Over the past two decades, the rise of equity and diversity politics in FCPS and other feeder county schools has created roadblocks for these exceptional students in achieving precalculus or calculus by the end of middle school. The maximum access they now have is for Algebra 2 Trig, and even this requires numerous approvals and summer course enrollment. As a result, the pool of top talent entering TJ with trig and, at most, precalculus credits from middle school has been drastically reduced to less than a fifth of the new class. Currently, fewer than a hundred students in a TJ class enroll in courses beyond Multivariable/Linear.

When was this? (From you post, apparently this was 3-4 decades ago. As an FCPS alum myself, I'm not sure I can agree with you on this.)

FWIW, "equity and diversity politics" have only been around for the past 5 years or so. That is not why middle schools do not offer precal classes. (At TJ, 00 freshmen have completed trig/precal and go straight to calculus? Are they all from Loudoun County?)

If you're unaware of FCPS's history of racial quota-based admissions to TJ dating back to the mid-'90s, you were probably not yet born or likely in preschool. Many younger activists are manipulated into thinking they are starting this equity battle anew, to have you take ownership of it, and work for free. Politicians define the battle to their benefit. Activist is merely a pawn in their battle.

There is no such history since it's always been illegal. This is just misinformation spread by some bitter parents with an axe to grind.

Not some bitter parents but majority of FCPS parent community fought back race-based TJ admissions of late nineties. Many hardworking black and hispanic parents also were against undermining individual student effort in favor of skin color. If not for those collaborative efforts, the en masse of HS graduates over past two decades including yourself could not have had fair merit based educational opportunities in various FCPS programs. Show some gratitude.

Oh the imaginary race based admissions again. TJ admissions are race-blind. Further, the majority of the county believes that the more equitable process that allowed all residents to participate not just those that can afford to drop $20k for test answers was a good thing.