How does one prep place account for 25% of TJ Admissions?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is about race and resources. You cannot choose your race. However, you can choose how to use your resources. It is called an economic choice.

Should I drink starbucks or save for my kid's education?
Should I get a nice hair color, cut, extensions, blow dry or save for my kid's education?
Should I buy lunch at work or pack lunch from home and save for my kid's education?
Should I have a cleaner at home or save for my kid's education?
Should I live in a nice place or live in a low COL housing area and save for my kid's education?
Should I buy new clothes or buy from thrift stores and pay for my kid's education?

Asian-American parents save from meager resources for their children. They are paid less than White counterparts but they still save for their children's education. Yes, a lot go in making their kids succeed. However, we all have the choice to not have children in the first place. No excuses to make babies and then not do everything in your power to make them succeed by providing resources. No child asked to be born.

Setting aside for the moment the virulent racism of most of the assumptions in the above....

It is wrong when access to educational opportunities are dependent upon having parents who plan for them from an early age.

When access to AAP and TJ change (and they will) over the next couple of years, there will be nothing stopping parents from continuing to do everything they can to enrich their child from an educational perspective. But if it's done properly, those choices that the parents make won't have nearly as great an impact on those access points.

It's the students who are going to AAP and TJ, not the parents. But right now, the privilege of having motivated parents is masquerading as "merit" when in reality, the students have very little to do with the metrics that are being used.

Test-taking is not a relevant skill in any area of life other than educational access. It's time to stop using it as a gatekeeping mechanism.

Test taking was never a problem until Asians surpassed whites and it all of sudden became a problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is about race and resources. You cannot choose your race. However, you can choose how to use your resources. It is called an economic choice.

Should I drink starbucks or save for my kid's education?
Should I get a nice hair color, cut, extensions, blow dry or save for my kid's education?
Should I buy lunch at work or pack lunch from home and save for my kid's education?
Should I have a cleaner at home or save for my kid's education?
Should I live in a nice place or live in a low COL housing area and save for my kid's education?
Should I buy new clothes or buy from thrift stores and pay for my kid's education?

Asian-American parents save from meager resources for their children. They are paid less than White counterparts but they still save for their children's education. Yes, a lot go in making their kids succeed. However, we all have the choice to not have children in the first place. No excuses to make babies and then not do everything in your power to make them succeed by providing resources. No child asked to be born.

Setting aside for the moment the virulent racism of most of the assumptions in the above....

It is wrong when access to educational opportunities are dependent upon having parents who plan for them from an early age.

When access to AAP and TJ change (and they will) over the next couple of years, there will be nothing stopping parents from continuing to do everything they can to enrich their child from an educational perspective. But if it's done properly, those choices that the parents make won't have nearly as great an impact on those access points.

It's the students who are going to AAP and TJ, not the parents. But right now, the privilege of having motivated parents is masquerading as "merit" when in reality, the students have very little to do with the metrics that are being used.

Test-taking is not a relevant skill in any area of life other than educational access. It's time to stop using it as a gatekeeping mechanism.

Putting your child in hours and hours every week of additional prep and forcing them into a career path that may not be their best destination but theoretically guarantees a high salary floor is unhealthy parenting behavior. Access to higher education should not incentivize unhealthy parenting behavior.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your TJ student is put in an impossible position. Cheat along with the 75% or take the lower grade. Cheating is so widespread at TJ there is no avoiding it.

As someone with a kid who just graduated from TJ, this statement is clearly wrong/overblown. There is no doubt that there is some cheating at TJ, but I doubt that it is any more prevalent than it is at other base schools. My younger son - who is at our local HS - tells me about the cheating that goes on there.

Its prevalence at pretty much any high school in this area runs concurrent to how much the student body is invested in getting good grades.

At TJ it is the most prevalent because 100% of the student body is under a high amount of pressure to get good grades. Academic integrity takes a back seat for many families to "that which will get me the coveted Ivy League bumper sticker".

But it absolutely exists in other places. Look for a large cohort of kids who care about their grades and a significant percentage of them will be cheaters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is about race and resources. You cannot choose your race. However, you can choose how to use your resources. It is called an economic choice.

Should I drink starbucks or save for my kid's education?
Should I get a nice hair color, cut, extensions, blow dry or save for my kid's education?
Should I buy lunch at work or pack lunch from home and save for my kid's education?
Should I have a cleaner at home or save for my kid's education?
Should I live in a nice place or live in a low COL housing area and save for my kid's education?
Should I buy new clothes or buy from thrift stores and pay for my kid's education?

Asian-American parents save from meager resources for their children. They are paid less than White counterparts but they still save for their children's education. Yes, a lot go in making their kids succeed. However, we all have the choice to not have children in the first place. No excuses to make babies and then not do everything in your power to make them succeed by providing resources. No child asked to be born.

Setting aside for the moment the virulent racism of most of the assumptions in the above....

It is wrong when access to educational opportunities are dependent upon having parents who plan for them from an early age.

When access to AAP and TJ change (and they will) over the next couple of years, there will be nothing stopping parents from continuing to do everything they can to enrich their child from an educational perspective. But if it's done properly, those choices that the parents make won't have nearly as great an impact on those access points.

It's the students who are going to AAP and TJ, not the parents. But right now, the privilege of having motivated parents is masquerading as "merit" when in reality, the students have very little to do with the metrics that are being used.

Test-taking is not a relevant skill in any area of life other than educational access. It's time to stop using it as a gatekeeping mechanism.

Test taking was never a problem until Asians surpassed whites and it all of sudden became a problem.

It became a problem when people in high places realized that test taking ability is only a predictor of test taking ability.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your TJ student is put in an impossible position. Cheat along with the 75% or take the lower grade. Cheating is so widespread at TJ there is no avoiding it.

As someone with a kid who just graduated from TJ, this statement is clearly wrong/overblown. There is no doubt that there is some cheating at TJ, but I doubt that it is any more prevalent than it is at other base schools. My younger son - who is at our local HS - tells me about the cheating that goes on there.

Its prevalence at pretty much any high school in this area runs concurrent to how much the student body is invested in getting good grades.

At TJ it is the most prevalent because 100% of the student body is under a high amount of pressure to get good grades. Academic integrity takes a back seat for many families to "that which will get me the coveted Ivy League bumper sticker".

But it absolutely exists in other places. Look for a large cohort of kids who care about their grades and a significant percentage of them will be cheaters.

You forgot aunt Becky and her friends engaging in large scale cheating to get their dumb kids into top schools. Cheating on SAT and ACT, cheating on college applications, bribery and getting fake medical diagnosis etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is about race and resources. You cannot choose your race. However, you can choose how to use your resources. It is called an economic choice.

Should I drink starbucks or save for my kid's education?
Should I get a nice hair color, cut, extensions, blow dry or save for my kid's education?
Should I buy lunch at work or pack lunch from home and save for my kid's education?
Should I have a cleaner at home or save for my kid's education?
Should I live in a nice place or live in a low COL housing area and save for my kid's education?
Should I buy new clothes or buy from thrift stores and pay for my kid's education?

Asian-American parents save from meager resources for their children. They are paid less than White counterparts but they still save for their children's education. Yes, a lot go in making their kids succeed. However, we all have the choice to not have children in the first place. No excuses to make babies and then not do everything in your power to make them succeed by providing resources. No child asked to be born.

Setting aside for the moment the virulent racism of most of the assumptions in the above....

It is wrong when access to educational opportunities are dependent upon having parents who plan for them from an early age.

When access to AAP and TJ change (and they will) over the next couple of years, there will be nothing stopping parents from continuing to do everything they can to enrich their child from an educational perspective. But if it's done properly, those choices that the parents make won't have nearly as great an impact on those access points.

It's the students who are going to AAP and TJ, not the parents. But right now, the privilege of having motivated parents is masquerading as "merit" when in reality, the students have very little to do with the metrics that are being used.

Test-taking is not a relevant skill in any area of life other than educational access. It's time to stop using it as a gatekeeping mechanism.

Test taking was never a problem until Asians surpassed whites and it all of sudden became a problem.

It became a problem when people in high places realized that test taking ability is only a predictor of test taking ability.

Untrue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your TJ student is put in an impossible position. Cheat along with the 75% or take the lower grade. Cheating is so widespread at TJ there is no avoiding it.

As someone with a kid who just graduated from TJ, this statement is clearly wrong/overblown. There is no doubt that there is some cheating at TJ, but I doubt that it is any more prevalent than it is at other base schools. My younger son - who is at our local HS - tells me about the cheating that goes on there.

Its prevalence at pretty much any high school in this area runs concurrent to how much the student body is invested in getting good grades.

At TJ it is the most prevalent because 100% of the student body is under a high amount of pressure to get good grades. Academic integrity takes a back seat for many families to "that which will get me the coveted Ivy League bumper sticker".

But it absolutely exists in other places. Look for a large cohort of kids who care about their grades and a significant percentage of them will be cheaters.

You forgot aunt Becky and her friends engaging in large scale cheating to get their dumb kids into top schools. Cheating on SAT and ACT, cheating on college applications, bribery and getting fake medical diagnosis etc.

You're right. There definitely some aunties and uncles who are involved in this as well. Good catch. All of this behavior is reprehensible and needs to be addressed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Disagree. I think this area attracts highly gifted people to the area for jobs (government, contractors, IT, etc.) and therefore has a higher concentration of gifted kids.

And many of those children of elites go to private schools. You can't look at Fairfax County as a whole when determining how gifted FCPS kids are, since private schooling is huge and a massive game-changer.

The children of STEM workers at NIH, NASA, NSA, NSF, etc are not going to elite private schools.

I wasn't referring to politicians and diplomats. I don't think politicians are gifted nor are their children.

Doctors and their children are spread across the country. So are university professors and their children. DC isn't a huge financial sector hub. DC isn't really that big of a STEM hub either, other than perhaps computer programming jobs. What we have is more lawyers and politicians than elsewhere. We're really, truly, not more gifted than any reasonably affluent, reasonably educated area of the country.

No one said that the kids were going to "elite private schools." Many of the highly gifted people at the top of their field are exactly the types who can afford privates, and people who can easily afford privates tend to send their kids there. In McLean, the public schools are wonderful, yet many of the people there still send their kids to private school. Also, my husband is a STEM worker at a company similar to the ones you listed. Many of his coworkers put their kids in private school, at least from K-8. Of those who don't, they're still split between APS, FCPS, LCPS, and MoCo. There isn't some great concentration of brilliant people specifically in FCPS.

I would maybe give you twice the rate of gifted kids, meaning 4% would be in the national top 2%. 10% is ludicrous, and is just indicative of the widespread prepping.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Disagree. I think this area attracts highly gifted people to the area for jobs (government, contractors, IT, etc.) and therefore has a higher concentration of gifted kids.

And many of those children of elites go to private schools. You can't look at Fairfax County as a whole when determining how gifted FCPS kids are, since private schooling is huge and a massive game-changer.

The children of STEM workers at NIH, NASA, NSA, NSF, etc are not going to elite private schools.

I wasn't referring to politicians and diplomats. I don't think politicians are gifted nor are their children.

Doctors and their children are spread across the country. So are university professors and their children. DC isn't a huge financial sector hub. DC isn't really that big of a STEM hub either, other than perhaps computer programming jobs. What we have is more lawyers and politicians than elsewhere. We're really, truly, not more gifted than any reasonably affluent, reasonably educated area of the country.

No one said that the kids were going to "elite private schools." Many of the highly gifted people at the top of their field are exactly the types who can afford privates, and people who can easily afford privates tend to send their kids there. In McLean, the public schools are wonderful, yet many of the people there still send their kids to private school. Also, my husband is a STEM worker at a company similar to the ones you listed. Many of his coworkers put their kids in private school, at least from K-8. Of those who don't, they're still split between APS, FCPS, LCPS, and MoCo. There isn't some great concentration of brilliant people specifically in FCPS.

I would maybe give you twice the rate of gifted kids, meaning 4% would be in the national top 2%. 10% is ludicrous, and is just indicative of the widespread prepping.

DC area is the most educated area in the country so there is that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

DC area is the most educated area in the country so there is that.

Not anymore. Many lists rank DC area as #3, and honestly not distinguishable from any of the highly ranked cities. Ann Arbor was #1, with San Jose/Sunnyvale/Santa Clara area as #2. https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/most-educated-us-cities-2020-wallethub
https://www.insider.com/most-least-educated-cities-in-the-united-states-2019-7#4-durham-chapel-hill-nc-47

Acting as if it's raining gifted kids here because we're so much more special than everywhere else is a huge distortion of reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is about race and resources. You cannot choose your race. However, you can choose how to use your resources. It is called an economic choice.

Should I drink starbucks or save for my kid's education?
Should I get a nice hair color, cut, extensions, blow dry or save for my kid's education?
Should I buy lunch at work or pack lunch from home and save for my kid's education?
Should I have a cleaner at home or save for my kid's education?
Should I live in a nice place or live in a low COL housing area and save for my kid's education?
Should I buy new clothes or buy from thrift stores and pay for my kid's education?

Asian-American parents save from meager resources for their children. They are paid less than White counterparts but they still save for their children's education. Yes, a lot go in making their kids succeed. However, we all have the choice to not have children in the first place. No excuses to make babies and then not do everything in your power to make them succeed by providing resources. No child asked to be born.

Setting aside for the moment the virulent racism of most of the assumptions in the above....

It is wrong when access to educational opportunities are dependent upon having parents who plan for them from an early age.

When access to AAP and TJ change (and they will) over the next couple of years, there will be nothing stopping parents from continuing to do everything they can to enrich their child from an educational perspective. But if it's done properly, those choices that the parents make won't have nearly as great an impact on those access points.

It's the students who are going to AAP and TJ, not the parents. But right now, the privilege of having motivated parents is masquerading as "merit" when in reality, the students have very little to do with the metrics that are being used.

Test-taking is not a relevant skill in any area of life other than educational access. It's time to stop using it as a gatekeeping mechanism.

Test taking was never a problem until Asians surpassed whites and it all of sudden became a problem.

It became a problem when people in high places realized that test taking ability is only a predictor of test taking ability.

Untrue.

Definitely true, and becomes more true as test-taking becomes a more highly specialized skill that is being taught from an earlier age.

I am a fairly unremarkable individual who scored over 150 on an IQ test and over 1500 on my SAT because my parents enrolled me in classes from an early age that were designed to make me a better test taker. I shouldn't have had the opportunities I've had growing up - I'm not especially smart and I'm not an especially hard worker. But I did graduate from TJ and I can tell you that there are a lot of other impostors like me roaming the halls there right now - many moreso than there used to be - because test-taking is an overemphasized skill in today's educational realm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is about race and resources. You cannot choose your race. However, you can choose how to use your resources. It is called an economic choice.

Should I drink starbucks or save for my kid's education?
Should I get a nice hair color, cut, extensions, blow dry or save for my kid's education?
Should I buy lunch at work or pack lunch from home and save for my kid's education?
Should I have a cleaner at home or save for my kid's education?
Should I live in a nice place or live in a low COL housing area and save for my kid's education?
Should I buy new clothes or buy from thrift stores and pay for my kid's education?

Asian-American parents save from meager resources for their children. They are paid less than White counterparts but they still save for their children's education. Yes, a lot go in making their kids succeed. However, we all have the choice to not have children in the first place. No excuses to make babies and then not do everything in your power to make them succeed by providing resources. No child asked to be born.

Setting aside for the moment the virulent racism of most of the assumptions in the above....

It is wrong when access to educational opportunities are dependent upon having parents who plan for them from an early age.

When access to AAP and TJ change (and they will) over the next couple of years, there will be nothing stopping parents from continuing to do everything they can to enrich their child from an educational perspective. But if it's done properly, those choices that the parents make won't have nearly as great an impact on those access points.

It's the students who are going to AAP and TJ, not the parents. But right now, the privilege of having motivated parents is masquerading as "merit" when in reality, the students have very little to do with the metrics that are being used.

Test-taking is not a relevant skill in any area of life other than educational access. It's time to stop using it as a gatekeeping mechanism.

Test taking was never a problem until Asians surpassed whites and it all of sudden became a problem.

It became a problem when people in high places realized that test taking ability is only a predictor of test taking ability.

Untrue.

Definitely true, and becomes more true as test-taking becomes a more highly specialized skill that is being taught from an earlier age.

I am a fairly unremarkable individual who scored over 150 on an IQ test and over 1500 on my SAT because my parents enrolled me in classes from an early age that were designed to make me a better test taker. I shouldn't have had the opportunities I've had growing up - I'm not especially smart and I'm not an especially hard worker. But I did graduate from TJ and I can tell you that there are a lot of other impostors like me roaming the halls there right now - many moreso than there used to be - because test-taking is an overemphasized skill in today's educational realm.

And most studies indicate prepping does not increase test scores significantly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Disagree. I think this area attracts highly gifted people to the area for jobs (government, contractors, IT, etc.) and therefore has a higher concentration of gifted kids.

And many of those children of elites go to private schools. You can't look at Fairfax County as a whole when determining how gifted FCPS kids are, since private schooling is huge and a massive game-changer.

The children of STEM workers at NIH, NASA, NSA, NSF, etc are not going to elite private schools.

I wasn't referring to politicians and diplomats. I don't think politicians are gifted nor are their children.

Doctors and their children are spread across the country. So are university professors and their children. DC isn't a huge financial sector hub. DC isn't really that big of a STEM hub either, other than perhaps computer programming jobs. What we have is more lawyers and politicians than elsewhere. We're really, truly, not more gifted than any reasonably affluent, reasonably educated area of the country.

No one said that the kids were going to "elite private schools." Many of the highly gifted people at the top of their field are exactly the types who can afford privates, and people who can easily afford privates tend to send their kids there. In McLean, the public schools are wonderful, yet many of the people there still send their kids to private school. Also, my husband is a STEM worker at a company similar to the ones you listed. Many of his coworkers put their kids in private school, at least from K-8. Of those who don't, they're still split between APS, FCPS, LCPS, and MoCo. There isn't some great concentration of brilliant people specifically in FCPS.

I would maybe give you twice the rate of gifted kids, meaning 4% would be in the national top 2%. 10% is ludicrous, and is just indicative of the widespread prepping. [/quote
What are you even talking about? What does financial sector have to do with anything? We have doctors and university professors here as well on top of the STEM workers who live here. No one said anything about having only the top STEM workers sending their kids to FCPS. The high concentration of gifted STEM workers in this area alone would produce more gifted kids. And yes, there are more concentrated here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

DC area is the most educated area in the country so there is that.

Not anymore. Many lists rank DC area as #3, and honestly not distinguishable from any of the highly ranked cities. Ann Arbor was #1, with San Jose/Sunnyvale/Santa Clara area as #2. https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/most-educated-us-cities-2020-wallethub
https://www.insider.com/most-least-educated-cities-in-the-united-states-2019-7#4-durham-chapel-hill-nc-47

Acting as if it's raining gifted kids here because we're so much more special than everywhere else is a huge distortion of reality.

According to your own post, it actually does seem to be much more special than most other places, except two, on this particular measure. #3

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

DC area is the most educated area in the country so there is that.

Not anymore. Many lists rank DC area as #3, and honestly not distinguishable from any of the highly ranked cities. Ann Arbor was #1, with San Jose/Sunnyvale/Santa Clara area as #2. https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/most-educated-us-cities-2020-wallethub
https://www.insider.com/most-least-educated-cities-in-the-united-states-2019-7#4-durham-chapel-hill-nc-47

Acting as if it's raining gifted kids here because we're so much more special than everywhere else is a huge distortion of reality.

According to your own post, it actually does seem to be much more special than most other places, except two, on this particular measure. #3

Number 1 is Arlington and number 2 is Alexandria according to this ranking:

https://www.degreequery.com/most-educated-places-us/