TJ results

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There isn't a big mystery here. If your kid is in the top 2% of their school, they'll get in. Tj only accepts the very best students from each school.

My DS went to TJ from Longfellow. I think about 10% of his class went to TJ this year. It was a lift and shift of his friend group.

But I guess that's an exception.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I urge all parents to read the posts about kids being unhappy with their kids’ college options and had they known that except for the very top kids, TJ college applicants generally do worse than had they likely stayed at their base school.

Two time TJ parent here

If your kid is gunning for UVA, don't go to TJ. UVA seems to have some sort of quota limit for TJ students.
But VT and WM seem to love TJ kids so if you're happy with those options, TJ is a viable pathway.

If your kid is gunning for Ivy+ then TJ can help but only if they can maintain a VERY good GPA.
Like pretty close to straight A.
AND fill up their resume with ECs that weave a compelling narrative.

If your kid has consistently scores in the 99th percentile and has good to great study habits. TJ will work well for them.
If your kid is frequently below the 95th percentile, TJ is probably not for them unless they have superhuman time management skills.
Anything in between and it is probably a wash but lazy students will drown at TJ no matter how smart.

I know its not fair but if you are not in honors geometry in 8th grade, there is almost no point to going to TJ. You simply won't get enough of the benefits of TJ to make it worthwhile.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There isn't a big mystery here. If your kid is in the top 2% of their school, they'll get in. Tj only accepts the very best students from each school.

How do they know who is the best? 6 Essay questions and 5 of them are some combination of "why I want to go to TJ" "what i did over my summer vacation" and "here is something I do that proves I love stem" and 1 is a math word problem that you don't even have to get correct.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I urge all parents to read the posts about kids being unhappy with their kids’ college options and had they known that except for the very top kids, TJ college applicants generally do worse than had they likely stayed at their base school.

Two time TJ parent here

If your kid is gunning for UVA, don't go to TJ. UVA seems to have some sort of quota limit for TJ students.
But VT and WM seem to love TJ kids so if you're happy with those options, TJ is a viable pathway.

If your kid is gunning for Ivy+ then TJ can help but only if they can maintain a VERY good GPA.
Like pretty close to straight A.
AND fill up their resume with ECs that weave a compelling narrative.

If your kid has consistently scores in the 99th percentile and has good to great study habits. TJ will work well for them.
If your kid is frequently below the 95th percentile, TJ is probably not for them unless they have superhuman time management skills.
Anything in between and it is probably a wash but lazy students will drown at TJ no matter how smart.

I know its not fair but if you are not in honors geometry in 8th grade, there is almost no point to going to TJ. You simply won't get enough of the benefits of TJ to make it worthwhile.

Solid overview. For tj kids, the likelihood of an ivy+ or higher/UVA is not great…but if you are okay with schools like VT or W&M…that’s probable. This needs to be considered now if it is important to you.

[Anonymous]

I graduated from a college that none of you have heard of, it was a SLAC, attended a top 20 PhD program, and make a very nice salary now. You don't need a top 20 school or an Ivy to do well in life. My kid wants to attend TJ because they want to be challenged and with peers who want to be challenged. The college that they land at is not on any of our minds because we are all well aware that it might be greatto get into one of those top schools but that it is not necessary for success. I would rather my kid be challenged at all levels of education then gamble on a HS experience that is less challenging hoping that they get into a top 20 school.

Those top 20 schools are a gamble, regardless of the school and your grades. May as well challenge yourself in HS even if it means a top 50 school instead of a top 20 school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There isn't a big mystery here. If your kid is in the top 2% of their school, they'll get in. Tj only accepts the very best students from each school.

How do they know who is the best? 6 Essay questions and 5 of them are some combination of "why I want to go to TJ" "what i did over my summer vacation" and "here is something I do that proves I love stem" and 1 is a math word problem that you don't even have to get correct.

No one knows.

I think there should be more math/science questions and fewer portrait of an FCPS student but what do I know.

I think the reality is that there are far more then 500 kids who could benefit from TJ and defining the best is impossible. There will be kids who don't make it to TJ tat would have been a great fit, it happens every year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I graduated from a college that none of you have heard of, it was a SLAC, attended a top 20 PhD program, and make a very nice salary now. You don't need a top 20 school or an Ivy to do well in life. My kid wants to attend TJ because they want to be challenged and with peers who want to be challenged. The college that they land at is not on any of our minds because we are all well aware that it might be greatto get into one of those top schools but that it is not necessary for success. I would rather my kid be challenged at all levels of education then gamble on a HS experience that is less challenging hoping that they get into a top 20 school.

Those top 20 schools are a gamble, regardless of the school and your grades. May as well challenge yourself in HS even if it means a top 50 school instead of a top 20 school.

Are you thinking those who in the top 5 at their base schools were not challenged? Or that the rampant cheating at tj challenged those kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good luck to everybody. I assume that there are three options for the results:

1. Accepted
2. Waitlisted
3. Not accepted

If you are waitlisted, what is the latest date that you could get an acceptance? Was that communicated?

Do we know how many people applied and approx percentages.

About 2,000 people apply each year. No clue on the percentages per category

And 500 acceptances, I think?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I graduated from a college that none of you have heard of, it was a SLAC, attended a top 20 PhD program, and make a very nice salary now. You don't need a top 20 school or an Ivy to do well in life. My kid wants to attend TJ because they want to be challenged and with peers who want to be challenged. The college that they land at is not on any of our minds because we are all well aware that it might be greatto get into one of those top schools but that it is not necessary for success. I would rather my kid be challenged at all levels of education then gamble on a HS experience that is less challenging hoping that they get into a top 20 school.

Those top 20 schools are a gamble, regardless of the school and your grades. May as well challenge yourself in HS even if it means a top 50 school instead of a top 20 school.

Are you thinking those who in the top 5 at their base schools were not challenged? Or that the rampant cheating at tj challenged those kids?

What do you mean by cheating at TJ? You mean AI usage?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I graduated from a college that none of you have heard of, it was a SLAC, attended a top 20 PhD program, and make a very nice salary now. You don't need a top 20 school or an Ivy to do well in life. My kid wants to attend TJ because they want to be challenged and with peers who want to be challenged. The college that they land at is not on any of our minds because we are all well aware that it might be greatto get into one of those top schools but that it is not necessary for success. I would rather my kid be challenged at all levels of education then gamble on a HS experience that is less challenging hoping that they get into a top 20 school.

Those top 20 schools are a gamble, regardless of the school and your grades. May as well challenge yourself in HS even if it means a top 50 school instead of a top 20 school.

Are you thinking those who in the top 5 at their base schools were not challenged? Or that the rampant cheating at tj challenged those kids?

What do you mean by cheating at TJ? You mean AI usage?

I mean outright cheating. Math competitions, exams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I urge all parents to read the posts about kids being unhappy with their kids’ college options and had they known that except for the very top kids, TJ college applicants generally do worse than had they likely stayed at their base school.

Truth. But if you have a kid who wants incredible opportunities with a (mostly) motivated peer group, TJ will be the jam. But yes, it does make college applications a bit more challenging bc they are competing "against" each other for those spots. Our kid is a junior and while it will now be harder for her to get into UVA, we know she is SUPER prepared for school in a way that she might not have been at her base. (Of course you can be successful at the base schools too, our kid has said she isn't sure she would have worked as hard at base while at TJ it was sink or swim. So she swam.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There isn't a big mystery here. If your kid is in the top 2% of their school, they'll get in. Tj only accepts the very best students from each school.

How do they know who is the best? 6 Essay questions and 5 of them are some combination of "why I want to go to TJ" "what i did over my summer vacation" and "here is something I do that proves I love stem" and 1 is a math word problem that you don't even have to get correct.

No one knows.

I think there should be more math/science questions and fewer portrait of an FCPS student but what do I know.

I think the reality is that there are far more then 500 kids who could benefit from TJ and defining the best is impossible. There will be kids who don't make it to TJ tat would have been a great fit, it happens every year.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I urge all parents to read the posts about kids being unhappy with their kids’ college options and had they known that except for the very top kids, TJ college applicants generally do worse than had they likely stayed at their base school.

Truth. But if you have a kid who wants incredible opportunities with a (mostly) motivated peer group, TJ will be the jam. But yes, it does make college applications a bit more challenging bc they are competing "against" each other for those spots. Our kid is a junior and while it will now be harder for her to get into UVA, we know she is SUPER prepared for school in a way that she might not have been at her base. (Of course you can be successful at the base schools too, our kid has said she isn't sure she would have worked as hard at base while at TJ it was sink or swim. So she swam.)

+1

Applicant here, I'm so nervous, my performance on the SPS and PSE were below my expectations: I think I'll either get accepted or waitlisted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I graduated from a college that none of you have heard of, it was a SLAC, attended a top 20 PhD program, and make a very nice salary now. You don't need a top 20 school or an Ivy to do well in life. My kid wants to attend TJ because they want to be challenged and with peers who want to be challenged. The college that they land at is not on any of our minds because we are all well aware that it might be greatto get into one of those top schools but that it is not necessary for success. I would rather my kid be challenged at all levels of education then gamble on a HS experience that is less challenging hoping that they get into a top 20 school.

Those top 20 schools are a gamble, regardless of the school and your grades. May as well challenge yourself in HS even if it means a top 50 school instead of a top 20 school.

Are you thinking those who in the top 5 at their base schools were not challenged? Or that the rampant cheating at tj challenged those kids?

The top 5 at their base school would probably be successful at TJ but the challenge at TJ is different because so many of the kids at TJ have the ability to be the top at their base school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I urge all parents to read the posts about kids being unhappy with their kids’ college options and had they known that except for the very top kids, TJ college applicants generally do worse than had they likely stayed at their base school.

Truth. But if you have a kid who wants incredible opportunities with a (mostly) motivated peer group, TJ will be the jam. But yes, it does make college applications a bit more challenging bc they are competing "against" each other for those spots. Our kid is a junior and while it will now be harder for her to get into UVA, we know she is SUPER prepared for school in a way that she might not have been at her base. (Of course you can be successful at the base schools too, our kid has said she isn't sure she would have worked as hard at base while at TJ it was sink or swim. So she swam.)

+1

Applicant here, I'm so nervous, my performance on the SPS and PSE were below my expectations: I think I'll either get accepted or waitlisted.

I’m an applicant too. If i’m being honest, I do not really want to go to TJ. My parents really want me to go, so I feel like it would be better for me to get rejected… I haven’t had the conversation yet about not wanting to go, because I think it would be really awkward especially since they did do some prep with me for the PSE and SPS test. Not many people at my school tried out, so I’m a bit worried. I’ve heard really bad stories from TJHSST.