TJ vs the Big 3

[Anonymous]

The TJ posters clearly do not have or know students at TJ. The intellectual abilities and recognition of TJ Stidents cross into arts, writing, drama, politics, history, and various sports that are not cookie cutter ... Though every sports team does seem to have about 20-40% of its members also achieve NMSF status. And not because they study to the test ... Because they study beyond the test. Recent TJ awards include best delegation and many individual awards at the Ivy League MUN conference, best HS newspaper, best HS yearbook, many drama and arts awards, writing awards, and several Intel semifinalists (along with the most NMSF probably in the country). And they all read To Kill a Mockingbird in 8th grade, so aren't citing it as recent work unless they have really done a thesis on it. Look up TJStar if you want to find out about the types of presentation every NINTH grader makes. It is the most enriched environment available around DC.

[Anonymous]

TJ for sure. If we were in VA, my daughter would have applied out of a private to go there. I am just not doing the commute or moving out of MD.

[Anonymous]

OP and TJ boosters, please send/keep your precious geniuses at TJ. Can't believe I'm saying this, but your naked self-congratulatory smugness would be intolerable and overbearing at any private, let alone a "Big 3." Your kid might end up flipping burgers, but at least he'll be able to do linear algebra at the same time!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP If you are Hispanic that is a real help in admissions at TJ.

Not really, it would help w/ big 3. TJ has no racial quotas and that's why its mostly Asian.

That's going to change.

[Anonymous]

Are they really going to do it? FFX county says they will try to diversify TJ, but it never happens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP If you are Hispanic that is a real help in admissions at TJ.

Not really, it would help w/ big 3. TJ has no racial quotas and that's why its mostly Asian.

So not true. they are always looking for qualified AA and Hispanic students.

[Anonymous]

I agree with PP. FFX has put pressure on TJ to admit more AA and Hispanic students. If I were OP, I'd set my sights on TJ and perhaps use Big 3 as alternates if she doesn't want him going to local public.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP If you are Hispanic that is a real help in admissions at TJ.

Not really, it would help w/ big 3. TJ has no racial quotas and that's why its mostly Asian.

So not true. they are always looking for qualified AA and Hispanic students.

They are trying to make the AA and Hispanic students more competitive but the admissions process heavily favors Asians whose families are familiar with similar schools in Asia and know what it takes to get in.

[Anonymous]

This may be unfair since I don't have any kids at TJ. Just my impression from the outside. But my sense of it is that TJ is a great school insofar as it's highly selective and admits a bunch of really smart, motivated kids and then piles on lots of hard work. Surprise -- these kids end up doing really well. I view the quality of the top local private schools differently. They also take lots of strong applicants (although many have been selected much younger so they don't end up having pre-screened top talent to the same level as a high-school-only school like TJ), but they add their value more in the quality of the teaching and the communities. This sort of difference tends to show up more starkly in the non-math, non-science curricula, which is why a lot of the comments tend to differentiate between math/science and the others. But a lot of that to my mind is that it's easier to produce success in those areas by screening 8th graders for math and science ability and then having those already-advanced kids do lots of really hard math and science work. That's a fairly easy formula for success and doesn't require a lot in the way of exceptional teaching. All that said, I do think that TJ is absolutely a strong school, and I couldn't fault anyone admitted to it for choosing a free education there over an expensive private education. But I do think that price differential comes with a real tradeoff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The TJ posters clearly do not have or know students at TJ. The intellectual abilities and recognition of TJ Stidents cross into arts, writing, drama, politics, history, and various sports that are not cookie cutter ... Though every sports team does seem to have about 20-40% of its members also achieve NMSF status. And not because they study to the test ... Because they study beyond the test. Recent TJ awards include best delegation and many individual awards at the Ivy League MUN conference, best HS newspaper, best HS yearbook, many drama and arts awards, writing awards, and several Intel semifinalists (along with the most NMSF probably in the country). And they all read To Kill a Mockingbird in 8th grade, so aren't citing it as recent work unless they have really done a thesis on it. Look up TJStar if you want to find out about the types of presentation every NINTH grader makes. It is the most enriched environment available around DC.

Absolutely agree that TJ is a great school. But it is different in purpose and focus than the selective privates and it serves a different kind of student. I was a TJ-type kid - first generation Asian immigrant, >1500 SATs in 7th grade, Suzuki lessons since preschool, etc. TJ would have been an automatic choice for me, because that's what my parents understood. Thanks to them, I have a very different socio-economic position and my DC has a very different relationship to money, status, and power than I did. DC wants to be a public intellectual, no interest in making widgets or coding apps. My DC is not better, more noble, or smarter than yours - just different and DC is better served at a different kind of school.

FWIW - Remember that most NMSF will get rejected by Harvard (or any other Ivy). The fact that your child's classmates got NMSF does not matter if yours didn't. Your drum roll of "bests" is a little grasping (see http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/25/magazine/why-is-india-so-crazy-for-world-records.html) and TJ is good enough not to need that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP If you are Hispanic that is a real help in admissions at TJ.

Not really, it would help w/ big 3. TJ has no racial quotas and that's why its mostly Asian.

So not true. they are always looking for qualified AA and Hispanic students.

but they have to be REALLY qualified I hope. So sick of schools trying so hard for diversity that gifted Asian or White kids are not getting in so a mediocre Hispanic child can be a token. It should be the best of the best. If 100% of them are Asian so be it. Guess you have to try a little harder.

[Anonymous]

To PP about making widgets and coding apps, you don't know many TJ alums do you? Lots of public intellectuals who are also MDs and screenwriter/producer types. Some run international charities that have nothing to do with science or math. If there is one common thread in TJ grads, it's that they learn to pursue their passions. So too with Big 3 grads who don't feel compelled to follow their parents into law or what have you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To PP about making widgets and coding apps, you don't know many TJ alums do you? Lots of public intellectuals who are also MDs and screenwriter/producer types. Some run international charities that have nothing to do with science or math. If there is one common thread in TJ grads, it's that they learn to pursue their passions. So too with Big 3 grads who don't feel compelled to follow their parents into law or what have you.

Do you actually, personally, know any parent lawyer who has compelled their child, or made their child feel compelled, to go into law? This lawyer bashing that pops up is so misplaced. How would you feel if I presumed that people in your profession Lule be likely to compel their children to follow in the same career? If a rude and unnecessary comment.

[Anonymous]

I am a lawyer. And have met several who followed parents into the law. And knew several friends whose parents are MDs and who felt they should do the same. It's not just parent driven. Not sure of the psychology. But some professions seems to beget similar kids. My kids used to say they wanted to be lawyers until they got old enough to realize I work really hard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To PP about making widgets and coding apps, you don't know many TJ alums do you? Lots of public intellectuals who are also MDs and screenwriter/producer types. Some run international charities that have nothing to do with science or math. If there is one common thread in TJ grads, it's that they learn to pursue their passions. So too with Big 3 grads who don't feel compelled to follow their parents into law or what have you.

Not the previous poster, but I'm a huge fan of Thao & the Get Down Stay Down, who is an alum. But I've heard her say how she hated TJHSST. Don't recognize any other names on the wiki. And, most people don't count the typical MD or screenwriter/producer as public intellectuals.