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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t care what ethnicity this company is owned by. I do care that 1) they appear to be teaching children to cheat on the TJ admissions test 2) appear to only be willing to teach children of Indian descent and 3) pressured LCPS to maintain their numbers at TJ to preserve their business.

When people cannot compete with hard work and intelligence then they blame everything else. No one is cheating. If the tests are made available to the owners of this prep company before the examination why is no one going after them? Hmmm.... I mean there is still FBI and law and order in this country. So why has no one been able to catch all the owners of all these prep companies?

Why not send your kid to this prep company and get a good idea of what they are teaching and how they are cheating?

You are being f**ked in the rear by Trump but you want to blame a minority group for whatever is wrong with this country and your life. You are basically a damn racist.

If the prep company’s services are so worthless why do people send their kids it? Crickets...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who goes to these prep classes?

- Highest performing exceptional students who have been working hard since elementary school
- Parents are both STEM educated, well off, immigrants who come from cultures that value education over all else.
- Can afford these classes either because HHI is high or because they live frugally and save for education.
- Kids who have all their lives socialized with kids who come to these classes. This amount of hard work (4-6 hours every day) is normal for them.

This is a highly self-selected group. 25% get in and 75% does not. Try getting your typical American kid to sit down and study for 6-8 hours each and every day during the whole summer break or during the pandemic. It will not happen.

This is not a replicable model because no average American kid is willing to put in this much time and hard work, no average American family wants to devote so much time, effort or energy into living frugally, helping their child study, and spending their life around their kids education.

Seriously, most of us could not handle a toilet paper shortage. We should leave this alone.

Yup.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This conversation really reframes the idea of "merit" as being a measurable part of the TJ admissions process. This is a course that, according to their website, costs $4200 and spans 70 sessions (at $60/pop) over 16 months.

DA FUQ? The racists and their kids cannot study for 16 months. 16 months means more than a school year and no free summers. Racists and their privileged kids would rather spend their time on porn-sites.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who goes to these prep classes?

- Highest performing exceptional students who have been working hard since elementary school
- Parents are both STEM educated, well off, immigrants who come from cultures that value education over all else.
- Can afford these classes either because HHI is high or because they live frugally and save for education.
- Kids who have all their lives socialized with kids who come to these classes. This amount of hard work (4-6 hours every day) is normal for them.

This is a highly self-selected group. 25% get in and 75% does not. Try getting your typical American kid to sit down and study for 6-8 hours each and every day during the whole summer break or during the pandemic. It will not happen.

This is not a replicable model because no average American kid is willing to put in this much time and hard work, no average American family wants to devote so much time, effort or energy into living frugally, helping their child study, and spending their life around their kids education.

Seriously, most of us could not handle a toilet paper shortage. We should leave this alone.

And all of that is fine, but it shouldn't help kids get into TJ. Or into AAP. Or into elite universities.

That level of obsession is not healthy for kids of that age. To extend the baseball metaphor, it's like being okay with steroids. People shouldn't have to risk their health and well-being in order to compete on a baseball diamond. Train, sure. Study, sure. But to that extent, and to require that much of a resource in order to do it? That's just wrong.

Kids should be able to have a life, discover what they enjoy, have friends, and still have just as good a chance to get into TJ as anyone else as long as they have the horsepower and desire to learn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t care what ethnicity this company is owned by. I do care that 1) they appear to be teaching children to cheat on the TJ admissions test 2) appear to only be willing to teach children of Indian descent and 3) pressured LCPS to maintain their numbers at TJ to preserve their business.

When people cannot compete with hard work and intelligence then they blame everything else. No one is cheating. If the tests are made available to the owners of this prep company before the examination why is no one going after them? Hmmm.... I mean there is still FBI and law and order in this country. So why has no one been able to catch all the owners of all these prep companies?

Why not send your kid to this prep company and get a good idea of what they are teaching and how they are cheating?

You are being f**ked in the rear by Trump but you want to blame a minority group for whatever is wrong with this country and your life. You are basically a damn racist.

If the prep company’s services are so worthless why do people send their kids it? Crickets...

People send their kids to these prep services because they do not expect that the schools will do a good job of giving enough practice. This is the reason many people do not go to these courses because they do not teach content knowledge (which is assumed) and they focus more and more on doing tons of practice. This is not a tutoring service, it is a practice or coaching service.

Besides, since most kids of their social circle are going to these classes they prefer that the kids spend time with these studious kids. If these kids do not go to these prep classes they will end up just watching TV or wasting time on video games. To spend this money means that they are doing something constructive and not getting into mischief by having lots of free time. For some parents, it is also some kind of childcare where the kids are doing something meaningful and not losing learning over summer.

[Anonymous]

Multiple current TJ students have stated on the TJ Vents FB page that this company helped them cheat. This is not okay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who goes to these prep classes?

- Highest performing exceptional students who have been working hard since elementary school
- Parents are both STEM educated, well off, immigrants who come from cultures that value education over all else.
- Can afford these classes either because HHI is high or because they live frugally and save for education.
- Kids who have all their lives socialized with kids who come to these classes. This amount of hard work (4-6 hours every day) is normal for them.

This is a highly self-selected group. 25% get in and 75% does not. Try getting your typical American kid to sit down and study for 6-8 hours each and every day during the whole summer break or during the pandemic. It will not happen.

This is not a replicable model because no average American kid is willing to put in this much time and hard work, no average American family wants to devote so much time, effort or energy into living frugally, helping their child study, and spending their life around their kids education.

Seriously, most of us could not handle a toilet paper shortage. We should leave this alone.

And all of that is fine, but it shouldn't help kids get into TJ. Or into AAP. Or into elite universities.

That level of obsession is not healthy for kids of that age. To extend the baseball metaphor, it's like being okay with steroids. People shouldn't have to risk their health and well-being in order to compete on a baseball diamond. Train, sure. Study, sure. But to that extent, and to require that much of a resource in order to do it? That's just wrong.

Kids should be able to have a life, discover what they enjoy, have friends, and still have just as good a chance to get into TJ as anyone else as long as they have the horsepower and desire to learn.

Of course, you are correct. So you should do all of that for your children. Why are you worried about the mental health of the children you don't care about? You do you, honey! Are you feeling superior that your kids are having "normal" life? Well, Bless your heart.

The worse that these parents are doing are sending their kids to study. They are not grooming them to take off their clothes and go on Instagram? Like Lori Loughlin? Or like Trump paying someone to take his SAT? These are hard working students. They are not aspiring to go to Liberty University and become pool boys.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Multiple current TJ students have stated on the TJ Vents FB page that this company helped them cheat. This is not okay.

Then call the FBI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t care what ethnicity this company is owned by. I do care that 1) they appear to be teaching children to cheat on the TJ admissions test 2) appear to only be willing to teach children of Indian descent and 3) pressured LCPS to maintain their numbers at TJ to preserve their business.

When people cannot compete with hard work and intelligence then they blame everything else. No one is cheating. If the tests are made available to the owners of this prep company before the examination why is no one going after them? Hmmm.... I mean there is still FBI and law and order in this country. So why has no one been able to catch all the owners of all these prep companies?

Why not send your kid to this prep company and get a good idea of what they are teaching and how they are cheating?

You are being f**ked in the rear by Trump but you want to blame a minority group for whatever is wrong with this country and your life. You are basically a damn racist.

If the prep company’s services are so worthless why do people send their kids it? Crickets...

People send their kids to these prep services because they do not expect that the schools will do a good job of giving enough practice. This is the reason many people do not go to these courses because they do not teach content knowledge (which is assumed) and they focus more and more on doing tons of practice. This is not a tutoring service, it is a practice or coaching service.

Besides, since most kids of their social circle are going to these classes they prefer that the kids spend time with these studious kids. If these kids do not go to these prep classes they will end up just watching TV or wasting time on video games. To spend this money means that they are doing something constructive and not getting into mischief by having lots of free time. For some parents, it is also some kind of childcare where the kids are doing something meaningful and not losing learning over summer.

If all of a sudden this prep company could not help get kids into TJ, their numbers would plummet. Immediately and completely. They would have to totally overhaul their business model overnight.

Would a few families keep their kids in it just for the learning? Sure. But the overwhelming majority are placing their children there, using their money and sucking up their children's time, and placing an enormous amount of investment pressure, in order to grant them preferred access to a very limited resource.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who goes to these prep classes?

- Highest performing exceptional students who have been working hard since elementary school
- Parents are both STEM educated, well off, immigrants who come from cultures that value education over all else.
- Can afford these classes either because HHI is high or because they live frugally and save for education.
- Kids who have all their lives socialized with kids who come to these classes. This amount of hard work (4-6 hours every day) is normal for them.

This is a highly self-selected group. 25% get in and 75% does not. Try getting your typical American kid to sit down and study for 6-8 hours each and every day during the whole summer break or during the pandemic. It will not happen.

This is not a replicable model because no average American kid is willing to put in this much time and hard work, no average American family wants to devote so much time, effort or energy into living frugally, helping their child study, and spending their life around their kids education.

Seriously, most of us could not handle a toilet paper shortage. We should leave this alone.

And all of that is fine, but it shouldn't help kids get into TJ. Or into AAP. Or into elite universities.

That level of obsession is not healthy for kids of that age. To extend the baseball metaphor, it's like being okay with steroids. People shouldn't have to risk their health and well-being in order to compete on a baseball diamond. Train, sure. Study, sure. But to that extent, and to require that much of a resource in order to do it? That's just wrong.

Kids should be able to have a life, discover what they enjoy, have friends, and still have just as good a chance to get into TJ as anyone else as long as they have the horsepower and desire to learn.

Of course, you are correct. So you should do all of that for your children. Why are you worried about the mental health of the children you don't care about? You do you, honey! Are you feeling superior that your kids are having "normal" life? Well, Bless your heart.

The worse that these parents are doing are sending their kids to study. They are not grooming them to take off their clothes and go on Instagram? Like Lori Loughlin? Or like Trump paying someone to take his SAT? These are hard working students. They are not aspiring to go to Liberty University and become pool boys.

Wow, talk about out of touch. I'm worried about the access to TJ of kids who should not have to put themselves through this nonsense in order to have a level shot at getting in.

TJ also shouldn't be a place where students feel they have to study 5-6 hours per day in order to keep up, but that's another conversation.

I don't know how to explain to you that you should care about other people. The Varsity Blues scandal is bad. Everything about Trump is terrible. This Indian TJ prep scandal is bad, and it needs to be getting more attention. The fact that it's not technically cheating is an ENORMOUS flaw in the process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who goes to these prep classes?

- Highest performing exceptional students who have been working hard since elementary school
- Parents are both STEM educated, well off, immigrants who come from cultures that value education over all else.
- Can afford these classes either because HHI is high or because they live frugally and save for education.
- Kids who have all their lives socialized with kids who come to these classes. This amount of hard work (4-6 hours every day) is normal for them.

This is a highly self-selected group. 25% get in and 75% does not. Try getting your typical American kid to sit down and study for 6-8 hours each and every day during the whole summer break or during the pandemic. It will not happen.

This is not a replicable model because no average American kid is willing to put in this much time and hard work, no average American family wants to devote so much time, effort or energy into living frugally, helping their child study, and spending their life around their kids education.

Seriously, most of us could not handle a toilet paper shortage. We should leave this alone.

And all of that is fine, but it shouldn't help kids get into TJ. Or into AAP. Or into elite universities.

That level of obsession is not healthy for kids of that age. To extend the baseball metaphor, it's like being okay with steroids. People shouldn't have to risk their health and well-being in order to compete on a baseball diamond. Train, sure. Study, sure. But to that extent, and to require that much of a resource in order to do it? That's just wrong.

Kids should be able to have a life, discover what they enjoy, have friends, and still have just as good a chance to get into TJ as anyone else as long as they have the horsepower and desire to learn.

Of course, you are correct. So you should do all of that for your children. Why are you worried about the mental health of the children you don't care about? You do you, honey! Are you feeling superior that your kids are having "normal" life? Well, Bless your heart.

The worse that these parents are doing are sending their kids to study. They are not grooming them to take off their clothes and go on Instagram? Like Lori Loughlin? Or like Trump paying someone to take his SAT? These are hard working students. They are not aspiring to go to Liberty University and become pool boys.

Wow, talk about out of touch. I'm worried about the access to TJ of kids who should not have to put themselves through this nonsense in order to have a level shot at getting in.

TJ also shouldn't be a place where students feel they have to study 5-6 hours per day in order to keep up, but that's another conversation.

I don't know how to explain to you that you should care about other people. The Varsity Blues scandal is bad. Everything about Trump is terrible. This Indian TJ prep scandal is bad, and it needs to be getting more attention. The fact that it's not technically cheating is an ENORMOUS flaw in the process.

There is no TJ prep scandal.

If this prep company got hold of the test (which I doubt) then call the FBI and find out who gave them the test. Else, STFU. Your privilege is showing. You only want White rich kids to have a chance and when Asian-Americans sacrifice their childhoods and work hard to climb the rungs of the education and career ladder you think that there is a scandal? Then you all say it is unhealthy? I find very few Asian American kids being derailed in their lives. If they are deeply unhappy because they are studying hard then tough luck! Their options are to not be successful and then be shot and murdered like Blacks or Latino by White people. I hope that the whole BLM and police brutality has shown Asian-American kids that this is not a country where you can by poor and have a life. The only way up is through hard work. You are not the children of Trump that you will be rich even when you are stupid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Can you explain why virtually every one of the 133 students admitted to TJ has an Indian name? There are no Chinese, Korean, etc sounding names. If this company has such a broad reach, than one might expect to see at least a few non-Indian names.

Why would multiple current TJ students state on FB that they had a portion of the actual test ahead of time? What would be their incentive be to lie?

I think most Indian kids choose to go this prep center over others in the area and over time it developed a reputation. And there is no special outreach other than word of mouth and I don't remember seeing any ads anywhere about this. The prep center is managed by a retired indian professor (though instructors are from everywhere) But, I don't think there is any restriction and anyone who likes the program can join and I am sure there are many non-Indian kids attending the program, though not a majority. I am sure there are other prep center where you see majority Chinese and so on.

I can't really comment on FB comments, but I can't possibly imagine that TJ leaked their test questions in advance. If it actually did, it is a huge scandal. It is more likely that some of the questions came from (or similar to) many questions they practiced from prior year ACT, SAT or other competitive tests. But this is my take and believe or not believing is up to each person. I knew couple of kids from my neighborhood who went to this center and said the test/questions are difficult and they did not get in - may be they didn't practice well. Anyways, I know I can't convince anyone as my only assumption is TJ will not leak their papers and damage their reputation by doing so.

Don't take it other way, I am all up for reforming TJ admissions, as long as it is fair to everyone and not biased and not based race or geographic quotas. I honestly hate all the prepping for these tests.

Maybe Indian-American kids understand Indian accents better. My non-Chinese kid went to a prep center run by a Chinese-American professional and a) he had difficulty understanding the accent of the Chinese American professors and b) all the other kids were Chinese-Americans and they knew each other. The main reason why any family picks one prep center over other is word of mouth recommendation within their own community.

Yes, I am also sick of having high admission standards for Asian-American kids. Hopefully, with this pandemic the international students are already avoiding the US universities and colleges and the seats for Asian-Americans will open up. When the financial situation becomes dire for the colleges and universities, bright Asian-American students can have a better shot of getting in and they will have many takers. As for being able to handle the toughest courses and majors after HS? I don't worry about that. While others are having pool parties our kids are keeping their eyes on the prize and studying? Natural quarantine!

All study materials and classes are available online - with a fee or for free. No excuses for anyone for being a laggard and doing poorly at school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who goes to these prep classes?

- Highest performing exceptional students who have been working hard since elementary school
- Parents are both STEM educated, well off, immigrants who come from cultures that value education over all else.
- Can afford these classes either because HHI is high or because they live frugally and save for education.
- Kids who have all their lives socialized with kids who come to these classes. This amount of hard work (4-6 hours every day) is normal for them.

This is a highly self-selected group. 25% get in and 75% does not. Try getting your typical American kid to sit down and study for 6-8 hours each and every day during the whole summer break or during the pandemic. It will not happen.

This is not a replicable model because no average American kid is willing to put in this much time and hard work, no average American family wants to devote so much time, effort or energy into living frugally, helping their child study, and spending their life around their kids education.

Seriously, most of us could not handle a toilet paper shortage. We should leave this alone.

And all of that is fine, but it shouldn't help kids get into TJ. Or into AAP. Or into elite universities.

That level of obsession is not healthy for kids of that age. To extend the baseball metaphor, it's like being okay with steroids. People shouldn't have to risk their health and well-being in order to compete on a baseball diamond. Train, sure. Study, sure. But to that extent, and to require that much of a resource in order to do it? That's just wrong.

Kids should be able to have a life, discover what they enjoy, have friends, and still have just as good a chance to get into TJ as anyone else as long as they have the horsepower and desire to learn.

Of course, you are correct. So you should do all of that for your children. Why are you worried about the mental health of the children you don't care about? You do you, honey! Are you feeling superior that your kids are having "normal" life? Well, Bless your heart.

The worse that these parents are doing are sending their kids to study. They are not grooming them to take off their clothes and go on Instagram? Like Lori Loughlin? Or like Trump paying someone to take his SAT? These are hard working students. They are not aspiring to go to Liberty University and become pool boys.

Wow, talk about out of touch. I'm worried about the access to TJ of kids who should not have to put themselves through this nonsense in order to have a level shot at getting in.

TJ also shouldn't be a place where students feel they have to study 5-6 hours per day in order to keep up, but that's another conversation.

I don't know how to explain to you that you should care about other people. The Varsity Blues scandal is bad. Everything about Trump is terrible. This Indian TJ prep scandal is bad, and it needs to be getting more attention. The fact that it's not technically cheating is an ENORMOUS flaw in the process.

There is no TJ prep scandal.

If this prep company got hold of the test (which I doubt) then call the FBI and find out who gave them the test. Else, STFU. Your privilege is showing. You only want White rich kids to have a chance and when Asian-Americans sacrifice their childhoods and work hard to climb the rungs of the education and career ladder you think that there is a scandal? Then you all say it is unhealthy? I find very few Asian American kids being derailed in their lives. If they are deeply unhappy because they are studying hard then tough luck! Their options are to not be successful and then be shot and murdered like Blacks or Latino by White people. I hope that the whole BLM and police brutality has shown Asian-American kids that this is not a country where you can by poor and have a life. The only way up is through hard work. You are not the children of Trump that you will be rich even when you are stupid.

And there it is, folks - the post that will probably get this thread locked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who goes to these prep classes?

- Highest performing exceptional students who have been working hard since elementary school
- Parents are both STEM educated, well off, immigrants who come from cultures that value education over all else.
- Can afford these classes either because HHI is high or because they live frugally and save for education.
- Kids who have all their lives socialized with kids who come to these classes. This amount of hard work (4-6 hours every day) is normal for them.

This is a highly self-selected group. 25% get in and 75% does not. Try getting your typical American kid to sit down and study for 6-8 hours each and every day during the whole summer break or during the pandemic. It will not happen.

This is not a replicable model because no average American kid is willing to put in this much time and hard work, no average American family wants to devote so much time, effort or energy into living frugally, helping their child study, and spending their life around their kids education.

Seriously, most of us could not handle a toilet paper shortage. We should leave this alone.

And all of that is fine, but it shouldn't help kids get into TJ. Or into AAP. Or into elite universities.

That level of obsession is not healthy for kids of that age. To extend the baseball metaphor, it's like being okay with steroids. People shouldn't have to risk their health and well-being in order to compete on a baseball diamond. Train, sure. Study, sure. But to that extent, and to require that much of a resource in order to do it? That's just wrong.

Kids should be able to have a life, discover what they enjoy, have friends, and still have just as good a chance to get into TJ as anyone else as long as they have the horsepower and desire to learn.

Of course, you are correct. So you should do all of that for your children. Why are you worried about the mental health of the children you don't care about? You do you, honey! Are you feeling superior that your kids are having "normal" life? Well, Bless your heart.

The worse that these parents are doing are sending their kids to study. They are not grooming them to take off their clothes and go on Instagram? Like Lori Loughlin? Or like Trump paying someone to take his SAT? These are hard working students. They are not aspiring to go to Liberty University and become pool boys.

Wow, talk about out of touch. I'm worried about the access to TJ of kids who should not have to put themselves through this nonsense in order to have a level shot at getting in.

TJ also shouldn't be a place where students feel they have to study 5-6 hours per day in order to keep up, but that's another conversation.

I don't know how to explain to you that you should care about other people. The Varsity Blues scandal is bad. Everything about Trump is terrible. This Indian TJ prep scandal is bad, and it needs to be getting more attention. The fact that it's not technically cheating is an ENORMOUS flaw in the process.

There is no TJ prep scandal.

If this prep company got hold of the test (which I doubt) then call the FBI and find out who gave them the test. Else, STFU. Your privilege is showing. You only want White rich kids to have a chance and when Asian-Americans sacrifice their childhoods and work hard to climb the rungs of the education and career ladder you think that there is a scandal? Then you all say it is unhealthy? I find very few Asian American kids being derailed in their lives. If they are deeply unhappy because they are studying hard then tough luck! Their options are to not be successful and then be shot and murdered like Blacks or Latino by White people. I hope that the whole BLM and police brutality has shown Asian-American kids that this is not a country where you can by poor and have a life. The only way up is through hard work. You are not the children of Trump that you will be rich even when you are stupid.

Well stated. Hopefully, this will shut it whoever is spamming non-stop about this prepping.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who goes to these prep classes?

- Highest performing exceptional students who have been working hard since elementary school
- Parents are both STEM educated, well off, immigrants who come from cultures that value education over all else.
- Can afford these classes either because HHI is high or because they live frugally and save for education.
- Kids who have all their lives socialized with kids who come to these classes. This amount of hard work (4-6 hours every day) is normal for them.

This is a highly self-selected group. 25% get in and 75% does not. Try getting your typical American kid to sit down and study for 6-8 hours each and every day during the whole summer break or during the pandemic. It will not happen.

This is not a replicable model because no average American kid is willing to put in this much time and hard work, no average American family wants to devote so much time, effort or energy into living frugally, helping their child study, and spending their life around their kids education.

Seriously, most of us could not handle a toilet paper shortage. We should leave this alone.

And all of that is fine, but it shouldn't help kids get into TJ. Or into AAP. Or into elite universities.

That level of obsession is not healthy for kids of that age. To extend the baseball metaphor, it's like being okay with steroids. People shouldn't have to risk their health and well-being in order to compete on a baseball diamond. Train, sure. Study, sure. But to that extent, and to require that much of a resource in order to do it? That's just wrong.

Kids should be able to have a life, discover what they enjoy, have friends, and still have just as good a chance to get into TJ as anyone else as long as they have the horsepower and desire to learn.

Of course, you are correct. So you should do all of that for your children. Why are you worried about the mental health of the children you don't care about? You do you, honey! Are you feeling superior that your kids are having "normal" life? Well, Bless your heart.

The worse that these parents are doing are sending their kids to study. They are not grooming them to take off their clothes and go on Instagram? Like Lori Loughlin? Or like Trump paying someone to take his SAT? These are hard working students. They are not aspiring to go to Liberty University and become pool boys.

Wow, talk about out of touch. I'm worried about the access to TJ of kids who should not have to put themselves through this nonsense in order to have a level shot at getting in.

TJ also shouldn't be a place where students feel they have to study 5-6 hours per day in order to keep up, but that's another conversation.

I don't know how to explain to you that you should care about other people. The Varsity Blues scandal is bad. Everything about Trump is terrible. This Indian TJ prep scandal is bad, and it needs to be getting more attention. The fact that it's not technically cheating is an ENORMOUS flaw in the process.

What you are describing is general ed at your neighborhood school. If you don't want to work hard and study, that option is always available. Why would they try to change a STEM school into general ED?