Official TJ Admissions Decisions Results for the Class of 2025

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
It should be a very strong class. I read they eliminated many of the over-prepped but less talented students who typically have trouble keeping up.

Where did you read that?

on this forum

After she posted it here for the 10,000th time.

Maybe but it still makes a lot more sense than believing that wealthy kids who took years of prep to give the illusion of being advanced and have trouble keeping up are somehow better candidates.

There really aren’t that many wealthy prep kids who were getting admitted to TJ but then struggling to keep up. It’s only a thing in your imagination. The new system is effectively a lottery among above average kids who are good students. It might reduce the number of overly prepped kids, but it’s also reducing the highly gifted overachievers who truly belong at TJ in favor of genetically bright kids.

It actually is a thing. My child graduated from TJ a few years ago. He knew more than a few kids who only managed to stay at TJ because they had tutoring in many of their classes after school at least three days a week, sometimes more. Also, a lot of kids would take classes elsewhere in the summer before they were scheduled to take them at TJ, so on the first day of class in September they had essentially already covered all the material. Then, they still needed ongoing tutoring to keep up with the class.

Some of these kids almost didn’t believe my kid when he said that he didn’t have any extra tutoring at all, and instead engaged in sports every day after school. They were actually surprised anyone could make it at TJ without hours of extra help/tutoring every week.

I’m sure some kids do. At base schools as well. But kids who succeed out of TJ aren’t spending all their time in tutoring. They have something else significant besides school taking up most of their time— music, drama, sports, high level research—- something. Good grades out of TJ is not enough to get into a good college. You know this if your kid went there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
It should be a very strong class. I read they eliminated many of the over-prepped but less talented students who typically have trouble keeping up.

Where did you read that?

on this forum

After she posted it here for the 10,000th time.

Maybe but it still makes a lot more sense than believing that wealthy kids who took years of prep to give the illusion of being advanced and have trouble keeping up are somehow better candidates.

There really aren’t that many wealthy prep kids who were getting admitted to TJ but then struggling to keep up. It’s only a thing in your imagination. The new system is effectively a lottery among above average kids who are good students. It might reduce the number of overly prepped kids, but it’s also reducing the highly gifted overachievers who truly belong at TJ in favor of genetically bright kids.

It actually is a thing. My child graduated from TJ a few years ago. He knew more than a few kids who only managed to stay at TJ because they had tutoring in many of their classes after school at least three days a week, sometimes more. Also, a lot of kids would take classes elsewhere in the summer before they were scheduled to take them at TJ, so on the first day of class in September they had essentially already covered all the material. Then, they still needed ongoing tutoring to keep up with the class.

Some of these kids almost didn’t believe my kid when he said that he didn’t have any extra tutoring at all, and instead engaged in sports every day after school. They were actually surprised anyone could make it at TJ without hours of extra help/tutoring every week.

I’m sure some kids do. At base schools as well. But kids who succeed out of TJ aren’t spending all their time in tutoring. They have something else significant besides school taking up most of their time— music, drama, sports, high level research—- something. Good grades out of TJ is not enough to get into a good college. You know this if your kid went there.

A lot of them are involved in things that are only a few days a week, or have a busy period of only a few months of the year, so they can get all the outside help they need but still have activities to write on their college applications. The top kids are the ones who can do it all and many of the top kids are the unprepped kids who don’t need tutoring. I know this very well from the four years my child spent there and from talking to other parents at sport events and volunteering.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
That makes no sense. It sounds like the new criteria will result in a stronger cohort by favoring aptitude over prep.

What is this aptitude you speak of and how is it measured. How do you know that your 4.0 kid (with some classes Gen Ed) and only has Algebra 1, plus no STEM activities has STEM aptitude? There are zero objective measurements for this class.

+1. The old system did a superb job of identifying the top 350 kids who deserved TJ including the top 100 kids, who were all academic rockstars. But it was vulnerable to prepping, so maybe 100 undeserving kids also got in.

Now, they have very little info to go on, so TJ selection is randomly picking 500 kids from among the entire cohort of above average kids. The top 100 are not necessarily getting picked. The remaining 250 worthy kids are also not necessarily getting picked.

If your main goal is reducing prepped kids, the new system achieves that goal at the expense of the very top kids. If your main goal is ensuring that those top 100 academic superstars get in, the new system is a complete disaster.

[Anonymous]

^ also, which one is a better TJ prospect:
Kid A: regular English, honors science, honors history, algebra 1, dabbled a little in some STEM extracurricular, but didn’t take anything seriously. Prepped like crazy for IAAT, but still only got 68th percentile. All A’s

Kid B: AAP classes for all subjects, Algebra 2 with As in geometry and Algebra 1 also, top 10 in State Mathcounts, AIME qualifier, awards in science Olympiad. One A- in AAP English.

Old process selected kid B. New one selects kid A.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
It should be a very strong class. I read they eliminated many of the over-prepped but less talented students who typically have trouble keeping up.

Where did you read that?

on this forum

After she posted it here for the 10,000th time.

Maybe but it still makes a lot more sense than believing that wealthy kids who took years of prep to give the illusion of being advanced and have trouble keeping up are somehow better candidates.

There really aren’t that many wealthy prep kids who were getting admitted to TJ but then struggling to keep up. It’s only a thing in your imagination. The new system is effectively a lottery among above average kids who are good students. It might reduce the number of overly prepped kids, but it’s also reducing the highly gifted overachievers who truly belong at TJ in favor of genetically bright kids.

It actually is a thing. My child graduated from TJ a few years ago. He knew more than a few kids who only managed to stay at TJ because they had tutoring in many of their classes after school at least three days a week, sometimes more. Also, a lot of kids would take classes elsewhere in the summer before they were scheduled to take them at TJ, so on the first day of class in September they had essentially already covered all the material. Then, they still needed ongoing tutoring to keep up with the class.

Some of these kids almost didn’t believe my kid when he said that he didn’t have any extra tutoring at all, and instead engaged in sports every day after school. They were actually surprised anyone could make it at TJ without hours of extra help/tutoring every week.

I’m sure some kids do. At base schools as well. But kids who succeed out of TJ aren’t spending all their time in tutoring. They have something else significant besides school taking up most of their time— music, drama, sports, high level research—- something. Good grades out of TJ is not enough to get into a good college. You know this if your kid went there.

A lot of them are involved in things that are only a few days a week, or have a busy period of only a few months of the year, so they can get all the outside help they need but still have activities to write on their college applications. The top kids are the ones who can do it all and many of the top kids are the unprepped kids who don’t need tutoring. I know this very well from the four years my child spent there and from talking to other parents at sport events and volunteering.

“Only a few months” is an eternity in the world of TJ math semesters. By the time my TJ Math 5 kid finishes marching band in November and starts tutoring, he would be so far in the hole he’d never get above a D.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
It should be a very strong class. I read they eliminated many of the over-prepped but less talented students who typically have trouble keeping up.

Where did you read that?

on this forum

After she posted it here for the 10,000th time.

Maybe but it still makes a lot more sense than believing that wealthy kids who took years of prep to give the illusion of being advanced and have trouble keeping up are somehow better candidates.

There really aren’t that many wealthy prep kids who were getting admitted to TJ but then struggling to keep up. It’s only a thing in your imagination. The new system is effectively a lottery among above average kids who are good students. It might reduce the number of overly prepped kids, but it’s also reducing the highly gifted overachievers who truly belong at TJ in favor of genetically bright kids.

It actually is a thing. My child graduated from TJ a few years ago. He knew more than a few kids who only managed to stay at TJ because they had tutoring in many of their classes after school at least three days a week, sometimes more. Also, a lot of kids would take classes elsewhere in the summer before they were scheduled to take them at TJ, so on the first day of class in September they had essentially already covered all the material. Then, they still needed ongoing tutoring to keep up with the class.

Some of these kids almost didn’t believe my kid when he said that he didn’t have any extra tutoring at all, and instead engaged in sports every day after school. They were actually surprised anyone could make it at TJ without hours of extra help/tutoring every week.

I’m sure some kids do. At base schools as well. But kids who succeed out of TJ aren’t spending all their time in tutoring. They have something else significant besides school taking up most of their time— music, drama, sports, high level research—- something. Good grades out of TJ is not enough to get into a good college. You know this if your kid went there.

A lot of them are involved in things that are only a few days a week, or have a busy period of only a few months of the year, so they can get all the outside help they need but still have activities to write on their college applications. The top kids are the ones who can do it all and many of the top kids are the unprepped kids who don’t need tutoring. I know this very well from the four years my child spent there and from talking to other parents at sport events and volunteering.

“Only a few months” is an eternity in the world of TJ math semesters. By the time my TJ Math 5 kid finishes marching band in November and starts tutoring, he would be so far in the hole he’d never get above a D.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^ also, which one is a better TJ prospect:
Kid A: regular English, honors science, honors history, algebra 1, dabbled a little in some STEM extracurricular, but didn’t take anything seriously. Prepped like crazy for IAAT, but still only got 68th percentile. All A’s

Kid B: AAP classes for all subjects, Algebra 2 with As in geometry and Algebra 1 also, top 10 in State Mathcounts, AIME qualifier, awards in science Olympiad. One A- in AAP English.

Old process selected kid B. New one selects kid A.

Not true. In either case, if kid A crushed the problem solving essay and wrote other great essays and kid B crapped on the page, kid A has a better chance of getting in. Maybe your kid simply did poorly on the essays. Get on with your life.

[Anonymous]

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^ also, which one is a better TJ prospect:
Kid A: regular English, honors science, honors history, algebra 1, dabbled a little in some STEM extracurricular, but didn’t take anything seriously. Prepped like crazy for IAAT, but still only got 68th percentile. All A’s

Kid B: AAP classes for all subjects, Algebra 2 with As in geometry and Algebra 1 also, top 10 in State Mathcounts, AIME qualifier, awards in science Olympiad. One A- in AAP English.

Old process selected kid B. New one selects kid A.

They are both prospects. Equally.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ also, which one is a better TJ prospect:
Kid A: regular English, honors science, honors history, algebra 1, dabbled a little in some STEM extracurricular, but didn’t take anything seriously. Prepped like crazy for IAAT, but still only got 68th percentile. All A’s

Kid B: AAP classes for all subjects, Algebra 2 with As in geometry and Algebra 1 also, top 10 in State Mathcounts, AIME qualifier, awards in science Olympiad. One A- in AAP English.

Old process selected kid B. New one selects kid A.

They are both prospects. Equally.

New process selected kid C too

Kid C AAP classes for all subjects, Algebra 2 with As in geometry and Algebra 1 also, top 10 in State Mathcounts, AIME qualifier, awards in science Olympiad. One A- in AAP English but at a poor school

[Anonymous]

Enough already, Just build another school like TJ and locate in another part of the county. It can have the sabe affirmative action policy, fine. Just take some of the pressure off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
It should be a very strong class. I read they eliminated many of the over-prepped but less talented students who typically have trouble keeping up.

Where did you read that?

on this forum

After she posted it here for the 10,000th time.

Maybe but it still makes a lot more sense than believing that wealthy kids who took years of prep to give the illusion of being advanced and have trouble keeping up are somehow better candidates.

There really aren’t that many wealthy prep kids who were getting admitted to TJ but then struggling to keep up. It’s only a thing in your imagination. The new system is effectively a lottery among above average kids who are good students. It might reduce the number of overly prepped kids, but it’s also reducing the highly gifted overachievers who truly belong at TJ in favor of genetically bright kids.

It actually is a thing. My child graduated from TJ a few years ago. He knew more than a few kids who only managed to stay at TJ because they had tutoring in many of their classes after school at least three days a week, sometimes more. Also, a lot of kids would take classes elsewhere in the summer before they were scheduled to take them at TJ, so on the first day of class in September they had essentially already covered all the material. Then, they still needed ongoing tutoring to keep up with the class.

Some of these kids almost didn’t believe my kid when he said that he didn’t have any extra tutoring at all, and instead engaged in sports every day after school. They were actually surprised anyone could make it at TJ without hours of extra help/tutoring every week.

I’m sure some kids do. At base schools as well. But kids who succeed out of TJ aren’t spending all their time in tutoring. They have something else significant besides school taking up most of their time— music, drama, sports, high level research—- something. Good grades out of TJ is not enough to get into a good college. You know this if your kid went there.

A lot of them are involved in things that are only a few days a week, or have a busy period of only a few months of the year, so they can get all the outside help they need but still have activities to write on their college applications. The top kids are the ones who can do it all and many of the top kids are the unprepped kids who don’t need tutoring. I know this very well from the four years my child spent there and from talking to other parents at sport events and volunteering.

“Only a few months” is an eternity in the world of TJ math semesters. By the time my TJ Math 5 kid finishes marching band in November and starts tutoring, he would be so far in the hole he’d never get above a D.

You’re missing the point. The point is that there actually are kids at TJ who are so prepped in advance that they cannot do the work there without a lot of handholding. Anyone who says there are no kids like that is just not that familiari with a lot of kids at TJ. This is nothing new and has been going on for years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Enough already, Just build another school like TJ and locate in another part of the county. It can have the sabe affirmative action policy, fine. Just take some of the pressure off.

Western County says Hi! Maybe after the new Hs we were promised a decade ago? With the TJ changes, Chantilly will top 3000 kids this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
It should be a very strong class. I read they eliminated many of the over-prepped but less talented students who typically have trouble keeping up.

Where did you read that?

on this forum

After she posted it here for the 10,000th time.

Maybe but it still makes a lot more sense than believing that wealthy kids who took years of prep to give the illusion of being advanced and have trouble keeping up are somehow better candidates.

There really aren’t that many wealthy prep kids who were getting admitted to TJ but then struggling to keep up. It’s only a thing in your imagination. The new system is effectively a lottery among above average kids who are good students. It might reduce the number of overly prepped kids, but it’s also reducing the highly gifted overachievers who truly belong at TJ in favor of genetically bright kids.

It actually is a thing. My child graduated from TJ a few years ago. He knew more than a few kids who only managed to stay at TJ because they had tutoring in many of their classes after school at least three days a week, sometimes more. Also, a lot of kids would take classes elsewhere in the summer before they were scheduled to take them at TJ, so on the first day of class in September they had essentially already covered all the material. Then, they still needed ongoing tutoring to keep up with the class.

Some of these kids almost didn’t believe my kid when he said that he didn’t have any extra tutoring at all, and instead engaged in sports every day after school. They were actually surprised anyone could make it at TJ without hours of extra help/tutoring every week.

I’m sure some kids do. At base schools as well. But kids who succeed out of TJ aren’t spending all their time in tutoring. They have something else significant besides school taking up most of their time— music, drama, sports, high level research—- something. Good grades out of TJ is not enough to get into a good college. You know this if your kid went there.

A lot of them are involved in things that are only a few days a week, or have a busy period of only a few months of the year, so they can get all the outside help they need but still have activities to write on their college applications. The top kids are the ones who can do it all and many of the top kids are the unprepped kids who don’t need tutoring. I know this very well from the four years my child spent there and from talking to other parents at sport events and volunteering.

“Only a few months” is an eternity in the world of TJ math semesters. By the time my TJ Math 5 kid finishes marching band in November and starts tutoring, he would be so far in the hole he’d never get above a D.

You’re missing the point. The point is that there actually are kids at TJ who are so prepped in advance that they cannot do the work there without a lot of handholding. Anyone who says there are no kids like that is just not that familiari with a lot of kids at TJ. This is nothing new and has been going on for years.

Some kids, yes. Most kids, no.

This way, there is a significant ESOL population at TJ. Get back to me when you figure out how to teach post-AP Biology to freshman ESOL students.

[Anonymous]

Asians from 73 percent to around 54 percent. Wow. One group really took a hit here.