Asian students dominate admissions to elite Thomas Jefferson High School

[Anonymous]

Discrimination or and intentional act?


http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/asians-students-dominate-admissions-to-elite-thomas-jefferson-high-school/2015/03/31/fd6771be-d7de-11e4-ba28-f2a685dc7f89_story.html

[Anonymous]

Less non-Asian students are applying

[Anonymous]

There are tons of threads on this already. Do we really need another one?

[Anonymous]

This is a vicious cycle. As long as the Asian population at TJ is increasing, applications from other ethnicities will continue to decrease.

[Anonymous]

Burying the lead in the last paragraph.

"One surprising detail in the admissions data shows that interest in TJ could be waning. Five years ago 3,310 students applied to TJ. Compared with this year, the number applying has dropped 14 percent ."

It is aschool that is losing or has lost its purpose.

[Anonymous]

This is what happens if you use objective/stat based screening. It's the reason colleges use holistic admission process to prevent over-sized Asian student population on campus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Discrimination or and intentional act?

I have no idea what this is supposed to mean or suggest.

[Anonymous]

So now the whites are in favor of affirmative action.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Burying the lead in the last paragraph.

"One surprising detail in the admissions data shows that interest in TJ could be waning. Five years ago 3,310 students applied to TJ. Compared with this year, the number applying has dropped 14 percent ."

It is aschool that is losing or has lost its purpose.

The overall admission rate was 17% this year. It's not like HYP or Stanford, but over four applicants are turned away for every admitted applicant.

As for the continued decline in admissions, there are several factors at play. Non-Asian students know the odds are increasingly stacked against their getting in. Some students don't want to attend a school that is dominated by Asians and has a different culture than any other school. The commute can be long. Their home schools may not have all the same courses or equipment as TJ, but may have more to offer in other respects.

Unless you define the school's purpose as preparing a broad cross-section of the county's students for STEM careers, its purpose remains intact. It interests fewer students than it used to, but obviously there's more than enough demand to fill the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Burying the lead in the last paragraph.

"One surprising detail in the admissions data shows that interest in TJ could be waning. Five years ago 3,310 students applied to TJ. Compared with this year, the number applying has dropped 14 percent ."

It is aschool that is losing or has lost its purpose.

The overall admission rate was 17% this year. It's not like HYP or Stanford, but over four applicants are turned away for every admitted applicant.

As for the continued decline in admissions, there are several factors at play. Non-Asian students know the odds are increasingly stacked against their getting in. Some students don't want to attend a school that is dominated by Asians and has a different culture than any other school. The commute can be long. Their home schools may not have all the same courses or equipment as TJ, but may have more to offer in other respects.

Unless you define the school's purpose as preparing a broad cross-section of the county's students for STEM careers, its purpose remains intact. It interests fewer students than it used to, but obviously there's more than enough demand to fill the school.

"continued decline in applications"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So now the whites are in favor of affirmative action.

Yes, I find this amusing as well. I'm happen to be white, but have no problem with Asians dominating certain areas of academics. Clearly they are doing something right, and maybe we can learn something from them.

[Anonymous]

The issue with TJ is the test prep. Both whites and Asians get an unfair advantage on this front and the Asian test camp use 'JJs' which is a form of recall cheating.

The same phenomonom is seen with the same two groups in SATs, LSATs, GMATS, etc., all the way down to the recall and often "live question "cheating.

And for the record the JJ's used to be exclusive to Asian communities, because they would be taught in non-English first. But it is increasingly becoming common in white test prep centers to originating from New York and spreading out.

[Anonymous]

My dd is at an AAP center middle school that traditionally sends a large number of kids to TJ. Every one of her good friends who applied, got in. All five of them are Asian, and not a single one of them has any interest in STEM. Four of them were not given a choice on applying or attending. Their parents required it. Two of these kids have had priveliges and cell phones revoked multiple times in the past year for getting less than an A on a single assignment or test.

This is why I will not encourage my very STEM oriented younger child to apply to TJ. It it not a school filled with gifted students and creative minds like it used to be. It is a cutthroat destination for hot-housed children of domineering parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The issue with TJ is the test prep. Both whites and Asians get an unfair advantage on this front and the Asian test camp use 'JJs' which is a form of recall cheating.

The same phenomonom is seen with the same two groups in SATs, LSATs, GMATS, etc., all the way down to the recall and often "live question "cheating.

And for the record the JJ's used to be exclusive to Asian communities, because they would be taught in non-English first. But it is increasingly becoming common in white test prep centers to originating from New York and spreading out.

What's this? TIA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The issue with TJ is the test prep. Both whites and Asians get an unfair advantage on this front and the Asian test camp use 'JJs' which is a form of recall cheating.

The same phenomonom is seen with the same two groups in SATs, LSATs, GMATS, etc., all the way down to the recall and often "live question "cheating.

And for the record the JJ's used to be exclusive to Asian communities, because they would be taught in non-English first. But it is increasingly becoming common in white test prep centers to originating from New York and spreading out.

Even if all the kids are prepping (which we have no evidence that *all* of them are), once they get in, they can't fake it. There's no amount of "prepping" the kid can do to do well on classwork. So, if these kids are prepping, but still able to do well in TJ, it doesn't mean they aren't qualified to be there just because they prepped.

Also, there's nothing stopping kids from all ethnicities from "prepping". It's not just about SES. There are plenty of kids from low SES that also prep. The parents put a priority on their kids education.

This is the same "issue" as what's happening in the magnet schools in NYC, and how the Mayor wants to change the admittance process to make it less Asian. If they let in less qualified students because they want diversity, they will be hurting the program.

FWIW, I don't have a kid at TJ.