TJ or AOS/AET/MATA
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Anonymous
| Can anyone share their experience or thoughts on TJ vs LCPS AOS/AET/MATA. Heard LCPS is planning a full expansion of AOS by 2018, where high school students will have three STEM program options - Academy of Science (AOS), Academy of Engineering and Tech (AET) and Monroe Advanced Technical Academy (MATA), to choose from or qualify for. Would love to understand the differences between these three academies and how they stack up to TJ. |
Anonymous
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If you are in Loudoun, why do you want to spend 1-2 hours in commute both ways.. go for AOS.
It is just a high school.. |
Anonymous
| AOS admission process is not clear. Does it look at SAT only or is it really holistic as they initially mentioned. Do they have a wait list. |
Anonymous
| It depends upon what you are interested in and how convenient your schedule is. If it's opened up and you're willing to travel the 1-2 hour commute, then go to TJ. But, if you do have activities, then go to AOS to pursue and AET to participate. I would recommend applying to AET since it offers different pathways. MATA is only intended for juniors. |
Anonymous
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I think the main difference is that TJ is a full-time high school, but the Loudoun Academies are all part-time. Some kids like being immersed in TJ while others like to have a "typical" high school experience with some differentiation in math/science.
Lots of kids consider AoS vs. TJ. I think the college admits look similar for AoS and TJ although obviously AoS is much smaller. TJ definitely has more name recognition among the general public, but AoS is know to college admissions officers from what I hear. The AET looks promising. They are starting in the fall, so it will be interesting to see how that program evolves. I think it's not all 4 years like TJ and AoS. I would say that AoS appears to emphasize the biological sciences, while AET seems more tech/engineering. Monroe Tech offers programs where the kids can start working right out of high school, so I wouldn't think a lot of kids would be looking at TJ vs. Monroe, but MATA will be a great fit and opportunity for some kids. |
Anonymous
| AOS is solely intended to dedicate its focus scientific research meaning that students attending school will do research projects related to the standard curriculum covered inside the class. But, you get more selectivity over what topic you want which is like AOS. AET offers several pathways to study in meaning you have a chance to study different and unique fields which is why I prefer it over AOS. MATA is a good school for nursing and the fundamentals of certain fields. I am going to AET this fall and since the three of them are going to be integrated into the Academics of Loudoun, I would say this would be a similar version to TJ which is already such a brilliant opportunity you have, but the commute to AOL is a lot shorter. Once again, they're both great options, but base your choice around what type of field you want to pursue and the convenience of your schedule. |
Anonymous
| Thank you for the input. Very helpful. |
Anonymous
| AOS has a much lower acceptance rate than TJ (it's under 10%). Better apply to both. Good luck. |
Anonymous
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If your goal is to get into an ivy-league or Top 25 college, going to T.J. will not help your child's chances. In fact, it will hurt them. Colleges consider applicants by comparing them to their peers at the high school they attend. T.J. has some of the brightest students in the entire country. That means that for the 75% of T.J. students who will not be in the top 25% of their class, they will be at a disadvantage when compared to students at regular high schools. Unfair to TJ kids, but true. So go to T.J. if (a) you want to be surrounded by some of the smartest kids in the country, (b) you want to take a number of high-tech courses not offered by base schools, or (c) you just want to bask in the prestige of saying you attend TJ. But do NOT attend solely because you think it will help you make Harvard or Yale. It won't (unless you are among the very brightest at TJ).
P.S. AET does not deserve a place in this discussion. It does not come close to the intellectual rigor of AOS. P.P.S. If you child gets into both TJ and AOS, AND your goal is to get into a fancy college, then--without question--you should choose AOS. Because at AOS, colleges will compare the student with others at the base school, and undoubtedly your child will compare to them very favorably. |
Anonymous
Here are the TJ profile and college acceptance data from the class of 2016. https://fcps.tjhsst.edu/coursemgmt/media/300/resource/TJ%20Profile%202016-17%20online.pdf I don't think the "bottom 75%" has anything to worry about. I do think that TJ does a great job of getting these kids into the best engineering schools. |
Anonymous
| Yes but how many students will actually enroll at AOS in 2018 when the campus opens and will they accept sophomore entry? |
Anonymous
Thank you for sharing the TJ stats link. If we just focus on numbers accepted at MIT, UPen, Yale and so on, it is quite small like about 13 out of 200 something. Do we have similar stats for AOS? Would be helpful to compare the numbers and check if PPP's logic above of being at TJ impairs a kid's rate of acceptance into top ivys. |
Anonymous
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Honestly I wish I had someone to tell me this information when I was applying just two years ago.
Right now, I attend the Academy of Science (AOS) in Loudoun, VA. I want to break a couple of myths that I had believed as an eighth grader: TJHSST is not better than AOS. The only reason it seems more academically challenging is because TJHHST is a full time highschool and is ranked, whereas AOS is part-time (you only take your math and science courses at AOS) and thus, is not ranked. You can achieve the same levels of success going to either school. You can still get into Harvard, Stanford, or any of the Ivy Leagues. The percentage of kids from both AOS and TJHSST that apply to UVA and get accepted is roughly the same. The kids at TJHSST are not smarter or more brilliant than the kids at the AOS. Both are equally brilliant. Just last week, AOS sent their sophomores to a math competition held at UVA and they crushed TJHSST’s seniors (AOS teams ranked 1st and 2nd in the team round, 1st and 2nd in the mixer round, and held 4 out of the 5 top individual rankings). AOS has a robotics team that has beat TJHSST in robotics and has competed internationally. Now, to decide whether you want to go to AOS or TJHSST: If you want to pursue a career focused on computer science and robotics, I would go to TJHSST. That isn’t to say AOS has a bad computer science program or doesn’t motivate their students to pursue programming. In fact, the director of the AOS once quoted that one year “two-thirds of AOS graduates got a degree in Computer Science” when they went to college. During all your years of math at AOS, you often integrate programming with the math that you are learning. However, TJHSST definitely has more access to hardware and software and has a rigorous computer science program that many Northern Virginia high schools follow. TJHSST has mandatory computer science courses and even cryptography courses. TJHSST also has teachers who have actually earned degrees in computer science, whereas (I don’t think) AOS teachers have. If you want fantastic and not fake teachers, go to AOS. The teachers at AOS are probably best in the world (that is not an exaggeration). Many of the AOS teachers have won state or national teaching awards and have the staff has Ph.Ds. AOS teachers, quite literally, breed you for success. Before the start of your freshman year, your AOS advisor will actually drive to your house to meet you and your parents to make sure that you are mentally prepared to start attending. If you come to school sick, the AOS teachers will give you cough drops as if they truly care for you. During sophomore year, the teachers go out of their way to ensure that you are choosing the most optimal research project to pursue your junior and senior year. However, I have heard from my TJHSST friends that TJHSST teachers do not behave this way. I have heard they often take off unnecessary points, yell, and don’t go out of their way to ensure you are okay. If you get Ds at TJHSST, then it’s “oh well”. If you get B-s at AOS, the teacher will have a 1-on-1 personal conversation with you to figure out what the problem is and find solutions to help you. They’re extremely kind and treat you with more respect than a student should ever get (in a good way). If you want to learn more about AOS’ teaching philosophy, I suggest you watch the TED talk by AOS’ director. When you go to AOS, as I’ve mentioned before, you only go for their math and science program. For your humanitarian courses (english, history, PE) you would attend your regular home-highschool (“homeschool”). Now if you went to TJHSST, you would take all your courses at TJHSST. This is important in deciding who you are going to interact with at highschool. At TJHSST, you are going to interact with extremely smart students 100% of the time, but since the class size is ~400 per grade, behavior runs the whole gamut. You’ll definitely meet kids at TJHSST who have engaged in suspicious/malice behavior…just as you would at your homeschool. However, at AOS, you’ll interact with smart kids 50% of the time, where only a couple kids (between 1 and 5) will behave badly (class size ~60) but the rest of your time is spent at homeschool engaging with kids that may not always be educating you/making you better. Use this information to decide how you are going to build your social interactions wisely: do you have good friends at homeschool that you want to be with and make you wiser, or do your friends at homeschool do drugs, and you want to get away ASAP? Are you going to only take advanced courses at homeschool so that you only interact with the smartest at your homeschool, or do you want to choose “easier” courses at TJHSST? AOS faculty watches you. Closely. What I mean by this is, if you step out of line and lose the teacher’s trust, they will not select you to attend national/international competitions/collaborations. A prime example of this is during sophomore year at AOS, you travel to the Bahamas to learn about fish and oceanography with the director of AOS. No joke, this guy watches you. If you run in the dark, forget your gear, or stay up all night partying, he will know, even if he’s not around. If you do these things and don’t take him seriously, he will not let you participate in competitions or collaborations, unless somehow you regain his trust, which isn’t easy. If you think your behavior is going to be a problem, you better shape-up if you’re thinking of going to AOS. And lastly: best of luck to all those who have been accepted!! No matter which school you pick, you will most definitely have success. Work hard, and remember to have fun. STEM magnet schools are the most beautiful and intellectually engaging schools if you love math and science. I wish you all the best in your endeavors! |
Anonymous
| PP, thank you for taking the time to write your current experience at AOS. You seem like a genuine caring person and will go places. Good luck! |
Anonymous
| Is AOS going to accept only 9th graders or will they accept 10th grade applications? |