TJ Admissions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After admissions change, apparently students are no longer tested in middle school math, science and English? I hear they are given just one problem to solve, and asked to write character essays. And that's it. How can they evaluate and differentiate applicant skills with just one problem? Even elementary school math tests have more than one problem on a quiz.

There is one moderately difficult math question. Last year it was one of those "if a train leaves chicago at 2 pm" type questions.
They end up with something approximating a cross section of the applicant pool.
A lot of students return to their base school.
If you look at the demographics of the graduating class, it is still more diverse than in previous COVID years but not nearly as diverse as the freshman classes.

before and even after admissions change, the top half with higher GPA and rigorous courses is still dominated by same ethnicity. Diversity is all in lower half. Why?

This wasn't really true before the admissions change.

You are mistaken. Here is a glance at how the first class admitted after admissions change is performing.

https://patch.com/virginia/oldtownalexandria/seniors-alexandria-schools-named-national-merit-semifinalists

When TJ admitted students based on merit using a through and indepth entrance test in math, english, and science, TJ always had about 160+ students on NMSF list every year. With the race quota based admissions disguised as geo-location quota, the NMSF number has fallen to 81 this year. This is one of many data points that highlight the decline in merit resulting from changes to TJ admissions.

All the admissions change did was replace the bottom half of the TJ class with diversity students which otherwise would have been filled with merit students.

PP here. What I was saying was that before the change in admissions, you could not predict where a kid was in the grade distribution just by knowing their ethnicity. It's not like all the smart kids at TJ were asian and all the dumb kids were non-asian. We were using enough merit back then that you couldn't predict with any sort of reliability the way you can today.

If I asked you to tell me the academic profile of the bottom half that got replaced, you couldn't really use race as a descriptor the way you can today.

For example:
Pre-change: most of the non-asian kids are in the bottom half of the class
Post change: most of the non-asian kids are in the bottom half of the class

One of these statements is much less accurate than the other.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:30% of the TJ NMSF this year are non Asian. So ironically the decline came from the new Asian students.

Asians represent a smaller percentage of the class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:30% of the TJ NMSF this year are non Asian. So ironically the decline came from the new Asian students.

Not really. Overwhelming majority 80% are Asian! Without including them, this list would be down to teens, or single digits like the other schools mentioned. Now and before, Asian students are and have been shouldering the ranking and TJ reputation, and FCPS will proudly mention their names again in their news release.

If Asian students are excluded altogether, where would TJ rank? and would any student want to attend then?

You can say that at 95% of high schools in Anerica now.

And that is why you will see more underperforming asians from less rigorous schools.
The racial disparity in academic achievement at the lower end of socioeconomic spectrum is even greater than at the higher end. Wealthier people regardless of race tend to be more focused on education and have more resources to invest in education, it's not exactly equal because wypipo like their soccer and lacrosse but it's a lot closer.
At the lower end, the disparity comes from painful sacrifices that not everyone will make.

I wish there was some way to on-ramp gifted under-privileged kids that didn't put them in direct competition with gifted affluent kids.
I'm not sure what the answer is but just throwing them in the same pot and pretend that the relative results reflect the relative merit of the students is hard to swallow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Previously, entire class was mostly chosen on merit basis, and the struggling students were limited to a small percent. Now, entire class is chosen on a non-merit random basis that results in even distribution across all talent levels, with a half merit oriented and other half left to struggle. The random selection now includes Asian students of lower talent while more advanced Asian students have been excluded.

80+ is pretty impressive for a class that has "even distribution across all talents levels".

DP here. The admissions process has not entirely eliminated merit. It has shifted the goalposts on how merit is measured from something more precise to something less precise. The geographic and SES preferences skew the results as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:LoL. The new admissions are supposedly so fantastic that the previous track record of 160+ merit semifinalists count was going to rise 300+ with the sob story essay admissions, not go south to 80+.

Anyone know how many of the 81 kids are in from the Froshmore batch?

THAT would be interesting to know

[Anonymous]

I am looking at the application process now. I feel sick to my stomach. This is supposed to be a high school for science and technology. Yet there appears to be very little focus on foundational subjects like mathematics, and far more focus on subjective “experience factors” and “21st Century Skills”.

My kids still wants to apply but .barf.
I suppose I should encourage her to write a lot about being biracial, dad speaks another language, and currently being raised by single mom?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am looking at the application process now. I feel sick to my stomach. This is supposed to be a high school for science and technology. Yet there appears to be very little focus on foundational subjects like mathematics, and far more focus on subjective “experience factors” and “21st Century Skills”.

My kids still wants to apply but .barf.
I suppose I should encourage her to write a lot about being biracial, dad speaks another language, and currently being raised by single mom?

She should focus on POG, not sob stories. Also, while my DS finished all the essay questions within the time limit, including the math/science question, apparently many kids don't. So she should focus on effective and efficient essay responses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am looking at the application process now. I feel sick to my stomach. This is supposed to be a high school for science and technology. Yet there appears to be very little focus on foundational subjects like mathematics, and far more focus on subjective “experience factors” and “21st Century Skills”.

My kids still wants to apply but .barf.
I suppose I should encourage her to write a lot about being biracial, dad speaks another language, and currently being raised by single mom?

How competitive is her middle school? Whatever your personal opinion of the application process, that's the most important factor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am looking at the application process now. I feel sick to my stomach. This is supposed to be a high school for science and technology. Yet there appears to be very little focus on foundational subjects like mathematics, and far more focus on subjective “experience factors” and “21st Century Skills”.

My kids still wants to apply but .barf.
I suppose I should encourage her to write a lot about being biracial, dad speaks another language, and currently being raised by single mom?

Thanks.

Appreciate - at least someone out there - keeping it real.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am looking at the application process now. I feel sick to my stomach. This is supposed to be a high school for science and technology. Yet there appears to be very little focus on foundational subjects like mathematics, and far more focus on subjective “experience factors” and “21st Century Skills”.

My kids still wants to apply but .barf.
I suppose I should encourage her to write a lot about being biracial, dad speaks another language, and currently being raised by single mom?

How competitive is her middle school? Whatever your personal opinion of the application process, that's the most important factor.

Middle school is ranked among the lowest. my question is how can they expect students from poorly ranked middle school to thrive at TJ and be among the best there, especially when they start off at a disadvantage?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am looking at the application process now. I feel sick to my stomach. This is supposed to be a high school for science and technology. Yet there appears to be very little focus on foundational subjects like mathematics, and far more focus on subjective “experience factors” and “21st Century Skills”.

My kids still wants to apply but .barf.
I suppose I should encourage her to write a lot about being biracial, dad speaks another language, and currently being raised by single mom?

Free lunch is a big green pass.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am looking at the application process now. I feel sick to my stomach. This is supposed to be a high school for science and technology. Yet there appears to be very little focus on foundational subjects like mathematics, and far more focus on subjective “experience factors” and “21st Century Skills”.

My kids still wants to apply but .barf.
I suppose I should encourage her to write a lot about being biracial, dad speaks another language, and currently being raised by single mom?

How competitive is her middle school? Whatever your personal opinion of the application process, that's the most important factor.

Middle school is ranked among the lowest. my question is how can they expect students from poorly ranked middle school to thrive at TJ and be among the best there, especially when they start off at a disadvantage?

The TJ has already started inflating the grades three years ago for the under-qualified.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am looking at the application process now. I feel sick to my stomach. This is supposed to be a high school for science and technology. Yet there appears to be very little focus on foundational subjects like mathematics, and far more focus on subjective “experience factors” and “21st Century Skills”.

My kids still wants to apply but .barf.
I suppose I should encourage her to write a lot about being biracial, dad speaks another language, and currently being raised by single mom?

Is the application for this year already out?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am looking at the application process now. I feel sick to my stomach. This is supposed to be a high school for science and technology. Yet there appears to be very little focus on foundational subjects like mathematics, and far more focus on subjective “experience factors” and “21st Century Skills”.

My kids still wants to apply but .barf.
I suppose I should encourage her to write a lot about being biracial, dad speaks another language, and currently being raised by single mom?

Is the application for this year already out?

Opens October. PP referring process and not actual paperwork.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am looking at the application process now. I feel sick to my stomach. This is supposed to be a high school for science and technology. Yet there appears to be very little focus on foundational subjects like mathematics, and far more focus on subjective “experience factors” and “21st Century Skills”.

My kids still wants to apply but .barf.
I suppose I should encourage her to write a lot about being biracial, dad speaks another language, and currently being raised by single mom?

She should focus on POG, not sob stories. Also, while my DS finished all the essay questions within the time limit, including the math/science question, apparently many kids don't. So she should focus on effective and efficient essay responses.

You should. And please let us know if your child get in.