Thomas Jefferson HS National Merit Semifinalist decrease

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm very surprised at the constant threads on TJ, trying to cut it down. It's a high school, a good one. Can't everyone just leave it at that and move on?

Because the new admissions process was borne of racism and has had racist effects.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:BREAKING: School that no longer overselects for test-taking ability suddenly performs worse than before but still better than everyone else at test-taking contest

Story at 11

Once again, the phrase "test taking ability" can really be shortened to "ability"
Once you understand things like process of elmination and time management, there is no special "test taking ability" it's simply "ability"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BREAKING: School that no longer overselects for test-taking ability suddenly performs worse than before but still better than everyone else at test-taking contest

Story at 11

Once again, the phrase "test taking ability" can really be shortened to "ability"
Once you understand things like process of elmination and time management, there is no special "test taking ability" it's simply "ability"

Ability is broader than test taking ability. Further, they only did well on these tests because of excessive amounts of outside enrichment or early access to tests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm very surprised at the constant threads on TJ, trying to cut it down. It's a high school, a good one. Can't everyone just leave it at that and move on?

Because the new admissions process was borne of racism and has had racist effects.

Please try again...

* Selection is race blind
* Asian enrollment is currently at an all time historic high
* Largest beneficiary of selection changes were low-income Asians

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Not really. You can replicate the curriculum anywhere. There isn't really that big of a difference between TJ course offerings and McLean course offerings.

This is absolutely nuts. Look at what happens in the labs at TJ. And every one of the seniors ends up in one of them, save for the mentorship kids that use the TJ connection to actually work in a professional facility.

Comments like that are literally insane.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BREAKING: School that no longer overselects for test-taking ability suddenly performs worse than before but still better than everyone else at test-taking contest

Story at 11

Once again, the phrase "test taking ability" can really be shortened to "ability"
Once you understand things like process of elmination and time management, there is no special "test taking ability" it's simply "ability"

False. It's a snapshot of what you've been exposed to at any given moment.

And I'll clarify, I think there could absolutely be a place for a standardized exam as part of the TJ admissions process. I think the process as it exists right now is too thin. But too often the data that comes from the test is misused, and it adds a massive additional cost to the endeavor. FCPS was able to eliminate the application fee because it eliminated the standardized test component, and that was a huge and necessary win.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The issue isn’t the number of students from economically disadvantaged schools, but rather that their selection process isn’t merit-based. Instead of choosing the most deserving students from from economically disadvantaged schools based on their math and English skills, they are evaluated based on a bogus essay.

Well, they kinda need English skills to be evaluated on an essay exam and they also need to be in the top 1.5% of their class, so they also need math skills for that.

DP here.

They don't need to be in the top 1.5% of their class.
Each school gets a quota of 1.5% but the 1.5% is chosen largely on the basis of the essay exam.

So saying it’s a bogus exam while ignoring the known metrics of how the kids get in is illogical.

You don't seem to understand how kids get in. The GPA only gets you into the pool.

I know a lot of parents wonder how certain kids get into TJ but their kids don’t. But the honest truth is the kids who got in had something special your kid doesn’t. And it’s not going to change now.

I bet it does. At the very least, I suspect they add a testing element so you actually get a merit filter for the underrepresented schools.

I also want to point out that this bitterness that the admissions process has changed is really moronic at this point.

Racism breeds bitterness,

Your kids will adapt to whatever school they are in. But if you’re still stuck on the idea that they didn’t get into TJ because they changed the admissions, you are basically telling your kid they weren’t smart enough to get through a bogus exam and be in the top 1.5% of their class. That the dumbed down admissions failure on your kid means that they are even dumber than the kids who got in. Let that sink in a bit- you are saying the essay is bogus and yet your kid didn’t know how to write to pass a bogus essay exam but other “dumb” kids did.

Or the racists moved the goalposts again. This time they moved the goalposts into the parking lot.

I know some people think TJ will go down farther in US New rankings. But honestly- I don’t know of a single VA public school that sends 5+ kids to MIT at any given year. So until other high schools start sending more kids to T10 schools than TJ- I don’t think you have a strong argument.

TJ isn't competing for the top spot with McLean high school.

School rankings change all the time even when the curriculum doesn’t. And isn’t that what makes TJ great- the curriculum and not the admissions process? And if the curriculum is mid, then why complain about not getting in?

Not really. You can replicate the curriculum anywhere. There isn't really that big of a difference between TJ course offerings and McLean course offerings. The both have multivariable and linear algebra, and frankly very few students at either school is going to go much beyond that. The other course offerings seem to shift from year to year. They had number theory a few years ago, I see math techniques seem to have taken its place. But the algebra kids that make up 1/3 of the class aren't going to need any of the math classes beyond MV calc and linear algebra. There are a handful of additional science offerings but if there was enough interest, they could have those classes at any school.

I think the primary reason TJ is attractive to very bright students is the environment, peer group and rigor.

Great point. It is the "eco-system" including the teachers and administrators in addition to the students. Impact to any component of the eco-system (including teachers, for whatever reason) will have impact

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm very surprised at the constant threads on TJ, trying to cut it down. It's a high school, a good one. Can't everyone just leave it at that and move on?

They won’t stop until TJ is one race only, they believe their race/ethnic superiority.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm very surprised at the constant threads on TJ, trying to cut it down. It's a high school, a good one. Can't everyone just leave it at that and move on?

Because the new admissions process was borne of racism and has had racist effects.

Please try again...

* Selection is race blind
* Asian enrollment is currently at an all time historic high
* Largest beneficiary of selection changes were low-income Asians

* selection is supposed to be race blind, but it is clearly race-aware. Applicant is required to provide race information, when it is not needed until student registration. FCPS TJ admissions news release touts race based distribution of offers, with merit selection criteria removed.
* Asian enrollment has been brought down from historic high of 73.4% for 2024 class to now 57.27% for 2028 class, with no participation in expanded class size.
* Among the low-income applicants, the essay lottery selection process unfairly excludes those who may have stronger merit qualification.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm very surprised at the constant threads on TJ, trying to cut it down. It's a high school, a good one. Can't everyone just leave it at that and move on?

They won’t stop until TJ is one race only, they believe their race/ethnic superiority.

This is a mischaracterization. Would you label the NBA as racist or promoting ethnic superiority for allowing one race to be the majority? It would be absurd if the NBA shifted to an essay-based admission process instead of continuing to prioritize player performance and merit.

[Anonymous]

Applicant needs to provide the race for the admission process, it doesn’t mean the scoring team know their race, it can be two different process by different team.
If you can proof it you should sue them, you’ll get rich!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm very surprised at the constant threads on TJ, trying to cut it down. It's a high school, a good one. Can't everyone just leave it at that and move on?

They won’t stop until TJ is one race only, they believe their race/ethnic superiority.

This is a mischaracterization. Would you label the NBA as racist or promoting ethnic superiority for allowing one race to be the majority? It would be absurd if the NBA shifted to an essay-based admission process instead of continuing to prioritize player performance and merit.

Here you go TJ vs NBA saga again!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm very surprised at the constant threads on TJ, trying to cut it down. It's a high school, a good one. Can't everyone just leave it at that and move on?

They won’t stop until TJ is one race only, they believe their race/ethnic superiority.

This is a mischaracterization. Would you label the NBA as racist or promoting ethnic superiority for allowing one race to be the majority? It would be absurd if the NBA shifted to an essay-based admission process instead of continuing to prioritize player performance and merit.

Here you go TJ vs NBA saga again!

Many other public ed institutions (HBUs, HSIs, etc.) exist as well where one race organically grows to be the majority and is left unaltered, unlike TJ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm very surprised at the constant threads on TJ, trying to cut it down. It's a high school, a good one. Can't everyone just leave it at that and move on?

Because the new admissions process was borne of racism and has had racist effects.

The court found there was no discrimination.

It’s an election year so Rs will whine about anything they can.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm very surprised at the constant threads on TJ, trying to cut it down. It's a high school, a good one. Can't everyone just leave it at that and move on?

They won’t stop until TJ is one race only, they believe their race/ethnic superiority.

This is a mischaracterization. Would you label the NBA as racist or promoting ethnic superiority for allowing one race to be the majority? It would be absurd if the NBA shifted to an essay-based admission process instead of continuing to prioritize player performance and merit.

^ disgusting racist