Advice for new TJ Parents

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Adding:

New parents - If ur kid is truly not exceptional in math and sciences, reconsider TJ.

TJ math is brutal. So are physics and chemistry.

An underprepared kid will land up with half a dozen Bs at TJ vs all As at base school.


And make sure ur kid wants to go to TJ - don’t force them!

Good luck!

Have you considered that some kids might be happy to work hard for their Bs at a school with a lot of motivated peers? There is nothing wrong with a well earned B. There will be plenty of colleges that those kids can apply to and receive an excellent eduation at.

Which world are you living in????

UVA requires near perfect grades. Bs will tank your chances at most target schools.




No one likes to suffer TJ math and land with a B.


The bottom 25% at TJ ( weighted gpa below 4.0) surely would be better off at base school and yes they would be much happier there as their efforts would have resulted in better grades also.

I don’t know of a single TJ kid who happily accepts a B

TJ parent here.
A lot of kids with Bs go to VT. And a lot of kids have Bs.
There is no guarantee of UVA from base school.

The problem is that if you are not prepared, you end up with a worse educational experience than at your base school if you are not able to keep up.

Bs are not the end of the world. Even a few Cs ar3e not the end of the world. Sure you could have been a straight A student at your base but you were probably never going to get into Stanford anyway.
Schools like VT, WM, JMU, VCU, GMU, Purdue, U Pitt, Penn State, Texas A&M, etc.

If you're willing to go off the beaten path and apply to places like Rose Hulman, Colorado School of mines, Stevens Institute, Rutgers New Brunswick, etc. There are a lot of very good schools that would love to get someone from TJ in their student body.

I don't think it is any easier getting into any school from our base school except maybe UVA which seems to limit TJ kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Adding:

New parents - If ur kid is truly not exceptional in math and sciences, reconsider TJ.

TJ math is brutal. So are physics and chemistry.

An underprepared kid will land up with half a dozen Bs at TJ vs all As at base school.


And make sure ur kid wants to go to TJ - don’t force them!

Good luck!

And here come the waitlisted parents trying to get you to turn down your spot at the school.

DP

I have a kid at TJ and the concern is legitimate. The admissions process is not selecting for kids that will succeed at TJ.
There is a reason all the colleges are returning to test required.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Adding:

New parents - If ur kid is truly not exceptional in math and sciences, reconsider TJ.

TJ math is brutal. So are physics and chemistry.

An underprepared kid will land up with half a dozen Bs at TJ vs all As at base school.


And make sure ur kid wants to go to TJ - don’t force them!

Good luck!

And here come the waitlisted parents trying to get you to turn down your spot at the school.

DP

I have a kid at TJ and the concern is legitimate. The admissions process is not selecting for kids that will succeed at TJ.
There is a reason all the colleges are returning to test required.

It is ridiculous to downplay people giving legit advice about newcomers knowing going to tj may very well mean a less prestigious college option. No, this is not from a waitlisted parent!

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't recommend taking PE before 9th grade. My TJ 9th grader met a lot of people in PE and it was really good to have one class that was pretty mindless.

If you get the tough PE teacher, you can take it P/F and then it's no stress.

Also, don't get too scared by Spanish. Most (all?) of the immersion Spanish folks found the class very do-able.

[Anonymous]

Can someone tell me about the sports? Have your children had a positive experience? I am particularly interested in wrestling, football, and lacrosse in that order. My child really enjoys wrestling and is good at it. He can handle the academics, but I want to make sure that he will be happy with the sports program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can someone tell me about the sports? Have your children had a positive experience? I am particularly interested in wrestling, football, and lacrosse in that order. My child really enjoys wrestling and is good at it. He can handle the academics, but I want to make sure that he will be happy with the sports program.

The new wrestling coach this year is great! The team is a mix of kids with wrestling experience and without. It is a very positive team environment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Adding:

New parents - If ur kid is truly not exceptional in math and sciences, reconsider TJ.

TJ math is brutal. So are physics and chemistry.

An underprepared kid will land up with half a dozen Bs at TJ vs all As at base school.


And make sure ur kid wants to go to TJ - don’t force them!

Good luck!

Have you considered that some kids might be happy to work hard for their Bs at a school with a lot of motivated peers? There is nothing wrong with a well earned B. There will be plenty of colleges that those kids can apply to and receive an excellent eduation at.

DP

There are AP math classes where a student can get a 5 on the AP exam and still end up with a C in the class.

Your kid doesn't have to love math, they just have to be good at it.

Very few kids are going to graduate with straight As.

But if your kid can't handle the rigor, stay away.

A lot of kids return to their base school after freshman year with torpedoed GPAs.

Give it a shot but stay on top of their grades early in the fall semester and be ready to pull the ejection cord back to their base school so their grades can recover in time for their first report card.

Why does it feel like this is a parent trying to get the waitlist to move?

PP.

I have a kid at TJ.
I'm not saying don't go, I am saying be ready to pull the ejection cord.
I'm sure there are kids that sail through TJ but my kid is working extremely hard to maintain straight As.

I have said this before and I will say it again here.
Routinely Top 2% on COGAT/NNAT/Iowa/etc + hard working student, then TJ should be fine
Routinely top 5% then they have to be pretty driven and have an affinity for math/science
If they are outside the top 5% you should be ready to pull the ejection cord.
If they are outside the top 10%, I don't think it will work out well for you.

This is correct:

Routinely Top 2% on COGAT/NNAT/Iowa/etc + hard working student, then TJ should be fine
Routinely top 5% then they have to be pretty driven and have an affinity for math/science

New parents - pls pay attention to this. Then decide if TJ is the right place for your kid.

[Anonymous]

+1 to above.

And for Indian/Asian parents - we are taking about un-prepped scores in these tests. If your kid needed classes for NNAT - then TJ is not the place. Just accept the fact and save yourself some misery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can someone tell me about the sports? Have your children had a positive experience? I am particularly interested in wrestling, football, and lacrosse in that order. My child really enjoys wrestling and is good at it. He can handle the academics, but I want to make sure that he will be happy with the sports program.

We Came for the Sports.

Wrestling is basically no cut but the varsity spots can be pretty competitive. Making weight and hydration was not something I enjoyed watching my kid doing while they are still growing.
Freshman football is no cut. I don't think there is a particularly deep cut at the JV level. Varsity seems like there is a bit of a deeper cut but I don't know a lot of kids thar really wanted to make it that didn't geta spot somewhere on the varsity team.
No idea about lacrosse but my friend's kid really likes it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:+1 to above.

And for Indian/Asian parents - we are taking about un-prepped scores in these tests. If your kid needed classes for NNAT - then TJ is not the place. Just accept the fact and save yourself some misery.

I am PP from 04/28/2026 11:27

I wouldn't just direct this at the Indian/Asian parents. Prepping is not exclusive to those groups.

Also for your kid's mental health, if they seem to be in over their heads, then you should realign expectations or encourage them to go back to their base school. I have seen kids (of all ethnicities, mostly asian because the school. is mostly asian) tank their GPAs because they didn't want to disappoint their parents and admit that TJ wasn't a good fit.

If you help them realign their expectations, things can still work out pretty good. Their college list looks more like Texas A&M, Penn State, Purdue, VT, but if you keep chasing ivy and thinking TJ is your pathway there, your kid will be miserable and you will feel helpless.

If they are drowning, get them out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone tell me about the sports? Have your children had a positive experience? I am particularly interested in wrestling, football, and lacrosse in that order. My child really enjoys wrestling and is good at it. He can handle the academics, but I want to make sure that he will be happy with the sports program.

We Came for the Sports.

Wrestling is basically no cut but the varsity spots can be pretty competitive. Making weight and hydration was not something I enjoyed watching my kid doing while they are still growing.
Freshman football is no cut. I don't think there is a particularly deep cut at the JV level. Varsity seems like there is a bit of a deeper cut but I don't know a lot of kids thar really wanted to make it that didn't geta spot somewhere on the varsity team.
No idea about lacrosse but my friend's kid really likes it.

Huh? TJ only has varsity football. And they were still trying to find kids to play after school started.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I don't think it is any easier getting into any school from our base school except maybe UVA which seems to limit TJ kids.

Be careful thinking that if your kid cannot be top 25% at TJ that they can be valedictorian if just go back to their base where there are NOT 40 kids getting offers to UVA every year like is happening at TJ

[Anonymous]

Former TJ student. Watch your child’s mental health carefully. It can charitably be called a pressure cooker and it’s not for everyone. I am so grateful my parents let me go back to my base school. Most of my classmates told me they were jealous of me when I left. I was much happier after leaving and got in to UVA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone tell me about the sports? Have your children had a positive experience? I am particularly interested in wrestling, football, and lacrosse in that order. My child really enjoys wrestling and is good at it. He can handle the academics, but I want to make sure that he will be happy with the sports program.

We Came for the Sports.

Wrestling is basically no cut but the varsity spots can be pretty competitive. Making weight and hydration was not something I enjoyed watching my kid doing while they are still growing.
Freshman football is no cut. I don't think there is a particularly deep cut at the JV level. Varsity seems like there is a bit of a deeper cut but I don't know a lot of kids thar really wanted to make it that didn't geta spot somewhere on the varsity team.
No idea about lacrosse but my friend's kid really likes it.

Huh? TJ only has varsity football. And they were still trying to find kids to play after school started.

What am I thinking of? Why do they have those different colored jerseys?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone tell me about the sports? Have your children had a positive experience? I am particularly interested in wrestling, football, and lacrosse in that order. My child really enjoys wrestling and is good at it. He can handle the academics, but I want to make sure that he will be happy with the sports program.

We Came for the Sports.

Wrestling is basically no cut but the varsity spots can be pretty competitive. Making weight and hydration was not something I enjoyed watching my kid doing while they are still growing.
Freshman football is no cut. I don't think there is a particularly deep cut at the JV level. Varsity seems like there is a bit of a deeper cut but I don't know a lot of kids thar really wanted to make it that didn't geta spot somewhere on the varsity team.
No idea about lacrosse but my friend's kid really likes it.

Huh? TJ only has varsity football. And they were still trying to find kids to play after school started.

What am I thinking of? Why do they have those different colored jerseys?

Home and away jerseys?