Jay Mathews: Did money keep student out of top school? [TJ]

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Those football players are brave and tough. A very small roster. Some kids play every play - defense and offense, all game.

Also, approximately 40% of the football players who are seniors made NMSF. How many high schools can claim such achievement?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I think his dad is right to shine the light of shame on TJ admissions -- a kid who gets a near perfect score on the SAT at 15, who is considered 3 grades ahead and taught himself Latin can't get into TJ? WOW. Something is really wrong.

There is something wrong with the admissions process at TJ and he is right to shine a light and keep working on this. Robbie is just one of many who wee bypassed in TJ admissions in favor of "other" qualities. It is time for a rework of the TJ admissions process. Money did not keep Robbie out -- but he was undeniable qualified and should have gotten in -- and many others like him. There are very few students like Robbie at TJ.

There are plenty of kids like Robbie and even kids who are more advanced than Robbie at TJ. Taking multivariable calculus/matrix algebra in senior year would be considered common at TJ and there are plenty of kids at TJ taking multivariable calculus in junior year or sophomore year. There are several kids at TJ working on college course textbooks, advanced research etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those football players are brave and tough. A very small roster. Some kids play every play - defense and offense, all game.

Also, approximately 40% of the football players who are seniors made NMSF. How many high schools can claim such achievement?

Very impressive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Jay Matthews has been grinding his ax about TJ for years. I suspect his kids did not get in.

I thought Jay Mathews' kids went to private schools in DC? They would not be eligible for TJ anyway.

Mr. Mathews supports public schools as long as his own family need not do business with them. He is an education writer after the fashion of the NY Times's Fred Hechinger, who wrote about the glories of the NYC public schools while sending his own kids to socially exclusive private schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I think his dad is right to shine the light of shame on TJ admissions -- a kid who gets a near perfect score on the SAT at 15, who is considered 3 grades ahead and taught himself Latin can't get into TJ? WOW. Something is really wrong.

There is something wrong with the admissions process at TJ and he is right to shine a light and keep working on this. Robbie is just one of many who wee bypassed in TJ admissions in favor of "other" qualities. It is time for a rework of the TJ admissions process. Money did not keep Robbie out -- but he was undeniable qualified and should have gotten in -- and many others like him. There are very few students like Robbie at TJ.

TJ should go back to considering only the grades and TJ exam scores like they used to do originally.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Jay Matthews has been grinding his ax about TJ for years. I suspect his kids did not get in.

I thought Jay Mathews' kids went to private schools in DC? They would not be eligible for TJ anyway.

Mr. Mathews supports public schools as long as his own family need not do business with them. He is an education writer after the fashion of the NY Times's Fred Hechinger, who wrote about the glories of the NYC public schools while sending his own kids to socially exclusive private schools.

Yep. I can't stand Jay Mathews. The guy has zero credibility.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also - isn't any application process a "game" of sorts? Don't you think you'd want to consider what the audience might be looking for whether it's an application for a high school, college, or job? People looking for work have different resumes for different types of positions. Is that bad? Or smart? My hunch is the family assumed TJ admissions because of strong grades since pre-K, an inquisitive spirit, good test taking skills, and strong outside interests (even if not school-based). Not a bad likelihood but it didn't turn out. This is why we told our DC who expressed interest in TJ to keep grades up, get involved in things that interest you, but do NOT count on getting in TJ. All you can do is prepare. But after that - like any admissions process, job hunt, election, ball game - there's a bit of randomness to the process. You could be the best applicant ever on paper and still not get in for who knows what reason. Just like a bad bounce of the ball from a glove can cost the World Series. This is life. Filing a FOIA request to determine just how high your kid's SAT scores are is over the top. It also wastes taxpayer dollars to have government employees respond to the request. What if everyone did that? And so now they know he's 36th in Fairfax County for what that is worth. There are more than 3,000 counties in the US according to Google. Still a steep climb for HYP admissions and you can't FOIA their materials.

^^White Tiger Dad

Indeed.

[Anonymous]

I think there are some issues...there are clearly people that do everything they can afford to do to get the kids into TJ. I know people prepping the kids for exams, etc. On the other hand, the people I know whose kids are going to TJ did none of this.

These are kids that are genuinely really smart, interested in science and tech, and good. The problem with the admissions is that out of a county with 12000 kids in each grade, TJ admits about 400 (the other 80 or so come from other jurisdictions). So, only about 3% of the county are admitted.

It is a tough process.

In addition, the people who are doing the selection probably are not in the top 3% of society. It is hard for an average person to understand genius.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do not agree with the headline, but I do agree with the notion that neighborhood high schools in FCPS are just as good (if not better than) TJ for advanced kids:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/did-money-keep-student-out-of-top-school/2014/11/09/b81dd124-66ab-11e4-9fdc-d43b053ecb4d_story.html

Yet, as often happens to super-bright students who fail Jefferson’s unavoidably clumsy admission process, Robbie found his neighborhood school, Herndon High, had much to offer. “I think it was probably for the better that I went there,” he said. He loves playing tuba in the wind ensemble and sousaphone in the band, which has performed as far away as Hawaii. Jefferson would have made him wait until his junior year to join its robotics team. Herndon’s team took him right away and has qualified for the national championship, earning some victories over Jefferson.

Robbie will have 15 Advanced Placement courses and four dual-enrollment college courses completed before graduation this spring. He got the top score on the AP English Literature exam without taking the course.

The neighborhood high schools are not better than TJ for advanced kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do not agree with the headline, but I do agree with the notion that neighborhood high schools in FCPS are just as good (if not better than) TJ for advanced kids:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/did-money-keep-student-out-of-top-school/2014/11/09/b81dd124-66ab-11e4-9fdc-d43b053ecb4d_story.html

Yet, as often happens to super-bright students who fail Jefferson’s unavoidably clumsy admission process, Robbie found his neighborhood school, Herndon High, had much to offer. “I think it was probably for the better that I went there,” he said. He loves playing tuba in the wind ensemble and sousaphone in the band, which has performed as far away as Hawaii. Jefferson would have made him wait until his junior year to join its robotics team. Herndon’s team took him right away and has qualified for the national championship, earning some victories over Jefferson.

Robbie will have 15 Advanced Placement courses and four dual-enrollment college courses completed before graduation this spring. He got the top score on the AP English Literature exam without taking the course.

The neighborhood high schools are not better than TJ for advanced kids.

They CAN be better than TJ for advanced kids. It depends on the kid.

[Anonymous]

They CAN be better than TJ for advanced kids. It depends on the kid.

Absolutely. Most of the schools offer lots of advanced classes in addition to the ability to go to school in their own community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do not agree with the headline, but I do agree with the notion that neighborhood high schools in FCPS are just as good (if not better than) TJ for advanced kids:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/did-money-keep-student-out-of-top-school/2014/11/09/b81dd124-66ab-11e4-9fdc-d43b053ecb4d_story.html

Yet, as often happens to super-bright students who fail Jefferson’s unavoidably clumsy admission process, Robbie found his neighborhood school, Herndon High, had much to offer. “I think it was probably for the better that I went there,” he said. He loves playing tuba in the wind ensemble and sousaphone in the band, which has performed as far away as Hawaii. Jefferson would have made him wait until his junior year to join its robotics team. Herndon’s team took him right away and has qualified for the national championship, earning some victories over Jefferson.

Robbie will have 15 Advanced Placement courses and four dual-enrollment college courses completed before graduation this spring. He got the top score on the AP English Literature exam without taking the course.

The neighborhood high schools are not better than TJ for advanced kids.

They CAN be better than TJ for advanced kids. It depends on the kid.

Those schools can be better for kids deemed "advanced" by paid psychologists.

[Anonymous]

Those schools can be better for kids deemed "advanced" by paid psychologists.

Pitiful comment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Those schools can be better for kids deemed "advanced" by paid psychologists.

Pitiful comment.

It's the vocal but very much tiny minority of posters. Still need to ignore them, much like no-see-ums in the summertime.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Those schools can be better for kids deemed "advanced" by paid psychologists.

Pitiful comment.

You mean truthful.