TJ. vs the privates

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This whole thread is dumb. The vast majority of private school students in DC wouldn’t even get into Thomas Jerfferson.

And the opposite is true too, insofar as the most selective DC private schools are concerned. What's your point? They're two completely different animals aiming for two distinct types of student bodies. Neither is better.

Hard to say "neither is better" when one group has to pay 40K to get in and the other has to get in on an objective set of exams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What a terrible analogy that has nothing to do with college admissions.

The implication upthread was that private school legacy admits should somehow be dismissed or discounted in some way. But if there are more public school legacy applicants (total number, not percentage at the school) for the exact same colleges, why aren't they dismissed or discounted in the same way as those at private schools? The legacy bump received is the same no matter whether the applicant is coming from a public or private school.

Because legacy applicants are far less common as a share of the total at public schools than at expensive private schools. So if you say, oh, he came from Public High School X and got accepted to HYPS, the chances that kids' parents were alumni of that school is pretty low.

[Anonymous]

But we're talking about two numbers that are already both low. For example, I think only 14 percent of Harvard's undergraduate student body is legacy. So the chances that a private school admit's parents were legacy are pretty low too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But we're talking about two numbers that are already both low. For example, I think only 14 percent of Harvard's undergraduate student body is legacy. So the chances that a private school admit's parents were legacy are pretty low too.

It can be "pretty low", and still multiples of times higher than the general population.

[Anonymous]

So why do people on DCUM often assume or post as if a huge chunk of private school admits are HYPS legacies, when you've already admitted that the chances are pretty low (albeit higher than the general population)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This whole thread is dumb. The vast majority of private school students in DC wouldn’t even get into Thomas Jerfferson.

And the opposite is true too, insofar as the most selective DC private schools are concerned. What's your point? They're two completely different animals aiming for two distinct types of student bodies. Neither is better.

100% agree that TJ and the top privates are very different schools that are looking for different things as part of their admissions process. And no one is saying that TJ or the top privates aren't good (at least I hope no one is saying that, as it would be ridiculous) - obviously they both are, and several kids from both regularly gain admission to HYPMS and other top colleges and universities each year. Rather, they are just different.

It seems the point several PPs have tried to make, which I believe is a narrow albeit valid one, is that strictly in terms of the academic ability of the students, the difference between TJ and the top DC privates is immense. A very small proportion of the students at Sidwell/STA/NCS/GDS/other top privates could possibly gain admission to TJ, and an even smaller proportion could realistically handle the work. Probably just the very top students at those schools would be capable of getting into TJ (let alone thriving there). While it's true that most TJ students would not get into those same top DC privates either, the reason has nothing to do with those students' academic ability/smarts. Every single student who makes it into TJ could more than easily handle the academics at Sidwell/STA/NCS/etc. (whether they can thrive in high-pressure environments, whether TJ or the top privates, is another question, but what isn't in question if they got accepted to TJ in the first place is their smarts). This isn't to say that the academics at the top privates are bad by any stretch - given their selectivity, the average SAT scores of their students, and their track record getting kids into top colleges, they obviously attract students that are academically stronger than the average at most other schools. TJ is just an extreme outlier in that sense - it's a generalization to be sure, but take the top 10% of the kids at the top DC privates (based on grades/testing/smarts alone) and the majority of them would likely fall in the bottom half at TJ.

[Anonymous]

Please give it a rest TJ boosters. We get it ... you love TJ!
Yay for you!

[Anonymous]

Both TJ and top private’s take kids that would have gotten into great schools no matter what, then pat themselves on the back for getting kids into great schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This whole thread is dumb. The vast majority of private school students in DC wouldn’t even get into Thomas Jerfferson.

And the opposite is true too, insofar as the most selective DC private schools are concerned. What's your point? They're two completely different animals aiming for two distinct types of student bodies. Neither is better.

100% agree that TJ and the top privates are very different schools that are looking for different things as part of their admissions process. And no one is saying that TJ or the top privates aren't good (at least I hope no one is saying that, as it would be ridiculous) - obviously they both are, and several kids from both regularly gain admission to HYPMS and other top colleges and universities each year. Rather, they are just different.

It seems the point several PPs have tried to make, which I believe is a narrow albeit valid one, is that strictly in terms of the academic ability of the students, the difference between TJ and the top DC privates is immense. A very small proportion of the students at Sidwell/STA/NCS/GDS/other top privates could possibly gain admission to TJ, and an even smaller proportion could realistically handle the work. Probably just the very top students at those schools would be capable of getting into TJ (let alone thriving there). While it's true that most TJ students would not get into those same top DC privates either, the reason has nothing to do with those students' academic ability/smarts. Every single student who makes it into TJ could more than easily handle the academics at Sidwell/STA/NCS/etc. (whether they can thrive in high-pressure environments, whether TJ or the top privates, is another question, but what isn't in question if they got accepted to TJ in the first place is their smarts). This isn't to say that the academics at the top privates are bad by any stretch - given their selectivity, the average SAT scores of their students, and their track record getting kids into top colleges, they obviously attract students that are academically stronger than the average at most other schools. TJ is just an extreme outlier in that sense - it's a generalization to be sure, but take the top 10% of the kids at the top DC privates (based on grades/testing/smarts alone) and the majority of them would likely fall in the bottom half at TJ.

Keep telling yourself that and maybe you'll believe it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This whole thread is dumb. The vast majority of private school students in DC wouldn’t even get into Thomas Jerfferson.

And the opposite is true too, insofar as the most selective DC private schools are concerned. What's your point? They're two completely different animals aiming for two distinct types of student bodies. Neither is better.

100% agree that TJ and the top privates are very different schools that are looking for different things as part of their admissions process. And no one is saying that TJ or the top privates aren't good (at least I hope no one is saying that, as it would be ridiculous) - obviously they both are, and several kids from both regularly gain admission to HYPMS and other top colleges and universities each year. Rather, they are just different.

It seems the point several PPs have tried to make, which I believe is a narrow albeit valid one, is that strictly in terms of the academic ability of the students, the difference between TJ and the top DC privates is immense. A very small proportion of the students at Sidwell/STA/NCS/GDS/other top privates could possibly gain admission to TJ, and an even smaller proportion could realistically handle the work. Probably just the very top students at those schools would be capable of getting into TJ (let alone thriving there). While it's true that most TJ students would not get into those same top DC privates either, the reason has nothing to do with those students' academic ability/smarts. Every single student who makes it into TJ could more than easily handle the academics at Sidwell/STA/NCS/etc. (whether they can thrive in high-pressure environments, whether TJ or the top privates, is another question, but what isn't in question if they got accepted to TJ in the first place is their smarts). This isn't to say that the academics at the top privates are bad by any stretch - given their selectivity, the average SAT scores of their students, and their track record getting kids into top colleges, they obviously attract students that are academically stronger than the average at most other schools. TJ is just an extreme outlier in that sense - it's a generalization to be sure, but take the top 10% of the kids at the top DC privates (based on grades/testing/smarts alone) and the majority of them would likely fall in the bottom half at TJ.

Keep telling yourself that and maybe you'll believe it.

Don't worry, your kid will still have a better chance of getting into an elite school than a TJ kid because most of the TJ kids are poorer than your kid and Asian and thus subject to higher admissions standards and their parents aren't in the position to donate 100K to the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This whole thread is dumb. The vast majority of private school students in DC wouldn’t even get into Thomas Jerfferson.

And the opposite is true too, insofar as the most selective DC private schools are concerned. What's your point? They're two completely different animals aiming for two distinct types of student bodies. Neither is better.

100% agree that TJ and the top privates are very different schools that are looking for different things as part of their admissions process. And no one is saying that TJ or the top privates aren't good (at least I hope no one is saying that, as it would be ridiculous) - obviously they both are, and several kids from both regularly gain admission to HYPMS and other top colleges and universities each year. Rather, they are just different.

It seems the point several PPs have tried to make, which I believe is a narrow albeit valid one, is that strictly in terms of the academic ability of the students, the difference between TJ and the top DC privates is immense. A very small proportion of the students at Sidwell/STA/NCS/GDS/other top privates could possibly gain admission to TJ, and an even smaller proportion could realistically handle the work. Probably just the very top students at those schools would be capable of getting into TJ (let alone thriving there). While it's true that most TJ students would not get into those same top DC privates either, the reason has nothing to do with those students' academic ability/smarts. Every single student who makes it into TJ could more than easily handle the academics at Sidwell/STA/NCS/etc. (whether they can thrive in high-pressure environments, whether TJ or the top privates, is another question, but what isn't in question if they got accepted to TJ in the first place is their smarts). This isn't to say that the academics at the top privates are bad by any stretch - given their selectivity, the average SAT scores of their students, and their track record getting kids into top colleges, they obviously attract students that are academically stronger than the average at most other schools. TJ is just an extreme outlier in that sense - it's a generalization to be sure, but take the top 10% of the kids at the top DC privates (based on grades/testing/smarts alone) and the majority of them would likely fall in the bottom half at TJ.

NMSF is about 30% of the class in TJ and 13% in Sidwell in 2018. The cut-off score is probably 1 point higher in DC than in VA. TJ students are generally better test takers because they are selected by test scores. Therefore, the difference between TJ and private students may not be as big as people think.

[Anonymous]

But standardized test scores don’t singlehandedly determine college admissions. Nor should they.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This whole thread is dumb. The vast majority of private school students in DC wouldn’t even get into Thomas Jerfferson.

And the opposite is true too, insofar as the most selective DC private schools are concerned. What's your point? They're two completely different animals aiming for two distinct types of student bodies. Neither is better.

100% agree that TJ and the top privates are very different schools that are looking for different things as part of their admissions process. And no one is saying that TJ or the top privates aren't good (at least I hope no one is saying that, as it would be ridiculous) - obviously they both are, and several kids from both regularly gain admission to HYPMS and other top colleges and universities each year. Rather, they are just different.

It seems the point several PPs have tried to make, which I believe is a narrow albeit valid one, is that strictly in terms of the academic ability of the students, the difference between TJ and the top DC privates is immense. A very small proportion of the students at Sidwell/STA/NCS/GDS/other top privates could possibly gain admission to TJ, and an even smaller proportion could realistically handle the work. Probably just the very top students at those schools would be capable of getting into TJ (let alone thriving there). While it's true that most TJ students would not get into those same top DC privates either, the reason has nothing to do with those students' academic ability/smarts. Every single student who makes it into TJ could more than easily handle the academics at Sidwell/STA/NCS/etc. (whether they can thrive in high-pressure environments, whether TJ or the top privates, is another question, but what isn't in question if they got accepted to TJ in the first place is their smarts). This isn't to say that the academics at the top privates are bad by any stretch - given their selectivity, the average SAT scores of their students, and their track record getting kids into top colleges, they obviously attract students that are academically stronger than the average at most other schools. TJ is just an extreme outlier in that sense - it's a generalization to be sure, but take the top 10% of the kids at the top DC privates (based on grades/testing/smarts alone) and the majority of them would likely fall in the bottom half at TJ.

NMSF is about 30% of the class in TJ and 13% in Sidwell in 2018. The cut-off score is probably 1 point higher in DC than in VA. TJ students are generally better test takers because they are selected by test scores. Therefore, the difference between TJ and private students may not be as big as people think.

face·palm

/?f?spä(l)m/

INFORMAL

noun
noun: face palm

1.
a gesture in which the palm of one's hand is brought to one's face, as an expression of disbelief, shame, or exasperation.
"I'm pretty sure said friend now thinks Anne and I are dating—facepalm!"

verb
verb: face-palm

1.
bring the palm of one's hand to one's face, as an expression of disbelief, shame, or exasperation.
"how many times did she facepalm during the hearing?"

[Anonymous]

There's more to education than just STEM classes and test scores. How about the humanities and writing. Things which are not measured in test scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There's more to education than just STEM classes and test scores. How about the humanities and writing. Things which are not measured in test scores.

Not trying to promote TJ but it is equally strong in Humanities and Writing though the students are selected based on their interest in STEM and it specializes in STEM. There are plenty of kids who focus on humanities at TJ.