Reasons why one would not accept TJ offer?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand every middle school will be given a few seats, but last year no one at our middle school accepted the offer. I could be mistaken, as I also heard one kid attended for a year, and returned to base high school. DC took the admissions test this month, and we think there is a good chance we will be made an offer. What I want to understand is why would one not accept a TJ offer? I hear everyone saying how much harder one has to study, but is it significantly more than what a student at base high school enrolled in all honors courses would need to study? How much time would be available to do sports? Trying to figure out if DC would be better off going to our high school with known friends and teammates, or tryout TJ, but definitely want to avoid the hassle of transferring if TJ isnt the right fit.

Football team is 2-7

Ehh, they were 6-3 the year before I think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand every middle school will be given a few seats, but last year no one at our middle school accepted the offer. I could be mistaken, as I also heard one kid attended for a year, and returned to base high school. DC took the admissions test this month, and we think there is a good chance we will be made an offer. What I want to understand is why would one not accept a TJ offer? I hear everyone saying how much harder one has to study, but is it significantly more than what a student at base high school enrolled in all honors courses would need to study? How much time would be available to do sports? Trying to figure out if DC would be better off going to our high school with known friends and teammates, or tryout TJ, but definitely want to avoid the hassle of transferring if TJ isnt the right fit.

Football team is 2-7

Ehh, they were 6-3 the year before I think.

Although the football team is not the best, for kids that WANT to play football, the point is they have the opportunity to do that at TJ whereas at most HS they would be shut out of slots on the team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand every middle school will be given a few seats, but last year no one at our middle school accepted the offer. I could be mistaken, as I also heard one kid attended for a year, and returned to base high school. DC took the admissions test this month, and we think there is a good chance we will be made an offer. What I want to understand is why would one not accept a TJ offer? I hear everyone saying how much harder one has to study, but is it significantly more than what a student at base high school enrolled in all honors courses would need to study? How much time would be available to do sports? Trying to figure out if DC would be better off going to our high school with known friends and teammates, or tryout TJ, but definitely want to avoid the hassle of transferring if TJ isnt the right fit.

Football team is 2-7

Ehh, they were 6-3 the year before I think.

Why are people bringing up football at TJ? It's a joke. They continue to get an exemption from playing a regular schedule against other Class 6 VHSL teams, and instead almost entirely play public school teams in lower divisions and some charters/associations of homeschooled kids. Neither of their two wins in their 2-7 season last year were against regular public schools.

To put in context, I think Wakefield in Arlington has gone 0-10 the last two years in a row but they still man up and play a normal schedule.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand every middle school will be given a few seats, but last year no one at our middle school accepted the offer. I could be mistaken, as I also heard one kid attended for a year, and returned to base high school. DC took the admissions test this month, and we think there is a good chance we will be made an offer. What I want to understand is why would one not accept a TJ offer? I hear everyone saying how much harder one has to study, but is it significantly more than what a student at base high school enrolled in all honors courses would need to study? How much time would be available to do sports? Trying to figure out if DC would be better off going to our high school with known friends and teammates, or tryout TJ, but definitely want to avoid the hassle of transferring if TJ isnt the right fit.

Football team is 2-7

Ehh, they were 6-3 the year before I think.

Although the football team is not the best, for kids that WANT to play football, the point is they have the opportunity to do that at TJ whereas at most HS they would be shut out of slots on the team.

They could still make the team, they might just have to actually play a real game.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand every middle school will be given a few seats, but last year no one at our middle school accepted the offer. I could be mistaken, as I also heard one kid attended for a year, and returned to base high school. DC took the admissions test this month, and we think there is a good chance we will be made an offer. What I want to understand is why would one not accept a TJ offer? I hear everyone saying how much harder one has to study, but is it significantly more than what a student at base high school enrolled in all honors courses would need to study? How much time would be available to do sports? Trying to figure out if DC would be better off going to our high school with known friends and teammates, or tryout TJ, but definitely want to avoid the hassle of transferring if TJ isnt the right fit.

Football team is 2-7

Ehh, they were 6-3 the year before I think.

Although the football team is not the best, for kids that WANT to play football, the point is they have the opportunity to do that at TJ whereas at most HS they would be shut out of slots on the team.

But if Math 1 needs attention, dedicating time for sports would be far fetched?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand every middle school will be given a few seats, but last year no one at our middle school accepted the offer. I could be mistaken, as I also heard one kid attended for a year, and returned to base high school. DC took the admissions test this month, and we think there is a good chance we will be made an offer. What I want to understand is why would one not accept a TJ offer? I hear everyone saying how much harder one has to study, but is it significantly more than what a student at base high school enrolled in all honors courses would need to study? How much time would be available to do sports? Trying to figure out if DC would be better off going to our high school with known friends and teammates, or tryout TJ, but definitely want to avoid the hassle of transferring if TJ isnt the right fit.

Football team is 2-7

Ehh, they were 6-3 the year before I think.

Although the football team is not the best, for kids that WANT to play football, the point is they have the opportunity to do that at TJ whereas at most HS they would be shut out of slots on the team.

But if Math 1 needs attention, dedicating time for sports would be far fetched?

Plenty of kids do extracurriculars including sports at TJ. Kids who are struggling to keep their heads above water though, yes they may not be able to swing both especially if they have a long commute.

[Anonymous]

How realistic is it to manage sports alongside academics and still have competitive grades in all four years?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How realistic is it to manage sports alongside academics and still have competitive grades in all four years?

most try a sport in freshman year, but as academic load swells or a C shows up on the report card, sport gets the axe right away. A few can mange both and keep their grades competitive beyond sophomore

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How realistic is it to manage sports alongside academics and still have competitive grades in all four years?

It's absolutely manageable. My kid did multiple sports, took plenty of APs and post APs and got into a T10 school. They were IMO exactly the kind of kid TJ was designed for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand every middle school will be given a few seats, but last year no one at our middle school accepted the offer. I could be mistaken, as I also heard one kid attended for a year, and returned to base high school. DC took the admissions test this month, and we think there is a good chance we will be made an offer. What I want to understand is why would one not accept a TJ offer? I hear everyone saying how much harder one has to study, but is it significantly more than what a student at base high school enrolled in all honors courses would need to study? How much time would be available to do sports? Trying to figure out if DC would be better off going to our high school with known friends and teammates, or tryout TJ, but definitely want to avoid the hassle of transferring if TJ isnt the right fit.

Football team is 2-7

Ehh, they were 6-3 the year before I think.

Why are people bringing up football at TJ? It's a joke. They continue to get an exemption from playing a regular schedule against other Class 6 VHSL teams, and instead almost entirely play public school teams in lower divisions and some charters/associations of homeschooled kids. Neither of their two wins in their 2-7 season last year were against regular public schools.

To put in context, I think Wakefield in Arlington has gone 0-10 the last two years in a row but they still man up and play a normal schedule.

Honest question: so what? They still get to play football, and they get to do it against programs that they match up decently with. In a sport like football where safety is a real concern, it makes a lot of sense for TJ to do what they're doing. Otherwise they wouldn't have a program anymore, and that would have cascading impacts on the rest of the school's culture.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I understand every middle school will be given a few seats, but last year no one at our middle school accepted the offer. I could be mistaken, as I also heard one kid attended for a year, and returned to base high school. DC took the admissions test this month, and we think there is a good chance we will be made an offer. What I want to understand is why would one not accept a TJ offer? I hear everyone saying how much harder one has to study, but is it significantly more than what a student at base high school enrolled in all honors courses would need to study? How much time would be available to do sports? Trying to figure out if DC would be better off going to our high school with known friends and teammates, or tryout TJ, but definitely want to avoid the hassle of transferring if TJ isnt the right fit.

The lack of diversity is why my nephew declined.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand every middle school will be given a few seats, but last year no one at our middle school accepted the offer. I could be mistaken, as I also heard one kid attended for a year, and returned to base high school. DC took the admissions test this month, and we think there is a good chance we will be made an offer. What I want to understand is why would one not accept a TJ offer? I hear everyone saying how much harder one has to study, but is it significantly more than what a student at base high school enrolled in all honors courses would need to study? How much time would be available to do sports? Trying to figure out if DC would be better off going to our high school with known friends and teammates, or tryout TJ, but definitely want to avoid the hassle of transferring if TJ isnt the right fit.

Football team is 2-7

Ehh, they were 6-3 the year before I think.

Why are people bringing up football at TJ? It's a joke. They continue to get an exemption from playing a regular schedule against other Class 6 VHSL teams, and instead almost entirely play public school teams in lower divisions and some charters/associations of homeschooled kids. Neither of their two wins in their 2-7 season last year were against regular public schools.

To put in context, I think Wakefield in Arlington has gone 0-10 the last two years in a row but they still man up and play a normal schedule.

Honest question: so what? They still get to play football, and they get to do it against programs that they match up decently with. In a sport like football where safety is a real concern, it makes a lot of sense for TJ to do what they're doing. Otherwise they wouldn't have a program anymore, and that would have cascading impacts on the rest of the school's culture.

They should play a regular schedule, turn football into a club sport, or just not field a team. They'd still have a good tennis team even if they didn't play football, but taxpayers shouldn't be funding a fake team.

[Anonymous]

The former TJ football coach is now the coach at GMU and took all his staff with him so it was a transition year. Several TJ football players have been recruited by colleges like MIT. And a female TJ athlete was just named a finalist for the NFL flag football player of the year. Surprising but true. How many other FCPS schools get these type of results through their football programs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand every middle school will be given a few seats, but last year no one at our middle school accepted the offer. I could be mistaken, as I also heard one kid attended for a year, and returned to base high school. DC took the admissions test this month, and we think there is a good chance we will be made an offer. What I want to understand is why would one not accept a TJ offer? I hear everyone saying how much harder one has to study, but is it significantly more than what a student at base high school enrolled in all honors courses would need to study? How much time would be available to do sports? Trying to figure out if DC would be better off going to our high school with known friends and teammates, or tryout TJ, but definitely want to avoid the hassle of transferring if TJ isnt the right fit.

The lack of diversity is why my nephew declined.

feel sorry for your "nephew"
Diversity is why we accepted the offer. DC has made friends with kids with ethinic backgrounds from at least a dozen different countries - saudi arabia, china, sri lanka, south korea, india, philippines, bangladesh, afghanistan, malaysia, japan turkey, etc. In fact the principal at the orientation, made the crowd repeat "hello" in 15+ languages. Apparently, this year's class has kids speaking 40+ languages at home. wow!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Professor Po-Shen Loh, the coach for US math Olympiad team, said that for genuine self-learners, they don't need TJ. They can go to base school and after 2:30 dismissal they can just sit in their room and study ahead of any advanced subjects themselves. Going to TJ would put extra demand on subjects they are not interested in.

He also said at every Olympiad camp, there is little difference between student in second place and 50th place in terms of intelligence, but the student in 1st place is way above everyone else and nobody knows how he get that good.

So I guess he meant for the truly genius students, a very small portion of good students, they don't need TJ.

To be fair to 2-50, Loh was doing MOPS when Luke Robitaille was a teenager. It's tough when #1 is a generational talent.

Whoa, this is inside baseball. The interview was from 4 years ago, timeline matched up with Mr. Luke Robitaille's biography.