TJ: Kids having second thoughts?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This area has plenty of kids who can do the math and also write well, so TJ does not need to take kids who can only "do the math." Why take a kid who is great at math but doesn't write well when you can accept kids who are great at math and also have great writing skills?
Some of the kids who have needed math help are kids who have had tutoring for years to help with them do well in school.
And TJ kids are not in "remedial math", some 9th graders are getting extra help with Algebra II, a course that is normally taken by 11th graders.

Sorry, TJ is a school for science and tech...not literature.

Re: The sarcastic statement that "TJ is a school for science and tech....not literature": You're betraying a grave lack of any knowledge of how real-life science and technology work. If TJ kids think it's enough to do math correctly and and set up labs properly, they are going to get a rude awakening when they have to write theses in college and grad school, and when they get actual jobs.

My husband was a math major and then a Ph.D. physicist and spent years in DOE and DOD national labs. He now works extensively with MDs at NIH institutes. Our family is very involved with a lot of extracurricular science activities for school-aged kids. He and every MD, engineer, chemist and physicist he knows would tell you: Good writing skills are absolutely essential to having any kind of real career in the sciences, period. If you can "do the math" but can't express your experimental results and reasoning in writing, you are not going to do well in sciences. Maybe you can get a job where you do nothing but math all day long somehow, but any form of science requires writing skills. The snarky comment that TJ is not for literature dismisses the entire idea that these kids need to learn not just the bare minimum of writing but outstanding writing skills. It's not literature they are going for; it's the ability to communicate scientific concepts clearly and accurately.

Yes, great post.

I cannot fathom why so many people are resentful of the fact that TJ applicants need to show that they know how to communicate their thoughts clearly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

But you seem to assume that these kids are all of a sudden stopping their tutoring once they get to TJ and then they can't keep up in Math. Believe me, the TJ kids who have been getting tutoring in ES & MS are continuing to get tutoring through TJ.

Do you thinkTJ students should be able to be successful in their math courses without outside tutoring?

And what is the difference between getting help outside of school and getting help during the school day?

Yes. The more tutoring they need, the harder the math requirement will be. Some people have natural talent in math -- just like any other talent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

But you seem to assume that these kids are all of a sudden stopping their tutoring once they get to TJ and then they can't keep up in Math. Believe me, the TJ kids who have been getting tutoring in ES & MS are continuing to get tutoring through TJ.

Do you thinkTJ students should be able to be successful in their math courses without outside tutoring?

And what is the difference between getting help outside of school and getting help during the school day?

Yes. The more tutoring they need, the harder the math requirement will be. Some people have natural talent in math -- just like any other talent.

So, should TJ students be getting outside tutoring in math?

I can see kids at a regular school needing tutoring to keep up, but why does a kid at TJ have regular outside tutors?

[Anonymous]

You may think of this note as a usual complaint, but I just wanted to let you know that TJ will have to start preparing a serious remediation program for its upcoming freshmen class. Last year, I was part of a coaching program for students interested in joining TJ. All the mediocre students (scoring generally <70% in math, verbal and writing in sample tests at our Centre) who were semi-finalists for TJ class of 2017 made it to TJ. All the top kids from this class have been rejected by TJ admissions. Not even one out of 15 made it to TJ. It came as a shock to me. They all scored above 48 in Math and above 45 in Verbal. These kids are among the top performers in their middle schools and possess superior writing and math skills. These top kids did not need to be at our Centre because they were naturally talented. If the goal of the admissions office was to select the students with true interest in STEM, I can assure you, most of the selected students from our coaching Centre will disappoint TJ.
The admission process has miserably failed TJ yet again. It is such a shame for a school that wants to maintain its top status. TJ will find out next year that most of these students lack fundamental understanding in arithmetic and algebra 1. My understanding is that the math portion of the test was very easy and that even 6th graders could have solved most of these problems easily. This allowed even the mediocre kids to score between 38 and 45 in math portion of the test. I know the school always claims that its admission process is fair and holistic. The school will find out about this group of freshmen capabilities from its teachers next year. TJ admission office truly has done a disservice to the school yet again because it has selected undeserving students over the genuinely talented ones. I guarantee you about this because I know I dealt with this group closely for over 12 months. Thanks

[Anonymous]

What is a coaching Centre? Is this a program within the middle school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is a coaching Centre? Is this a program within the middle school?

Private test prep. There are about six or seven different ones. Do a search on DCUM and you'll find them in old threads.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is a coaching Centre? Is this a program within the middle school?

Private test prep. There are about six or seven different ones. Do a search on DCUM and you'll find them in old threads.

I wonder if these programs might be backfiring. Could the admissions committee be picking up on the formulas these programs teach for writing the essays and SIS?

[Anonymous]

Not at all. There are at least 40-50 coaching centers in VA alone. Most kids getting into TJ have been coached at these centers. TJ admission office is rejecting kids who are super talented and present themselves well. The admission office thinks that these kids are getting coached and therefore, rejecting them. However, the opposite is true. The medicore kids from the centers are getting into TJ in large numbers and that's why they are having problems in Algebra II. In addition, many TJ students are opting for Calculus AB and not for Calculus BC because they don't have a good foundation in math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not at all. There are at least 40-50 coaching centers in VA alone. Most kids getting into TJ have been coached at these centers. TJ admission office is rejecting kids who are super talented and present themselves well. The admission office thinks that these kids are getting coached and therefore, rejecting them. However, the opposite is true. The medicore kids from the centers are getting into TJ in large numbers and that's why they are having problems in Algebra II. In addition, many TJ students are opting for Calculus AB and not for Calculus BC because they don't have a good foundation in math.

Yes, that's what I was saying about the program backfiring. I agree with you on this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know how many TJ kids get booted every year based on the 3.0 requirement? Is there a probation period?

What do dear parents do with their TJ car magnet if their kid gets booted out?

I love you

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is a coaching Centre? Is this a program within the middle school?

Private test prep. There are about six or seven different ones. Do a search on DCUM and you'll find them in old threads.

So, test prep businesses are calling themselves coaching centres nowadays? Interesting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

But you seem to assume that these kids are all of a sudden stopping their tutoring once they get to TJ and then they can't keep up in Math. Believe me, the TJ kids who have been getting tutoring in ES & MS are continuing to get tutoring through TJ.

Do you thinkTJ students should be able to be successful in their math courses without outside tutoring?

And what is the difference between getting help outside of school and getting help during the school day?

Yes. The more tutoring they need, the harder the math requirement will be. Some people have natural talent in math -- just like any other talent.

So, should TJ students be getting outside tutoring in math?

I can see kids at a regular school needing tutoring to keep up, but why does a kid at TJ have regular outside tutors?

Speaking only for my DS, never any tutoring. Accepted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You may think of this note as a usual complaint, but I just wanted to let you know that TJ will have to start preparing a serious remediation program for its upcoming freshmen class. Last year, I was part of a coaching program for students interested in joining TJ. All the mediocre students (scoring generally <70% in math, verbal and writing in sample tests at our Centre) who were semi-finalists for TJ class of 2017 made it to TJ. All the top kids from this class have been rejected by TJ admissions. Not even one out of 15 made it to TJ. It came as a shock to me. They all scored above 48 in Math and above 45 in Verbal. These kids are among the top performers in their middle schools and possess superior writing and math skills. These top kids did not need to be at our Centre because they were naturally talented. If the goal of the admissions office was to select the students with true interest in STEM, I can assure you, most of the selected students from our coaching Centre will disappoint TJ.
The admission process has miserably failed TJ yet again. It is such a shame for a school that wants to maintain its top status. TJ will find out next year that most of these students lack fundamental understanding in arithmetic and algebra 1. My understanding is that the math portion of the test was very easy and that even 6th graders could have solved most of these problems easily. This allowed even the mediocre kids to score between 38 and 45 in math portion of the test. I know the school always claims that its admission process is fair and holistic. The school will find out about this group of freshmen capabilities from its teachers next year. TJ admission office truly has done a disservice to the school yet again because it has selected undeserving students over the genuinely talented ones. I guarantee you about this because I know I dealt with this group closely for over 12 months. Thanks

Well, some applicants never come to your center because they are doing well in math without your help!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know how many TJ kids get booted every year based on the 3.0 requirement? Is there a probation period?

What do dear parents do with their TJ car magnet if their kid gets booted out?

I love you

DD knows about 3-4 who dropped out...not all because of the 3.0 req

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You may think of this note as a usual complaint, but I just wanted to let you know that TJ will have to start preparing a serious remediation program for its upcoming freshmen class. Last year, I was part of a coaching program for students interested in joining TJ. All the mediocre students (scoring generally <70% in math, verbal and writing in sample tests at our Centre) who were semi-finalists for TJ class of 2017 made it to TJ. All the top kids from this class have been rejected by TJ admissions. Not even one out of 15 made it to TJ. It came as a shock to me. They all scored above 48 in Math and above 45 in Verbal. These kids are among the top performers in their middle schools and possess superior writing and math skills. These top kids did not need to be at our Centre because they were naturally talented. If the goal of the admissions office was to select the students with true interest in STEM, I can assure you, most of the selected students from our coaching Centre will disappoint TJ.
The admission process has miserably failed TJ yet again. It is such a shame for a school that wants to maintain its top status. TJ will find out next year that most of these students lack fundamental understanding in arithmetic and algebra 1. My understanding is that the math portion of the test was very easy and that even 6th graders could have solved most of these problems easily. This allowed even the mediocre kids to score between 38 and 45 in math portion of the test. I know the school always claims that its admission process is fair and holistic. The school will find out about this group of freshmen capabilities from its teachers next year. TJ admission office truly has done a disservice to the school yet again because it has selected undeserving students over the genuinely talented ones. I guarantee you about this because I know I dealt with this group closely for over 12 months. Thanks

Well, some applicants never come to your center because they are doing well in math without your help!

Sure there are a large percentage of kids who do not take prep classes. However, participation in these classes has been rising rapidly. The bottom line is that admission office is doing a very poor job in filtering out candidates who are not much interested in STEM, but more interested in getting to TJ because their parents are pushing them, primarily because it brings prestige to the family.It's a shame when you see kids getting into school who can not solve simple word problems.