TJ decisions are out

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DC got in and in algebra-2.

What exactly is Math 4 & Math 5? Are they equivalent to pre-calculus?

Only if DC satisfies the requirement for Placement test, can she take Math 4/5?

Any guidance please. Thank you!

Why don't you ask the school!?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC got in and in algebra-2.

What exactly is Math 4 & Math 5? Are they equivalent to pre-calculus?

Only if DC satisfies the requirement for Placement test, can she take Math 4/5?

Any guidance please. Thank you!

Why don't you ask the school!?

Quit being pissy. The TJ math track is not exactly easy to follow. A kid who is well grounded in A2 would go into Math 4. It has the reputation of being the hardest semester of math, and for my kid, that was the case. They recommend Math 3 if the ground is not good. The math placements are often suggestions. But TJ knows what it’s doing in placement. If Math 3 is recommended, I would go with it. The way the semester sequence lines up,
A kid in math 3 and a kid in math 4 end up in Calc at the same time, unless your kid does Math summer school. There is no need to rush TJ Math. It’s plenty rigorous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those who are accepted. Congratulations!! Please share how your kids prepare for the test and what is the highest math course the kids are taking in 8th grade. Thanks!!

Purchased ACT aspire reading/science books from amazon, solved amc-8 and math counts from AOp.
Algebra-2 in eight grade. In math counts club.

No other external preparation. Dc got in with 90-95 scores for all three.

DC is doing Algebra 1 right now in 7th. To do Algebra 2 in 8th will mean that DC needs to do geometry in summer which I really hesitate. Any advice?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If grades are awesome and the scores are brilliant, then the only reason has to be the SIS or the recs. Perhaps the recommendations aren’t as excellent as you think, or the child didn’t actually want to go and that was reflected in the SIS

+1. The three test scores are only part of it! Grades, SIS, teacher recs are considered in addition. Those of you posting three test scores are missing the point.

The point is that most weight is given to subjective scoring of essays/SIS. It is certainly not choosing
The top stem candidates

TJ no longer seems to be a STEM school at this point. I think this is good and bad but it looks like they are more about creating a well balanced instead of kids who are interested in STEM which I thought was a prerequisite since it is a STEM school

One possible strategy is that they take semi finalists off of test scores but then for who gets in it's much more subjective which might be how they are weeding out the cookie cutter hard core STEM folks but again why call it a STEM school if you aren't taking people actually interest in STEM

On what are you basing this strong statement? The speculation on an anonymous board? I guarantee you TJ is still a STEM school. I have two kids there and they have access to so many advanced STEM offerings and are surrounded by kids who mostly love STEM. They also have great humanities offerings but TJ specializes in STEM.

They aren't taking the strongest STEM folks from the semifinialist group. They are doing holistic admissions to create some kind of balanced class bs.

Or, they are defining “strong in STEM” differently than you. Highest math test score does not necessarily mean “strongest in STEM”.

Read the mission statement and beliefs. Really read it and think about it. TJ practices this. Interdisciplinary. Global. Literature, art and music. Collaboration. Effective communication. Math prep, or even math talent is a piece. But only a piece. TJ is spelling out what it’s looking for in applicants. I have no idea why people then get their noses out of joint when their kid who has never demonstrated collaboration or teamwork, never demonstrated cross disciplinary skills, and never written a coherent sentence is turned down. You would never apply for a job and not read the company’s mission statement and beliefs. Why is your kid applying for TJ and not looking at TJs? And clearly they haven’t. Because you clearly haven’t.


If your kid did hundreds of hours of TJ prep, and you never had them read the mission statement and beliefs and think about what they have done that could show they would be a good fit, you did them a huge disservice. Every kid who wants to go should write a practice SIS on why they want to go to TJ, and one on what they could contribute, and line it up against these. If for no other reason than to decide whether they would enjoy going to school there. That, plus one practice test, is the only prep my kids did, and both got in with good but not top scores. And are doing very well.

https://tjhsst.fcps.edu/about

This is such a good post. I think you are right that a lot of people just assume they know what is meant by STEM.

Back when the SIS was written at home, there was a question that directed kids to read the mission statement and then write about what it meant to them. Is this no longer a question?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those who are accepted. Congratulations!! Please share how your kids prepare for the test and what is the highest math course the kids are taking in 8th grade. Thanks!!

Purchased ACT aspire reading/science books from amazon, solved amc-8 and math counts from AOp.
Algebra-2 in eight grade. In math counts club.

No other external preparation. Dc got in with 90-95 scores for all three.

DC is doing Algebra 1 right now in 7th. To do Algebra 2 in 8th will mean that DC needs to do geometry in summer which I really hesitate. Any advice?

Don’t. These are foundational math classes and A2 vs geometry does not give your kid an edge— in the test or in admissions. 60-70% of the class usually comes in with Geometry. 10% with A1. The rest with A2, except for a handful that are through pre-Calc. Most kids go into Math 2,5 or 3 out of geometry. Lots of A2 kids don’t get in. TJ is pretty clear it would rather have less Math well. My own kid had a tough transition to MS, and a rocky start in A1 that haunted him freshman year. Once you hit geometry, a strong foundation is more important than another year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If grades are awesome and the scores are brilliant, then the only reason has to be the SIS or the recs. Perhaps the recommendations aren’t as excellent as you think, or the child didn’t actually want to go and that was reflected in the SIS

+1. The three test scores are only part of it! Grades, SIS, teacher recs are considered in addition. Those of you posting three test scores are missing the point.

The point is that most weight is given to subjective scoring of essays/SIS. It is certainly not choosing
The top stem candidates

TJ no longer seems to be a STEM school at this point. I think this is good and bad but it looks like they are more about creating a well balanced instead of kids who are interested in STEM which I thought was a prerequisite since it is a STEM school

One possible strategy is that they take semi finalists off of test scores but then for who gets in it's much more subjective which might be how they are weeding out the cookie cutter hard core STEM folks but again why call it a STEM school if you aren't taking people actually interest in STEM

On what are you basing this strong statement? The speculation on an anonymous board? I guarantee you TJ is still a STEM school. I have two kids there and they have access to so many advanced STEM offerings and are surrounded by kids who mostly love STEM. They also have great humanities offerings but TJ specializes in STEM.

They aren't taking the strongest STEM folks from the semifinialist group. They are doing holistic admissions to create some kind of balanced class bs.

Or, they are defining “strong in STEM” differently than you. Highest math test score does not necessarily mean “strongest in STEM”.

Read the mission statement and beliefs. Really read it and think about it. TJ practices this. Interdisciplinary. Global. Literature, art and music. Collaboration. Effective communication. Math prep, or even math talent is a piece. But only a piece. TJ is spelling out what it’s looking for in applicants. I have no idea why people then get their noses out of joint when their kid who has never demonstrated collaboration or teamwork, never demonstrated cross disciplinary skills, and never written a coherent sentence is turned down. You would never apply for a job and not read the company’s mission statement and beliefs. Why is your kid applying for TJ and not looking at TJs? And clearly they haven’t. Because you clearly haven’t.


If your kid did hundreds of hours of TJ prep, and you never had them read the mission statement and beliefs and think about what they have done that could show they would be a good fit, you did them a huge disservice. Every kid who wants to go should write a practice SIS on why they want to go to TJ, and one on what they could contribute, and line it up against these. If for no other reason than to decide whether they would enjoy going to school there. That, plus one practice test, is the only prep my kids did, and both got in with good but not top scores. And are doing very well.

https://tjhsst.fcps.edu/about

This is such a good post. I think you are right that a lot of people just assume they know what is meant by STEM.

Back when the SIS was written at home, there was a question that directed kids to read the mission statement and then write about what it meant to them. Is this no longer a question?

They change every year. But there always seems to be one sussing out whether the kid is a fit based on mission statement. My kids year, it asked him to talk about a time it had been a challenge to work in a team or with a group, or something similar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC got in and in algebra-2.

What exactly is Math 4 & Math 5? Are they equivalent to pre-calculus?

Only if DC satisfies the requirement for Placement test, can she take Math 4/5?

Any guidance please. Thank you!

Why don't you ask the school!?

Quit being pissy. The TJ math track is not exactly easy to follow. A kid who is well grounded in A2 would go into Math 4. It has the reputation of being the hardest semester of math, and for my kid, that was the case. They recommend Math 3 if the ground is not good. The math placements are often suggestions. But TJ knows what it’s doing in placement. If Math 3 is recommended, I would go with it. The way the semester sequence lines up,
A kid in math 3 and a kid in math 4 end up in Calc at the same time, unless your kid does Math summer school. There is no need to rush TJ Math. It’s plenty rigorous.

So what!? Man, u r wound up too tight. Just chill.

To OP - I agree with the previous poster...still ask the school for proper guidance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DC got in and in algebra-2.

What exactly is Math 4 & Math 5? Are they equivalent to pre-calculus?

Only if DC satisfies the requirement for Placement test, can she take Math 4/5?

Any guidance please. Thank you!

Math 4 is trigonometry. Math 5 is more parent functions (like logarithms) and conics. Both cover polar equations. Math 5 is generally easier but not by too much. At the end you will begin preparing for Calculus by learning derivatives and limits.

-student in Math 5 now

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those who are accepted. Congratulations!! Please share how your kids prepare for the test and what is the highest math course the kids are taking in 8th grade. Thanks!!

Purchased ACT aspire reading/science books from amazon, solved amc-8 and math counts from AOp.
Algebra-2 in eight grade. In math counts club.

No other external preparation. Dc got in with 90-95 scores for all three.

DC is doing Algebra 1 right now in 7th. To do Algebra 2 in 8th will mean that DC needs to do geometry in summer which I really hesitate. Any advice?

Don’t. These are foundational math classes and A2 vs geometry does not give your kid an edge— in the test or in admissions. 60-70% of the class usually comes in with Geometry. 10% with A1. The rest with A2, except for a handful that are through pre-Calc. Most kids go into Math 2,5 or 3 out of geometry. Lots of A2 kids don’t get in. TJ is pretty clear it would rather have less Math well. My own kid had a tough transition to MS, and a rocky start in A1 that haunted him freshman year. Once you hit geometry, a strong foundation is more important than another year.

DC1 did Honors Geometry in 8th grade and subsequently got into TJ and is now a Junior.

DC2 is in Hon Alg 1 in 7th grade. We are seriously considering Honors Geometry over the summer now that we know what it entails and the fact that DC2 is more gifted with Math and would "get it" much faster than DC1. However, DC2 has no TJ aspirations and we are not really sure that it would really help to enter a base HS for pre-calc in 9th grade.

[Anonymous]

Would like to see the breakdown of TJ admits by middle schools.

[Anonymous]

After talking to someone at the TJ Admissions office, it is pretty clear now that both 7th Grade and 8th Grade (Ist & 2nd Qtr) GPAs are critical to success (perhaps more than the Test scores).

Note that a foreign language when taken as a high school level course is included for 7th Grade GPA calculation. FL selection in 7th grade is an important decision that can have a far-reaching impact on admissions to high schools etc. In a highly competitive semi-finalist pool, even a fraction of a point difference in GPA can be the deciding factor.

https://www.fcps.edu/registration/thomas-jefferson-admissions/eligibility-requirements/gpa-calculation

[Anonymous]

Another math data point. My TJ senior took Geometry the summer between 7th and 8th grades. Struggled with Math 4 (as much with the adjustment to TJ as with the math), did fine in Math 5. He then chose to take Calc AB rather than BC, so all the rushing put him in the same place as the majority of the class in the end. What's the saying - it's a marathon, not a sprint. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another math data point. My TJ senior took Geometry the summer between 7th and 8th grades. Struggled with Math 4 (as much with the adjustment to TJ as with the math), did fine in Math 5. He then chose to take Calc AB rather than BC, so all the rushing put him in the same place as the majority of the class in the end. What's the saying - it's a marathon, not a sprint. Good luck.

agree

why is anyone in their right mind seriously considering taking math over the summer to "get ahead" it's ridiculous helicopter parenting

TJ itself has barely anyone taking Algebra 2 in 8th

[Anonymous]

Does anyone from past years' waitpools have any information they can share on when they found out a decision in July? I see from the TJ admissions website that the freshman summer round decisions will come out June 28th, and presumably those offers will have a week or 2 to decide. But for purposes of management of expectations for DC (who is in this year's Waitpool), what is the likely timing of a decision? TIA!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone from past years' waitpools have any information they can share on when they found out a decision in July? I see from the TJ admissions website that the freshman summer round decisions will come out June 28th, and presumably those offers will have a week or 2 to decide. But for purposes of management of expectations for DC (who is in this year's Waitpool), what is the likely timing of a decision? TIA!

Class of 2020: the Friday before the. 4th of July weekend.