TJ. vs the privates

[Anonymous]

Particularly Sidwell, Any opinion/ comparison / examples on curriculum, ec, college placement?

[Anonymous]

Based on rankings alone, TJ is (arguably) the best school in the area (and nation), but that’s just a very basic view of it.

TJ is the best you can get in this area for STEM, as you can tell from the name, and they only accept the best of the best. There is such a deep focus in Science and Technology that you simply can’t get in other places, and MIT takes 8 kids from TJ per year. All that being said, this doesn’t mean that Sidwell has a bad STEM program.

Sidwell is an excellent school; there is a focus on stem but also on humanities as well. I think there’s more “personality” in SFS than there is at TJ. Sidwell has a loooong history, and that’s what I mean by personality. Both schools (from what i’ve heard) offer around the same amount of homework a night BUT I would like to challenge that.

The way it works at TJ is the child is the one doing the learning (teacher assigns a topic and the kid teaches him or herself as homework) then they discuss it at school with peers. If a kid is struggling with the understanding of said topic, she or he would have to stay up till forever until they get it.

There’s the diversity aspect of TJ: It’s an asian school. Then there’s some white kids, and barely any black kids. It’s not a diverse school at all. Sidwell is incredibly diverse: there’s black white latino asian etc.

The kids that go to Sidwell may not all be geniuses; some probably only got in because they’re a legacy or their parents donated 75 million dollars to the school, but that can’t be said for TJ. The kids that struggle at TJ, which are a LOT, simply aren’t meant for that school.

TJ is absolutely freaking brutal. Before you ever send your kid there you need to make sure that they live breathe and sweat STEM or else the next four years are gonna be hell. SFS isn’t as intense. You can be proficient at English and do just dandy at SFS. You can be an average student and do just as well.

Personally, this is all from an outsider point of view; my DC attends a Cathedral school and we were thinking about TJ but heard way too many horror stories about kids killing themselves, kids being depressed, etc, but we have definitely heard and seen our fair share of stories about the prissy preppy fake country club parents that control who is in their kids friend circle and treat an advisor so badly that they leave.
We have done well at the Cathedral school that our DC attends, and we do not regret our decision. If your kid is a science prodigy or genius and wants to pursue STEM as a career, send your kid off to TJ. If your kid likes STEM but isn’t living and breathing it and isn’t sure that they want to pursue it as a career, play it safe and send them to SFS. TJ is an incredibly competitive school and your kid will be surrounded by geniuses.

[Anonymous]

I said this in a prior post... there are kids who can get into TJ but can’t get into Big 3. On paper their scores/grades are higher, they have diverse interests. Maybe their parents are full pay but not huge donors. Maybe they don’t have the “wow factor” that Sidwell is looking for, though again, higher scores.

I’ve seen this happen time and time again at our k-8.

[Anonymous]

If you can get into tj you can crush sidwell. Not vice versa

[Anonymous]

My kid was accepted into TJ five years ago but we decided send him to Potomac school because:

1- potomac school teaches more than just STEM. it also teaches kids to be a better person, public speaking, humanities and critical thinking. I don't think they teach that at TJ because that is not TJ's mission. Potomac school can take a shy and introvert kid and turn that kid into a very good engaging student as it did with mine. I am very thankful for that. I don't think TJ can do that.

2- networking. I don't mean that for parents but for the kids. Kids at Potomac come from lot of wealthy families, much more so than TJ. I think they have special bonds and they tend to help each other more. My son graduated there five years ago and he got his first job from one of his friends' mother at Potomac who is a Executive Vice President of a Fortune 500 companies. He also got his 2nd job from another Potomac friend who is running a start-up company. You can not under estimate the power of networking. I am not sure you have that at TJ

As the actor William Macy (his wife has been charged in the admission scandal) once said: "One can help your children in this business, and the nepotism works, and I have no problems with it,” Macy said, predicated on the idea that his daughters would go into acting. He added, “If I can give them a leg up, I absolutely would. It’s a great way to make a living. It really is.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you can get into tj you can crush sidwell. Not vice versa

I agree with this. It’s the getting into Sidwell part that’s the challenge. Not the work itself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Based on rankings alone, TJ is (arguably) the best school in the area (and nation), but that’s just a very basic view of it.

TJ is the best you can get in this area for STEM, as you can tell from the name, and they only accept the best of the best. There is such a deep focus in Science and Technology that you simply can’t get in other places, and MIT takes 8 kids from TJ per year. All that being said, this doesn’t mean that Sidwell has a bad STEM program.

Sidwell is an excellent school; there is a focus on stem but also on humanities as well. I think there’s more “personality” in SFS than there is at TJ. Sidwell has a loooong history, and that’s what I mean by personality. Both schools (from what i’ve heard) offer around the same amount of homework a night BUT I would like to challenge that.

The way it works at TJ is the child is the one doing the learning (teacher assigns a topic and the kid teaches him or herself as homework) then they discuss it at school with peers. If a kid is struggling with the understanding of said topic, she or he would have to stay up till forever until they get it.

There’s the diversity aspect of TJ: It’s an asian school. Then there’s some white kids, and barely any black kids. It’s not a diverse school at all. Sidwell is incredibly diverse: there’s black white latino asian etc.

The kids that go to Sidwell may not all be geniuses; some probably only got in because they’re a legacy or their parents donated 75 million dollars to the school, but that can’t be said for TJ. The kids that struggle at TJ, which are a LOT, simply aren’t meant for that school.

TJ is absolutely freaking brutal. Before you ever send your kid there you need to make sure that they live breathe and sweat STEM or else the next four years are gonna be hell. SFS isn’t as intense. You can be proficient at English and do just dandy at SFS. You can be an average student and do just as well.

....

If your kid is a science prodigy or genius and wants to pursue STEM as a career, send your kid off to TJ. If your kid likes STEM but isn’t living and breathing it and isn’t sure that they want to pursue it as a career, play it safe and send them to SFS. TJ is an incredibly competitive school and your kid will be surrounded by geniuses.

The way TJ and Sidwell are described here is pretty close to how MIT and Harvard would be described. No wonder MIT takes 8 TJ kids per year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you can get into tj you can crush sidwell. Not vice versa

I agree with this. It’s the getting into Sidwell part that’s the challenge. Not the work itself.

Another MIT/Harvard similarity

[Anonymous]

"The kids that struggle at TJ, which are a LOT, simply aren’t meant for that school."

This is 180 degrees different from the way I see it.

HS is that last time in a student's life where how they do doesn't really matter.

The ones who struggle are the ones with the worst study habits who need TJ the most.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you can get into tj you can crush sidwell. Not vice versa

I agree with this. It’s the getting into Sidwell part that’s the challenge. Not the work itself.

There are fewer spots at Sidwell, and they are not looking for grades/scores only, so lots of kids who would get into TJ will not get in to Sidwell, but similarly, some of the kids who get into Sidwell will not have the grades and scores to get into TJ. They are looking for different things in students.

[Anonymous]

A lot of opinions here from people who appear not to have any first-hand experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A lot of opinions here from people who appear not to have any first-hand experience.

That would be 95% of DCUM threads on schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you can get into tj you can crush sidwell. Not vice versa

I agree with this. It’s the getting into Sidwell part that’s the challenge. Not the work itself.

There are fewer spots at Sidwell, and they are not looking for grades/scores only, so lots of kids who would get into TJ will not get in to Sidwell, but similarly, some of the kids who get into Sidwell will not have the grades and scores to get into TJ. They are looking for different things in students.

+1. Sidwell is looking for bold faced names, donor admits and racial balancing, mirroring the college admissions process as it stands today. TJ is pure merit based on academics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"The kids that struggle at TJ, which are a LOT, simply aren’t meant for that school."

This is 180 degrees different from the way I see it.

HS is that last time in a student's life where how they do doesn't really matter.

The ones who struggle are the ones with the worst study habits who need TJ the most.

Do you have kids at TJ? I have had kids at TJ, and in my experience, it is true that the kids who struggle at TJ are the kids whose parents made sure the kids went to TJ prep classes even though the child wasn’t necessarily a STEM kid.

When the parent wants TJ more than the child does, you frequently end up with a kid who is struggling and unhappy there. The kids I knew who did great there were the kids who hadn’t prepped ahead of time.

[Anonymous]

Sorry, what is TJ?