Race and TJ admissions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
What I have learned in many years of experience in Northern Virginia and TJ is this:

If you have a hard and fast selection criteria that you use and apply equally to all students - basically no matter what it is - the system will favor the parents who have the resources and motivation to fit their round kid into the square hole. And you’re going to get a huge number of kids who all have relatively the same profile because the parents figured out that “that’s the profile that works”.

No matter what racial balance that creates, it’s a negative outcome for TJ. Too many similar kids results in mental health issues.

What everyone (mostly everyone) wants is a return to the best years of TJ, to the good old days when gifted students had rigorous but not crushing classes, a peer group of innovative students, and lower pressure. The 80s and 90s, maybe?

So far, no one has any idea how to recreate that. But I think a change is a step in the right direction.

To recreate that, you'd need to return to a time when a good but not great TJ student could count on UVA as a fall back and VT as a safety. Any school comprised of kids all wanting to go to competitive colleges is going to have pressure because those kids know they have to outperform their peers to make it happen

This is absolutely FALSE. TJ students have struggled in the college admissions process in recent years not because of the increased level of competitiveness, but because they tend to be indistinguishable from one another on paper. They are all going for the same seats at the same schools, rather than going for different seats at the same schools. So say college admissions officers who visit the school, at any rate.

Bring in a class of students with a greater diversity of experiences, interests, and goals, and you’ll see stronger admit numbers from TJ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
What I have learned in many years of experience in Northern Virginia and TJ is this:

If you have a hard and fast selection criteria that you use and apply equally to all students - basically no matter what it is - the system will favor the parents who have the resources and motivation to fit their round kid into the square hole. And you’re going to get a huge number of kids who all have relatively the same profile because the parents figured out that “that’s the profile that works”.

No matter what racial balance that creates, it’s a negative outcome for TJ. Too many similar kids results in mental health issues.

What everyone (mostly everyone) wants is a return to the best years of TJ, to the good old days when gifted students had rigorous but not crushing classes, a peer group of innovative students, and lower pressure. The 80s and 90s, maybe?

So far, no one has any idea how to recreate that. But I think a change is a step in the right direction.

To recreate that, you'd need to return to a time when a good but not great TJ student could count on UVA as a fall back and VT as a safety. Any school comprised of kids all wanting to go to competitive colleges is going to have pressure because those kids know they have to outperform their peers to make it happen

This is absolutely FALSE. TJ students have struggled in the college admissions process in recent years not because of the increased level of competitiveness, but because they tend to be indistinguishable from one another on paper. They are all going for the same seats at the same schools, rather than going for different seats at the same schools. So say college admissions officers who visit the school, at any rate.

Bring in a class of students with a greater diversity of experiences, interests, and goals, and you’ll see stronger admit numbers from TJ.

What complete nonsense.1. TJ is not struggling. 2 It is a top STEM school. So kids will apply for top STEM programs at college.
Good old days means more white kids getting admission/being in the majority?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
What I have learned in many years of experience in Northern Virginia and TJ is this:

If you have a hard and fast selection criteria that you use and apply equally to all students - basically no matter what it is - the system will favor the parents who have the resources and motivation to fit their round kid into the square hole. And you’re going to get a huge number of kids who all have relatively the same profile because the parents figured out that “that’s the profile that works”.

No matter what racial balance that creates, it’s a negative outcome for TJ. Too many similar kids results in mental health issues.

What everyone (mostly everyone) wants is a return to the best years of TJ, to the good old days when gifted students had rigorous but not crushing classes, a peer group of innovative students, and lower pressure. The 80s and 90s, maybe?

So far, no one has any idea how to recreate that. But I think a change is a step in the right direction.

To recreate that, you'd need to return to a time when a good but not great TJ student could count on UVA as a fall back and VT as a safety. Any school comprised of kids all wanting to go to competitive colleges is going to have pressure because those kids know they have to outperform their peers to make it happen

This is absolutely FALSE. TJ students have struggled in the college admissions process in recent years not because of the increased level of competitiveness, but because they tend to be indistinguishable from one another on paper. They are all going for the same seats at the same schools, rather than going for different seats at the same schools. So say college admissions officers who visit the school, at any rate.

Bring in a class of students with a greater diversity of experiences, interests, and goals, and you’ll see stronger admit numbers from TJ.

That makes perfect sense. It's too bad these parents won't listen to anyone. They're hysterical and beyond reason.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
What I have learned in many years of experience in Northern Virginia and TJ is this:

If you have a hard and fast selection criteria that you use and apply equally to all students - basically no matter what it is - the system will favor the parents who have the resources and motivation to fit their round kid into the square hole. And you’re going to get a huge number of kids who all have relatively the same profile because the parents figured out that “that’s the profile that works”.

No matter what racial balance that creates, it’s a negative outcome for TJ. Too many similar kids results in mental health issues.

What everyone (mostly everyone) wants is a return to the best years of TJ, to the good old days when gifted students had rigorous but not crushing classes, a peer group of innovative students, and lower pressure. The 80s and 90s, maybe?

So far, no one has any idea how to recreate that. But I think a change is a step in the right direction.

To recreate that, you'd need to return to a time when a good but not great TJ student could count on UVA as a fall back and VT as a safety. Any school comprised of kids all wanting to go to competitive colleges is going to have pressure because those kids know they have to outperform their peers to make it happen

This is absolutely FALSE. TJ students have struggled in the college admissions process in recent years not because of the increased level of competitiveness, but because they tend to be indistinguishable from one another on paper. They are all going for the same seats at the same schools, rather than going for different seats at the same schools. So say college admissions officers who visit the school, at any rate.

Bring in a class of students with a greater diversity of experiences, interests, and goals, and you’ll see stronger admit numbers from TJ.

Total nonsense. Likely written by an FCPS board member.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
What I have learned in many years of experience in Northern Virginia and TJ is this:

If you have a hard and fast selection criteria that you use and apply equally to all students - basically no matter what it is - the system will favor the parents who have the resources and motivation to fit their round kid into the square hole. And you’re going to get a huge number of kids who all have relatively the same profile because the parents figured out that “that’s the profile that works”.

No matter what racial balance that creates, it’s a negative outcome for TJ. Too many similar kids results in mental health issues.

What everyone (mostly everyone) wants is a return to the best years of TJ, to the good old days when gifted students had rigorous but not crushing classes, a peer group of innovative students, and lower pressure. The 80s and 90s, maybe?

So far, no one has any idea how to recreate that. But I think a change is a step in the right direction.

To recreate that, you'd need to return to a time when a good but not great TJ student could count on UVA as a fall back and VT as a safety. Any school comprised of kids all wanting to go to competitive colleges is going to have pressure because those kids know they have to outperform their peers to make it happen

This is absolutely FALSE. TJ students have struggled in the college admissions process in recent years not because of the increased level of competitiveness, but because they tend to be indistinguishable from one another on paper. They are all going for the same seats at the same schools, rather than going for different seats at the same schools. So say college admissions officers who visit the school, at any rate.

Bring in a class of students with a greater diversity of experiences, interests, and goals, and you’ll see stronger admit numbers from TJ.

That is what base schools are for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
What I have learned in many years of experience in Northern Virginia and TJ is this:

If you have a hard and fast selection criteria that you use and apply equally to all students - basically no matter what it is - the system will favor the parents who have the resources and motivation to fit their round kid into the square hole. And you’re going to get a huge number of kids who all have relatively the same profile because the parents figured out that “that’s the profile that works”.

No matter what racial balance that creates, it’s a negative outcome for TJ. Too many similar kids results in mental health issues.

What everyone (mostly everyone) wants is a return to the best years of TJ, to the good old days when gifted students had rigorous but not crushing classes, a peer group of innovative students, and lower pressure. The 80s and 90s, maybe?

So far, no one has any idea how to recreate that. But I think a change is a step in the right direction.

To recreate that, you'd need to return to a time when a good but not great TJ student could count on UVA as a fall back and VT as a safety. Any school comprised of kids all wanting to go to competitive colleges is going to have pressure because those kids know they have to outperform their peers to make it happen

This is absolutely FALSE. TJ students have struggled in the college admissions process in recent years not because of the increased level of competitiveness, but because they tend to be indistinguishable from one another on paper. They are all going for the same seats at the same schools, rather than going for different seats at the same schools. So say college admissions officers who visit the school, at any rate.

Bring in a class of students with a greater diversity of experiences, interests, and goals, and you’ll see stronger admit numbers from TJ.

That is what base schools are for.

I disagree, and that's why base schools have seen their college admissions fortunes improve as TJ has become more STEM-focused in their admissions process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
What I have learned in many years of experience in Northern Virginia and TJ is this:

If you have a hard and fast selection criteria that you use and apply equally to all students - basically no matter what it is - the system will favor the parents who have the resources and motivation to fit their round kid into the square hole. And you’re going to get a huge number of kids who all have relatively the same profile because the parents figured out that “that’s the profile that works”.

No matter what racial balance that creates, it’s a negative outcome for TJ. Too many similar kids results in mental health issues.

What everyone (mostly everyone) wants is a return to the best years of TJ, to the good old days when gifted students had rigorous but not crushing classes, a peer group of innovative students, and lower pressure. The 80s and 90s, maybe?

So far, no one has any idea how to recreate that. But I think a change is a step in the right direction.

To recreate that, you'd need to return to a time when a good but not great TJ student could count on UVA as a fall back and VT as a safety. Any school comprised of kids all wanting to go to competitive colleges is going to have pressure because those kids know they have to outperform their peers to make it happen

This is absolutely FALSE. TJ students have struggled in the college admissions process in recent years not because of the increased level of competitiveness, but because they tend to be indistinguishable from one another on paper. They are all going for the same seats at the same schools, rather than going for different seats at the same schools. So say college admissions officers who visit the school, at any rate.

Bring in a class of students with a greater diversity of experiences, interests, and goals, and you’ll see stronger admit numbers from TJ.

That is what base schools are for.

Wow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
What I have learned in many years of experience in Northern Virginia and TJ is this:

If you have a hard and fast selection criteria that you use and apply equally to all students - basically no matter what it is - the system will favor the parents who have the resources and motivation to fit their round kid into the square hole. And you’re going to get a huge number of kids who all have relatively the same profile because the parents figured out that “that’s the profile that works”.

No matter what racial balance that creates, it’s a negative outcome for TJ. Too many similar kids results in mental health issues.

What everyone (mostly everyone) wants is a return to the best years of TJ, to the good old days when gifted students had rigorous but not crushing classes, a peer group of innovative students, and lower pressure. The 80s and 90s, maybe?

So far, no one has any idea how to recreate that. But I think a change is a step in the right direction.

To recreate that, you'd need to return to a time when a good but not great TJ student could count on UVA as a fall back and VT as a safety. Any school comprised of kids all wanting to go to competitive colleges is going to have pressure because those kids know they have to outperform their peers to make it happen

This is absolutely FALSE. TJ students have struggled in the college admissions process in recent years not because of the increased level of competitiveness, but because they tend to be indistinguishable from one another on paper. They are all going for the same seats at the same schools, rather than going for different seats at the same schools. So say college admissions officers who visit the school, at any rate.

Bring in a class of students with a greater diversity of experiences, interests, and goals, and you’ll see stronger admit numbers from TJ.

That is what base schools are for.

I disagree, and that's why base schools have seen their college admissions fortunes improve as TJ has become more STEM-focused in their admissions process.

Nah. TJ has better college admissions than even Sidwell and arguably the best in the country despite Asian TJ students being discriminated in college admissions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
What I have learned in many years of experience in Northern Virginia and TJ is this:

If you have a hard and fast selection criteria that you use and apply equally to all students - basically no matter what it is - the system will favor the parents who have the resources and motivation to fit their round kid into the square hole. And you’re going to get a huge number of kids who all have relatively the same profile because the parents figured out that “that’s the profile that works”.

No matter what racial balance that creates, it’s a negative outcome for TJ. Too many similar kids results in mental health issues.

What everyone (mostly everyone) wants is a return to the best years of TJ, to the good old days when gifted students had rigorous but not crushing classes, a peer group of innovative students, and lower pressure. The 80s and 90s, maybe?

So far, no one has any idea how to recreate that. But I think a change is a step in the right direction.

To recreate that, you'd need to return to a time when a good but not great TJ student could count on UVA as a fall back and VT as a safety. Any school comprised of kids all wanting to go to competitive colleges is going to have pressure because those kids know they have to outperform their peers to make it happen

This is absolutely FALSE. TJ students have struggled in the college admissions process in recent years not because of the increased level of competitiveness, but because they tend to be indistinguishable from one another on paper. They are all going for the same seats at the same schools, rather than going for different seats at the same schools. So say college admissions officers who visit the school, at any rate.

Bring in a class of students with a greater diversity of experiences, interests, and goals, and you’ll see stronger admit numbers from TJ.

What complete nonsense.1. TJ is not struggling. 2 It is a top STEM school. So kids will apply for top STEM programs at college.
Good old days means more white kids getting admission/being in the majority?

1. By any reasonable measure, fewer TJ students are getting into elite schools AND the schools of their choice than they did 10, 15, 20 years ago. It's not close.

2. Being a top STEM school does not mean that all of its students need to go on to pursue STEM careers. A quality secondary STEM education can go a long way towards preparing a student for a productive and lucrative career in many other STEM-adjacent fields.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
What I have learned in many years of experience in Northern Virginia and TJ is this:

If you have a hard and fast selection criteria that you use and apply equally to all students - basically no matter what it is - the system will favor the parents who have the resources and motivation to fit their round kid into the square hole. And you’re going to get a huge number of kids who all have relatively the same profile because the parents figured out that “that’s the profile that works”.

No matter what racial balance that creates, it’s a negative outcome for TJ. Too many similar kids results in mental health issues.

What everyone (mostly everyone) wants is a return to the best years of TJ, to the good old days when gifted students had rigorous but not crushing classes, a peer group of innovative students, and lower pressure. The 80s and 90s, maybe?

So far, no one has any idea how to recreate that. But I think a change is a step in the right direction.

To recreate that, you'd need to return to a time when a good but not great TJ student could count on UVA as a fall back and VT as a safety. Any school comprised of kids all wanting to go to competitive colleges is going to have pressure because those kids know they have to outperform their peers to make it happen

This is absolutely FALSE. TJ students have struggled in the college admissions process in recent years not because of the increased level of competitiveness, but because they tend to be indistinguishable from one another on paper. They are all going for the same seats at the same schools, rather than going for different seats at the same schools. So say college admissions officers who visit the school, at any rate.

Bring in a class of students with a greater diversity of experiences, interests, and goals, and you’ll see stronger admit numbers from TJ.

That is what base schools are for.

I disagree, and that's why base schools have seen their college admissions fortunes improve as TJ has become more STEM-focused in their admissions process.

Nah. TJ has better college admissions than even Sidwell and arguably the best in the country despite Asian TJ students being discriminated in college admissions.

That statement doesn't refute my point. TJ can still have the strongest college admissions prospects in the area (maybe they do, maybe they don't) while still having slid backwards by a significant amount in recent years. And it can still have the strongest college admissions prospects in the area despite a significant majority of its students not getting into their first choice school.

It continues to baffle me how people who don't comprehend logical inference expect their kids to get into and succeed at TJ. More evidence that the prep companies are really good at what they do, evidently.

[Anonymous]

Gentle reminder:

There are some families whose kids didn’t prep, and have never prepped for anything, even the SAT/ACT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
What I have learned in many years of experience in Northern Virginia and TJ is this:

If you have a hard and fast selection criteria that you use and apply equally to all students - basically no matter what it is - the system will favor the parents who have the resources and motivation to fit their round kid into the square hole. And you’re going to get a huge number of kids who all have relatively the same profile because the parents figured out that “that’s the profile that works”.

No matter what racial balance that creates, it’s a negative outcome for TJ. Too many similar kids results in mental health issues.

What everyone (mostly everyone) wants is a return to the best years of TJ, to the good old days when gifted students had rigorous but not crushing classes, a peer group of innovative students, and lower pressure. The 80s and 90s, maybe?

So far, no one has any idea how to recreate that. But I think a change is a step in the right direction.

To recreate that, you'd need to return to a time when a good but not great TJ student could count on UVA as a fall back and VT as a safety. Any school comprised of kids all wanting to go to competitive colleges is going to have pressure because those kids know they have to outperform their peers to make it happen

This is absolutely FALSE. TJ students have struggled in the college admissions process in recent years not because of the increased level of competitiveness, but because they tend to be indistinguishable from one another on paper. They are all going for the same seats at the same schools, rather than going for different seats at the same schools. So say college admissions officers who visit the school, at any rate.

Bring in a class of students with a greater diversity of experiences, interests, and goals, and you’ll see stronger admit numbers from TJ.

TJ students know that if they want to go on to the kind of colleges that they expect to go on to, they will needs to be at least as good as their peers. That leads to a high pressure atmosphere. It's no different from any magnet or private school where the student body all want to go the the same type of college and all know that they will be compared against each other.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Gentle reminder:

There are some families whose kids didn’t prep, and have never prepped for anything, even the SAT/ACT.

Absolutely true! But there are also thousands over the years in Northern Virginia alone who have successfully passed their students off as brighter than they are through targeted courses that are not designed to help the student succeed in the scholastic environment but ARE designed to help them get into elite schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Gentle reminder:

There are some families whose kids didn’t prep, and have never prepped for anything, even the SAT/ACT.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Gentle reminder:

There are some families whose kids didn’t prep, and have never prepped for anything, even the SAT/ACT.

I don't doubt there are a handful of kids like this but there is far far more who prep. It's easy to see by the proliferation of prep centers throughout the region.