Is TJ worth it for student aiming aiming for top schools like HPSM, Duke, Caltech?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All those schools emphasize significant EC achievements. But if you’re stuck with hard coursework at TJ, you don’t have much time for developing your ECs. So you know the answer.

1) It is true that there are, and have always been, kids at TJ who don't have the horsepower to handle the workload. By and large, these are students who gained admission because they engaged in extreme prep to appear brighter than they are. TJ is and has always been a miserable place for strivers of mediocre academic talent. It is relatively easier (not easy, but not awful) for students who are bright enough to command concepts easily without needing to spend insane amounts of extra time outside of the classroom on tutoring and additional study.

2) Much of the extracurricular program at TJ happens through 8th period - an in-school activity period with nearly 200 clubs for kids to choose from and participate in that do a great job of burnishing the college resume and delivering essay topics.

3) Remember that at this time of year, people are on these threads actively encouraging admitted students to reject their offer and return to base school so that their own kid has a better chance of getting in off the waitlist. These people will trash TJ out of one side of their mouth while desperately hoping their child gets in out of the other.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hello,

Planning ahead for DS. We understand that a big advantage of TJ is simply the peer group and great teachers. However, for college admissions we are wondering if sticking out and graduating high in the base HS is better than going to TJ and risking being in the middle of the pack. I recognize admissions for TJ are also different now and getting in is never guaranteed anyways.

Much, much harder to stand out from TJ than base school. This is a well known fact. You have the top 1.5% of students in various counties at one high school and then of those 400+ you take the top 2% at elite universities. So you need to be at the top of the top to get in coming out if TJ. Look at UVA, where the average TJ SAT for admission is 1562 and 4.4 wGPA. So a 1550 and 4.3 doesn’t get you in out of TJ, but certainly would out of a base school and give you a shot at Duke, etc. coming out of your base school.

You could have just said that you don't understand what the word "average" means and left it at that. Indeed, that's not even the median level. So obviously, there are plenty of kids getting in whose numbers are lower than those totals.

What you all are looking for is a sure thing, and that simply doesn't exist anymore in the college admissions ecosystem. Stop looking for a sure thing and instead encourage your child to be the best version of themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it really depends on what your alternatives are. I live in Maryland, so I'm not very familiar with high schools in Virginia. But if your alternatives are the equivalent of something like Whitman or one of the magnet programs like Poolesville, I would never in a million years send a kid to TJ expecting some kind of college boost. At the good publics, you will have an exceptional peer group, all the advanced classes, and the opportunity to participate in a huge variety of ECs.

TJ seems like a 100 percent grind, where even the brightest students are working 24/7 to simply stay afloat, much less graduate near the top of their class. College outcomes at Whitman and Poolesville are extremely good, not least because they have the opportunity to distinguish themselves beyond taking a dozen APs and scoring high on test scores. But if the alternative is a high school with lesser opportunities and difficulties finding high achieving peers, I'd reconsider if my kid was inclined to go to a school like TJ.

If you can distinguish yourself at Whitman, who cares. Enjoy UMD, it's a perfectly fine school and you can go anywhere or do anything with a degree from there.
If you can distinguish yourself at TJ, people notice and you can go to almost any college you want. From which you can go anywhere and do anything you want but with a fancier name on your college degree that noone will care about once you get your graduate degree.

Yikes. I have two that graduated from Whitman, and both went to T15s. And they were hardly alone. Furthermore, they actually enjoyed their high school experience. And they are getting a fantastic education at their universities.

But anyway, back to TJ. Virginia Tech is a wonderful school. You really can do anything with a degree form VT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All those schools emphasize significant EC achievements. But if you’re stuck with hard coursework at TJ, you don’t have much time for developing your ECs. So you know the answer.

1) It is true that there are, and have always been, kids at TJ who don't have the horsepower to handle the workload. By and large, these are students who gained admission because they engaged in extreme prep to appear brighter than they are. TJ is and has always been a miserable place for strivers of mediocre academic talent. It is relatively easier (not easy, but not awful) for students who are bright enough to command concepts easily without needing to spend insane amounts of extra time outside of the classroom on tutoring and additional study.

2) Much of the extracurricular program at TJ happens through 8th period - an in-school activity period with nearly 200 clubs for kids to choose from and participate in that do a great job of burnishing the college resume and delivering essay topics.

3) Remember that at this time of year, people are on these threads actively encouraging admitted students to reject their offer and return to base school so that their own kid has a better chance of getting in off the waitlist. These people will trash TJ out of one side of their mouth while desperately hoping their child gets in out of the other.

1) Agreed, you don't want to barely get into TJ.
You are better off at your base school than struggling at TJ.

2) Agreed, one of the benefits of TJ is that it streamlines activities so that you can engage in several.

3) Agreed, HOWEVER, a lot of that advice is pretty good. If your kid is not getting advance pass on their SOLs, they should rethink whether they should be going. If you have to pester your kid to keep their grades up, get ready to make that a full time job and possibly ruin your relationship with your child. The cachet of going to TJ is going to drop very quickly and you will be left with rigor without reputation. Some kids need that rigor, if your kid i not one of those kids, the benefit of TJ will diminish as colleges realize that the TJ product isn't what it used to be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hello,

Planning ahead for DS. We understand that a big advantage of TJ is simply the peer group and great teachers. However, for college admissions we are wondering if sticking out and graduating high in the base HS is better than going to TJ and risking being in the middle of the pack. I recognize admissions for TJ are also different now and getting in is never guaranteed anyways.

Much, much harder to stand out from TJ than base school. This is a well known fact. You have the top 1.5% of students in various counties at one high school and then of those 400+ you take the top 2% at elite universities. So you need to be at the top of the top to get in coming out if TJ. Look at UVA, where the average TJ SAT for admission is 1562 and 4.4 wGPA. So a 1550 and 4.3 doesn’t get you in out of TJ, but certainly would out of a base school and give you a shot at Duke, etc. coming out of your base school.

You could have just said that you don't understand what the word "average" means and left it at that. Indeed, that's not even the median level. So obviously, there are plenty of kids getting in whose numbers are lower than those totals.

What you all are looking for is a sure thing, and that simply doesn't exist anymore in the college admissions ecosystem. Stop looking for a sure thing and instead encourage your child to be the best version of themselves.

I think a lot of people underestimate how selective UVA has gotten in the last 15 years. It's almost obscene.

[Anonymous]

UVa also was highly selective 20-25 years ago. It is not a new phenomenon. By nation-wide public university standards, UVa is relatively small for a public university.

[Anonymous]

If it were my DC, I would rather have them to go to our base HS and be top 5-10% than go to TJ and be top 33%. Fortunately for us, TJ effectively reduces the competition at our base HS. And we very definitely are on a hard core STEM track, headed for Physics or Engineering degree.

Do whichever one thinks best for one’s own DC…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it really depends on what your alternatives are. I live in Maryland, so I'm not very familiar with high schools in Virginia. But if your alternatives are the equivalent of something like Whitman or one of the magnet programs like Poolesville, I would never in a million years send a kid to TJ expecting some kind of college boost. At the good publics, you will have an exceptional peer group, all the advanced classes, and the opportunity to participate in a huge variety of ECs.

TJ seems like a 100 percent grind, where even the brightest students are working 24/7 to simply stay afloat, much less graduate near the top of their class. College outcomes at Whitman and Poolesville are extremely good, not least because they have the opportunity to distinguish themselves beyond taking a dozen APs and scoring high on test scores. But if the alternative is a high school with lesser opportunities and difficulties finding high achieving peers, I'd reconsider if my kid was inclined to go to a school like TJ.

If you can distinguish yourself at Whitman, who cares. Enjoy UMD, it's a perfectly fine school and you can go anywhere or do anything with a degree from there.
If you can distinguish yourself at TJ, people notice and you can go to almost any college you want. From which you can go anywhere and do anything you want but with a fancier name on your college degree that noone will care about once you get your graduate degree.

Yikes. I have two that graduated from Whitman, and both went to T15s. And they were hardly alone. Furthermore, they actually enjoyed their high school experience. And they are getting a fantastic education at their universities.

But anyway, back to TJ. Virginia Tech is a wonderful school. You really can do anything with a degree form VT.

Is there any chance that you or your spouse also went to that T-15 school?