Older TJ kids: is there regret w/college app results

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why doesn't the school profile have the graduating class of 2025 precise SAT/ACT avg scores?

chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://tjhsst.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/inline-files/TJHSST%20School%20Profile%2025-26%20V.2._0.pdf

Page one says for the class of 2025, 80 were National Merit Semifinalists and 156 were Commended but then on page 3 it says what the class of 2024's average SAT (1510)/ACT (34) was but that is the last class that was under the old admissions standards.

Why not say what the TJ class of 2025's average SAT/ACT was?

Is 80 NMSF and 156 commended not suggestive enough of high scores?

Guess we will all have to wait to find out about the real class of 2025 average. 😂 Try not to lose sleep before then.

There were twice as many NMSF the prior year.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:The school tells people not to go there if you want to go to top schools, there is too much competition. If you really want 0ne of the top 25 schools, go to your base school. I have an 8th grader applying for TJ and we have discussed this with him. It will come up again if he is accepted at TJ.

+1 agree. Even after all the selection changes (including over years). The top 20% (~100 students) will be very competitive and they will be taking over the limited slots at the T20/T30's. If you are not in top 20% the chances of getting to top colleges are lower from TJ.

The 50th percentile at TJ might get into UVA. The same student will be top 5% or higher at their base school and will likely get into UVA

My fav TJ-parent belief: my kid would have been top x% had kid gone to the base school. Never change, please!! ❤️

And yet, it is true that for college admissions it is better to be top 20% at a base HS than bottom 50% at TJ. Some highly capable students stay at their base school for this reason.

The other reality is that many at TJ are really targeting Medical School, and are not targeting a STEM career.

Yes…but TJ parents truly believe had their kids gone to the base HS they absolutely would have been at the top there. I think being bottom 50% at any HS is a recipe for failure for a highly rejective school.

Because for the most part this is true. Exceptions sure but most TJ kids would rank higher at their base school than they do at TJ just given the nature of the magnet school and the harsh reality that there can only be half of any class in the top 50%.

Thank you!! Again, don’t stop!!! The only way you are right is if the nearly all the mid ranked TJ students are brilliant and the essentially all the base top students are dummies and/or only appear bright bc of grade inflation.

Please. I don’t think you understand how math works. “ALL the TJ mid ranked kids are brilliant and ALL the base top kids are dummies”.

I’m not arguing every single kid at TJ would be top 1% at their base school. I’m saying it’s going to USUALLY be the case that any particular kid that got into TJ would be ranked higher at their base school than they are ranked at TJ. Not because all the kids at the base are dumb but because there is generally less competition for the top tier of base schools than there is for the same top % slice of TJ. Get it?

Not really. No. The high stats kids at base schools are high stats…not bc TJ kids aren’t there to outshine them but bc they are already high performing.

Maybe the top few kids could hang but most of them would drop on a 1::1 basis with how many kids went to TJ.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:The school tells people not to go there if you want to go to top schools, there is too much competition. If you really want 0ne of the top 25 schools, go to your base school. I have an 8th grader applying for TJ and we have discussed this with him. It will come up again if he is accepted at TJ.

+1 agree. Even after all the selection changes (including over years). The top 20% (~100 students) will be very competitive and they will be taking over the limited slots at the T20/T30's. If you are not in top 20% the chances of getting to top colleges are lower from TJ.

The 50th percentile at TJ might get into UVA. The same student will be top 5% or higher at their base school and will likely get into UVA

My fav TJ-parent belief: my kid would have been top x% had kid gone to the base school. Never change, please!! ❤️

And yet, it is true that for college admissions it is better to be top 20% at a base HS than bottom 50% at TJ. Some highly capable students stay at their base school for this reason.

The other reality is that many at TJ are really targeting Medical School, and are not targeting a STEM career.

Yes…but TJ parents truly believe had their kids gone to the base HS they absolutely would have been at the top there. I think being bottom 50% at any HS is a recipe for failure for a highly rejective school.

Because for the most part this is true. Exceptions sure but most TJ kids would rank higher at their base school than they do at TJ just given the nature of the magnet school and the harsh reality that there can only be half of any class in the top 50%.

Thank you!! Again, don’t stop!!! The only way you are right is if the nearly all the mid ranked TJ students are brilliant and the essentially all the base top students are dummies and/or only appear bright bc of grade inflation.

Please. I don’t think you understand how math works. “ALL the TJ mid ranked kids are brilliant and ALL the base top kids are dummies”.

I’m not arguing every single kid at TJ would be top 1% at their base school. I’m saying it’s going to USUALLY be the case that any particular kid that got into TJ would be ranked higher at their base school than they are ranked at TJ. Not because all the kids at the base are dumb but because there is generally less competition for the top tier of base schools than there is for the same top % slice of TJ. Get it?

Not really. No. The high stats kids at base schools are high stats…not bc TJ kids aren’t there to outshine them but bc they are already high performing.

Maybe the top few kids could hang but most of them would drop on a 1::1 basis with how many kids went to TJ.

? You're not even making any sense.

If a kid is 50% percentile at TJ then it's HIGHLY likely they would be a higher percentage at their base school because the base school has a mix of smart/motivated kids and other kids whereas TJ - as a magnet - is almost all (note not ALL) smart/motivated (it's just some kids there are smartER and MORE motivated than overs). That's the entire point. Full Stop.

You seem bizarrely fixated on defending your base school when no one's slamming it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here’s a thought, I thought the early acceptances at Whitman and Wooten in Moco are equally or more impressive than TJ at this point, and def better than any of the top base high schools in FFX county. Part of that is bc Whitman is very rich so more ED than TJ maybe, Still, those are base schools that don’t have the top kids in Moco.

Instead of TJ, Moco top kids are at TJ at Blair (100/yr), Poolesville (350) and RM IB (125). Altogether, that # exceeds the class at TJ.

So def TJ is outperforming McLean and Langley, but I think not necessarily outperforming the top base schools in Moco, and prob on par with the Moco magnets. Anyone have thoughts on why this is the case?

TJ is definitely outperforming Blair with their 1310 average SAT score.
Wootten with their 1370 SAT score.
Whitman with their 1390 SAT score.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:The school tells people not to go there if you want to go to top schools, there is too much competition. If you really want 0ne of the top 25 schools, go to your base school. I have an 8th grader applying for TJ and we have discussed this with him. It will come up again if he is accepted at TJ.

+1 agree. Even after all the selection changes (including over years). The top 20% (~100 students) will be very competitive and they will be taking over the limited slots at the T20/T30's. If you are not in top 20% the chances of getting to top colleges are lower from TJ.

The 50th percentile at TJ might get into UVA. The same student will be top 5% or higher at their base school and will likely get into UVA

My fav TJ-parent belief: my kid would have been top x% had kid gone to the base school. Never change, please!! ❤️

And yet, it is true that for college admissions it is better to be top 20% at a base HS than bottom 50% at TJ. Some highly capable students stay at their base school for this reason.

The other reality is that many at TJ are really targeting Medical School, and are not targeting a STEM career.

Yes…but TJ parents truly believe had their kids gone to the base HS they absolutely would have been at the top there. I think being bottom 50% at any HS is a recipe for failure for a highly rejective school.

Because for the most part this is true. Exceptions sure but most TJ kids would rank higher at their base school than they do at TJ just given the nature of the magnet school and the harsh reality that there can only be half of any class in the top 50%.

Thank you!! Again, don’t stop!!! The only way you are right is if the nearly all the mid ranked TJ students are brilliant and the essentially all the base top students are dummies and/or only appear bright bc of grade inflation.

Please. I don’t think you understand how math works. “ALL the TJ mid ranked kids are brilliant and ALL the base top kids are dummies”.

I’m not arguing every single kid at TJ would be top 1% at their base school. I’m saying it’s going to USUALLY be the case that any particular kid that got into TJ would be ranked higher at their base school than they are ranked at TJ. Not because all the kids at the base are dumb but because there is generally less competition for the top tier of base schools than there is for the same top % slice of TJ. Get it?

Not really. No. The high stats kids at base schools are high stats…not bc TJ kids aren’t there to outshine them but bc they are already high performing.

And TJ kids would likely be AMONG those higher stats kids at the base school. Acknowledging that isn’t saying they would be the TOP kids at the base school.

Except that’s not what many tj parents say: “had she been at the base school, she’s be number 1 there.”

This isn't true. Nobody says this. Certainly not most TJ parents.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:The school tells people not to go there if you want to go to top schools, there is too much competition. If you really want 0ne of the top 25 schools, go to your base school. I have an 8th grader applying for TJ and we have discussed this with him. It will come up again if he is accepted at TJ.

+1 agree. Even after all the selection changes (including over years). The top 20% (~100 students) will be very competitive and they will be taking over the limited slots at the T20/T30's. If you are not in top 20% the chances of getting to top colleges are lower from TJ.

The 50th percentile at TJ might get into UVA. The same student will be top 5% or higher at their base school and will likely get into UVA

My fav TJ-parent belief: my kid would have been top x% had kid gone to the base school. Never change, please!! ❤️

And yet, it is true that for college admissions it is better to be top 20% at a base HS than bottom 50% at TJ. Some highly capable students stay at their base school for this reason.

The other reality is that many at TJ are really targeting Medical School, and are not targeting a STEM career.

Yes…but TJ parents truly believe had their kids gone to the base HS they absolutely would have been at the top there. I think being bottom 50% at any HS is a recipe for failure for a highly rejective school.

Because for the most part this is true. Exceptions sure but most TJ kids would rank higher at their base school than they do at TJ just given the nature of the magnet school and the harsh reality that there can only be half of any class in the top 50%.

Thank you!! Again, don’t stop!!! The only way you are right is if the nearly all the mid ranked TJ students are brilliant and the essentially all the base top students are dummies and/or only appear bright bc of grade inflation.

Please. I don’t think you understand how math works. “ALL the TJ mid ranked kids are brilliant and ALL the base top kids are dummies”.

I’m not arguing every single kid at TJ would be top 1% at their base school. I’m saying it’s going to USUALLY be the case that any particular kid that got into TJ would be ranked higher at their base school than they are ranked at TJ. Not because all the kids at the base are dumb but because there is generally less competition for the top tier of base schools than there is for the same top % slice of TJ. Get it?

Not really. No. The high stats kids at base schools are high stats…not bc TJ kids aren’t there to outshine them but bc they are already high performing.

Maybe the top few kids could hang but most of them would drop on a 1::1 basis with how many kids went to TJ.

? You're not even making any sense.

If a kid is 50% percentile at TJ then it's HIGHLY likely they would be a higher percentage at their base school because the base school has a mix of smart/motivated kids and other kids whereas TJ - as a magnet - is almost all (note not ALL) smart/motivated (it's just some kids there are smartER and MORE motivated than overs). That's the entire point. Full Stop.

You seem bizarrely fixated on defending your base school when no one's slamming it.

I'm saying that the top few base kids will keep their spots but most kids would slide down the class rank if the TJ kids were still there.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:The school tells people not to go there if you want to go to top schools, there is too much competition. If you really want 0ne of the top 25 schools, go to your base school. I have an 8th grader applying for TJ and we have discussed this with him. It will come up again if he is accepted at TJ.

+1 agree. Even after all the selection changes (including over years). The top 20% (~100 students) will be very competitive and they will be taking over the limited slots at the T20/T30's. If you are not in top 20% the chances of getting to top colleges are lower from TJ.

The 50th percentile at TJ might get into UVA. The same student will be top 5% or higher at their base school and will likely get into UVA

My fav TJ-parent belief: my kid would have been top x% had kid gone to the base school. Never change, please!! ❤️

And yet, it is true that for college admissions it is better to be top 20% at a base HS than bottom 50% at TJ. Some highly capable students stay at their base school for this reason.

The other reality is that many at TJ are really targeting Medical School, and are not targeting a STEM career.

Yes…but TJ parents truly believe had their kids gone to the base HS they absolutely would have been at the top there. I think being bottom 50% at any HS is a recipe for failure for a highly rejective school.

Because for the most part this is true. Exceptions sure but most TJ kids would rank higher at their base school than they do at TJ just given the nature of the magnet school and the harsh reality that there can only be half of any class in the top 50%.

Thank you!! Again, don’t stop!!! The only way you are right is if the nearly all the mid ranked TJ students are brilliant and the essentially all the base top students are dummies and/or only appear bright bc of grade inflation.

Please. I don’t think you understand how math works. “ALL the TJ mid ranked kids are brilliant and ALL the base top kids are dummies”.

I’m not arguing every single kid at TJ would be top 1% at their base school. I’m saying it’s going to USUALLY be the case that any particular kid that got into TJ would be ranked higher at their base school than they are ranked at TJ. Not because all the kids at the base are dumb but because there is generally less competition for the top tier of base schools than there is for the same top % slice of TJ. Get it?

Not really. No. The high stats kids at base schools are high stats…not bc TJ kids aren’t there to outshine them but bc they are already high performing.

Maybe the top few kids could hang but most of them would drop on a 1::1 basis with how many kids went to TJ.

? You're not even making any sense.

If a kid is 50% percentile at TJ then it's HIGHLY likely they would be a higher percentage at their base school because the base school has a mix of smart/motivated kids and other kids whereas TJ - as a magnet - is almost all (note not ALL) smart/motivated (it's just some kids there are smartER and MORE motivated than overs). That's the entire point. Full Stop.

You seem bizarrely fixated on defending your base school when no one's slamming it.

I'm saying that the top few base kids will keep their spots but most kids would slide down the class rank if the TJ kids were still there.

No, no, no. The top TJ kids? Sure? Beyond that? Absolutely not.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:The school tells people not to go there if you want to go to top schools, there is too much competition. If you really want 0ne of the top 25 schools, go to your base school. I have an 8th grader applying for TJ and we have discussed this with him. It will come up again if he is accepted at TJ.

+1 agree. Even after all the selection changes (including over years). The top 20% (~100 students) will be very competitive and they will be taking over the limited slots at the T20/T30's. If you are not in top 20% the chances of getting to top colleges are lower from TJ.

The 50th percentile at TJ might get into UVA. The same student will be top 5% or higher at their base school and will likely get into UVA

My fav TJ-parent belief: my kid would have been top x% had kid gone to the base school. Never change, please!! ❤️

And yet, it is true that for college admissions it is better to be top 20% at a base HS than bottom 50% at TJ. Some highly capable students stay at their base school for this reason.

The other reality is that many at TJ are really targeting Medical School, and are not targeting a STEM career.

Yes…but TJ parents truly believe had their kids gone to the base HS they absolutely would have been at the top there. I think being bottom 50% at any HS is a recipe for failure for a highly rejective school.

Because for the most part this is true. Exceptions sure but most TJ kids would rank higher at their base school than they do at TJ just given the nature of the magnet school and the harsh reality that there can only be half of any class in the top 50%.

Thank you!! Again, don’t stop!!! The only way you are right is if the nearly all the mid ranked TJ students are brilliant and the essentially all the base top students are dummies and/or only appear bright bc of grade inflation.

Please. I don’t think you understand how math works. “ALL the TJ mid ranked kids are brilliant and ALL the base top kids are dummies”.

I’m not arguing every single kid at TJ would be top 1% at their base school. I’m saying it’s going to USUALLY be the case that any particular kid that got into TJ would be ranked higher at their base school than they are ranked at TJ. Not because all the kids at the base are dumb but because there is generally less competition for the top tier of base schools than there is for the same top % slice of TJ. Get it?

Not really. No. The high stats kids at base schools are high stats…not bc TJ kids aren’t there to outshine them but bc they are already high performing.

Maybe the top few kids could hang but most of them would drop on a 1::1 basis with how many kids went to TJ.

? You're not even making any sense.

If a kid is 50% percentile at TJ then it's HIGHLY likely they would be a higher percentage at their base school because the base school has a mix of smart/motivated kids and other kids whereas TJ - as a magnet - is almost all (note not ALL) smart/motivated (it's just some kids there are smartER and MORE motivated than overs). That's the entire point. Full Stop.

You seem bizarrely fixated on defending your base school when no one's slamming it.

I'm saying that the top few base kids will keep their spots but most kids would slide down the class rank if the TJ kids were still there.

No, no, no. The top TJ kids? Sure? Beyond that? Absolutely not.

Virtually all the TJ kids would take most of the top spots at their base school. Even now with this abomination of a admissions process we have; many of the best kids go to TJ, especially now that the froshmore admits are such a large part of the TJ cohort.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:The school tells people not to go there if you want to go to top schools, there is too much competition. If you really want 0ne of the top 25 schools, go to your base school. I have an 8th grader applying for TJ and we have discussed this with him. It will come up again if he is accepted at TJ.

+1 agree. Even after all the selection changes (including over years). The top 20% (~100 students) will be very competitive and they will be taking over the limited slots at the T20/T30's. If you are not in top 20% the chances of getting to top colleges are lower from TJ.

The 50th percentile at TJ might get into UVA. The same student will be top 5% or higher at their base school and will likely get into UVA

My fav TJ-parent belief: my kid would have been top x% had kid gone to the base school. Never change, please!! ❤️

And yet, it is true that for college admissions it is better to be top 20% at a base HS than bottom 50% at TJ. Some highly capable students stay at their base school for this reason.

The other reality is that many at TJ are really targeting Medical School, and are not targeting a STEM career.

Yes…but TJ parents truly believe had their kids gone to the base HS they absolutely would have been at the top there. I think being bottom 50% at any HS is a recipe for failure for a highly rejective school.

Because for the most part this is true. Exceptions sure but most TJ kids would rank higher at their base school than they do at TJ just given the nature of the magnet school and the harsh reality that there can only be half of any class in the top 50%.

Thank you!! Again, don’t stop!!! The only way you are right is if the nearly all the mid ranked TJ students are brilliant and the essentially all the base top students are dummies and/or only appear bright bc of grade inflation.

Please. I don’t think you understand how math works. “ALL the TJ mid ranked kids are brilliant and ALL the base top kids are dummies”.

I’m not arguing every single kid at TJ would be top 1% at their base school. I’m saying it’s going to USUALLY be the case that any particular kid that got into TJ would be ranked higher at their base school than they are ranked at TJ. Not because all the kids at the base are dumb but because there is generally less competition for the top tier of base schools than there is for the same top % slice of TJ. Get it?

Not really. No. The high stats kids at base schools are high stats…not bc TJ kids aren’t there to outshine them but bc they are already high performing.

Maybe the top few kids could hang but most of them would drop on a 1::1 basis with how many kids went to TJ.

? You're not even making any sense.

If a kid is 50% percentile at TJ then it's HIGHLY likely they would be a higher percentage at their base school because the base school has a mix of smart/motivated kids and other kids whereas TJ - as a magnet - is almost all (note not ALL) smart/motivated (it's just some kids there are smartER and MORE motivated than overs). That's the entire point. Full Stop.

You seem bizarrely fixated on defending your base school when no one's slamming it.

I'm saying that the top few base kids will keep their spots but most kids would slide down the class rank if the TJ kids were still there.

No, no, no. The top TJ kids? Sure? Beyond that? Absolutely not.

Virtually all the TJ kids would take most of the top spots at their base school. Even now with this abomination of a admissions process we have; many of the best kids go to TJ, especially now that the froshmore admits are such a large part of the TJ cohort.

Let me rephrase that. There's still a lot of smart kids left at bases schools, especially at places like Chantilly where a lot of students have decided that the commute just isn't worth it anymore.
Other schools like Woodson, Oakton, Langley and Mclean also probably have a lot of competitive kids left behind but the kids that left these schools would take up a lot of the top spots. At most other schools, TJ probably took some of their best students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand why you’d want a “great” HS experience but a lower named/ranked school unless it was the kid’s choice (turned down an ivy for a full ride at uva).

Because a job might care about what college you attend, they won’t care about what HS you attend. Most people have no clue about TJ but they know Harvard or MIT.

Buahaha, that's what you think. TJ got me every job I ever had. I know lawyers who got clerkships based on TJ (yes, layered on top of whatever law school). Yeah maybe TJ's reach is more geographically limited, but lots of people know TJ.

It's really amazing how many people think coming here to trash TJ or going to the private school forum to trash specific top tier privates will make other kids turn these schools down and give their kids a better chance. People - not enough applicants read your DCUM post, then think, "Huh, maybe I won't go there after all" for your kid to get in.

Did you put TJ on your resume? Or was it just connections, like any other high school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand why you’d want a “great” HS experience but a lower named/ranked school unless it was the kid’s choice (turned down an ivy for a full ride at uva).

UVA is the type of school excellent TJ students are getting rejected from due to the competition.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand why you’d want a “great” HS experience but a lower named/ranked school unless it was the kid’s choice (turned down an ivy for a full ride at uva).

Because a job might care about what college you attend, they won’t care about what HS you attend. Most people have no clue about TJ but they know Harvard or MIT.

Buahaha, that's what you think. TJ got me every job I ever had. I know lawyers who got clerkships based on TJ (yes, layered on top of whatever law school). Yeah maybe TJ's reach is more geographically limited, but lots of people know TJ.

It's really amazing how many people think coming here to trash TJ or going to the private school forum to trash specific top tier privates will make other kids turn these schools down and give their kids a better chance. People - not enough applicants read your DCUM post, then think, "Huh, maybe I won't go there after all" for your kid to get in.

How would an adult (after college) job know about your HS (name, gpa, ap scores etc)?

People who went to nationally renowned high schools often leave it on their LinkedIn "education" section.

This is irrelevant for adults. What employer is going to be impressed with a high school that someone graduated from years before? No one is looking at a Penn State grad and saying but he went to TJ nor is someone looking at a Harvard grad thinking wow he also went to TJ. They are looking at your last school/last accomplishments/last job, etc. If those kids go off to college and do amazing things there, that is what gets jobs OR connections get jobs.

Trust me, I didn't believe it either. But I was making fun of my colleague for keeping Exeter in his LinkedIn profile. He insists he's made many connections through Exeter and specifically from Exeter connections on LinkedIn messaging him. I think for high schools with a national or international reputation, it might make a difference. Schools like Andover, Exeter, TJ, Stuyvesant, Lowell. All others, I agree with you.

It makes zero difference for TJ.

LOL then why does the managing partner at a big law firm unsolicitedly talk about her TJ experience? Presumably because it's something she actually cares about. And she has a lot of influence over a lot of highly desirable jobs.

Look, I have no dog in this fight. I went to a crappy high school.

Some people just really like high school. If she went to a so-so private school she would probably do the same thing. That wouldn't mean applicants from that private school would have an advantage, especially since the person rejecting them wouldn't have attended said private school.

Same thing goes for TJ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nope! I have a TJ grad (graduated in the past five years) at a T10. A large part of this result I, and they, believe is due to motivation by peer group and access to special opportunities (landing internships w/ TJ name, doing research/projects with other motivated and smart TJ kids). If they went to base would likely not have done as much in HS or gone somewhere as good.

Can you expand on the "landing internships with TJ name" thing? How exactly did that work?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Adding one more note - I was not a TJ grad, but at MIT there was a bunch of us that were upset about graduate school admissions. Mostly it was our grade point average that meant we wouldn't get to the interview process.

My friends and I had our graduate school rejection letters from Harvard posted in the bathroom. All of us landed at great schools, so looking back on it, it was no big deal. That said, it still stung.

In the absolute worst case scenario, a friend applied to 25 medical schools and got into none. She had to do a masters and reapply. She did eventually get in and became a MD.

PhD programs are more like a handful of apprenticeships than a single "program". It makes 0 sense to be disappointed in any individual rejection unless you are exceptionally entitled or if you previously received confirmation that prof. so and so would take you as their student.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand why you’d want a “great” HS experience but a lower named/ranked school unless it was the kid’s choice (turned down an ivy for a full ride at uva).

Because a job might care about what college you attend, they won’t care about what HS you attend. Most people have no clue about TJ but they know Harvard or MIT.

Buahaha, that's what you think. TJ got me every job I ever had. I know lawyers who got clerkships based on TJ (yes, layered on top of whatever law school). Yeah maybe TJ's reach is more geographically limited, but lots of people know TJ.

It's really amazing how many people think coming here to trash TJ or going to the private school forum to trash specific top tier privates will make other kids turn these schools down and give their kids a better chance. People - not enough applicants read your DCUM post, then think, "Huh, maybe I won't go there after all" for your kid to get in.

How would an adult (after college) job know about your HS (name, gpa, ap scores etc)?

People who went to nationally renowned high schools often leave it on their LinkedIn "education" section.

This is irrelevant for adults. What employer is going to be impressed with a high school that someone graduated from years before? No one is looking at a Penn State grad and saying but he went to TJ nor is someone looking at a Harvard grad thinking wow he also went to TJ. They are looking at your last school/last accomplishments/last job, etc. If those kids go off to college and do amazing things there, that is what gets jobs OR connections get jobs.

Trust me, I didn't believe it either. But I was making fun of my colleague for keeping Exeter in his LinkedIn profile. He insists he's made many connections through Exeter and specifically from Exeter connections on LinkedIn messaging him. I think for high schools with a national or international reputation, it might make a difference. Schools like Andover, Exeter, TJ, Stuyvesant, Lowell. All others, I agree with you.

It makes zero difference for TJ.

LOL then why does the managing partner at a big law firm unsolicitedly talk about her TJ experience? Presumably because it's something she actually cares about. And she has a lot of influence over a lot of highly desirable jobs.

Look, I have no dog in this fight. I went to a crappy high school.

And another partner could value Oakton grads or Yorktown grads bc he/she went there. Impressive would be countless employers who did NOT go to TJ seeking out TJ grads.

Slightly different scenario but I was interviewing while attending NYU law school and the question "where are you from" invariably comes up and then if they are familiar with the locality they ask where did you go to high school because your interviewer is also trying to make a connection. When I said Stuyvesant, they called in another partner and we talked for a bit and we all went to lunch together. I'm not saying i wouldn't have gotten the job without the high school connection but the high school came up and it reflected positively on me that I went to Stuyvesant.

But again, note that it's a "you went to the same high school as me" thing, not a "you went to a high school that I am impressed by despite never having gone there myself" thing.

Confusing the former for the latter is how end up thinking TAMU is a top tier university.