Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:If your goal is to get into an ivy-league or Top 25 college, going to T.J. will not help your child's chances. In fact, it will hurt them. Colleges consider applicants by comparing them to their peers at the high school they attend. T.J. has some of the brightest students in the entire country. That means that for the 75% of T.J. students who will not be in the top 25% of their class, they will be at a disadvantage when compared to students at regular high schools. Unfair to TJ kids, but true. So go to T.J. if (a) you want to be surrounded by some of the smartest kids in the country, (b) you want to take a number of high-tech courses not offered by base schools, or (c) you just want to bask in the prestige of saying you attend TJ. But do NOT attend solely because you think it will help you make Harvard or Yale. It won't (unless you are among the very brightest at TJ).
P.S. AET does not deserve a place in this discussion. It does not come close to the intellectual rigor of AOS.
P.P.S. If you child gets into both TJ and AOS, AND your goal is to get into a fancy college, then--without question--you should choose AOS. Because at AOS, colleges will compare the student with others at the base school, and undoubtedly your child will compare to them very favorably.