Official TJ Admissions Decisions Results for the Class of 2025

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's a few things I haven't been able to quite square away yet.

Picture some hypothetical situation where a teacher, as an experiment, introduces some brand new subject which nobody in her class has ever heard of before. On a preliminary test, everyone in the class gets similar grades, since they're all starting from the same place. Then, a handful of students start studying for it, and a few weeks later, they do another test, and for some reason, those kids are scoring a lot better than everyone else. The teacher gets panicked, and says, "the grades aren't evenly balanced anymore - I have to change something to take away the advantage from the small group of students who are doing disproportionately well." Or even worse, "Those students are only showing good test-taking skills, so that most likely means that they're actually mediocre compared to everyone else." How is that fundamentally different than what we're seeing here?

Ok - people would point out that there's the money that is involved. That might even approach fair. On the other hand, last I checked Fairfax County was one of the - if not the - wealthiest counties in the nation. The Curie students are mostly grouped by ethnicity, not by wealth. I don't have the numbers, but I'd intuit that the group in question is at best only moderately wealthy compared to the rest of the county. That would mean that for the vast majority of the county, prep would be seen as an option rather than a privilege. Those taking that route would probably see it as pursuing an opportunity that's available to many - a far cry from the haves vs have nots rhetoric that we're seeing dominating this board.

Does that mean that there aren't any students for whom there is a true wealth barrier? Sure there are - but I'd assume that it's a special case, not a representative one. Just like the "super-nerds" who need TJ and who seem to be left out of the revised system. The "anti-prepper" posters often pretend these kids don't even exist. I don't want to sound callous, but if is a forced choice between trampling the nerds and trampling the poor, I'm not sure why it's necessarily more right to side with the poor.

The money is the problem.

Parents are entitled to spend their money in any way they want to to enrich their children’s lives - more power to them.

But there simply shouldn’t be a market for parents to spend a couple of mortgage payments - or for poorer families, several month’s rent - explicitly for privileged access to TJ. And that’s what’s happening right now - regardless of how effective these companies’ products are, there is clearly a belief that they are, and that creates an elite market.

And even though they were the only ones to market as explicitly as they did, let’s not pretend that Curie is the only one out there. Kate Dalby, Optimal TJ Prep, Sunshine - there is a ton of money to be made off of parents desperate for a leg up in TJ Admissions. And an admissions process that incentivizes that behavior is a non-starter if there is further reform to be done.

Spend your money however you want, but don’t expect it to do your resource hoarding for you.

That's certainly one way to look at the situation. A different way would be to say: if we want to counteract a disparity in how much money different cultures are willing to invest in education, we should start by alleviating the concerns that people certain cultures have about the degree of seriousness of base-level American education.

That’s a fancy way of saying “fix the pipeline” - but it’s a false choice to suggest we should do one or the other, or one THEN the other. Creating additional opportunities for demonstrably excellent students (a 3.95+ average unweighted GPA is exceptional no matter how you slice it) who happen to be born into less wealthy families energizes the pipeline work.

Not a false choice. Just a lazy solution by gaming the system. You could have worked on a better test and kept teacher recommendations. Instead you used Covid to do your nasty business so that TJ spots could be gifted by the politicians, to their constituents. Ironically, reduces the incentive to fix the pipeline. Why fix pipeline when you can game the process to punish a certain race. You can never ever defend evil, even if you sometimes get away with it. Truth stands on its own!

Your hateful nonsense aside, I personally believe in teacher recs. I think it was a mistake to remove them.

Very Trumpian deflection! You can't refute the argument or the truth and therefore just call it hateful nonsense. I guess at some level you see that hate is behind your actions victimizing a group although it is couched in fanciness. I hope you are embarrassed at least.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It was problematic for FCPS that slightly over 70% of the admits to TJ had been Asian, but 82% of the players selected in the NBA draft were Black.

Clearly Adam Silver needs the FCPS School Board and TJ AAG to give him advice on how to ensure more diversity entering the ranks of professional basketball.

If you could just understand that admissions to a public highschool is nothing like the NBA this thread would end.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It was problematic for FCPS that slightly over 70% of the admits to TJ had been Asian, but 82% of the players selected in the NBA draft were Black.

Clearly Adam Silver needs the FCPS School Board and TJ AAG to give him advice on how to ensure more diversity entering the ranks of professional basketball.

If you could just understand that admissions to a public highschool is nothing like the NBA this thread would end.

Next, please tell me there is such a thing as private schools and I should send my kids there. Like the other patronizing poster on this thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It was problematic for FCPS that slightly over 70% of the admits to TJ had been Asian, but 82% of the players selected in the NBA draft were Black.

Clearly Adam Silver needs the FCPS School Board and TJ AAG to give him advice on how to ensure more diversity entering the ranks of professional basketball.

If you could just understand that admissions to a public highschool is nothing like the NBA this thread would end.

Or, if you could realize there are people that believe the deck shouldn't be stacked against someone to favor another this thread would end.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a student that got accepted into the TJHSST Class of 2025, and I'd like to clarify a few things as you parents seem to know absolutely nothing about this year's admissions system.

First off, you parents HAVE to stop obsessing over the change in race demographics at TJ. The admissions system this year was 100% RACE-BLIND, and everyone who got in deserved it.

If you believe your child "should have gotten in" but didn't, suck it up. Get over it. Absolutely everything in life is unfair, but to clarify, this is not specifically because of the change in admissions system.

The average GPA of everyone who applied to TJ was nearly 3.9. If you're angry that you're 4.0-Algebra 2 child did not get in, you should know that this year's admissions system was extremely competitive and HUNDREDS of kids had a 4.0 GPA and took Algebra 2. It is not merely based on grades.

How about, I don't know, be proud of your kid? Maybe think for a second that your kid isn't fit for TJ? Maybe that the competition was so high this year that the essays were stellar to the sentence and that the average GPA of every kid admitted was nearly a perfect 3.99 or 4.0?

For everyone saying "Oh, the kids should have gotten in! The kids worked so hard!" Suck it up and get over yourself. Did your kid work hard? Yes. But EVERYONE who applied worked hard. Every single kid who got in had worked their butt off and excelled higher than anyone else. So yes, it's sad that your hard-working kid didn't get in, but someone shouldn't get in JUST because they work hard.

Again, I'd like to clarify that checking off the box "multiracial" or "black" or "hispanic" is not a "golden ticket" to getting into TJ. It was race-blind. STOP blaming the demographics of TJ and maybe, start thinking about your child and what they feel when you go on and on about how TJ is horrible.

I'd also like to make it clear that the admissions system is extremely flawed. In no way am I saying that it is perfect, because it is not, but everything in life is that way. College admissions system, I believe, is more unfair than TJ's admissions system. But that does not mean you should trash talk TJ and trash talk colleges, because what's the point in that?

In addition, as someone who is accepted in to the TJ class of 2025, I almost feel GUILTY that I got accepted. Parents are saying that all the kids who got in got a "golden ticket" and "their kid" should have gotten in instead. Why do WE have to feel bad that we worked extremely hard, and got accepted into an incredible school?

For every parent who sees this, stop complaining about the admissions system and get over yourself. Care about your child and shift your focus to their wellbeing. Stop complaining about every little detail because your child, I can guarantee, is sick of it, and is sick of your complaining, because that negativity is not something that will encourage them to move forward and work harder. So please, PLEASE, try to be more positive and think more about your kid.



Sincerely, an accepted teenager who is tired of other parents talking bad about the admissions system.

Hello an accepted teenager / Prepper ,

Many many parents hate who worked HARD to get into TJ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Re previous post, with all due respect- do you understand the concept of middle school quotas, caps, quotas for URMS, FARMS, ELLS, and extra weightage for experience factors? Do you understand that GPAs and Essays are subjective? Did you know 7th graders in Loudon got a grade bump while FCPS didn't? You're comparing apples and oranges and this is in no way fair for many many deserving kids. If someone who haven't taken Geometry or advanced courses in middle school and plan to do it at TJ isn't it a lost opportunity for an advanced kid? Look at the bigger picture...fcps needs to fix the pipeline issue starting in elementary instead of changing TJ'S admissions and curriculum to accommodate everyone.

why not both? The old system punished kids attending the wrong middle school, this one balances it

Nonsense. The old system rewarded merit and hard work, and the new system creates hard quotas by middle school and soft ones that serve as a proxy for race/SES.

The old system was not merit-based either. It was primarily subjective evaluations of essays, SIS, and recommendations. After the initial screening the test score was not weighted much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
It's another way to say that some families are frustrated at constantly hearing that education is too expensive to fund - and even when it isn't, that we have to make it ridiculously easy because of hypothetical volumes of kids that can't keep up. But if they want to spend THEIR OWN money to get into a place where education is still taken seriously - because they think that a decent education IS worth spending money on - oh no, now we have to change the system because those "rich" folks are trying to scam everyone else. Yet when they compare against what kids are doing in their respective countries of origin, the education is neither expensive nor compromised in its level of challenge.

They're frustrated, because when they complain about it here, they have to listen to cocksure white people with very American-sounding names - who act like they're speaking from a completely universal point of view - tell them that the real problem is that they're just too wealthy and privileged and should be sacrificing more. They're told they should be spending their money on private schools if it means that much to them - which is wholly unfair, because they're NOT rich and they're already paying taxes for the public schools. Fix the pipeline if you want, but don't pretend you already know all of your problems.

it's called private school and no one is talking about eliminating it or changing the system. Sorry public school doesn't care about how much you spend to get your kid ahead

First, read the post you're responding to. Second, public schools apparently do care about how much you spend to get your kid ahead, as that's the reason people are citing to justify the change. Third, the problem seems to have gone completely over your head - this thread of conversation comes from someone accusing families of resource-hoarding because they put a higher value on education than others. Through their actions, these families are announcing loud and clear that it's not their fault that the school system only selectively has the resources to support a quality education. - which most certainly is something the school system should care about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In response to the above example prepping is fine. That’s not the issue. The school loves when you prep and do their job for them. It makes their lives easier. The issue is should prepping get your more? If I teach my kid multiplication in first grade am I then entitled to demand he get taught division in second? Do I get more? If I prep my child for TJ am I entitled to TJ for my kid? Do I get more? The answer is no. Public school doesn’t work that way. Very few privates do either.

You're looking at things the wrong way. Asking the school to meet your child where he is academically isn't asking for more. It's asking for the same thing that every other kid is receiving, which is an education targeted at least somewhat toward the child's current skill level. Your multiplication example would be akin to teachers forcing kids who are fluent readers in K (largely due to parents reading to them) to do BOB books rather than read materials appropriate to their level. Teachers instead have reading groups and allow kids to select appropriate materials. Teachers and schools should always be looking for ways to meet each child wherever the child is academically, and they should not at all be looking for ways to hold a child back because the child might have been prepped or enriched.

For your TJ example, there's no point in providing really neat chemistry/physics/engineering labs for kids who are unlikely to meet the prerequisites for the classes and be able to take advantage of them. The same is true for the TJ math classes.

Um, my child entered kindergarten reading at the 6th grade level. She was not taught at the sixth grade level. Public school doesn’t meet gifted kids where they are. They don’t meet overly prepped kids where they are either. That would be a nightmare for teachers to execute the way modern education works. Even private schools balk. No, your child does not get individualized “advanced” education in most schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
They're frustrated, because when they complain about it here, they have to listen to cocksure white people with very American-sounding names - who act like they're speaking from a completely universal point of view - tell them that the real problem is that they're just too wealthy and privileged and should be sacrificing more. They're told they should be spending their money on private schools if it means that much to them - which is wholly unfair, because they're NOT rich and they're already paying taxes for the public schools. Fix the pipeline if you want, but don't pretend you already know all of your problems.

+1000. Many of the "preppers" are middle class or even lower middle class Asians who scrimp and save to pay for enrichment for their children. It's really offensive for middle class parents of any color to spend thousands on their kids' travel sports teams, fancy vacations, new cars, etc., and then accuse Asian parents who are equally or even less affluent of "resource hoarding," simply because they're prioritizing education over the other extras.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Um, my child entered kindergarten reading at the 6th grade level. She was not taught at the sixth grade level. Public school doesn’t meet gifted kids where they are. They don’t meet overly prepped kids where they are either. That would be a nightmare for teachers to execute the way modern education works. Even private schools balk. No, your child does not get individualized “advanced” education in most schools.

Did they make her sit and recite letter sounds with the rest of the class? Did she have to read BOB books or other things far below her level? Or did they let her independently read materials closer to her level? Did the teachers even try to do anything to meet her anywhere near her level? It's possible that your child just had terrible teachers.

If a child already knew multiplication in 1st grade, I'd pick up some Beast Academy books and let the kid work independently using these or other enrichment materials. Or I'd find some sort of software package that supports flexible learning. I wouldn't decide that the kid needs to do work that is remedial for her, nor would I feel that any child who wants to learn is asking for special treatment.

Teaching to the lowest common denominator, and then being too inflexible to even try to meet kids where they are is dooming American education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Um, my child entered kindergarten reading at the 6th grade level. She was not taught at the sixth grade level. Public school doesn’t meet gifted kids where they are. They don’t meet overly prepped kids where they are either. That would be a nightmare for teachers to execute the way modern education works. Even private schools balk. No, your child does not get individualized “advanced” education in most schools.

Did they make her sit and recite letter sounds with the rest of the class? Did she have to read BOB books or other things far below her level? Or did they let her independently read materials closer to her level? Did the teachers even try to do anything to meet her anywhere near her level? It's possible that your child just had terrible teachers.

If a child already knew multiplication in 1st grade, I'd pick up some Beast Academy books and let the kid work independently using these or other enrichment materials. Or I'd find some sort of software package that supports flexible learning. I wouldn't decide that the kid needs to do work that is remedial for her, nor would I feel that any child who wants to learn is asking for special treatment.

Teaching to the lowest common denominator, and then being too inflexible to even try to meet kids where they are is dooming American education.

She was not instructed. And she was forced to participate in grade level activities. She survived. Same in math. I never believed our family deserved “more” or “better” from public education. That’s just not how our public education system works. It dies strife to reach the lower performing students. There isn’t a huge concern for accelerating kids who could. And frankly, I’m fine with that, as a parent to a PG kid. But I also don’t stress about outside prepping to try and get “more” or “better” out of the free education system in America.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Did you know 7th graders in Loudon got a grade bump while FCPS didn't?

Can you explain this? My son went to 7th grade in Loudoun last year, and I am not familiar with any grade bump.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Um, my child entered kindergarten reading at the 6th grade level. She was not taught at the sixth grade level. Public school doesn’t meet gifted kids where they are. They don’t meet overly prepped kids where they are either. That would be a nightmare for teachers to execute the way modern education works. Even private schools balk. No, your child does not get individualized “advanced” education in most schools.

Did they make her sit and recite letter sounds with the rest of the class? Did she have to read BOB books or other things far below her level? Or did they let her independently read materials closer to her level? Did the teachers even try to do anything to meet her anywhere near her level? It's possible that your child just had terrible teachers.

If a child already knew multiplication in 1st grade, I'd pick up some Beast Academy books and let the kid work independently using these or other enrichment materials. Or I'd find some sort of software package that supports flexible learning. I wouldn't decide that the kid needs to do work that is remedial for her, nor would I feel that any child who wants to learn is asking for special treatment.

Teaching to the lowest common denominator, and then being too inflexible to even try to meet kids where they are is dooming American education.

She was not instructed. And she was forced to participate in grade level activities. She survived. Same in math. I never believed our family deserved “more” or “better” from public education. That’s just not how our public education system works. It dies strife to reach the lower performing students. There isn’t a huge concern for accelerating kids who could. And frankly, I’m fine with that, as a parent to a PG kid. But I also don’t stress about outside prepping to try and get “more” or “better” out of the free education system in America.

That's now how our public education system works, you uppity outsiders. Don't teach us about out governor's schools or try to make things better. Frankly, we know what's best for us and your kids. We are so hire than thou and superior.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
They're frustrated, because when they complain about it here, they have to listen to cocksure white people with very American-sounding names - who act like they're speaking from a completely universal point of view - tell them that the real problem is that they're just too wealthy and privileged and should be sacrificing more. They're told they should be spending their money on private schools if it means that much to them - which is wholly unfair, because they're NOT rich and they're already paying taxes for the public schools. Fix the pipeline if you want, but don't pretend you already know all of your problems.

+1000. Many of the "preppers" are middle class or even lower middle class Asians who scrimp and save to pay for enrichment for their children. It's really offensive for middle class parents of any color to spend thousands on their kids' travel sports teams, fancy vacations, new cars, etc., and then accuse Asian parents who are equally or even less affluent of "resource hoarding," simply because they're prioritizing education over the other extras.

This x 1,000. Further, folks that criticize the preppers seem to believe that simply stroking a check and enrolling their child is the single act that ensures successful TJ test preparation. They fail to understand that for many parents and their children, preparation includes summer school every summer and weekend classes during the school year. This reflects both a commitment and a sacrifice, as education is prioritized at the top of the list.

Indeed, I would argue that it is exactly these values, driven by parents and instilled into their children, that propelled TJ to become the best school in the nation. The previous merit-based admission process was simply the mechanism by which the smartest (objectively measured), hardest working, and most dedicated students were readily identified. It is these kids that were proven to have the perseverance and staying power to weather the burdens of TJ coursework, including the routine late niters that are the hallmarks of TJ students.

Alas, as my daughter is on the wait list, she will likely be a casualty of the updated admissions process. FWIW, Caucasian dad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a student that got accepted into the TJHSST Class of 2025, and I'd like to clarify a few things as you parents seem to know absolutely nothing about this year's admissions system.

First off, you parents HAVE to stop obsessing over the change in race demographics at TJ. The admissions system this year was 100% RACE-BLIND, and everyone who got in deserved it.

If you believe your child "should have gotten in" but didn't, suck it up. Get over it. Absolutely everything in life is unfair, but to clarify, this is not specifically because of the change in admissions system.

The average GPA of everyone who applied to TJ was nearly 3.9. If you're angry that you're 4.0-Algebra 2 child did not get in, you should know that this year's admissions system was extremely competitive and HUNDREDS of kids had a 4.0 GPA and took Algebra 2. It is not merely based on grades.

How about, I don't know, be proud of your kid? Maybe think for a second that your kid isn't fit for TJ? Maybe that the competition was so high this year that the essays were stellar to the sentence and that the average GPA of every kid admitted was nearly a perfect 3.99 or 4.0?

For everyone saying "Oh, the kids should have gotten in! The kids worked so hard!" Suck it up and get over yourself. Did your kid work hard? Yes. But EVERYONE who applied worked hard. Every single kid who got in had worked their butt off and excelled higher than anyone else. So yes, it's sad that your hard-working kid didn't get in, but someone shouldn't get in JUST because they work hard.

Again, I'd like to clarify that checking off the box "multiracial" or "black" or "hispanic" is not a "golden ticket" to getting into TJ. It was race-blind. STOP blaming the demographics of TJ and maybe, start thinking about your child and what they feel when you go on and on about how TJ is horrible.

I'd also like to make it clear that the admissions system is extremely flawed. In no way am I saying that it is perfect, because it is not, but everything in life is that way. College admissions system, I believe, is more unfair than TJ's admissions system. But that does not mean you should trash talk TJ and trash talk colleges, because what's the point in that?

In addition, as someone who is accepted in to the TJ class of 2025, I almost feel GUILTY that I got accepted. Parents are saying that all the kids who got in got a "golden ticket" and "their kid" should have gotten in instead. Why do WE have to feel bad that we worked extremely hard, and got accepted into an incredible school?

For every parent who sees this, stop complaining about the admissions system and get over yourself. Care about your child and shift your focus to their wellbeing. Stop complaining about every little detail because your child, I can guarantee, is sick of it, and is sick of your complaining, because that negativity is not something that will encourage them to move forward and work harder. So please, PLEASE, try to be more positive and think more about your kid.



Sincerely, an accepted teenager who is tired of other parents talking bad about the admissions system.

says the one who got in...

Not all 4.0s are created equal. There are the 4.0s who average 99s, then there are the majority who barely average 93s and 94s. If you are a student, you would know that. Night and day, Algebra 2 99 vs. Algebra 1 93. The past system was a joke for other reasons. The current system a joke for this reason.