A data-backed approach to understand the TJ Admissions Process

[Anonymous]

https://www.tjtestprep.com/data

Key Insights

Having a high Grade Point Average (GPA) is absolutely necessary, but is not sufficient to get into TJ​

The middle school you attend plays a very significant role in admissions

Carson, Longfellow, Kilmer, and Rocky Run MS now admit students at lower rates

Private school students are at a statistical disadvantage

Having an "Experience Factor" dramatically improves your chance of being admitted

While Race is not explicitly considered, the admissions change is designed to increase the diversity of students (as defined by FCPS) using middle school and "experience factors" as a proxy

The Student Portrait Sheet & Problem-Solving Essay is a significant factor after GPA is in range

The waitlist is large (a minimum of 1031), with limited chances to be admitted from the waitlist

TJHSST admitted at least 1 student from every middle school in order to get representation

[Anonymous]

What is a data driven “Experience Factor?” How does a UMC kid in Fairfax who had faced no adversity get this factor?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is a data driven “Experience Factor?” How does a UMC kid in Fairfax who had faced no adversity get this factor?

Well, one prep center is advising parents how how to get an experimacs factor. Have parents separate and mom (Sahm) gets full custody and bam! Low income. Or lie in FARMS. Move to another middle school.

Getting an IEP/504 is actually harder than it seems, so that one doesn’t see to be as easy to game.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is a data driven “Experience Factor?” How does a UMC kid in Fairfax who had faced no adversity get this factor?

Well, one prep center is advising parents how how to get an experimacs factor. Have parents separate and mom (Sahm) gets full custody and bam! Low income. Or lie in FARMS. Move to another middle school.

Getting an IEP/504 is actually harder than it seems, so that one doesn’t see to be as easy to game.

Maybe they can offer a course in gaming 2022 admissions to appeal to those who seem to enjoy that kind of thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is a data driven “Experience Factor?” How does a UMC kid in Fairfax who had faced no adversity get this factor?

Well, one prep center is advising parents how how to get an experimacs factor. Have parents separate and mom (Sahm) gets full custody and bam! Low income. Or lie in FARMS. Move to another middle school.

Getting an IEP/504 is actually harder than it seems, so that one doesn’t see to be as easy to game.

I doubt many would do that. But then again I never would have thought so many families would send their kids to actual prep centers starting in elementary school.

Still, I think this is a step forward. And if cheaters cannot control themselves TJ is just going to close.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is a data driven “Experience Factor?” How does a UMC kid in Fairfax who had faced no adversity get this factor?

Well, one prep center is advising parents how how to get an experimacs factor. Have parents separate and mom (Sahm) gets full custody and bam! Low income. Or lie in FARMS. Move to another middle school.

Getting an IEP/504 is actually harder than it seems, so that one doesn’t see to be as easy to game.

I doubt many would do that. But then again I never would have thought so many families would send their kids to actual prep centers starting in elementary school.

Still, I think this is a step forward. And if cheaters cannot control themselves TJ is just going to close.

This. I'm not sure the cheater care, though. If they can't game the system, then burn it all down. They will still live in the better-resourced pyramids, so it's a win-win for them.

[Anonymous]

I want to see the data they got directly from FCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is a data driven “Experience Factor?” How does a UMC kid in Fairfax who had faced no adversity get this factor?

Well, one prep center is advising parents how how to get an experimacs factor. Have parents separate and mom (Sahm) gets full custody and bam! Low income. Or lie in FARMS. Move to another middle school.

Getting an IEP/504 is actually harder than it seems, so that one doesn’t see to be as easy to game.

I doubt many would do that. But then again I never would have thought so many families would send their kids to actual prep centers starting in elementary school.

Still, I think this is a step forward. And if cheaters cannot control themselves TJ is just going to close.

This. I'm not sure the cheater care, though. If they can't game the system, then burn it all down. They will still live in the better-resourced pyramids, so it's a win-win for them.

On another thread, multiple people discussed how Curie got 90 seats in the class of 2025. This is down from 133 in the class of 2024, but still incredibly high. I truly think there are many parents that will do anything to make TJ happen for their kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I want to see the data they got directly from FCPS.

Ask the website.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is a data driven “Experience Factor?” How does a UMC kid in Fairfax who had faced no adversity get this factor?

Well, one prep center is advising parents how how to get an experimacs factor. Have parents separate and mom (Sahm) gets full custody and bam! Low income. Or lie in FARMS. Move to another middle school.

Getting an IEP/504 is actually harder than it seems, so that one doesn’t see to be as easy to game.

I doubt many would do that. But then again I never would have thought so many families would send their kids to actual prep centers starting in elementary school.

Still, I think this is a step forward. And if cheaters cannot control themselves TJ is just going to close.

This. I'm not sure the cheater care, though. If they can't game the system, then burn it all down. They will still live in the better-resourced pyramids, so it's a win-win for them.

On another thread, multiple people discussed how Curie got 90 seats in the class of 2025. This is down from 133 in the class of 2024, but still incredibly high. I truly think there are many parents that will do anything to make TJ happen for their kids.

It's about what I'd expect. The admission changes weren't drastic and will have a minor impact.

[Anonymous]

The Middle School being a big factor is not a surprise.

Getting an IEP is hard. It is a 6 month process, at best, but can be much longer. Outside testing might be considered but it is not the primary vehicle. Buying off a Doctor or someone to say that your kid has whatever issue is not going to work because the schools have to conduct their own testing. If the school doesn’t find an issue, then you are not going to get an IEP or a 504 plan.

Moving to another school for a better shot will only work for a small percentage of the kid because there is a limited number of seats guaranteed at each school. And you have to be willing to pay for an apartment and send your kid to another school witha cohort that many of you have tried desperately to avoid. I wonder if that means attending for 7th and 8th grade or how soon it will be changed to that because of people gaming the system.

I am not certain of what it takes to be added to the FARMs list, I suspect that it is harder then one thinks. I also would guess that there are plenty of people at the various schools who will be looking for and reporting signs of fraud. The idea that families are going to “separate” so that kids are eligible for FARMs is gross. I also suspect that will require paper work showing a custody agreement and child support payments and the like.

[Anonymous]

We've gone from an environment where Asian families who were proud and hard-working typically didn't apply for FARMS even when eligible to one in which the poverty of a student's family matters more than a student's talent or achievements.

Congratulations, FCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We've gone from an environment where Asian families who were proud and hard-working typically didn't apply for FARMS even when eligible to one in which the poverty of a student's family matters more than a student's talent or achievements.

Congratulations, FCPS.

it will be fun to see if that myth is true or not. I highly doubt it has any basis in reality outside of anecdotes, but time will tell

[Anonymous]

This is so sad. Just build another “TJ” in the county already. Don’t name it after a slave-owning racist, though. Will the new “TJ” be second to the first “TJ”? Yeah, but who the heck cares about the differences between, say, Stuyvesant and Bronx Science? Only the nerdiest of nerds. Having another option may alleviate some of the high anxiety impacting this weird county.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is a data driven “Experience Factor?” How does a UMC kid in Fairfax who had faced no adversity get this factor?

Well, one prep center is advising parents how how to get an experimacs factor. Have parents separate and mom (Sahm) gets full custody and bam! Low income. Or lie in FARMS. Move to another middle school.

Getting an IEP/504 is actually harder than it seems, so that one doesn’t see to be as easy to game.

All this for … what exactly? Attendance at a high school followed by UVA? Same result from any other high school TJ-qualified kid would have attended.