Reply to Advice for the new TJ batch

Forum Index » Advanced Academic Programs (AAP)

Reply to "Advice for the new TJ batch"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]Congrats!  Now a reality check. Look at the extended hours for TJ.  Add on the commute. Add on time after school for any extracurriculars. Sit down as a family and look at when your kid will leave and when they will get home every day. Add in time for a shower and dinner. Then 3-4 hours for homework.  And most of the weekends.

Make sure you are going into this with your eyes open. That your kid can live with that kind of schedule, day after day and week after week. Make sure you can live with the carpools and giving your kid the extra support they need and still be there for your other kid(s).  TJ is a huge family commitment. Make sure you are okay if if, like half the class, your kid “only” goes to UVA, WM or VT.  Assume your kid does not get into a better college because of TJ, but is much better prepared for where they do go.  That is the most likely outcome 4 years. Will it be worth it?  Or will you and your kid be disappointed and feel like all that effort and lost sleep and stress was a waste.

Your kid will make Bs. They will flunk STEM tests. Their GPA will be lower than base school GPAs. They will take AP level classes, like CS and World History, and not get AP credit. Make peace with that now.

Encourage your kid to get involved in the schools non-STEM programs or keep their non-STEM interest.  If that is art, music, or drama, or journalism, have them do summer school to keep the class in their schedule.  Many of the happiest, healthiest, most well balanced kids are the ones who play one or more sports, march in the band, take fine arts classes, or do the drama production. That break during the school day where they can do something different, or that they love, is important.

And AP Physics arenwhere junior year GPAs go to die. 90% of kids are better served by taking physics 1 first. And most kids doing well in AP Physics are seniors who have had physics 1.

That’s all I got. Good luck and welcome. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics