Reply to A data-backed approach to understand the TJ Admissions Process

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[quote=Anonymous][quote] I knew someone would say this - move to base school now. 😅 We are debating this, but my kid signed up certain continued electives which he planned carefully and then all his friends are in AAP center school. My kid currently not showing interest since if he doesn’t get into TJ from base school, he would be giving up all for nothing. It would have been an easier choice for his class/friends last year. Again, you could say friends come and go and electives don’t matter etc. I know you wouldn’t understand where we are coming from as I am sure your kid is either not in middle school or in base school. I hope this leads to getting rid of AAP centers in middle schools, so kids aren’t required to make this choice. My personal opinion, TJ is just a hype, it doesn’t really matter much in the long run. If kids are motivated, they can do well in any school (I still think AAP matters due to accelerated math). It is just unfortunate that some parents and kids have play games to change schools to gain advantage, and it reflects bad on the admission process. [/quote]

There were pros and cons for moving to an AAP Center before this new rule came into play, I am going to go out on a limb that most families are aware that their chances of getting into TJ from any of the Center schools, even before the rule change, was still small. Lots of kids were not accepted under the old rules. The new rules shift the effected schools around a bit.

Parents should be making decisions based on what they think is best for their child. TJ is a great option but it is not the end all and be all. Kids who have high grades and lots of STEM interest were not accepted into TJ and have done very well at their base school. The same will be true for kids this year and next year. If parents think their kids are better off at an AAP Center for MS because of the cohort or the extra curricular activities or the Teachers or whatever reason, they should go to the Center because they think that is important.

The reality is that trying to game the system by being one of the top 8 students at a MS in order to get into TJ is going to be harder then people think. Because there are smart kids who stay at the base schools. Because there will be families who choose to send their kid to the base instead of the Center. Because some people are likely to try the move their kid for 8th grade hoping to be one of the top 8. So I guess The odds might be better to be in the top 8 but it is no guarantee.  But I suspect that there are going to be parents who do try and game the system next year and are going to be disappointed that it didn’t work and regret losing a year at a MS that they deem superior.

I also suspect that ELL are kids who have spent time in ESL classes during their career, not just kids who are from a bilingual family. That is easy enough to verify by looking at school records. I have no clue how the schools determine who is on FARMs but I don’t think that I can just check a box and say my kid is FARMs and he is added to the FARMs list. The IEP/504 route is not easy to fake or game so is going to be a non-starter.

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