Reply to If a kid will fall in top 30-50% in TJ, is going to TJ a better idea

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Both my kids ended up at HYPSM (same STEM major)
DC 1 attended top 5 FCPS.
DC 2 attended TJ.

The kid that attended TJ was way more prepared and had easier time academically than kid that went to base HS. [/quote]

Also, my kid that went to base HS had friends they met at college who went to TJ and said TJ classmates were way more prepared for the STEM classes than they were despite taking the "same" courses in HS. BC calc at base high school is not the same as BC calc at TJ (not even close). [/quote]

How many can be in this sampling? It would need to be:

- kids attending the same college as your kid

Further narrowed by

- TJ grads your kid met at the college

Compared to
- base HS kids

Narrowed by

- those taking the same Calc BC titled course

Narrowed by those

- taking the same course by the same professor at the same college

Narrowed by those who shared info with your kid

[/quote]

The number of kids from TJ going to UVA and VT for STEM that have friends from their base school also going to UVA or VT for STEM is fairly significant.[/quote]
You can only compare if they all know your kid well enough to share their experience AND they are in the same class together (base and TJ grads) so that you’re getting an evaluation of the same professor and content (testing, grading, etc).

As you’d acknowledge I am sure, one college prof could be easy and another hard, so you can’t say: “I struggled in Calc 3 (with a teacher out sick 3/4 of the year)” is the same as “Mine curves all grades so the lowest is a B” and say the former student struggled bc he was at a base HS and the latter got an easy A bc of TJ.

So again, your kid doesn’t know [/quote]

It's not about grades, it's about grok.  The better trained kids understand stuff easier and faster than the less trained kids.
It you're asking for a peer reviewed study saying that going to TJ will make college easier for you than if you go to your base school, I don't think it exists.
But if you are asking whether there is a consensus among kids that went to TJ that college was easier for them than their classmates then the consensus is pretty much unanimous[/quote]

Our base school is an IB school and the IB supporters keep going on and on about how the IB kids are so much better prepared than the AP kids. I keep rolling my eyes and pointing to all the AP kids who do very well in college. My point? People love to point to their experiences and say it is better to make what they have more special. Parents of kids who have not and will not complete the IB diploma have bought into the IB is superior message because it makes them feel special.

TJ is a great school with a unique student population and some really cool classes. It is challenging and can help the right student really engage in school with similar peers. The students at TJ will do amazingly well at their base school.[b] A kid who can choose between SLHS and TJ is probably more likely to get accepted at a higher ranked school out of SLHS because fewer kids from SLHS are applying to those schools then a kid out of TJ.[/b] The TJ kid has rigor on their side and high grades at a stronger school. The SLHS kid has less competition, a good program, and high grades. They still have a small probability of being selected because all of those schools are highly competitive.

Let your kid attend the HS they want to attend, that they feel is a good fit. A smart kid will do well in life regardless of the HS or the college. I make the same amount of money as my husband and I attended a college known of you know while he attended one all of you know. It really doesn’t matter that much.
[/quote]

This is true only if the student were to go to TJ and take a relatively narrow path - max out all of their STEM APs and limit their non-STEM extracurricular participation to the traditional old-school TJ route of Model UN/Debate, Indoor/Outdoor Track, and iNite clubs.

There are a ton of activities that are of great value to colleges but that are significantly harder to participate in at South Lakes than they are at TJ - team sports and theatre come to mind immediately.[/quote]

The answer is that absolutely if a top college ranking is very important to you, it is typically better to go to the base school. This is true no matter how many people will tell you that TJ as a HS is so great that college outcomes don't matter, you don't pick TJ if you value education - but it means that you value education most 9-12th grades not so much beyond, etc.

As specifically what is written above by the prior poster: a college applicant can have amazing activities both in and out of school. So please don't pick your HS based on the HS's EC offerings. [/quote]

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