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

Forum Index » Advanced Academic Programs (AAP)

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

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][b]Kids from TJ get into the real world and dominate pretty much regardless of where they go to undergrad. 
[/b]
The differences in opportunities as far as course availability, facilities and equipment, and student groups is just so incredibly stark when compared to even the best base schools.

So yeah, it's possible that it might be a little harder to get into the most elite colleges from TJ... but as the years and decades have gone by, the value add from those schools has been depressed significantly AND you're increasing your chances of admission by a relatively small amount - it's by no means a guarantee. [/quote]

This is ridiculous. Let me guess: you're sending out annual surveys that are answered by professors and employers from senior year of HS onward? No, this is what you're telling yourself. The answer is that very bright kids generally do well no matter where they are.

That's like a base HS kid who goes to an ivy league looking at the TJ kid going to VCU and saying "kids in the top of their HSs who get into the ivies dominate because their colleges are far superior to lower ranked colleges. We have more money from the endowment pouring in!!" The answer is that bright kids are bright and do well no matter where they are, and that includes middle school to base HS OR TJ and then base HS OR TJ on to x college.

[b]- We turned TJ down for base HS and my kid is heading to an ivy next year. It is NOT "a little" harder to getting into elite schools from TJ. It's a lot harder. We strategically picked our local HS.[/b][/quote]

This is smart. [/quote]

Thanks…hard decision four years ago - but we felt it was the right one for us then and we are very glad we did it. [/quote]

No offense but I don't buy that it is a LOT harder to get into elite schools from TJ.

None of the kids I know that got into HYPSM from Langley would have had much trouble at TJ.
Most of the handw5ringing these days is the gross underperformance of the kids that are getting in under the new admissions process that would not have gotten in under the prior admissions process.
Aside from that there is a fairly significant effect for kids that might have gotten into UVA from their base school that will not get in from TJ.

TJ sends almost as many kids to HYPSM as the rest of FCPS combined.[/quote]

-1,000

D[b]o you even have a current 11th-12th grade TJ student or a TJ grad from ‘25? [/quote]
[/b]
I'd love the answer to this...[/quote]

I have a TJ grad, not '25.[/quote]

Year? If you don't have current information, your input needs to be viewed through that lens. College admissions are not what they were even 4 years ago. [/quote]

DP. I hate to be pedantic about this but strategizing a decision about TJ around college admissions is not a great value proposition. The delta between what you're getting at TJ vs. base school in FCPS is so much greater than the delta between typical TJ destinations and HYPSM - assuming you even get in.

- access to exceptional club opportunities *during the school day*
- access to extremely advanced STEM classes
- access to equipment and facilities that exceed what exists at many universities for first and second year students
- access to a student body that is 100% focused on school
- access to far greater athletic opportunities than are available at most FCPS schools
- access to TJ's insane alumni network

Now, if your kid can't handle it, or if your kid genuinely hates STEM, then yes, it's not the right fit. But to choose not to apply or to decline the offer without even trying it for a year for other reasons... tough to understand that.[/quote]

The biggest difference in college admissions between Tj and base school is probably UVA.  If UVA is a target at base school it can become a reach at TJ both because of the effect TJ rigor has on GPA and because UVA gets so many TJ applications.

But if you have what it takes to be successful at TJ, then all other things being equal, having the TJ name on your application is undeniably a benefit.  The primary downside is the effect of rigor on GPA.  
[b]Top schools are used to taking more students from TJ than they are getting right now so they are not saying no to TJ because they already have too many kids from TJ.[/quote]
[/b]
The bolded is not factual.

Your penultimate paragraph is true: IF you will be a top TJ student, that’s better for college admissions than a top base student. Obviously, there is no way to tell where your kid’s GPA will land at TJ 3 years in, until it’s too late.
[/quote]

Class of 2024 had significantly better college admission results than class of 2025[/quote]

You need a citation on this and it can't be the instagram feeds that only had like a quarter to a fifth of the graduating classes reporting.[/quote]

Of course it can be instragram feeds.  Unless you have some reason to believe that they are not similarly representative those two years?
That plus the fact that the average SAT dropped like 80 points.[/quote]

Why would they be? There's no reason to assume that they are. It's not like the ones that were posted out were necessarily the best in each class.[/quote]

The law of large numbers implies that a sample size this large was as representative in 20243 as it was in 2025.
That combined with the fact that [b]SAT scores dropped by 80 points[/b] is pretty good evidence that college outcomes declined.[/quote]

To this poster who wrote “SAT score dropped by 80 points” multiple times in every TJ thread (I know, you just want to emphasize it to make sure everyone read it).

The SAT score dropped 80 points is because TJ kids from new admission is different kind of kids, of course they both the same kind of smart kids.

Large percentage of old TJ kids got in because of heavy and costly test prep, and certainly they continue with heavy SAT prep to continue the rat race.

It is no longer that way, and won’t be back that way pretty soon, no matter how hard you pushed to back to the glory of test prep industry.

The “dropped SAT score” that you keep repeating doesn’t dismiss the intellectual quality of present TJ kids.

SAT score is only one factor from many of college admission.[/quote]
Wait.  You think the kids at TJ now aren't prepping for the SAT?!?!  Are you stupid?

Going from 1520 to 1440 is a pretty big drop, no matter how you try to spin it.

Almost every Ivy+ school is going test required.  [/quote]

I am the (stupid) poster your are referring too.

I did not say TJ kids now aren’t prep for SAT, and I did not try to spin anything.
TJ kids now is less of students that trained to test, as prior.

And even though I am stupid, I know that in order to apply to Ivy you need to submit SAT score, but you also need to show your GPA, your HS, your rigor, classes taken, your achievement, essay, extracurricular, rec letter, economy background, social background, geography, and etc.

Do you see my point?[/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