Reply to TJ or Edison, which do you think would get your high achieiving kid into a better college?

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Reply to "TJ or Edison, which do you think would get your high achieiving kid into a better college?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
I don't really know what point you're making.  Yes, people turn down Ivy League schools or out of state schools every day to go to state schools, not only in VA, but in states across the country.  There can be many reasons why one would turn down an Ivy League school, cost likely being a major reason. And, of course, there are non-Ivy League schools that are just as well regarded as the Ivies.

And, I have never suggested that most parents send their kids to TJ to game the college admissions system.   The only point I have ever really made is that you take two kids who are otherwise equal in all respects, the one from the "lesser" HS will have an advantage in the college admissions process.  There are others who have suggested the contrary, that the kid from TJ would have the upper hand, and I simply think they're wrong.   Again, I don't think that is a reason to not send your kid to TJ - there is probably a good likelihood that sending a kid to TJ will result in a more advanced curriculum that will further enhance their intellectual abilities, resulting in higher test scores than if they had stayed in their base HS, and improving their college admissions chances. [/quote]

Another good post.  It's amazing how some observations that have as much, if not more, merit as any others expressed on this thread have generated such hostility and many personal attacks.   [/quote]

OP here. I think the previous poster is in agreement with my DH. DH thinks our children will have a better chance of getting into a better college if our children attended Edison vs TJ.

My thought was more that if our smart child went to Edison, he could probably graduate top 10% fairly easily. Because of the competitive nature of TJ, I would not be as confident that he would do as well at TJ. Our child may only be average at TJ.

DH attended a very average high school while I attended a competitive high school. We both did well in college and moved on to top grad schools. At the end of the day, a motivated child will probably do just fine whether he went to Edison or TJ.[/quote]

OP again. I just wanted to add that I think it would be difficult for a student to be identical at both TJ and Edison. As others have pointed out, the course load at TJ is more rigorous with many more advanced classes. A student ranked at #10 at Edison would not have the same course load as a student ranked #10 at TJ.[/quote]

And, I totally agree with that.  One of the reasons why, if I had a motivated student, I would probably send them to TJ over Edison.  The more advanced curriculum would likely result in them improving their intellectual abilities and achieving higher test scores.  At the same time, a student at Edison that is a high achiever might find themselves able to achieve quite a lot in AP courses and have time to become a bit more well-rounded student with more extracurricular activities.  Many colleges like well-rounded students that are also high achievers.   I'm not saying that isn't possible at TJ either.  Different children will excel in different environments.  There is no one size fits all for education. [/quote]

Are you the Edison/Berkeley/Ivy Law School grad? How was your peer group? About how many top motivated students were there at the school?

For the record, I want to move to a better school pyramid and get out of Edison. DH wants to stay in our Edison pyramid for various reasons. On top of the other main reasons DH wants to stay (short commute, likes our house, doesn't want to move, live below our means, etc), DH stated that our kids probably have a better chance of getting into a competitive college from Edison.

I personally would prefer my child to attend a better school, whether it be Langley, Yorktown or TJ. DH seems to want to keep our child in the inferior school to game the system as others have stated on this thread. He does think the end goal is getting into a good college. [/quote]

I am the Berkeley/Ivy League law school graduate but I never went to Edison or any HS in this area.  I think someone started suggesting I went to Edison as some sort of personal attack back a few pages.  I think we can substitute Edison for any of Fairfax County's "lesser" high schools and the discussion is pretty much the same. My personal opinion is that a motivated student can excel in any of the high schools in Fairfax County.  I think there are pluses and minuses for a motivated child to be at a school like Edison, where their motivated peer group will be small vs. a school like TJ or McLean where the motivated peer group will be larger.   I wouldn't personally make the decision about where to send my kid to HS based on gaming the college admissions system, but based on the environment in which I thought my child would be able to excel. [/quote]

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