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][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]One more thing we realized ( parent of TJ kid who went to Wisconsin) is that colleges don’t care about the fact that the kid went to TJ where good grades are so hard to come by.

Basically colleges look at overall GPA and which courses were taken. Thats all.

[/quote]

Do you and your son regret it?[/quote]

We dont regret it as we dont know what the base experience would have been.  But overall TJ years bring back more stress than a 'happy HS memory'.

Kid def says that in College his level of preparation is so much better than 99% of the kids. But again, that's well and good if the kid is actually able to get into the school of their choice.

My son wanted to go to UVA - but was rejected.  Maybe from base school he would have made the cut for UVA? Who knows? In the end it worked out well at Wisconsin.

I wanted to share so that parents have the full picture.

The interesting/sad thing is that many parents know this about TJ but STILL get overcome by the TJ Brand Prestige and pressure their kids to go to TJ. 
[/quote]

I’ve posted before how we did turn TJ down for a kid and it was not easy at the time. Other friends were admitted and it was hard as a parent- let alone a kid - not to feel the pull about the build up of how great of an opportunity it was going to be (from NON current parents but by parents of rising freshman).

You can’t just say take TJ versus a crapshoot of an ivy admittance from base because:

- TJ likely means (for the majority) a gpa hit. you see the above poster’s kid didn’t even get accepted to uva.

You need to go in with eyes open that it will be a difficult 4 years, long/late nights, dropping grades, long commute and an entirely different HS experience which can change who your kid becomes (good and bad ways).

For us, we were not willing to sacrifice my kid’s potential happiness (for increased stress and anxiety). Yes, mine is going to an ivy from base and likely would have had good college admission outcomes regardless where kid went (VERY unique applicant, high stats, research, internships, big awards, and good application presentation) but we didn’t know that 4 years ago. Back then, I only knew I wasn’t willing to put the inevitable stress on a happy, bright kid, even one who likes and excels at STEM.

Kid is still happy, still bright, and HS was pleasant both fo kid and for our household. Just encouraging everyone to look at various angles because all that glitters is not gold. [/quote]

I think it's common wisdom that if your goal is UVA, then you should probably not go to TJ.
I think it's common wisdom that your GPA is very likely to be lower at TJ than your base school.  
I think it's common wisdom that the rigor at TJ will make high school more academically challenging and perhaps more frustrating.

I think it is ALSO common wisdom that going to TJ will prepare you for college in a way that few other places will.  
So, [b]if going to the best possible undergrad is your end game[/b] then you should probably think long and hard about going to TJ regardless of your ability or enthusiasm.
But if you want to be challenged to meet your academic potential BEFORE you go away to college, then TJ might be the right place for those with high academic ability.

Different families will reach different conclusions depending on the kid.

But if your kid is not a top student getting somewhere around the 99th percentile in standardized tests, TJ may not be for you.[/quote]

If going to the best possible undergrad is your endgame, you are stuck in a very outdated mentality that is not going to serve you or your kid at all. And you're not guaranteed to get a better outcome from your base school and it might even be worse.[/quote]

I think it is the opposite: the long game (college) is more important than HS for bright kids. Are you thinking the top base school kids enter college and are floundering? That in a sea of undergraduates, only TJ students (regardless of rank) are the most successful?

UVA is NOT the measuring stick. IF highly ranked colleges are important to your family, then think long and hard about TJ. If you’re the type to worry about things later OR the TJ opportunities are worth it over all else, then go to TJ.

Tons and tons of non tj kids are well prepared for college. It is one of many ways to be prepared for college. Unless we are reading how only TJ grads are college valedictorians and how professors lament having to teach down to all non TJ grads. If so, sources?[/quote]

College isn’t the long game. The point is that the delta between what you’re getting at TJ versus your base school vastly outpaces the delta between the school you’ll get into with and without TJ. If there even is one.

It is a bad choice to make a decision about what high school to attend based on what college may or may not be accessible from that high school. And I reject the notion that that’s an opinion.[/quote]

We know. Trust us, we know you think this. You’re still wrong, but keep saying it.

Who can value education so much that TJ is so important but then not value education as much when evaluating colleges? [/quote]

The error you’re making here is presuming that prestige or selectivity correlates with quality of education. When it comes to college, increasingly it does not.

And further, forward-thinking employers are paying less attention to where you did your undergrad and more attention to demonstrations of your raw skill set… and TJ again creates the bigger delta there by a long shot. [/quote]

[b]I’m an attorney[/b]. We wouldn’t give a crap where you went to HS. [/quote]

Different Poster.
This is start to make sense. You sound like you never experienced TJ firsthand and maybe never associated with TJ. 
Are you advocating for something here?[/quote]

Wait…is it former TJ-related employers who pay less attention to where an applicant went to undergrad and put more credibility into the TJ experience for a 22 year old?[/quote]

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