Reply to Why don't people want to go to tj just because there are "too many" asians?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]PP do you really think these kids are dropping these extra- curriculars in middle school and then able to just jump back in? And at high levels?  Serious question.  I just don't think that's what's happening.[/quote]

I know for a fact that is what's happening for many of them, yes. Most of them who jump back in are not able to come back at a high level - there are outliers, to be sure, but yes, there are absolutely a huge number of families every year who sell out to the TJ application process. Plenty who would start pursuing an extracurricular interest in middle school but never even begin due to a perceived need to beef up their Science Olympiad or Vex Robotics or Odyssey of the Mind credentials because their parents believe that doing so will get them into TJ. And a huge number of those kids don't even get into TJ in the first place.[b] FCPS focuses all of its energy on the place itself, but almost zero energy on the impact that its existence (and current admissions process) has on the county as a whole.
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And the Admissions Office could get rid of just about all of that if they would publicly place any value at all on achievements outside of STEM, in recognition of the fact that delivering a complete high school experience requires a school to have kids who are interested and capable in various different areas.[/quote]

I also don't believe the above is true. Kids have their own hobbies and passions, and if they also want to go to TJ, most will not just drop their passions; they will find time to do STEM. Also, the implication above is that kids that are not interested in STEM should go to TJ to make it as diverse as the base schools. I disagree with this. Only the kids who are truly interested in something related to math and science should go (the ones who have many non stem passions but who have no interest in stem should not apply, since it doesn't make any sense (unless their base high school is really bad or similar reason, which is not usually the case in FCPS).

A few years back over 20% of the incoming TJ freshman were failing or close to failing their math class, which caused a great stir. What is the explanation for what happened? That the math class was too hard for them? Or were they were in the wrong class? Too hard of a teacher? Very doubtful it was any of these reasons. Most people attributed the root cause to the watered down admission process (as it relates to math component), and which resulted in a lot of kids getting in who were not really ready for the level of math they'd encounter at TJ.

If you believe that we should further shift the admission process toward lowering the STEM requirement (i.e math ability), we will either get the same problem as happened back then, or TJ would have to just lower its math and science requirements so that students can handle the work without failing, effectively lowering the math and science bar. I think it would be sad if the latter happens, as the school would no longer stand out as a STEM focused school, which would then (rightly) result in people in the county asking whether the school should still exist.

I think TJ's mission of excellence in math and science should not change; it's what makes it special and unique. And I will reiterate what others said earlier that we don't have to worry about kids stopping their passions/hobbies in middle school or at TJ (clearly this is not the case since we have many amazing kids doing amazing things at TJ that are not STEM related at all). Of course there are always some kids that do stop doing anything they are interested in to "maximize" their application process in the middle school years, but those are the kids that should likely not be the ones getting admitted for multiple reasons: because they may not truly be interested in STEM and just "faking it", or their parents may be pushing them to stop doing what they love in order to get into TJ effectively killing their love of learning, or both. These are really, really bad reasons to go to TJ, and in my opinion this is the cohort that has a hard time at TJ.[/quote]

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