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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Today, my 8th-grade child, who attends an AAP center middle school, came home from school and shared something troubling. She said that several very strong students she knows—students who are hardworking, highly capable, and genuinely interested in STEM—were either rejected or placed on the waitlist for Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.

At the same time, she heard that at least three other students received offers of admission even though, according to their classmates, they put very little effort into their essays, are not interested in studying, do not enjoy math or science, and do not perform strongly in those subjects. Some even said they were surprised they were admitted and did not understand why they were accepted.

Because they received offers, they now feel that they must be smarter than students who were rejected or waitlisted, despite having average or below-average grades in math and science and little interest in STEM. Meanwhile, students with excellent SOL scores, strong academic records, and a genuine passion for math and science feel deeply disappointed and confused. They cannot understand why students who seem less prepared or less interested in STEM were admitted, while highly qualified and motivated students were not.

For many families and students, this feels unfair and difficult to understand.[/quote]

First, a C is an average grade. You cannot apply to TJ with a C. The kids that your child is complaining about has A’s. Your kid has no idea about their SOL scores.

Second, your child has their perception of the kids who were accepted and those who were not. Those perceptions could be wrong. No one has a clue what those kids wrote on their essays. Htey could have written brilliant essays and being saying that they didn’t because they don’t want to be seen as a nerd outside of the TJ applying crowd.

Third, what does little effort even mean? Maybe they didn’t practice writing prompts or attend a class to prepare, that is fine. Maybe they wrote strong essays without practice or a class. Maybe they didn’t need to put in the effort because they were strong writers.

Fourth, humans can have multiple interest and not show that interest to everyone. Maybe the kids have strong interests in extra curricular activities that they find more interesting to discuss then math and science. Maybe they are academically interested in math and science but they didn’t join clubs because they were also interested in sports or theatre or whatever.

I do agree, kids are not better if they were accepted at TJ. The competition to attend is fierce. The majority of the kids who apply and are not admitted are smart, motivated, and engaged students. Not making it into TJ doesn’t change any of that or elevate the kids who were admitted.

Your job as a parent is to hammer home that last bit and gently correct the other points.

I am baffled at all these kids who know so much about other kids grades and scores because my kid doesn’t care. He doesn’t ask other kids their scores or grades, it’s none of his business. His friends mostly seem to feel the same way. My kid came home and told me people were talking about TJ, one kid he knew was waitlisted, he didn’t ask the others who had applied because he didn’t want to pry. He knows a few kids who got in that he hangs out with. We did remind him to be careful with how he discussed being admitted. Using words like excited and happy are great but to be careful if a friend didn’t get in because that hurt and he wants to be a good friend and not make it worse.
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