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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous] Significant achievements would mostly be based on extracurriculars. Some middle schools have excellent parental support for teams and clubs and at other middle schools opportunities for clubs are completely non-existent. Not fair to penalize a kid for attending a school that doesn't offer anything. And lastly teacher recommendations are also completely open to bias. 
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The question is about whether they are taking the top students within a school.  All these kids would have the same extracurricular options as they are going to the same school.  This year, there were some kids who did very well at a statewide level on some of these activities, who were rejected, while kids who were cut from the team were accepted to TJ.

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Unless you know every detail of the applications of all of these kids, you don’t have a leg to stand on in criticizing the Admissions Office for who they select. It’s not your role to have an opinion on who should or should not get into TJ.

As has been mentioned earlier, many of these teams are “coached” by volunteer parents who decide who is and is not selected to be part of these teams based on factors other than skill/intelligence/competence.

The same is true in youth sports. Sometimes a kid who didn’t make the travel team in 8th grade for whatever reason ends up being the star of or a major player for the high school team.

And here’s another factor to consider: Every year, there is a significant number of students who simply write on their Student Portrait Sheet that they don’t want to go to TJ. It is an easy out for students whose parents are obsessed with TJ but who don’t want it themselves.

There is no way for the parent to find out that they did this and it explains more perplexing rejections that you’d think. It’s entirely possible that your kid has told you all along that they want to go but torpedoed themselves without you knowing.[/quote]

Not talking about my kid here.  Other students at the school, the top students were passed over for pretty weak students.  Some were waitlisted, others rejected.  I doubt the 'write they don't want to go option' but it would explain a rejection.  TJ application office is not aware of these extracurriculars and ability level beyond GPA and some essays.  It's possible they accepted the kid because they wrote about their passion for stem and being hurt when cut from the team, and rejecting the student that says they qualified for nationals.[/quote]

The kids accepted at DC's school are also a puzzling group - [b]one is barely scraping by in Algebra and another nearly failed the geometry SOL. Meanwhile brilliant kids with a perfect grades and SOL scores were flat out rejected. [/b]I know the SOL isn't the be all end all, it's simply one test, just like the TJ exam. I'm sure that TJ is doing everything in their power to select the right group of students, it just seems that under this new system they simply don't have enough data points to make informed choices.[/quote]

Honest question - how do you know the bolded? Are you a teacher? You mentioned "the kids accepted at DC's school", but parents generally do not have access to the records for other kids of the type you're describing. It doesn't add up.

Of course, there's always the possibility that you're just making sh!t up.[/quote]

Not making anything up!  DC knows all of these kids decently well and kids talk. They are always comparing grades, sharing test scores, etc. In all fairness, the kid who nearly failed the SOL is an amazing student who DC has known since K.  Maybe it was just an off day? But beyond that, many of the kids selected were quite a surprise to DC and their classmates.[/quote]

So it is possible the student(s) had an off day when writing the TJ exam ? Please remember you know this kid from K. Unfortunately the TJ admissions committee does not[/quote]

And that's exactly my point! One test with a few essay questions, only one pertaining to math, doesn't seem like the best approach. I'm all for considering experience factors, but there are other pieces that should be considered as well. I know this isn't college, but it is a 4 year decision that carries a lot of weight and should be treated as such. Without a fuller picture of the applicants applying the process will always be skewed.[/quote]

DP. Agreed wholeheartedly. The problem with the old process was that it was heavily reliant on a standardized exam that created imbalances in the process based largely on wealth and parental motivation. Those factors ended up occluding the old process. What's needed is a rebuild that includes more data points but that eliminates the destructive rubric-based scoring system. They need to step back, hire part time evaluators and train them appropriately, and then let them select students in an actual holistic manner with an eye toward a balanced class.

They can maintain, I think, the per-school representation, but it might be worth reducing the impact from other jurisdictions besides FCPS - for example perhaps 1% instead of 1.5% for Loudoun, PW, FCCPS and APS. That would add perhaps another 50-75 unallocated spaces. If there is one group that I think is unduly burdened by the new process, it's private and homeschooled kids, and they shouldn't be punished because of their parents' decision to send them in a non-public direction.[/quote]

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