Reply to How does one prep place account for 25% of TJ Admissions?

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Reply to "How does one prep place account for 25% of TJ Admissions?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Look there is a list of names from the classes of 2022, 2023 and 2024 that prepped at Curie.  Curie has these up in their Facebook page.  FCPS has the list.  It’s likely the list will go into the college admission databases and come back to haunt the students from 2022-2024 for years to come. 
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I don't think the students at TJ who attended Curie necessarily knew that they were being fed material they shouldn't have seen. These behaviors are institutionally endorsed. If you're 12-13 years old and adults are telling you that doing the Curie class is a successful way to work hard and possibly get into TJ, why would you suspect they are giving you material they shouldn't know about? Why should it be a child's job to know the adults are wrong? And why should they be punished, even if they realize it after the fact?

Even if Curie cheated, and some direct evidence comes out, I would not expect anyone will do anything against those kids, nor should they. The KIDS are not the cheaters here -- at worst, Curie got an illegal copy of the Quant and the parents knew. More likely, Curie got some questions by asking the kids, and the parents just know that Curie 'gets kids in'.

If Curie got some test questions by asking students, that's unethical but not illegal. If people have a problem with the business model, then we should remove standardized testing from the TJ admissions process because it's an untrustworthy metric. We provide a carrot for companies like Curie -- TJ admissions will come your way! Every test is teachable. Why blame these kids?

The problem with removing all standardized tests is that students [i]do[/i] need a strong mathematical background to succeed at the school. As much as these companies "prep" students, they also prepare them academically for a very demanding curriculum. It's not the only way to be successful at TJ, but students who are "smart enough" and "hard working" succeed due to their (and their parents) diligence. Teachers at TJ rely on the fact that all the kids can "learn quickly" even when in actuality many of them are taking a parallel class while they are at TJ to learn the material. The question is whether TJ admissions should be based on "diligence" and "parents working hard with their kids". This is up for debate, but please let's not assume the kids are cheaters.

Kids who were able to do what Curie does with just their own self-study take a lot less time to learn new material when they get to TJ. These are kids who are actively involved in a lot of activities that help them learn whatever is these schools are teaching -- and sometimes quite a lot more.

If TJ goes to a lottery or a distribution based on regions, the school itself needs to address how it will teach the material to students who [i]don't[/i] have years of preparatory work, and/or take classes on the side.
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This is one of the most well-thought-out posts on this topic. Pretty much agree with everything you said here.

And, importantly, if success at TJ requires a parallel class on the side to keep up with the accelerated math, that's a MAJOR problem and needs to be addressed.[/quote]

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