Reply to Reasons why one would not accept TJ offer?

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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]I think the kids are more well-rounded coming out of our local base HS, and I care about social things - wanted my kid to be with friends from the neighborhood and at a school closer to our house more than I care about prestige.  He never applied in the first place because he agreed with me on these things.  He's in 9th grade now and trust me - my husband and I don't use this loosely - but we think one of his friends is an actual genius.  We've only said that about one other kid - a third grader who pushed up to our middle son's 5th grade AAP math class, and I think still knows more than the 5th graders.  Anyway, this friend is applying to TJ for 10th grade, and they are idiots if they don't accept him.  That said - I don't know if it wouldn't behoove him to stay at the base and be #1 there for college admissions.  I hear the kids from TJ have a harder time getting into UVA because they think it's their safety school.  ANYWAY - not my circus, not my monkey - so I'll mind my own business.[/quote]

Very good points.

My child was at base in 9th grade and at TJ afterwards. The primary reason is social for the move.

My child cared very much about 2 activities. A sport that would be too competitive for child to be able to be on the team at base. Child likes it very much but weak in that sport. Child was able to play at TJ. Another activity had literally one other child who is interested in at base. Child had (well I had to remind child) to remind teachers about due dates to apply to that activity. It was lonely. At TJ, it is tough to get into the top 30 in that activity and there are nearly 100 who are interested. This is a fantastic social experience and the one of the most enjoyable parts of TJ for child.

Anyway went to TJ for the social aspects and HS experience in our case, but not due to prestige or college admissions perspective.[/quote]

I really don’t see the justification to maintain a magnet school and provide transportation if one of the main remaining benefits is that it allows some kids to make sports teams they couldn’t make at their base schools.  [/quote]

There is also the fact that base was ridiculously easy even while taking the most rigorous course load possible. In all of 9th grade, child probably put maybe 5 hours of effort at home for the entire year on all classes combined. All the home work used to be finished at school itself. In 3 of the courses ended up with over 100% due to bonus points.

So yes there is a need for TJ for some children.[/quote]

How are the grades at TJ now? [/quote]
It is an inverted bell or U-shaped curve, with bottom half of class struggling with Cs & Ds requiring math remediation, the distant top half with mostly As, and a nominal number in the middle.   [/quote]
What are benefits of joining TJ if student not expected to be in top half?[/quote]

You get a phenomenal STEM-focused education that sets you up really well for college and an eventual career in STEM. Even if you don't get into the school you want to right off the bat, you'll probably be prepared to dominate at the school you go to and be well-positioned to transfer to a better school after a year if that's what you want to do. It might be easier to get into a T20 school from, say, Langley or McLean, but you'll be far less prepared and far more likely to drop out after a year and be replaced by a TJ kid who spent a year killing it at Virginia Tech and saving money on in-state tuition.

You get access to facilities, materials, and faculty that are the envy of many college STEM departments. Kids at TJ frequently get early internships and quality employment considerations at major STEM companies because they get experience with this high-end equipment at such an early age.

You get to go school at a place where literally 100% of the kids there care about school. There are virtually zero security concerns or classroom management issues and while not every teacher is perfect, there are none of them who are incompetent.

Because everyone eats lunch at the same time, you're guaranteed to get to eat lunch every day with your friends. That's not the case at most high schools with multiple lunch periods.

Because 8th period exists, you get to participate in tons of clubs and activities without having to stay after school - and because sports take place after school, you can do both clubs and sports with basically no conflict.[/quote]

I don't see that much benefit attending TJ now coming from Langley, McLean, Chantilly, or Oakton.  The main benefit now is if your alternative is a school like Annandale or Mount Vernon.  The peer group at the top neighborhood schools is being upgraded, and the peer group at TJ is being downgraded, but of course it's still more academically focused than many high schools in FCPS.  The faculty, by most accounts, is no better and in some cases worse (i.e., relies more on students to teach themselves the material) than at other schools.

The access to facilities is nice but the dynamics with more kids who aren't really prepared to take advantage of all that TJ once had to offer aren't great.  If they maintain their standards, they will stress out more kids, but the alternative is lowering their standards, in which case there's less reason to put up with the longer commute.  [/quote]

A person making the above misinformed points almost certainly falls into one of two categories:

1) Their child was not admitted to TJ and is attending one of the schools mentioned above, and is trying to make themselves feel better about their child's rejection;

2) They are desperate to send their child to TJ and is making their best effort to encourage students headed to those base schools to decline their offer in order to improve their child's chances if they end up on the waitlist.[/quote]

1.  There may be sour grapes but that rejection says nothing about their kid.  The process of using an essay on why you want to go to TJ is like picking a baskebtall team based on an interview of the tallest kids in your school instead of a  tryout.  And interview where they are sitting down so you can't even tell who is the tallest.

2. There are like 1000 kids on the waitlist.  The chances of getting off that list are slim to none.[/quote]

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