Reply to What is going on with TJ admissions this year?

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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][quote=Anonymous]Someone posted here that kids who made USAMO or Jr USAMO in 7th grade did not get in, despite those taking either the top high school math students or top thru 10th grade.[/quote]

So? Excellent scores on one math exam, or a limited series of math exams, do not equate to "best suited for TJ".[/quote]

If a kid qualifies for USAJMO in middle school, that kid is one of the top 50 or so mathematicians in their grade level in the entire country.  It's hard to argue that such a kid is not best suited for one of the 550 slots at TJ.  It's also hard to argue that the base school could even come close to meeting the needs for that kid.  [/quote]

There is so much  more to being a quality TJ student than being good - or even exceptional - at math.

Failing to understand that betrays a lack of understanding of TJ as an institution.[/quote]
Yeah.  On one hand, you have a kid with perfect grades who is at an elite, top tier level in math.  On the other hand, you have an Algebra I in 8th grade student who hasn't done any STEM ECs, but wrote a pretty essay.  It's just such a toss up as to which one should be prioritized for the STEM magnet school.

Reasonably speaking, though, if you were to look at elite level accomplishments among FCPS 8th graders and automatically admit kids with them, that would only fill like 20 seats.  There would still be 530 seats left to spread around to all of those other 'quality TJ students.'[/quote]

They way parents on this board talk, all 550 seats could be fit by the elite level accomplishments. Let's be real, there are probably only 20-50 kids who fall into that elite category but there are plenty of parents here who believe that their kid is in that elite category. [/quote]

People are pretty good about acknowledging that there are at most 100 kids who "need" TJ and another 2000 kids who could fill out the remaining seats with little to no loss of quality of the school.  My problem is that those 50-100 kids aren't necessarily getting selected in the current system.  Yes, there absolutely are only 20 ish kids with elite accomplishments in the TJ catchment area.  It's absurd to suggest that those 20 kids don't need TJ and may not be 'quality TJ students.'  This really doesn't need to be all or nothing.  A system could be set up to ensure that those kids who are true academic elites or who absolutely need TJ get in, but also ensure that there's diversity, appreciation of a wide variety of talents, and plenty of those other qualities TJ would like to see.  [/quote]

+100000000

I know a few such kids who did not get in 2025 and 2 that have applied and got in the sophomore round. The other kids did not apply for various reasons like not wanting to change HS, etc. The thing is they did not mess with the sophomore round admissions process. It seems to have flown under the radar luckily. The good news is that it seems to capture these kids who really need TJ pretty well. The downside is that they miss 1 year and not everyone is going to apply the 2nd time around. [/quote]

Interesting and good to know. I heard otherwise (similar selection criteria as original class) for the sophomore year admission too. Not aware of anyone who applied or got in to confirm. 
[/quote]

3 Teacher recommendations are required. 9th grade Math and Science teachers required + 1 from any other 9th grade teacher. No essays but very limited short answer on activities outside of class room. That is it. Recommendations seem to be the big deal as they made a very detailed and elaborate process around it and mentioned what the teachers should be able to talk about.

No other nonsense.

[/quote]

In addition, the selection is done by [b]TJ teachers [/b]for sophomore which is not the case for freshmen class. They also have very wide latitude in the number of students they select. The only objective is to choose those would can do well at TJ. They are free to choose none or 20. The numbers varied widely between 4 to 16 students each year over the last 6 years. [/quote]

+1000. This is great. Lets hope that some good deserving kids get in via this process unlike the original circus/lottery
[/quote]

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