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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]DS got accepted - Trying to decide if he should choose TJ or base school. He has been a straight A student up until now, but the general feedback we have from friends is to not go ahead with TJ. How common / uncommon are straight As in TJ. What kind of grades are we looking at for a top 20% student at TJ? [/quote]

NP here.  We are in the same boat- don’t know if our kid is going to be happy there. Straight As at base school. Lots of ECs. Generally a great kid.

If you watched the livestream/zoom, the perspective I am getting is that your kid needs to love science or math or art. (The art thing was interesting!) It’s not about getting straight As or going to college at this stage: it’s about making sure the kids find their passions and opportunities. There were a lot of questions about whether or not TJ will help their kids get into college. And I’m sure a lot of that was a response to threads here on DCUM.

What that tells me is that regardless of what you read here, the most important part will be going to meet with teachers, talk to counselors, and talk with your child. That this forum is not reflective of what actually is going on in the school.

I was also pleasantly surprised to hear about Ibest and the 8th period more in detail. It makes sense and I think it will help my kids realize that they understand the struggles of incoming freshmen.

[/quote]

This sounds like an idealized version of the school. The homework and commuting demands will curtail your kid's ability to do lots of ECs. The lack of sleep will affect them. The rules may grind them down. The counselors don't interact much with you over the years - they are following a lot of kids. You don't know which teachers you're going to get, so those conversations may not be useful. Different teachers of the same subjects take very different approaches. Some kids take art as a break from the academics, but it's not known as a big part of the school. 8th period isn't the be all and end all - kids often do study hall or tutoring to catch up, rather than anything creative or amazing.

I'd love to see your review after four years.  The whole "grades aren't the most important thing" doesn't matter until your kid gets rejected by Virginia Tech for being in the bottom half of the class.[/quote]

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