Reply to Is TJ worth it for student aiming aiming for top schools like HPSM, Duke, Caltech?

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Reply to "Is TJ worth it for student aiming aiming for top schools like HPSM, Duke, Caltech?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]All those schools emphasize significant EC achievements. But if you’re stuck with hard coursework at TJ, you don’t have much time for developing your ECs. So you know the answer.[/quote]

1) It is true that there are, and have always been, kids at TJ who don't have the horsepower to handle the workload. By and large, these are students who gained admission because they engaged in extreme prep to appear brighter than they are. TJ is and has always been a miserable place for strivers of mediocre academic talent. It is relatively easier (not easy, but not awful) for students who are bright enough to command concepts easily without needing to spend insane amounts of extra time outside of the classroom on tutoring and additional study.

2) Much of the extracurricular program at TJ happens through 8th period - an in-school activity period with nearly 200 clubs for kids to choose from and participate in that do a great job of burnishing the college resume and delivering essay topics.

3) Remember that at this time of year, people are on these threads actively encouraging admitted students to reject their offer and return to base school so that their own kid has a better chance of getting in off the waitlist. These people will trash TJ out of one side of their mouth while desperately hoping their child gets in out of the other.[/quote]

1) Agreed, you don't want to barely get into TJ.
You are better off at your base school than struggling at TJ.

2) Agreed, one of the benefits of TJ is that it streamlines activities so that you can engage in several.

3) Agreed, HOWEVER, a lot of that advice is pretty good.  If your kid is not getting advance pass on their SOLs, they should rethink whether they should be going.  If you have to pester your kid to keep their grades up, get ready to make that a full time job and possibly ruin your relationship with your child.  The cachet of going to TJ is going to drop very quickly and you will be left with rigor without reputation.  Some kids need that rigor, if your kid i not one of those kids, the benefit of TJ will diminish as colleges realize that the TJ product isn't what it used to be.[/quote]

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