Reply to A question about the actual students at Thomas Jefferson for anyone who has actually met them:

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Hey Einsteins,[b] So why do they do it? I mean if they can get in to a good American college straight from Korea? [/quote]

I'm going to assume this is a sincere question and take a stab at it.  One reason is that they want to master English--really speak it fluently.  After all, English is the international language and you need to know it to be successful.  And what is the best way to learn a language other than to live in the country that speaks it?  It's like studying abroad to learn a language & its culture.  The US is not the only country they go to.  I've heard of people going Canada, Europe, China (to learn Chinese, that is)...  I don't think it's really about the education here or even TJ.  In fact, the education is so advanced in Korea that after a few years here, they would be behind (at least in Math) when they go back, except maybe TJ.  It's really more about the experience.  I think they value the experience of living abroad and learning English and really getting to know the culture.  I think a lot of Americans feel the same way.  I think Americans value the experience of, say, living in Spain and really mastering Spanish and understanding the culture.  I would find that experience valuable.  The difference is that they're doing it at a much younger age (ES, MS, HS age), hence splitting up the family, and not waiting until college or after college, which is when most Americans who do it would go.  Because as we all know, the earlier you learn a language, the better you are at it (especially the accent).  I think this goes to, depending on how you look at it, how competitive they are or how much they're willing to sacrifice in raising their kids.  Who wants to split a family up?  And it's certainly more expensive to do this, but they feel like it's important for their kids if they are going to be competitive.  [/quote]

so they come to the U.S. in middle school so they can learn to speak English without an accent?  And they can't do this at say Centerville or Chantilly or Westfield etc., but choose TJ so they won't fall as far behind in math when they go back? Is that about right.  [/quote]

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