Reply to TJ or Edison, which do you think would get your high achieiving kid into a better college?

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Reply to "TJ or Edison, which do you think would get your high achieiving kid into a better college?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Yes, absolutely true.  And TJ is not for everyone- it's a hard decision to make for many families.  But there are also definite statistics that are very transparent w/r/t TJ, because TJ publishes them.  For example, the number of TJ students accepted to Princeton is supposedly the highest number of admitted students for any HS in the country.  I have personally spoken with Harvard application reviewers for the DC area who were astounded how many TJ applicants sailed through the process (it was described as the DC HS that Harvard offered admission to the most students to).  If Edison has acceptance numbers, those could be placed next to TJ's and a comparison could be made.  [b]But I don't think overall one can say that Edison admission stats match TJ's - it's just not true.  [/quote][/b]

I don't think anyone was ever saying that.  [/quote]

Yes they were:

"I bet a kid with those stats coming from Edison would have gotten into those ivys. Then she would've at least had the choice of them or uva, which is the point of this thread, right?"

"I can tell you unequivocally that you take two children who are otherwise the same - i.e., test scores, grades, extracurriculars, race, etc. - one of them is at Edison and one is at TJ, the kid at Edison will have a better chance of being accepted."

""take two children who are otherwise the same - i.e., test scores, grades, extracurriculars, race..." I think that assuming those factors are the same, she's probably right that the kid from Edison gets the nod."

[/quote]

There's a disconnect here, as the quotes you've excerpted don't stand for the proposition for which you've cited them.  Surely TJ supporters are brighter than this.

No one is disputing that the TJ student body as a whole will have higher qualification and more admissions to prestigious colleges than the Edison student body as a whole.  The question put on the table, though, was how [b]two equally qualified candidates from each school would fare[/b].  You could argue - although you might not want to acknowledged this - that TJ provides Student A with opportunities that Student B will never have, such that they will not appear to be equally qualified when it comes time for them to apply to schools, but the arguments you're making here are off-point. [/quote]

That is the point: The premise assumes EQUAL qualifications. One cannot then add another factor (SES) to the mix and say the applicants are EQUAL. If one wants to discuss SES or opportunities, that is another discussion. However, do not repeatedly say equal in all respects for applicants from 2 schools and then say well maybe they are not really equal.

In fact, the previous posts went further and said if the students were equally qualified (including race) in all respects, Edison applicant has the advantage. That is not correct. If Edison applicant has a different background (lower SES), again that is not equal and that is a different discussion.

Get the facts straight before attempting to insult people.[/quote]

Go back and look at the quotes you excerpted, and you'll see they assumed the two hypothetical students in question have the same SES.  To say one cannot fairly assume they attended schools with different SES profiles defeats the entire purpose of the OP's inquiry.

Challenging the lack of rigor in your analysis is an observation, not an insult.  [/quote]

If you want to change the premise and say that TJ students are at a disadvantage (given equal qualifications in all respects with Edison students) because in your words "TJ provides Student A with opportunities that Student B will never have, such that they will not appear to be equally qualified when it comes time for them to apply to schools", that is also incorrect.

It is obvious the school profiles for TJ and Edison are different. Furthermore, since the top colleges are very familiar with the rigor and challenges of schools such as TJ versus typical high school, a TJ student with equally qualified stats (including similar SES) will actually have an advantage over typical public high school student.

Colleges do not automatically assume SES level for the whole school population in making admissions decisions although they are aware of or familiar with some well-known schools. They make the initial cut based on GPA and SAT/ACT scores and then consider other factors (ECs, Essays, LORs) and SES, courses taken, reputation of school etc. in reviewing each applications. [b]For example, for 2 white kids with 4.3 weighted GPA, 2100 SAT and same qualifications in all respects, TJ kid will definitely have an advantage over Edison kid. [/b][/quote]

The bolder part is where I think you're simply wrong, and are not familiar with the admissions process at the vast majority of competitive universities. Most competitive universities in this country conduct admission on a need-blind basis, meaning they do not look at the individual student's financial ability to pay for their education.  Because of this, the admissions committee at these schools will know nothing about an individual student's SES status barring something like an essay about their difficult circumstances.  What the admissions committees do in lieu of this is use the high school they went to (as well as their race) as a proxy for determining whether that child comes from more difficult circumstances.  On average, a child from Edison is going to have come from a more challenging background than a child from say McLean.  Sure, there are exceptions, but, again, the admissions committee can only use the information they have in front of them.  TJ is a little bit of a different animal because it is not a HS that pulls children from a particular area that makes it easily identifiable as being a population of primarily privileged kids or a population of primarily disadvantaged kids.  But, I don't think most people would argue the notion that the vast majority of kids at TJ come from homes that are very stable and have the financial resources to have gotten their kid into a HS like TJ.   College admissions committees know that the student population at TJ, as a whole, is much more privileged than the student population at Edison. Thus, 2 children that, on paper, are basically equal in all respects, the advantage goes to the kid at the lesser HS. Note that TJ classes, AP, and IB classes are likely to be viewed fairly equitably, assuming the student has the same scores on standardized tests - what the admissions committees want to see is that the student challenged themselves to the maximum extent possible given what was offered at their HS.

Another factor that comes into play when a kid goes to a school filled with high achievers is that many competitive universities do not like to admit too many students from any one HS.  Thus, when you go to a school that is not as competitive, it takes less to be one of the stand out candidates from that school.[/quote]

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