Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No boost for doing math early

DD is a rising senior at TJ and got in with a 4.0 from a non-feeder FCPS school.

My personal advice though would be to think hard about sending a kid to TJ who did not get an A in Alg 1 unless something unusual was going on. I think TJ tends to work out best for kids that mainly breezed through math at the base school (at an advanced level).

I say this as also mom to DC2 who got an A- in algebra 1 after retakes and hounding on doing homework. I was relieved when they decided they did not want to test for TJ.

Now if the A- was due to some flukes or JUST missed getting an A that may be different.

We were 0.2 away from an A. DD ended with a 92.3 in the class, and got a 94 on her final. For the quadratics unit & after, her teacher had left because she just gave birth to her baby. We were left with a substitute for the rest of the year, and she was awful at teaching. DD told me at one point no one had an A in that class when the substitute was there. But, we are aware that is not an excuse. We were planning on sending her to summer geometry, but we did not because she still has some algebra skills to work on. At home, she is strengthening her algebra skills and working on a few geometry workbooks. I think she will be ready for TJ. We’ll see how geometry goes next year. (Planning on not sending her if she gets an A- in geometry as well)

Anonymous wrote:Gpa isn’t really a major factor if you have a 3.9 or above. What really matters is the PSE and SPS

Anonymous wrote:Rising freshman got in with 2 A-s in English and History. Algebra II Honors. His school had tons of kids with 4.0 who didn’t get in. GPA is worth 300 points. 4.0 = 300 points, 3.9 = 292.5 points, 3.8 = 285 points.

That difference is minuscule compared to the PSEs and SPS. The 4 PSEs are worth 300 total points. The one SPS is worth 300 points. Your child really needs to have 4 strong well written SPS essays and a strong PSE essay (preferably with all of the correct answers).

Bonus points also help a lot. One experience factor will make a student with a 3.5 have more points than a student with a 4.0.

Another thing to consider is what middle school your child is applying from. Some schools have over 100 applicants, some have less than 1.5% of the 8th grade class. Each middle school is guaranteed 1.5% of the 8th grade class as long as the applicants meet the minimum qualifications.

Anonymous wrote:No boost for doing math early

DD is a rising senior at TJ and got in with a 4.0 from a non-feeder FCPS school.

My personal advice though would be to think hard about sending a kid to TJ who did not get an A in Alg 1 unless something unusual was going on. I think TJ tends to work out best for kids that mainly breezed through math at the base school (at an advanced level).

I say this as also mom to DC2 who got an A- in algebra 1 after retakes and hounding on doing homework. I was relieved when they decided they did not want to test for TJ.

Now if the A- was due to some flukes or JUST missed getting an A that may be different.

Anonymous wrote:Rising freshman got in with 2 A-s in English and History. Algebra II Honors. His school had tons of kids with 4.0 who didn’t get in. GPA is worth 300 points. 4.0 = 300 points, 3.9 = 292.5 points, 3.8 = 285 points.

That difference is minuscule compared to the PSEs and SPS. The 4 PSEs are worth 300 total points. The one SPS is worth 300 points. Your child really needs to have 4 strong well written SPS essays and a strong PSE essay (preferably with all of the correct answers).

Bonus points also help a lot. One experience factor will make a student with a 3.5 have more points than a student with a 4.0.

Another thing to consider is what middle school your child is applying from. Some schools have over 100 applicants, some have less than 1.5% of the 8th grade class. Each middle school is guaranteed 1.5% of the 8th grade class as long as the applicants meet the minimum qualifications.