Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:What jobs need differential equations? Docs? Law? Math professor? Rocket scientist?

I have relatively low math background and have the best a career as a developer.

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Anonymous wrote:DS Accepted. pre-calculus, 4.0, Asian

Pre-calculus? What do kids do at TJ if they've already gone this far in math?

DC currently at TJ completed pre-calc in middle school, outside FCPS. past precalc, TJ has four levels: Calc AB, Calc BC, Multi/linear, elementary diff & applied math techniques

And then retake them all in college. Or major in humanities.

stem majors take follow math courses in college. retake only if student got a C or D. Your comment is as ridiculous as suggesting, taking four years of any subject like English, science, etc, in HS would have to be mean tretaking those courses in college?

I was a STEM (electrical engineering) major in college. Those were most of the math classes I took, absent one or two others (placed out of Calc and started with diff eq - no college will place student out of that, they will retake it). There's no reason to take them in high school, other than extreme acceleration and a need to take some sort of math class in high school.

A few minutes of googling will show you that UIUC, NCSU, and ASU are just a few of the institutions which offer departmental challenge exams for math classes like differential equations. Furthermore, the number of institutions that will let you place out of these classes informally greatly outnumbers those with formal programs mentioned in their website.

Engineering, physics, math, and grad school (not professional) in most other STEM subjects. In other words, the types of careers TJ students tend to follow. If your child is confident this isn't in their future, then they would likely do just as well at their base school

How about medicine?

If a biology-oriented TJ applicant had a great letter of recommendation from their middle school science teacher talking about their passion and aptitude, a high score on the science section of ACT Aspire, some bio based award (science olympiad has some biology events, some kids take USABO in middle school, etc.), a biology based problem solving essay, and some statement of what the kid hopes to accomplish at TJ, then it doesn't matter if the kid is less accomplished in math. It's a shame that none of this is included or considered in the application packet.

My child got in and has no issues with math or the TJ workload. They are a great student in all courses. Just not passionate about math. I was checking about how much additional benefit there is for a student interested in medicine attending.

Here is TJ's course selection sheet:
https://tjhsst.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/inline-files/2022-23%20Course%20Selection%20Sheet%2010th-12th%20grades%20UPDATES%2012.21.21.pdf

Kids interested in medicine would have access to classes in Microbial Genomics, bionanotechnology, neurobiology, DNA science, O-chem, and some other stuff.

The course selection sheet shows Japanese 2 as offered but online catalog is not showing that. Could anyone confirm if Japanese is offered at TJ.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What jobs need differential equations? Docs? Law? Math professor? Rocket scientist?

I have relatively low math background and have the best a career as a developer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS Accepted. pre-calculus, 4.0, Asian

Pre-calculus? What do kids do at TJ if they've already gone this far in math?

DC currently at TJ completed pre-calc in middle school, outside FCPS. past precalc, TJ has four levels: Calc AB, Calc BC, Multi/linear, elementary diff & applied math techniques

And then retake them all in college. Or major in humanities.

stem majors take follow math courses in college. retake only if student got a C or D. Your comment is as ridiculous as suggesting, taking four years of any subject like English, science, etc, in HS would have to be mean tretaking those courses in college?

I was a STEM (electrical engineering) major in college. Those were most of the math classes I took, absent one or two others (placed out of Calc and started with diff eq - no college will place student out of that, they will retake it). There's no reason to take them in high school, other than extreme acceleration and a need to take some sort of math class in high school.

A few minutes of googling will show you that UIUC, NCSU, and ASU are just a few of the institutions which offer departmental challenge exams for math classes like differential equations. Furthermore, the number of institutions that will let you place out of these classes informally greatly outnumbers those with formal programs mentioned in their website.

Engineering, physics, math, and grad school (not professional) in most other STEM subjects. In other words, the types of careers TJ students tend to follow. If your child is confident this isn't in their future, then they would likely do just as well at their base school

How about medicine?

If a biology-oriented TJ applicant had a great letter of recommendation from their middle school science teacher talking about their passion and aptitude, a high score on the science section of ACT Aspire, some bio based award (science olympiad has some biology events, some kids take USABO in middle school, etc.), a biology based problem solving essay, and some statement of what the kid hopes to accomplish at TJ, then it doesn't matter if the kid is less accomplished in math. It's a shame that none of this is included or considered in the application packet.

My child got in and has no issues with math or the TJ workload. They are a great student in all courses. Just not passionate about math. I was checking about how much additional benefit there is for a student interested in medicine attending.

Here is TJ's course selection sheet:
https://tjhsst.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/inline-files/2022-23%20Course%20Selection%20Sheet%2010th-12th%20grades%20UPDATES%2012.21.21.pdf

Kids interested in medicine would have access to classes in Microbial Genomics, bionanotechnology, neurobiology, DNA science, O-chem, and some other stuff.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TJ outreach people that came to our school told us nothing about needing to take Math beyond algebra. Now we are hearing calculus is required at TJ. Not sure why they didnt mention this requirment?

Probably because they expect people who are applying to a magnate school to do some research and know what the requirements are. Applying to a school without research is foolish. A quick look at the TJ Course catalog for math shows that a student starting with Math 1 leads to Calculus. All roads lead to calculus. If you applied and you did not look at the math and science requirements, that is on you.

This is a STEM school. It for kids who are advanced/interested in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. There are very few science, technology, engineering paths that do not require math beyond calculus so it makes sense that a STEM school would require kids take calculus.

Applying students should have talked with Counselors and asked questions about TJ. They could have asked at the meeting about graduation requirements at TJ. It is on them if they are not asking questions or doing their own research. You allowed your child to apply, do the research required. If you have this attitude for applying for a very selective magnate HS, you are screwed when it comes to applying for college.

Blaming students for not asking about the details of TJ isn't fair. The outreach efforts at underrepresented schools are influenced by equity politics, first by pressuring students to apply and using application numbers to claim STEM interest in schools where passing basic math and science SOL tests is challenging. If three fourth of school fails in 8th grade algebra 1, how can it generate an organic pool of applicants prepared to handle TJ rigor if not for the artificial outreach effort?

I blame the parents for not talking to their kids and workign through what TJ is, what the course look like, and what they should expect if they attend there. There is no good reason why students who are attending a meeting about applying to TJ or accepting an offer to attend are not asking questions about the course work. None. I don't care what their background is. These are kids with good grades who have completed honors or AAP classes, to include Algebra 1. They are not stupid kids, they are, in fact, intelligent kids. If they cannot think to ask "What math classes are we taking at T?" then they don't belong at TJ.

If their parents are not helping them with the research, then that is on the parents.

The Counselors at the school should be helping them with this as well. They need to be choosing classes and should be able to ask "Wait, what is math 1? Where is Geometry?" and realize that the math classes are a semester long so they are expected to grasp material more quickly.

You cannot have your cake and eat it to. You don't get to complain that not enough kids from under represented schools are accepted and then complain that the kids are not hand fed that TJ is hard and the math and science demands are harder then their base school. If the outreach people were to show up with slides that said "TJ Math is really hard, it moves at twice the speed as a regular math class, you have to take Calculus to receive a TJ diploma" you would be complaining that the school was actively discouraging kids from under represented schools from attending.

At some point, the students and parents have to take ownership of their choices. If you choose to apply to TJ then you need to do your research. If you are accepted to TJ then you really need to do your research and make sure it is a good fit for you. The process is set up right now to make sure that kids from every MS can attend TJ, which I like. But the students and parents need to step up and make sure it is a good fit for their kid.

Anonymous wrote:TJ outreach people that came to our school told us nothing about needing to take Math beyond algebra. Now we are hearing calculus is required at TJ. Not sure why they didnt mention this requirment?

You were not aware TJ is a STEM-focused high school ?

It’s probably not for your child.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TJ outreach people that came to our school told us nothing about needing to take Math beyond algebra. Now we are hearing calculus is required at TJ. Not sure why they didnt mention this requirment?

Probably because they expect people who are applying to a magnate school to do some research and know what the requirements are. Applying to a school without research is foolish. A quick look at the TJ Course catalog for math shows that a student starting with Math 1 leads to Calculus. All roads lead to calculus. If you applied and you did not look at the math and science requirements, that is on you.

This is a STEM school. It for kids who are advanced/interested in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. There are very few science, technology, engineering paths that do not require math beyond calculus so it makes sense that a STEM school would require kids take calculus.

Applying students should have talked with Counselors and asked questions about TJ. They could have asked at the meeting about graduation requirements at TJ. It is on them if they are not asking questions or doing their own research. You allowed your child to apply, do the research required. If you have this attitude for applying for a very selective magnate HS, you are screwed when it comes to applying for college.

Blaming students for not asking about the details of TJ isn't fair. The outreach efforts at underrepresented schools are influenced by equity politics, first by pressuring students to apply and using application numbers to claim STEM interest in schools where passing basic math and science SOL tests is challenging. If three fourth of school fails in 8th grade algebra 1, how can it generate an organic pool of applicants prepared to handle TJ rigor if not for the artificial outreach effort?

Good question. That's why people feel the equity challenge rests on bringing up the bottom, not leveling out.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TJ outreach people that came to our school told us nothing about needing to take Math beyond algebra. Now we are hearing calculus is required at TJ. Not sure why they didnt mention this requirment?

Probably because they expect people who are applying to a magnate school to do some research and know what the requirements are. Applying to a school without research is foolish. A quick look at the TJ Course catalog for math shows that a student starting with Math 1 leads to Calculus. All roads lead to calculus. If you applied and you did not look at the math and science requirements, that is on you.

This is a STEM school. It for kids who are advanced/interested in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. There are very few science, technology, engineering paths that do not require math beyond calculus so it makes sense that a STEM school would require kids take calculus.

Applying students should have talked with Counselors and asked questions about TJ. They could have asked at the meeting about graduation requirements at TJ. It is on them if they are not asking questions or doing their own research. You allowed your child to apply, do the research required. If you have this attitude for applying for a very selective magnate HS, you are screwed when it comes to applying for college.

Blaming students for not asking about the details of TJ isn't fair. The outreach efforts at underrepresented schools are influenced by equity politics, first by pressuring students to apply and using application numbers to claim STEM interest in schools where passing basic math and science SOL tests is challenging. If three fourth of school fails in 8th grade algebra 1, how can it generate an organic pool of applicants prepared to handle TJ rigor if not for the artificial outreach effort?

Blah blah "equity politics" blah blah

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TJ outreach people that came to our school told us nothing about needing to take Math beyond algebra. Now we are hearing calculus is required at TJ. Not sure why they didnt mention this requirment?

Probably because they expect people who are applying to a magnate school to do some research and know what the requirements are. Applying to a school without research is foolish. A quick look at the TJ Course catalog for math shows that a student starting with Math 1 leads to Calculus. All roads lead to calculus. If you applied and you did not look at the math and science requirements, that is on you.

This is a STEM school. It for kids who are advanced/interested in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. There are very few science, technology, engineering paths that do not require math beyond calculus so it makes sense that a STEM school would require kids take calculus.

Applying students should have talked with Counselors and asked questions about TJ. They could have asked at the meeting about graduation requirements at TJ. It is on them if they are not asking questions or doing their own research. You allowed your child to apply, do the research required. If you have this attitude for applying for a very selective magnate HS, you are screwed when it comes to applying for college.

Blaming students for not asking about the details of TJ isn't fair. The outreach efforts at underrepresented schools are influenced by equity politics, first by pressuring students to apply and using application numbers to claim STEM interest in schools where passing basic math and science SOL tests is challenging. If three fourth of school fails in 8th grade algebra 1, how can it generate an organic pool of applicants prepared to handle TJ rigor if not for the artificial outreach effort?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TJ outreach people that came to our school told us nothing about needing to take Math beyond algebra. Now we are hearing calculus is required at TJ. Not sure why they didnt mention this requirment?

Ourteach people have one objective, to get you to apply. They wont go into details that might sound discouraging.

Not true. They only want people to apply who are interested and informed about the school. Not everyone.

Anonymous wrote:TJ outreach people that came to our school told us nothing about needing to take Math beyond algebra. Now we are hearing calculus is required at TJ. Not sure why they didnt mention this requirment?

Ourteach people have one objective, to get you to apply. They wont go into details that might sound discouraging.

Anonymous wrote:TJ outreach people that came to our school told us nothing about needing to take Math beyond algebra. Now we are hearing calculus is required at TJ. Not sure why they didnt mention this requirment?

Probably because they expect people who are applying to a magnate school to do some research and know what the requirements are. Applying to a school without research is foolish. A quick look at the TJ Course catalog for math shows that a student starting with Math 1 leads to Calculus. All roads lead to calculus. If you applied and you did not look at the math and science requirements, that is on you.

This is a STEM school. It for kids who are advanced/interested in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. There are very few science, technology, engineering paths that do not require math beyond calculus so it makes sense that a STEM school would require kids take calculus.

Applying students should have talked with Counselors and asked questions about TJ. They could have asked at the meeting about graduation requirements at TJ. It is on them if they are not asking questions or doing their own research. You allowed your child to apply, do the research required. If you have this attitude for applying for a very selective magnate HS, you are screwed when it comes to applying for college.

Anonymous wrote:TJ outreach people that came to our school told us nothing about needing to take Math beyond algebra. Now we are hearing calculus is required at TJ. Not sure why they didnt mention this requirment?

In all honesty, if you're disappointed about calculus being a graduation requirement, TJ would not be the right place for your child.

Anonymous wrote:TJ outreach people that came to our school told us nothing about needing to take Math beyond algebra. Now we are hearing calculus is required at TJ. Not sure why they didnt mention this requirment?

A CS class is also a requirement. As for calculus being required, it's the natural progression from having taken Algebra in 7th or 8th grade.

TJ outreach people that came to our school told us nothing about needing to take Math beyond algebra. Now we are hearing calculus is required at TJ. Not sure why they didnt mention this requirment?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They can also take Calculus BC and Multivariable Calculus at the base school as well as statistics. I'm curious what TJ has beyond these requirements that might interest a child interested in science but not IT.

They are taught at greater depth, and TJ has courses beyond Multivariable, that top students enroll in. But 8th grade algebra 1 students also have a great time with math at TJ.

Yes, math lady we know, but it isn't clear why that is a positive for someone who wants to go into medicine. Anything beyond math that this school offers?

DP. Math is only one part of TJ, as is CS. There are classes on neuro, bio, org chem and p chem, epidemiology, astronomy, quantum mechanics, etc. Lots of different sciences.

I have family members who are doctors and high school, other than learning and getting reasonable grades, is too early to choose pre-med.

Also, my student isn't an Algebra I student. They are a regular AAP student who got an A in geometry with little effort. They aren't a genius at math, but it's not a difficult subject either.