Everyone needs to understand that a majority of TJ kids can easily get a 5 on the BC calc AP… the math class they are taking at TJ goes into more depth and covers more material than a typical AP calc class. This makes the AP exam feel relatively easy. Students going to TJ do not want to just learn enough for the AP test and then stop. They are at TJ to learn MORE. This isn’t about grades, it is about true rigor and depth. If you just want the A and the 5 and nothing more, please stay at base school. (That being said, plenty of TJ kids are earning the A as well.)
It is because TJ classes cover more material that TJ students are more successful at college—they are well-prepared for whatever that future engineering professor throws their way.

Anonymous wrote:Rampant cheating in school these days; yes. TJ, Langley, McLean, everywhere. These are clever kids cheating—it’s very hard to catch or prove other than overhearing the students talking about it.
Note that TJ kids aren’t posting their college decisions online the way base schools have done… but I am hearing good news from many of them. They will post eventually. The other thing is you can’t compare apples to oranges— TJ kids aren’t majoring in psychology, humanities, or arts & sciences in huge numbers—they are going for more rigorous programs — engineering, cs, biomedical, etc. Those are separate admissions at many schools, and more competitive.

But you can compare TJ 2026 to TJ 2024

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Anonymous wrote:i learned from counselor conference today that TJ acceptance for UVA is 17% only for class 2025. That is shockingly low.

I posted this. To answer the question on counselor conference, my DC's counselor organized the 1-on-1 meet for all junior year students under her and parents are welcome. I double checked with her regarding the 17% acceptance rate and she specifically mentioned that some kids with GPA 4.6 or 4.5 did not get accepted.

I can validate that at least one student with 4.5 GPA did not get admitted to UVA. They got into T20's so it is all good.

What do they look for then? Could be specific Major where too many top TJ kids applied

Could be the essay, UVA doesn't do yield protection.

/Cough BULLSHIT /cough

The naviance scattergram doesn't look like yield protection.
BU and Northestern looks more like yield protection with all those waitlists in the top right corner.

UVA’s A&S admissions review is separated from SEAS. UVA doesn’t report stats by school but it is generally said that SEAS is harder to get into. TJ students planning to be engineers or do computer science degree are very likely facing tougher admissions rates.

Rampant cheating in school these days; yes. TJ, Langley, McLean, everywhere. These are clever kids cheating—it’s very hard to catch or prove other than overhearing the students talking about it.
Note that TJ kids aren’t posting their college decisions online the way base schools have done… but I am hearing good news from many of them. They will post eventually. The other thing is you can’t compare apples to oranges— TJ kids aren’t majoring in psychology, humanities, or arts & sciences in huge numbers—they are going for more rigorous programs — engineering, cs, biomedical, etc. Those are separate admissions at many schools, and more competitive.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is currently Sophomore at TJ.

Taking pre-calc.

Half the class is struggling. Latest test, mid-term - class average was 62 - thats a F.

You can imagine what this does to college applications.

Unless ur kid is out of this world smart and good at math - TJ is not good for college applications.

Base school has many of the same courses up to AP Calc BC and no reason to stress at TJ

TBH, this is due to admission policy changes starting class 2025 onwards. I know all the parents of TJ students would like to think their children are picked because their academics are stronger than their cohort, but that's not the case starting from class 2025.
The kids were on higher math level that were not being picked for TJ, they stayed in base high school and run out of math classes to take on senior or even junior year. While kids on normal math level got pushed to TJ can't take up the challenge of TJ advanced courses, this is how twisted the admission policy changed into.

100%. The current admissions policy is the culprit.

I happened to have come to this forum. My child was a tj graduate some years ago. I was not a helicopter parent by any standards. Several thoughts from reading posts i would share:
1) Going to a good HS is like going to a good college, you don't go there just to be the top x%.
2) TJ definitely provides excellent education if your kids want to take advantage of it.
3) A good environment includes meeting smart and hard working peers. No base schools are comparable.
4) i know the current curriculum is already watered down but still more challenging than base schools.
5) Once your kids are on the right track, you just be a good support and don't try to take over.
6) College admissions, you get some guidance and other help from tj. I never hired any private counselor. Use the available tj resources is good enough imo.
7) if you are in top 20% you mostly go to top colleges. I can tell you that UVa is the safe school for most tj students who have a decent grade.
8) In any top college, tj graduates find the education there "easy" for the 1st year. I use MIT or UCHICAGO as two examples. You are exceptionally prepared, in other words.
9) If you find a kid trying very hard and still not getting there, then it's probably a good idea to think of transfer to base schools. But talk to the school andbteachers first. You don't win by being weak in life.
10) in case you are curious, my kid still loves tj. He did go to a top 10 college and then a top 10 medical school. And no stress. He believes tj gave him a leg up. DON'T UNDERESTIMATE TJ BENEFITS.

Good luck. You don't have bad bad choices. Best regards!

Anonymous wrote:If there are any hints of cheating or even gaming the system, UVA will not admit.

False. Without a substantiated record of cheating, schools don’t guess and presume from a file.