Anonymous wrote:People are so mean on this forum. No decency

That is true.

Also reflective of “D.C. culture.”

When is the portrait essay?

No the essay is not really that hard.

Here are the pre-req’s

To be eligible for consideration, applicants must: (1) have completed a full-year course of Algebra 1, or be currently enrolled in a full-year course of honors-level Algebra 1; applicants attending schools whose curricular programs do not include “honors” Algebra 1 courses must have completed or be enrolled in a full-year course of the highest level of Algebra 1 available at their school; (2) be enrolled in honors science; applicants attending schools whose curricular programs do not include “honors” science must be enrolled in the highest level of 8th grade science available at their school; (3) be enrolled in honors course in social studies or English/language arts, or identified as a “Young Scholar”; applicants attending schools whose curricular programs do not include “honors” courses in social studies or English/language arts must be enrolled in the highest level course available at their school in either social studies or English/language arts or identified as Young Scholar or identified as having advanced academic potential through a similar program designed to nurture such potential in students from underserved or disadvantaged backgrounds; and (4) have a 3.5 or higher GPA in all core academic courses (math, science, social studies, English/language arts, and if taken for high school credit, world language) at the time of application.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain to me the process for admission now? Is there a test? Seems like an essay? Teacher recommendation? TIA.

They took away the teacher recommendations, extracurriculars and all of the other components of the application. Now, all you do is complete the online application (student and parent portions), math teacher confirms math level and you submit application. Once application is submitted and the eligibility criteria are confirmed by the kids' middle school, s/he will appear for testing at the center that you select. At the testing center, kid will complete an essay type math problem and a "portrait of a graduate" essay. That's it.

I have no idea how they're going to assess merit based on that one testing day result but here we are. The TJ admissions court case is still ongoing, which may change how they do this moving forward. For this year's crop of kids, however, I think that they might be stuck with this. It's quite confusing.

Is the "problem solving essay" the math problem solving/math proof type? Is it hard enough to differentiate the top kids from the application pool? I cannot find much about it from the old posts. Do the students still have to meet the class prerequisite requirements (honor algebra 1, honor science, honor language) before applying?

https://www.fcps.edu/registration/thomas-jefferson-admissions/eligibility-requirements?fbclid=IwAR1TkVpulIAVZM8doJgjp4McURvqWS_fOuRuPsiUPayQVFOm-ajSIK3NeiA

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain to me the process for admission now? Is there a test? Seems like an essay? Teacher recommendation? TIA.

Find a good prep center like Curie they can help guide you through the process and greatly increase your child's odds of admission.