Anonymous wrote:My goodness, a lot of posts praising TJ all of a sudden. Same poster with nothing better to do?!

Or several posters agreeing that “when TJ is turned into a neighborhood school” guy is off his rocker.


You don’t mess with success. TJ delivers objective success, like the highest SATs and most NMSFs and most MIT admissions and most NMSFs and most perfect AP scores of any HS in the country. And subjective feel goods, like being the first high school in the country to build a CubeSat that was launched into obit by NASA. Cube Sat II to be launched this year. And hosting Obama’s education bill signing. And having Regeneron winners, because their kids are curing cancer. And working with the State Department to set up an international conference on STEM education. Etc.

If you get to far into your little bubble, you lose sight of the big picture. TJ is a huge success story that makes FCPS and Fairfax county look very, very good. You may think it’s method for choosing kids is wrong. You might be right. But nobody wants to mess with the system that produces an average of 1500 plus on the SATs and 140 NMSFs and a Regeneron winner and 2 Presidential scholars and a satellite being launched into space, etc., etc., — and that’s just this years class.

My goodness, a lot of posts praising TJ all of a sudden. Same poster with nothing better to do?!

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Anonymous wrote:TJ has the highest SAT score, best college acceptance for a public school, receives the most amount of scholarship and has the best overall academic teams such as quizbowl, ModelUN, debate in the country.

+1 and small correction - TJ has the highest average SAT scores by a wide margin. About 200 points higher than national average and about 100 points higher than FCPS average. That means the bottom 10% at TJ does as good as the top 10% at base schools, and these kids probably are better at base school. That seems to be contention here by the naysayers, focusing on a small minoroty and arguing they are better off at base school, which almost everyone can agree to.

TJ's average SAT score last year was 1503/1600 likely highest in the country: https://tjhsst.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/inline-files/TJHSST%20Profile%202017-18.pdf

Wow. Over 300 points higher than FCPS average and nearly 500 points higher than national average.

And yet some delusional fool keeps posting that this is the year TJ is finally going to be shutdown as a magnet and converted to a neighborhood school. TJ is a powerful symbol of what FCPS wants people to think they are doing right—providing a world class education to some of the brightest minds in the country. Now, we can certainly debate the perception vs reality. But every time TJ tops a list for SAT scores or has a Siemens or Regneron winner or gets one of the national physics or Bio olympics Team, FCPS issues a press release and basks in the glow. People will overlook a lot if you have one school with over 100 NMSFs.

TJ had 145 National Merit Semifinalists this year--again the most of any HS in the country. If you listened to the VA Senate committee debate the merits of changing TJ's admissions policies, it was clear that both Dems and Republicans held it up as a huge success and essentially why would you want to mess with it (here's the link for anyone who wants to watch it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIsiJ-5oUeY). TJ is not going away anytime soon.

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Anonymous wrote:TJ has the highest SAT score, best college acceptance for a public school, receives the most amount of scholarship and has the best overall academic teams such as quizbowl, ModelUN, debate in the country.

+1 and small correction - TJ has the highest average SAT scores by a wide margin. About 200 points higher than national average and about 100 points higher than FCPS average. That means the bottom 10% at TJ does as good as the top 10% at base schools, and these kids probably are better at base school. That seems to be contention here by the naysayers, focusing on a small minoroty and arguing they are better off at base school, which almost everyone can agree to.

TJ's average SAT score last year was 1503/1600 likely highest in the country: https://tjhsst.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/inline-files/TJHSST%20Profile%202017-18.pdf

Wow. Over 300 points higher than FCPS average and nearly 500 points higher than national average.

And yet some delusional fool keeps posting that this is the year TJ is finally going to be shutdown as a magnet and converted to a neighborhood school. TJ is a powerful symbol of what FCPS wants people to think they are doing right—providing a world class education to some of the brightest minds in the country. Now, we can certainly debate the perception vs reality. But every time TJ tops a list for SAT scores or has a Siemens or Regneron winner or gets one of the national ohysics or Bio olympics Team, FCPS issues a press release and basks in the glow. People will overlook a lot if you have one school with over 100 NMSFs.

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Anonymous wrote:TJ has the highest SAT score, best college acceptance for a public school, receives the most amount of scholarship and has the best overall academic teams such as quizbowl, ModelUN, debate in the country.

+1 and small correction - TJ has the highest average SAT scores by a wide margin. About 200 points higher than national average and about 100 points higher than FCPS average. That means the bottom 10% at TJ does as good as the top 10% at base schools, and these kids probably are better at base school. That seems to be contention here by the naysayers, focusing on a small minoroty and arguing they are better off at base school, which almost everyone can agree to.

TJ's average SAT score last year was 1503/1600 likely highest in the country: https://tjhsst.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/inline-files/TJHSST%20Profile%202017-18.pdf

Wow. Over 300 points higher than FCPS average and nearly 500 points higher than national average.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TJ has the highest SAT score, best college acceptance for a public school, receives the most amount of scholarship and has the best overall academic teams such as quizbowl, ModelUN, debate in the country.

+1 and small correction - TJ has the highest average SAT scores by a wide margin. About 200 points higher than national average and about 100 points higher than FCPS average. That means the bottom 10% at TJ does as good as the top 10% at base schools, and these kids probably are better at base school. That seems to be contention here by the naysayers, focusing on a small minoroty and arguing they are better off at base school, which almost everyone can agree to.

TJ's average SAT score last year was 1503/1600 likely highest in the country: https://tjhsst.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/inline-files/TJHSST%20Profile%202017-18.pdf

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Anonymous wrote:TJ has the highest SAT score, best college acceptance for a public school, receives the most amount of scholarship and has the best overall academic teams such as quizbowl, ModelUN, debate in the country.

+1 and small correction - TJ has the highest average SAT scores by a wide margin. About 200 points higher than national average and about 100 points higher than FCPS average. That means the bottom 10% at TJ does as good as the top 10% at base schools, and these kids probably are better at base school. That seems to be contention here by the naysayers, focusing on a small minoroty and arguing they are better off at base school, which almost everyone can agree to.

Why the hell are they not going to top schools then?

Anonymous wrote:TJ has the highest SAT score, best college acceptance for a public school, receives the most amount of scholarship and has the best overall academic teams such as quizbowl, ModelUN, debate in the country.

+1 and small correction - TJ has the highest average SAT scores by a wide margin. About 200 points higher than national average and about 100 points higher than FCPS average. That means the bottom 10% at TJ does as good as the top 10% at base schools, and these kids probably are better at base school. That seems to be contention here by the naysayers, focusing on a small minoroty and arguing they are better off at base school, which almost everyone can agree to.

TJ has the highest SAT score, best college acceptance for a public school, receives the most amount of scholarship and has the best overall academic teams such as quizbowl, ModelUN, debate in the country.

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Anonymous wrote:Is it just me or is this list underwhelming? If the primary goal of having a child attend TJ is to get them into an elite college, I think many of those TJ parents to be (and their kids) might be in for a rude awakening. Certainly not all TJ parents are pushing their kids to attend TJ so Johnny can get into Harvard, Stanford or MIT but prolly a large number do think this way whether they admit it or not.

The list is very impressive for a STEM school. About 10% are going to Ivy plus Stanford. But, going to TJ is not going to get you into an Ivy. There isn't a public school in the country that can consistently get move than it's top 10% or so into an Ivy. These are not legacy and development kids. Do you know anything about the USC, Cal Tech, Illinois, GA Tech (this is an off year for TJ and Ga Tech), CMU, Harvey Mudd, Michigan, Jons Hopkins, MIT, UWash, UT Austin and VT CS and engineering programs? VCU, Case Western, Rice's s direct medical school admissions programs. Several kids are going to SLAC that do the Columbia 3/2 engineering program. If this was full of top SLACs, you would be griping about how TJ kids aren't interested in STEM. This is a STEM powerhouse list. Almost all of the schools with more than one are a top ten stem something, or have a special STEM program, like direct med school admissions or 3/2 Columbia engineering.

You don't got to TJ to get into a top Ivy or SLAC. You go to for the STEM program. And their STEM placement is very good.

The TJ apologist appears as always. Always spouts out about ALL TJ kids are wunderkinder just because they attend TJ. You don't have to constantly make excuses for these kids. The fact is, many applied to top schools, did not get in, and are attending safety schools, just like from every other high school. This is just fine, the kids will excel! Don't try to pretend that that's where they wanted to attend there all along because it is a "top school" in xyz. The TJ kids face an invisible quota to many of the top schools...124 were rejected by UVA this year.

+ 1,000

Many TJ grads receive full rides or substantial merit aid and attend the school that offer the most scholarship money. Class of 2015 received some 45 million dollars in merit aid/scholarships. Many turn down Ivy League schools for schools that offer merit aid.

Based on the list posted on this thread, not that many got into ivies in the first place, so I'm not sure "many" turned down Ivy League schools.

Lot more than your kid's school.

i cant believe people are still arguing this crap who cares yall are a bunch of losers

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Anonymous wrote:Is it just me or is this list underwhelming? If the primary goal of having a child attend TJ is to get them into an elite college, I think many of those TJ parents to be (and their kids) might be in for a rude awakening. Certainly not all TJ parents are pushing their kids to attend TJ so Johnny can get into Harvard, Stanford or MIT but prolly a large number do think this way whether they admit it or not.

The list is very impressive for a STEM school. About 10% are going to Ivy plus Stanford. But, going to TJ is not going to get you into an Ivy. There isn't a public school in the country that can consistently get move than it's top 10% or so into an Ivy. These are not legacy and development kids. Do you know anything about the USC, Cal Tech, Illinois, GA Tech (this is an off year for TJ and Ga Tech), CMU, Harvey Mudd, Michigan, Jons Hopkins, MIT, UWash, UT Austin and VT CS and engineering programs? VCU, Case Western, Rice's s direct medical school admissions programs. Several kids are going to SLAC that do the Columbia 3/2 engineering program. If this was full of top SLACs, you would be griping about how TJ kids aren't interested in STEM. This is a STEM powerhouse list. Almost all of the schools with more than one are a top ten stem something, or have a special STEM program, like direct med school admissions or 3/2 Columbia engineering.

You don't got to TJ to get into a top Ivy or SLAC. You go to for the STEM program. And their STEM placement is very good.

The TJ apologist appears as always. Always spouts out about ALL TJ kids are wunderkinder just because they attend TJ. You don't have to constantly make excuses for these kids. The fact is, many applied to top schools, did not get in, and are attending safety schools, just like from every other high school. This is just fine, the kids will excel! Don't try to pretend that that's where they wanted to attend there all along because it is a "top school" in xyz. The TJ kids face an invisible quota to many of the top schools...124 were rejected by UVA this year.

+ 1,000

Many TJ grads receive full rides or substantial merit aid and attend the school that offer the most scholarship money. Class of 2015 received some 45 million dollars in merit aid/scholarships. Many turn down Ivy League schools for schools that offer merit aid.

Based on the list posted on this thread, not that many got into ivies in the first place, so I'm not sure "many" turned down Ivy League schools.

Lot more than your kid's school.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it just me or is this list underwhelming? If the primary goal of having a child attend TJ is to get them into an elite college, I think many of those TJ parents to be (and their kids) might be in for a rude awakening. Certainly not all TJ parents are pushing their kids to attend TJ so Johnny can get into Harvard, Stanford or MIT but prolly a large number do think this way whether they admit it or not.

The list is very impressive for a STEM school. About 10% are going to Ivy plus Stanford. But, going to TJ is not going to get you into an Ivy. There isn't a public school in the country that can consistently get move than it's top 10% or so into an Ivy. These are not legacy and development kids. Do you know anything about the USC, Cal Tech, Illinois, GA Tech (this is an off year for TJ and Ga Tech), CMU, Harvey Mudd, Michigan, Jons Hopkins, MIT, UWash, UT Austin and VT CS and engineering programs? VCU, Case Western, Rice's s direct medical school admissions programs. Several kids are going to SLAC that do the Columbia 3/2 engineering program. If this was full of top SLACs, you would be griping about how TJ kids aren't interested in STEM. This is a STEM powerhouse list. Almost all of the schools with more than one are a top ten stem something, or have a special STEM program, like direct med school admissions or 3/2 Columbia engineering.

You don't got to TJ to get into a top Ivy or SLAC. You go to for the STEM program. And their STEM placement is very good.

The TJ apologist appears as always. Always spouts out about ALL TJ kids are wunderkinder just because they attend TJ. You don't have to constantly make excuses for these kids. The fact is, many applied to top schools, did not get in, and are attending safety schools, just like from every other high school. This is just fine, the kids will excel! Don't try to pretend that that's where they wanted to attend there all along because it is a "top school" in xyz. The TJ kids face an invisible quota to many of the top schools...124 were rejected by UVA this year.

+ 1,000

Many TJ grads receive full rides or substantial merit aid and attend the school that offer the most scholarship money. Class of 2015 received some 45 million dollars in merit aid/scholarships. Many turn down Ivy League schools for schools that offer merit aid.

Based on the list posted on this thread, not that many got into ivies in the first place, so I'm not sure "many" turned down Ivy League schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it just me or is this list underwhelming? If the primary goal of having a child attend TJ is to get them into an elite college, I think many of those TJ parents to be (and their kids) might be in for a rude awakening. Certainly not all TJ parents are pushing their kids to attend TJ so Johnny can get into Harvard, Stanford or MIT but prolly a large number do think this way whether they admit it or not.

The list is very impressive for a STEM school. About 10% are going to Ivy plus Stanford. But, going to TJ is not going to get you into an Ivy. There isn't a public school in the country that can consistently get move than it's top 10% or so into an Ivy. These are not legacy and development kids. Do you know anything about the USC, Cal Tech, Illinois, GA Tech (this is an off year for TJ and Ga Tech), CMU, Harvey Mudd, Michigan, Jons Hopkins, MIT, UWash, UT Austin and VT CS and engineering programs? VCU, Case Western, Rice's s direct medical school admissions programs. Several kids are going to SLAC that do the Columbia 3/2 engineering program. If this was full of top SLACs, you would be griping about how TJ kids aren't interested in STEM. This is a STEM powerhouse list. Almost all of the schools with more than one are a top ten stem something, or have a special STEM program, like direct med school admissions or 3/2 Columbia engineering.

You don't got to TJ to get into a top Ivy or SLAC. You go to for the STEM program. And their STEM placement is very good.

The TJ apologist appears as always. Always spouts out about ALL TJ kids are wunderkinder just because they attend TJ. You don't have to constantly make excuses for these kids. The fact is, many applied to top schools, did not get in, and are attending safety schools, just like from every other high school. This is just fine, the kids will excel! Don't try to pretend that that's where they wanted to attend there all along because it is a "top school" in xyz. The TJ kids face an invisible quota to many of the top schools...124 were rejected by UVA this year.

+ 1,000

Many TJ grads receive full rides or substantial merit aid and attend the school that offer the most scholarship money. Class of 2015 received some 45 million dollars in merit aid/scholarships. Many turn down Ivy League schools for schools that offer merit aid.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it just me or is this list underwhelming? If the primary goal of having a child attend TJ is to get them into an elite college, I think many of those TJ parents to be (and their kids) might be in for a rude awakening. Certainly not all TJ parents are pushing their kids to attend TJ so Johnny can get into Harvard, Stanford or MIT but prolly a large number do think this way whether they admit it or not.

The list is very impressive for a STEM school. About 10% are going to Ivy plus Stanford. But, going to TJ is not going to get you into an Ivy. There isn't a public school in the country that can consistently get move than it's top 10% or so into an Ivy. These are not legacy and development kids. Do you know anything about the USC, Cal Tech, Illinois, GA Tech (this is an off year for TJ and Ga Tech), CMU, Harvey Mudd, Michigan, Jons Hopkins, MIT, UWash, UT Austin and VT CS and engineering programs? VCU, Case Western, Rice's s direct medical school admissions programs. Several kids are going to SLAC that do the Columbia 3/2 engineering program. If this was full of top SLACs, you would be griping about how TJ kids aren't interested in STEM. This is a STEM powerhouse list. Almost all of the schools with more than one are a top ten stem something, or have a special STEM program, like direct med school admissions or 3/2 Columbia engineering.

You don't got to TJ to get into a top Ivy or SLAC. You go to for the STEM program. And their STEM placement is very good.

The TJ apologist appears as always. Always spouts out about ALL TJ kids are wunderkinder just because they attend TJ. You don't have to constantly make excuses for these kids. The fact is, many applied to top schools, did not get in, and are attending safety schools, just like from every other high school. This is just fine, the kids will excel! Don't try to pretend that that's where they wanted to attend there all along because it is a "top school" in xyz. The TJ kids face an invisible quota to many of the top schools...124 were rejected by UVA this year.

+ 1,000

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Anonymous wrote:And JMU isn't great either.

Then again you are talking about 8 students out of a class of 430 attending either JMU or GMU with the lowest WEIGHTED GPA around 3.14. And money is likely a factor as well.

UVA just announced its Echols Scholars (offered to about 5% of incoming first years) for its early admits and TJ seems to have an outsize # in its 2018 class.

My DC was offered Echols from her FCPS school. It seems like a nice perk, but comes with no $$$, so DC will probably attend elsewhere.

Any opinion on whether VCU, JMU, GMU are great schools to get into after attending TJ?! Do they require the rigor that is TJ?

Great schools? Nope. Bad options for the bottom 10% of the class? Nope. Do their general colleges require TJ level rigor? Again, nope. But VCU 6 year med school does. And GMU has an excellent and well regarded CS department.

Seriously? I have not heard that. It’s not on any of the rankings of top computer science colleges.

GMU is not as well known for CS, no. BUT they do have a strong program. It attracts a lot of minority / low SES students. Personal experience here, recruiting programmers out of GMU--so far, all excellent, mostly latino, whose parents could not afford to send them elsewhere and many of whom worked to put themselves through college. Some were caring for sick relatives while attending college, so had to be close by. Very strong work ethic, and very talented folks.

It's hard to see outside your bubble of privilege to try to understand why a student may choose GMU even if they had other options. But that doesn't mean that graduates of schools that are not nationally well-recognized are somehow inferior. I would call it a hidden gem, actually.

It’s fine if students attend GMU for reasons such as finances, needing to live close by to take care of sick relatives... but don’t make up reasons such as “they go for computer science”. A TJ student woukdnt choose GMU for CS. Now, if their life circumstances necessitate that they go there, then that’s a completely different thing. And if it happens to have a good CS department, then that is a plus.

But how can you tell, from a college destination list, why those students chose GMU? That's precisely my point--you can't. So stop judging.

I’m sorry, but don’t you see your own hypocrisy? You assumed the student who chose GMU chose it for computer science. You also don’t know why that student chose it.

Here’s what we DO know. It’s not that great of a school for a TJ student. That is still a fact.

Not the pp.. A new hire in my company graduated from GMU recently. Went to a HS school in the Woodbridge area. Got a full ride. Asian. This person got a degree in business. Based on this, I'd assume most of the TJ kids going to GMU get money. Others can assume otherwise of course..