My white kid was admitted from one of the Asian heavy TJ feeders by being himself. I think that TJ knows what it wants to see in its students, and knows what it takes to succeed there, even if the rest of us are scratching out heads. And your kid can try to bluff their way in (and many do) but if they do and it's a bad fit they are going to be miserable. And lots of kids at TJ are miserable. My kid had a tough adjustment, and has really had to up his academic game and get serious about studying. For example, right now he is entering hour six of tonight's midterm homework. But he loves being there and really found his tribe. For him, it's an awesome experience. But other kids, who may smarter and have better grades, hate TJ. There is a lot of subjectivity and getting the right fit involved.

Take it as a given that all the kids who make it to the semifinal round are smart enough to attend TJ. The question is then about the fit. TJ is not for every smart kid. Or even every smart, motivated STEM kid. Your kid may (or may not) have a lower chance of getting in if they are honest about their interests and experiences. But if they get in as themselves and not a packaged product, they have a much higher likelihood of being happy and thriving. And if they are not admitted, it may be that you dodged a bullet.

All that said, it never hurts to show interest. So be sure to have you kid read the mission statement and play around on the website and course catalog, and get a handle on what a TJ diploma entails and what special classes are offered/ required. It will help them get a sense for whether TJ excites them. And it never hurt to mention in an SIS that they are interested in a special class, club, or project at TJ, if they get a chance.

Good luck. I hope your kid is admitted if TJ is the right place for them.

as a asian/indian person reading this i didn't know whether to be offended or bow down to the truth. yes, i have seen asians cheat on tests and whatnot but not at proportions described. just because you are asian does not mean you are a cheater. i know i have applied and i probably won't get in because to be honest i can't write about myself and my achievements for the life of me. tj's low acceptance rates for aa and hispanics absolutely disgusts me and i believe that there is a serious problem there that needs to be fixed but don't automatically point your fingers at asians. and yes there is a lot of pressure from the typical asian parent to get in but my parents were pretty chill about it, they honestly don't want me to get in cause they don't think i can handle the workload (i probably can't lmao). But please stop pointing your fingers at asians all the time, yes there is a problem among asian children but the majority does not cheat on tests and quizzes. also reading all of this has made me think i will probably turn down their offer in the highly unlikely chance that i pass the second round. thank you and have a great day

donalan wrote:Since this thread was started the ethnic disparity at TJ is greater than ever. Over 70% Asian student population or 3 times the general population. Ive got a kid that is a semifinalist and Im worried cause he took no prep and we didnt pay anyone to tell us how to game the system.

It's definitely a crapshoot and there are no guarantees. My son wanted to go to TJ from the time he knew it existed and was completely self-driven. All his activities were STEM-oriented because that's what he loved, he easily aced the test, had great grades and teachers who were pulling for him and was still rejected. He was devastated but went on to do great things at his local high school and got into a top college that rejected some of his TJ friends.

As trite as it sounds, it does all work out.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

donalan wrote:Since this thread was started the ethnic disparity at TJ is greater than ever. Over 70% Asian student population or 3 times the general population. Ive got a kid that is a semifinalist and Im worried cause he took no prep and we didnt pay anyone to tell us how to game the system.

Are you implying Asian students "game" the system?

DC goes to a very heavily Asian top TJ feeder. I don't know that I would sat "game the system," exactly. I would say that many (not all!) parents of his Asian friends do things to get their kids into TJ that I would not do: hit TJ prep hard (hours a weekend) starting as early as 3rd (and folks, for w bright kid, the entrance exam is not that hard), and definitely by 6th; require their children to choose extracurriculars based solely on whether they are STEM focused and look good on the TJ application; insist on straight As, and hire the private tutors to make this happen, require their kid take geometry the summer between 7th & 8th, and don't let their child choose whether to apply to TJ based on their own interests, or if TK is a good fit-- - they require their children to apply, even if that is not what the child wants. In other words, the don't really care if their kid likes STEM, or has an aptitude for it-- they have a singleminded focus from the time their child is in ES on TJ. And I have heard to parents who hit their kids, throw things at them and/or ostracize them if they are not accepted. Is this gaming the system? Maybe, because the application may not reflect the kid's real interests and aptitudes. Or maybe you can look at it as parents helping their children in reaching an Important goal. Certainly, the Asian parents at issue believe it is worth it. And it must work-- the Asian acceptance rate would not be climbing. Should it work? I don't think so. MS &HS should be a time for discovering and pursuing your own passions-- not mom and dads But, TJ admissions have no real way to distinguish genuine stem interest from a string STEM resume and prepped math scores. Until,they do, the is will continue.

You meant to say Asian parents "hit their kids, throw things at them and/or ostracize them". You cleared that up.

Anonymous wrote:

donalan wrote:Since this thread was started the ethnic disparity at TJ is greater than ever. Over 70% Asian student population or 3 times the general population. Ive got a kid that is a semifinalist and Im worried cause he took no prep and we didnt pay anyone to tell us how to game the system.

Are you implying Asian students "game" the system?

DC goes to a very heavily Asian top TJ feeder. I don't know that I would sat "game the system," exactly. I would say that many (not all!) parents of his Asian friends do things to get their kids into TJ that I would not do: hit TJ prep hard (hours a weekend) starting as early as 3rd (and folks, for w bright kid, the entrance exam is not that hard), and definitely by 6th; require their children to choose extracurriculars based solely on whether they are STEM focused and look good on the TJ application; insist on straight As, and hire the private tutors to make this happen, require their kid take geometry the summer between 7th & 8th, and don't let their child choose whether to apply to TJ based on their own interests, or if TK is a good fit-- - they require their children to apply, even if that is not what the child wants. In other words, the don't really care if their kid likes STEM, or has an aptitude for it-- they have a singleminded focus from the time their child is in ES on TJ. And I have heard to parents who hit their kids, throw things at them and/or ostracize them if they are not accepted. Is this gaming the system? Maybe, because the application may not reflect the kid's real interests and aptitudes. Or maybe you can look at it as parents helping their children in reaching an Important goal. Certainly, the Asian parents at issue believe it is worth it. And it must work-- the Asian acceptance rate would not be climbing. Should it work? I don't think so. MS &HS should be a time for discovering and pursuing your own passions-- not mom and dads But, TJ admissions have no real way to distinguish genuine stem interest from a string STEM resume and prepped math scores. Until,they do, the is will continue.

donalan wrote:Since this thread was started the ethnic disparity at TJ is greater than ever. Over 70% Asian student population or 3 times the general population. Ive got a kid that is a semifinalist and Im worried cause he took no prep and we didnt pay anyone to tell us how to game the system.

Are you implying Asian students "game" the system?

Since this thread was started the ethnic disparity at TJ is greater than ever. Over 70% Asian student population or 3 times the general population. Ive got a kid that is a semifinalist and Im worried cause he took no prep and we didnt pay anyone to tell us how to game the system.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TJ's new national ranking is #4. Last year it was ranked#2. I am predicting it will fall to #10 in two years because the admission process is broken. Majority of kids accepted by this school this year and in the last two years have scored between 40-42 in math portion of the TJ entrance test. The school is accepting kids with mediocre skills in math and has been rejecting majority of kids who have scored above 48. TJ as a school scored poorly in math section of the national evaluation. The school's administration is lousy and is being headed by someone who is inflexible, passive and uncaring. The school has no mechanism to support kids who are not doing well. If you are rich and can hire tutors, your kids will do fine in this school. Most kids don not want to enroll in Calculus BC and yet this school considers itself a science and technology school.

As a parent of a TJ kid, I'm glad that TJ lost its #1 ranking...this reduces the pressure on the kids to live up to the hype. At the end of the day, it's just another HS that all the kids there are interested in STEM.

But are they actually really interested in STEM or are many/most of them kids who are hardworking and who have been trained to fulfill the admission criteria?

Criminy... who knows??? They're just kids after all.

You'd be surprised how many of these kids know. Particularly if you had one.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TJ's new national ranking is #4. Last year it was ranked#2. I am predicting it will fall to #10 in two years because the admission process is broken. Majority of kids accepted by this school this year and in the last two years have scored between 40-42 in math portion of the TJ entrance test. The school is accepting kids with mediocre skills in math and has been rejecting majority of kids who have scored above 48. TJ as a school scored poorly in math section of the national evaluation. The school's administration is lousy and is being headed by someone who is inflexible, passive and uncaring. The school has no mechanism to support kids who are not doing well. If you are rich and can hire tutors, your kids will do fine in this school. Most kids don not want to enroll in Calculus BC and yet this school considers itself a science and technology school.

As a parent of a TJ kid, I'm glad that TJ lost its #1 ranking...this reduces the pressure on the kids to live up to the hype. At the end of the day, it's just another HS that all the kids there are interested in STEM.

But are they actually really interested in STEM or are many/most of them kids who are hardworking and who have been trained to fulfill the admission criteria?

Criminy... who knows??? They're just kids after all.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TJ's new national ranking is #4. Last year it was ranked#2. I am predicting it will fall to #10 in two years because the admission process is broken. Majority of kids accepted by this school this year and in the last two years have scored between 40-42 in math portion of the TJ entrance test. The school is accepting kids with mediocre skills in math and has been rejecting majority of kids who have scored above 48. TJ as a school scored poorly in math section of the national evaluation. The school's administration is lousy and is being headed by someone who is inflexible, passive and uncaring. The school has no mechanism to support kids who are not doing well. If you are rich and can hire tutors, your kids will do fine in this school. Most kids don not want to enroll in Calculus BC and yet this school considers itself a science and technology school.

As a parent of a TJ kid, I'm glad that TJ lost its #1 ranking...this reduces the pressure on the kids to live up to the hype. At the end of the day, it's just another HS that all the kids there are interested in STEM.

But are they actually really interested in STEM or are many/most of them kids who are hardworking and who have been trained to fulfill the admission criteria?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is all a load of shit that parents with rejected kids say. If your child is smart, he or she will make tj. There is nothing around it. Stop complaining your sorry asses off on a forum about high school admissions.

Spoken by someone who clearly has not a clue. TJ could probably make a number of additional classes with the incredibly smart kids they reject.

TJ admission now seems to be a random coin toss. Head you are in. Tail you are out.

No, they're just not going to apply your simplistic reasoning to the process. And that's probably a good thing...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is all a load of shit that parents with rejected kids say. If your child is smart, he or she will make tj. There is nothing around it. Stop complaining your sorry asses off on a forum about high school admissions.

Spoken by someone who clearly has not a clue. TJ could probably make a number of additional classes with the incredibly smart kids they reject.

TJ admission now seems to be a random coin toss. Head you are in. Tail you are out.

No. Random coin toss would be a 50% chance. TJ takes about 15% of the applicants. So we have to assume there is some method to their madness. And the test prep industry around here is flailing to figure it out.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is all a load of shit that parents with rejected kids say. If your child is smart, he or she will make tj. There is nothing around it. Stop complaining your sorry asses off on a forum about high school admissions.

Spoken by someone who clearly has not a clue. TJ could probably make a number of additional classes with the incredibly smart kids they reject.

TJ admission now seems to be a random coin toss. Head you are in. Tail you are out.

Anonymous wrote:This is all a load of shit that parents with rejected kids say. If your child is smart, he or she will make tj. There is nothing around it. Stop complaining your sorry asses off on a forum about high school admissions.

Spoken by someone who clearly has not a clue. TJ could probably make a number of additional classes with the incredibly smart kids they reject.

This is all a load of shit that parents with rejected kids say. If your child is smart, he or she will make tj. There is nothing around it. Stop complaining your sorry asses off on a forum about high school admissions.