Anonymous wrote:OP here. My kid would work hard and we have barely reminded about her school work during middle school. She barely did any prep for the TJ test.

I am still on the fence about it. If college outcomes are better at base school, is this really worth all the extra effort. I also wonder if base high school matters when making the choice. We are not at Langley /Mclean /oakton.

When people say college outcomes are better at base school, it really depends on what your are realistically targeting

If you are top 5-10% (maybe 20% depending on major) at TJ, your college outcomes are better there. Otherwise you are probably better off at base.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid decided not to go. Didn't have a lot of friends going, commute was long, and didn't like the over competitive vibe of the kids from middle school. Love the 8th period club time and the research programs. The electives were cool. But it is a huge time commitment and life is less stressful without the commute.

Friend circle is always changing. Commute is a real issue. Why don't make TJ boarding school or provide boarding option.

I think some family rent in the area. It's insane.

Anonymous wrote:Thank you everyone. We are leaning towards accepting TJ and seeing how it goes. Our thinking is we can come back to the base school if it’s not working out for us.

Good luck to her! That is the same way many families who are not positive about the decision will be approaching it.

Anonymous wrote:Thank you everyone. We are leaning towards accepting TJ and seeing how it goes. Our thinking is we can come back to the base school if it’s not working out for us.

Transferring back to a base school from TJ isn’t all that simple, especially for the student, who would worry about how their premature return may be perceived by their base school and neighborhood friends.

Thank you everyone. We are leaning towards accepting TJ and seeing how it goes. Our thinking is we can come back to the base school if it’s not working out for us.

Anonymous wrote:My DC got in. I am worried about burn out and stress. I am wondering if this is worth it. Looking for perspectives.

Just learn at her own pace. Don't compare with others. She will be fine.

Some brilliant kids already show their potential by middle school—especially those who consistently perform well in competitions like MathCounts or Science Olympiad. The high achievers tend to be the same each year, and you often see their names repeatedly in these competitions. These are often the students who end up in the top 10 percent applying to elite colleges like the Ivies or MIT.

If your child is already strong in sports or other extracurriculars and can maintain a good GPA, especially without needing to put in extreme effort, that’s a great balance. (Many TJ students, for example, are strong in both academics and sports.)

However, if your child already has impressive extracurriculars but needs to put a lot of effort into maintaining a good GPA at TJ, then they simply may not have enough time to fully invest in extracurriculars. In the end, it’s up to your child’s choice.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid decided not to go. Didn't have a lot of friends going, commute was long, and didn't like the over competitive vibe of the kids from middle school. Love the 8th period club time and the research programs. The electives were cool. But it is a huge time commitment and life is less stressful without the commute.

Friend circle is always changing. Commute is a real issue. Why don't make TJ boarding school or provide boarding option.

Public schools offering bus transportation to attend TJ, is a privilege by itself, one that many hardworking students in developing countries can only dream of.

As a child, I, along with friends from my village, chose to walk to an elementary school in the next village simply because it had a teacher who taught English alongside the regular subjects in our local language. The walk took us across dusty dirt roads and through rice fields, often under the blazing sun or during unexpected downpours. Yet, our passion for learning English made the journey feel worthwhile. Though we had the option of attending the school in our own village, our determination to learn a global language inspired us to choose the more difficult path every single day.

privilege blindspot

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. My kid would work hard and we have barely reminded about her school work during middle school. She barely did any prep for the TJ test.

I am still on the fence about it. If college outcomes are better at base school, is this really worth all the extra effort. I also wonder if base high school matters when making the choice. We are not at Langley /Mclean /oakton.

You kid will be better off at TJ given her strong study habits. Base school still matters and needs to be credible enough, if you're not mapped to L/M. Leave it up to her but she seems a great fit.

Why sockpuppet - reply to your own posts?

Anonymous wrote:OP here. My kid would work hard and we have barely reminded about her school work during middle school. She barely did any prep for the TJ test.

I am still on the fence about it. If college outcomes are better at base school, is this really worth all the extra effort. I also wonder if base high school matters when making the choice. We are not at Langley /Mclean /oakton.

You kid will be better off at TJ given her strong study habits. Base school still matters and needs to be credible enough, if you're not mapped to L/M. Leave it up to her but she seems a great fit.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. My kid would work hard and we have barely reminded about her school work during middle school. She barely did any prep for the TJ test.

I am still on the fence about it. If college outcomes are better at base school, is this really worth all the extra effort. I also wonder if base high school matters when making the choice. We are not at Langley /Mclean /oakton.

Does she love her MS, have good friends there and feel torn about leaving it for TJ? If so, either way is probably going to work out fine based on what you said. If she is really excited to give it a try though and excited about the prospect of going to somewhere other than her base school then it would sound like she should give it a shot.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is totally not stressed getting a mix of Bs and As was at risk of a few Cs at one point. I'd love it if he were more stressed but here we are.

It really is ok. Remember:

C’s earn degrees.

Make offers to unqualified, and then have them accept Cs as OK?

Anonymous wrote:My kid is totally not stressed getting a mix of Bs and As was at risk of a few Cs at one point. I'd love it if he were more stressed but here we are.

It really is ok. Remember:

C’s earn degrees.

OP here. My kid would work hard and we have barely reminded about her school work during middle school. She barely did any prep for the TJ test.

I am still on the fence about it. If college outcomes are better at base school, is this really worth all the extra effort. I also wonder if base high school matters when making the choice. We are not at Langley /Mclean /oakton.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are turning it down - my kid would not be able to go back to the school he would otherwise go to.

He did the research on his options. I think he is making a reasonable choice although there is definitely part of me that wishes he would go.

My son never wanted to go, just prepared for the test (on his own) so he could tell people he got in.

if he regrets the decision and blames me, maybe that will make him listen to me later.

Please send more offers our way. We have many ambitious students on wait-list at our school.

PP here my kid is ambitious but not a grind. Those are two different things. I actually think it is possible TJ is not a great idea. TJ makes it harder to get into an Ivy, may do a number on self esteem in a world where swagger is more important than book smarts.

It absolutely is not a great idea for some (most) kids. For others though it’s an amazing experience. A parent’s job is to try to help their child weigh which camp they fall into.