Anonymous wrote:TJ parents - Do you have a kid that got 2/3 of the math problem wrong?

My kid got all of it wrong Did awesome explaining it though. Honestly don’t even know how he got in, he kind of winged it. I guess it was the GPA that saved him! Currently at TJ as a sophomore with As and Bs

TJ parents - Do you have a kid that got 2/3 of the math problem wrong?

The AMCs are having a real problem with cheating and people looking far better than they actually are. The cheating over the last 3-5 years has been well documented. It sucks for the kids who are doing really well but other kids are getting the tests and answers before they take the test. The number of perfect scores has really increased, it is disheartening.

And there are concerns with the Science competitions because of the number of projects that can easily be identified as parent funded and driven.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Talk at our school was that the material was not difficult so how will they choose?

That is the whole point of the test - To not be able to differentiate. This is the path FCPS took to address equity.

They try to guess what the test score would be if they actually took a test by looking at other factors. They don't want to test because that gives people a way to identify racial bias.

Then they try to guess the race without actually looking at race and try to put together the most diverse class of academically capable kids they can without actually knowing academic capability or race.

If your 8th grader is taking algebra 2 or even pre-calc, it is not as impactful as a high score on the AMC 10, winning an academic olympiad or a state level robotics competition.
Those sort of things will almost certainly get you in.
Success in a competitive situation cannot really be faked or fudged.
Otherwise it's a bit of a crapshoot.

Anonymous wrote:My kid is a private schooler and he got a part of the PSE wrong. He has a 4.0 GPA and did decently well on the sps. What are his chances?

Chances are good but really depends on how many kids were previously accepted from your MS.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid has near a 3.94 gpa. She feels she did strong on the SPS, she got 2/3 parts of the PSE wrong but she got the hardest question right and explained her thinking really well. Used nearly all characters, and her solution was more real world scenario. She attends a less competitive school with less than 40 applicants. No experience factors, geo hns, and all hns. What are the chances for acceptance?

My son had a 3.8 something GPA from one of the “feeder” middle schools and got in. Essays count for a lot.

GPA - 300 points
SPS (4 essays) - 300 points
PSE - 300 points

Your daughter only loses 4.5 points out of 900 with a 3.94 GPA. The essays make the biggest difference.

Where did you come up with this rubric? What about experience factors?

Anonymous wrote:My kid has near a 3.94 gpa. She feels she did strong on the SPS, she got 2/3 parts of the PSE wrong but she got the hardest question right and explained her thinking really well. Used nearly all characters, and her solution was more real world scenario. She attends a less competitive school with less than 40 applicants. No experience factors, geo hns, and all hns. What are the chances for acceptance?

Your chances are good! Not an automatic accept since many kids have a similar profile and experience with the test.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid has near a 3.94 gpa. She feels she did strong on the SPS, she got 2/3 parts of the PSE wrong but she got the hardest question right and explained her thinking really well. Used nearly all characters, and her solution was more real world scenario. She attends a less competitive school with less than 40 applicants. No experience factors, geo hns, and all hns. What are the chances for acceptance?

My son had a 3.8 something GPA from one of the “feeder” middle schools and got in. Essays count for a lot.

GPA - 300 points
SPS (4 essays) - 300 points
PSE - 300 points

Your daughter only loses 4.5 points out of 900 with a 3.94 GPA. The essays make the biggest difference.

Scoring systems like this in admissions processes are so stupid and counterproductive. Someday soon I hope that FCPS gets its act together and simultaneously increases the number of inputs to the TJ admissions process but also makes it appropriately subjective just like every other damn selection process in America.

Objectivity in selective admissions processes is destructive.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Aren't GPA's just cutoffs and are not considered in final selection?

I haven’t seen anything to this effect in writing. There is SPS but also quotas per school.

It is not a quota, there are seats set aside for every MS. Some of the MS don’t have enough applicants to fill those seats nd the empty seats go into the general pool. Some schools will end up with far more then the 1.5% guarantee.

I am trying to understand how anyone thinks they know that they got the correct answer. I am sure the kids compare their answers but that doesn’t mean they are right. My DS reported that it was easy and he was comfortable with the PSE and the essays. He used all the characters and had plenty of time to finish and double check his work.

I doubt we are going to know how he actually did, unless we actually get a score on the tests. I have not heard about kids getting scores or parents getting scores. What matters to me is that DS feels he did his best and didn’t think it was too bad. He is one of the Carson kids so I feel like it is a lottery. He has a 4.0 and is AAP so he has all honors classes. But there are a lot of kids like him at Carson who apply.

It would be great if he was accepted and a bit disappointing if he isn’t but he did everything he could and that is all we can ask of him.

Anonymous wrote:My kid is a private schooler and he got a part of the PSE wrong. He has a 4.0 GPA and did decently well on the sps. What are his chances?

Do you think anyone on this forum can give you an answer to this? I’m always baffled by this type of question.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:s anyone else thinking about the Feb 4th alt date? A bit worried about the advantage of extra time and since their peers have already taken it, but trying not to overthink it. It is what it is

Won’t they get different prompts?

I don't really know, but my kiddo told me that if I searched up TJHSST Admissions Past PSE Problems on YouTube, I could only find one per year, so I was assuming the math problem was going to be the same.

In theory, they differentiate prompts.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Talk at our school was that the material was not difficult so how will they choose?

My kid thought she did badly because it seemed too simple. Realized that everyone got the same answer for at least 2 of the 3 questions. Will probably choose off of sps or essay writing skills. Even if you did get the problem wrong, essay writing should save you.

And there is GPA too, so I suspect kids with GPAs even a smidge lower will not be as competitive.

My son got the most important section of the PSE wrong, but did exceptional in the SPS and has a 4.00 GPA. Do you think he will get in?

Parent of a junior. Not sure what the question was but in the past there were multiple “correct” answers. Her year, the question what something to do with whether or not a farmer should lease land (based on a number of math related factors) but part of the question was to explain why you thought the way you did. For ex, what was the potential environmental impact on leased land if farmer fears they might bulldoze it and build something? Did the farmer want to get as much money as possible as fast as possible to travel the world? Or should the farmer only lease half of it for balance.

Yes, relatively easy math but also how kids explained their thinking was part of what they wanted to see. (Or so it used to be) And yes, I know all the feelings about the lack of math rigor in the test, not here to debate that.

My kid is a private schooler and he got a part of the PSE wrong. He has a 4.0 GPA and did decently well on the sps. What are his chances?

Anonymous wrote:My kid has near a 3.94 gpa. She feels she did strong on the SPS, she got 2/3 parts of the PSE wrong but she got the hardest question right and explained her thinking really well. Used nearly all characters, and her solution was more real world scenario. She attends a less competitive school with less than 40 applicants. No experience factors, geo hns, and all hns. What are the chances for acceptance?

Same with my kiddo - he didn't get one part of the PSE correct. There were hundreds lined up at the school. I think this year, there'll be more focus on the SPS prompts, especially because my kid said the math prompts were easier than the problems he saw online. Last year, I recall a lot of students got in even without a fully correct PSE.