Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know several of the few liberal arts admits. 4/5 are URMS.

Can you explain "4/5 are URMS". Not familiar with that term.

URM == underrepresented minority

Anonymous wrote:I know several of the few liberal arts admits. 4/5 are URMS.

Can you explain "4/5 are URMS". Not familiar with that term.

I know several of the few liberal arts admits. 4/5 are URMS.

PPs above - Sorry to hear about both your kids. Hope they overcome their difficulties and shine at whatever they may choose to do..

PP I am sorry for what your DS had to go through. Any school is hard with injury and illness. We have had a DS with serious illness at TJ and the school has been very supportive - though it is still very hard to make up the work (as it would be at any FCPS high school, I am sure). Good luck to your son in his college studies.

My DS the liberal arts major at TJ started having problems sophomore year. He fell down some stairs and broke his fibula first semester. Then he developed pneumonia and missed two weeks second semester. Chemistry did not go well for him and his math teacher was sick that year and missed a lot of classes which left some serious deficiencies in the material covered and subsequent grade. Junior year was the usual nightmare. Staying up late doing physics took a toll and then he wrecked the car, breaking his clavicle and his arm. We were ok with that because he was also suffering mental callapse which necessitated hours and thousands of dollars in therapy. He seemed so different than the boy we had known before. He was determined to finish at TJ despite our at this point desperate fears. He refused to return to his base school no matter what we said. Senior year he made it to November when he fell again and shattered his patella (knee). No more driving. We began to wonder if he had a bone problem but no just the stress. Obviously we think either TJ is not for him or it's just a toxic environment. Somehow he got into SLAC but we live in perpetual worry. Not a fan of TJ in general.

I asked my recent TJ grad about this. He said difficult but possible with 3 years of summer school. Most elite SLACs love foreign language. So you need at least 3 years. They prefer 4.

Choose the area where your kid is going to enjoy themselves most and do well. We are going 4 years of music w/AP music theory because my kid loves it, and it is an outlet during the school day/time away from STEM. To make it happen, we are stopping language after 10th grade. But if I had a kid who got a lot out of language, I would go the other way. I would think less about what a college wants, and more about where your kid will do well. Colleges have to realize that TJ plus music commitment plus language through AP is not realistic-- I hope.

A nice aside of music, though, is that kids can march, do Districts and solo and ensemble, do 8th period school jazz band, and take AP music theory. They can also join a community band or orchestra. So, your kid can turn band into an EC/ curricular combo that is a bit different for a STEM school, and show a high level of commitment to it. If you kid enjoys music (and that is the big if) I don't see a downside. DC is doing a year of music theory in the place of band to help with the weighed classes issue though. Fortunately, at TJ, DC can do this an still march.

Anonymous wrote:Haha. Schools accept you first of all based on GPA. They don't care whether you do band or not. ExC are an urban myth designed to cover up many things -- full pay students, legacy, sports, diversity etc etc.

Please don't feed the trolls.

Schools do care about foreign language though. So if you were to choose foreign language comes first. All elite schools write that in their core course guidelines for HS students.

Haha. Schools accept you first of all based on GPA. They don't care whether you do band or not. ExC are an urban myth designed to cover up many things -- full pay students, legacy, sports, diversity etc etc.

Anonymous wrote:Great discussion. So, if one were to prioritize between 4 years of music vs 4 years of language, which one should they child pick. Of course, language for at least 2 years is a given (assuming the first year of language was at MS; if not it will be 3).

In other words, does music in High School add any value at all for college admissions?

In the past, at the last concert of the year, there were little blurbs in the program written by each senior. Based on the destinations listed there, it seems clear that there is no penalty for pursuing music. There is a correlation between math ability and music ability and an impressive percentage of TJ students are in band/chorus/orchestra.

Fairfax County in general is a remarkable area for band and orchestra. Most of the HS have outstanding music programs.

The hit on weighted GPA is a non-issue. Colleges look at grades in the core areas of interest to them. I think it would be a big negative if they found out you didn't pursue an interest in music just because of a GPA hit.

Great discussion. So, if one were to prioritize between 4 years of music vs 4 years of language, which one should they child pick. Of course, language for at least 2 years is a given (assuming the first year of language was at MS; if not it will be 3).

In other words, does music in High School add any value at all for college admissions?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP I see you are determined to do TJ. I have one in TJ and one in another school. They have the same GPA-- 4.3. Guess who got into the UVA and the top SLACS. Hint it wasn't The TJ grad. People are trying to help you. I wish I had had this advice freshman year.

Congratulations on your kids' high GPA. I'm assuming they are twins. In your opinion, what do you think made a difference for your kid in base HS to be able to get the admission offers that the TJ kid did not - Gender, ECs, choice of classes, number of APs, essays, what else?

If you don't love your base school and your student got into TJ it's probably the best option but--
Why one had the advantage over the TJ student--
Classes were easier overall which gave more time to dig into the classes that were harder at the base school
Could easily load up on the APs which raised GPA (AP Physics at TJ very challenging)
Could be an "expert" in a line of classes ( very hard at TJ)
Plenty of extra time for clubs sports contests
More time overall -- top 10% well in reach
MUCH more choice in classes-- it was not a scramble to get history credits
Not a STEM student. You cannot equal TJ for a STEM school. It is the best by far.
But unlike in the far past when TJ was less focused, TJ is STEM++
What the previous Pp said about the schedule.
Who knows?? Admission is a mysterious process.
GL

Anonymous wrote:OP I see you are determined to do TJ. I have one in TJ and one in another school. They have the same GPA-- 4.3. Guess who got into the UVA and the top SLACS. Hint it wasn't The TJ grad. People are trying to help you. I wish I had had this advice freshman year.

Congratulations on your kids' high GPA. I'm assuming they are twins. In your opinion, what do you think made a difference for your kid in base HS to be able to get the admission offers that the TJ kid did not - Gender, ECs, choice of classes, number of APs, essays, what else?