Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sty most kids done with all APs in 10th. Most only take those on a full schedule across all classes then it is off to IB. They steal all your Cornell slots. NYU slots. U Chi spots. Williams spots. Columbia slots. Wake up! You lost the game not being born in the right city.

The kids from the DMV public magnets do pretty well too. Thomas Jefferson has been one of the top 10 feeder HSs for Harvard over the last 15 years.

This is verifiable b.s. TJ sent 6 out of 500 students to Harvard in 2024, barely 1% and hardly impressive when the Harvard admission rate is 4%. All the NYC top privates send at least 10% to Harvard every year. polarislist.com

Way to completely misunderstand and misuse statistics!! 🙄

Harvard accepts 4% of students who apply to Harvard from All high schools. Not 4% of the total seniors in ANY particular high school.

Let’s say 60 TJ seniors applied to Harvard last year, and Harvard accepted 6 of them. That’s a 10% acceptance rate for TJ.

But you said “TJ sent 6 out of 500 students”. Are you saying all 500 students APPLIED to Harvard that year?? And that every student accepted by Harvard that year chose to attend??

There are three different numbers in play in your example: The number of TJ students who APPLIED to Harvard, the number of students ACCEPTED by Harvard, and the number of students who chose to ENROLL in Harvard.

So let’s do the math:

If 90 TJ seniors applied, Harvard accepted 9 of them, 3 chose to go to other schools (Princeton, Stanford, MIT), and 6 enrolled at Harvard (as you said), that means Harvard accepted 10% of TJ applicants that year.

(I have no personal stake in this, by the way. I live in the Midwest. Just annoyed by your butchered hypothetical.)

It actually starts before middle school in DCPS because if you aren't on track for math in 5th then you don't get the higher placement in 6th.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The biggest thing is math placement. If you don’t get into an advanced track early on, you probably won’t be able to take AP calculus in high school, which is a problem if you want to major in STEM.

It also matters when it comes to extracurriculars like sports, music, or STEM competitions. It’s extremely hard to do well in those activities if you don’t start early well before high school

Yes, but my son played sports prior to HS because he liked the sports and being part of a team, applying to college wasn’t part of it.

Hard to get a kid to commit to a sport for any reason than their enjoyment of it.

+1 and even if they could get a sports commit- often the academics don’t match up, e.g., Ivy level stats/scores but T100 recruit or a d3 small school.

In our case, kid went to the Ivy.

Yep. In our case, kid is going D3 so he can continue to play . . . he's over the moon about it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The biggest thing is math placement. If you don’t get into an advanced track early on, you probably won’t be able to take AP calculus in high school, which is a problem if you want to major in STEM.

It also matters when it comes to extracurriculars like sports, music, or STEM competitions. It’s extremely hard to do well in those activities if you don’t start early well before high school

Yes, but my son played sports prior to HS because he liked the sports and being part of a team, applying to college wasn’t part of it.

Hard to get a kid to commit to a sport for any reason than their enjoyment of it.

+1 and even if they could get a sports commit- often the academics don’t match up, e.g., Ivy level stats/scores but T100 recruit or a d3 small school.

In our case, kid went to the Ivy.

Anonymous wrote:The biggest thing is math placement. If you don’t get into an advanced track early on, you probably won’t be able to take AP calculus in high school, which is a problem if you want to major in STEM.

It also matters when it comes to extracurriculars like sports, music, or STEM competitions. It’s extremely hard to do well in those activities if you don’t start early well before high school

It was something like third grade that my sons math teacher recommended accelerated for the next year. I had no idea that determined what science class he would take in 9th. Think of parents who didn't help their third grader with math homework and they were just on the borderline, so went on level, or one lower in 9th grade.

One thing. Colleges offer algebra and calculus. It doesn't need to all happen in high school, unless you want those few slots in the most selective schools.

Anonymous wrote:Way to stress out yourself and more importantly your kids.
Middle School math placement doesn't make or break college admissions. Stop feeding that BS to kids.
Good Lord DCUM is nuts.

- MS science teacher who has had MANY kids go into STEM fields over 30 years.

Yep. That's the point. Don't push your kid to be what you think you want them to be. Especially at an early age. If it comes naturally to them and they love it, then let them be them. Stand out of the way.

Way to stress out yourself and more importantly your kids.
Middle School math placement doesn't make or break college admissions. Stop feeding that BS to kids.
Good Lord DCUM is nuts.

- MS science teacher who has had MANY kids go into STEM fields over 30 years.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The key is not to push your kid in any way when they are that young. If that's going to be their path, let them accomplish those things because they have a passion for it at a very young age not because they were pushed. My DS, in public schools, exceled in math took Algebra 1 in 5th grade and in middle school took Trig by eighth grade. No extra push by his parents to advance like that but he just loved it. He also had a love for basketball and played traveling ball starting in 5th grade. He is currently a freshman Engineering major at a top engineering school.
Point is to let you kid be who they are going to because it's their passion not because a parent pushed them at such a young age.

What public school system offers algebra in 5th grade as an advertised option for students? The kids I've seen who have taken it in 6th grade have had to have parents who showed extra testing that demonstrated they could take algebra in 6th grade, or have had off the charts standardized tests due to exposure to higher level math outside of school. (i.e. they are not getting to Algebra in 5th without a parent having pushed them at a young age).

Sorry this blows your mind but my kid's school. Wasn't advertised. We didn't push a lick. Also, he was going to our high school while in middle school for the higher math. We didn't push him. He has a passion for it. Also, played traveling basketball in middle school and varsity basketball all 4 years of high school. Sorry, but this is a true story. He's still happy at a Top 4 Engineering School and doing well.

One of my kids was not put in the highest math track in middle school (our highest is Algebra 1 in 8th...so its only one year advanced). It definitely has had repercussions now that he is in HS. I wish I had known more in order to advocate, honestly I just trusted the school.

Anonymous wrote:PP. I was responding to the statement in the thread that ''

And despite your claim that "NYC top privates send at least 10% to Harvard every year" you can see what BS that is, because there's only 2 NY schools on the top feeders list ahead of TJ: one is Stuyvesant (public magnet), the only NY private ahead of TJ is Trinity HS.

I agree that total numbers and percentages are two different things. I was responding to the argument that someone else's claim that NYC top privates send at least 10% to H every year is "BS" because only 2 --actually 3--NYC private schools send more students to H. The fact that only 3 NYC schools send more students to H doesn't prove that there aren't more that send 10%.

Yes, and again, you can share that data on percentages of students admitted if you have it. But you don't. You're just cherry picking pn percentage admitted for a single school, mixing up % admitted with the definition of feeder school, while also saying it's "BS" that TJ has been a top feeder to Harvard for the last 15 years (which, as posted above, is clearly verifiable with data.)

PP. I was responding to the statement in the thread that ''

And despite your claim that "NYC top privates send at least 10% to Harvard every year" you can see what BS that is, because there's only 2 NY schools on the top feeders list ahead of TJ: one is Stuyvesant (public magnet), the only NY private ahead of TJ is Trinity HS.

I agree that total numbers and percentages are two different things. I was responding to the argument that someone else's claim that NYC top privates send at least 10% to H every year is "BS" because only 2 --actually 3--NYC private schools send more students to H. The fact that only 3 NYC schools send more students to H doesn't prove that there aren't more that send 10%.

From Boston Latin's website.

requently Asked Questions About Admission to BLS

Q. What is Boston Latin School?
A. Founded in 1635 as America's first public school, Boston Latin School (BLS) today is a public exam school that begins in grade 7 and ends in grade 12, making it both a middle and a high school. The success of our students has shown that BLS is one of the best schools in the country. The curriculum at the school is rigorous and engaging so all students leave well prepared to be successful in the future.

Anonymous wrote:The biggest thing is math placement. If you don’t get into an advanced track early on, you probably won’t be able to take AP calculus in high school, which is a problem if you want to major in STEM.

It also matters when it comes to extracurriculars like sports, music, or STEM competitions. It’s extremely hard to do well in those activities if you don’t start early well before high school

Yes, but my son played sports prior to HS because he liked the sports and being part of a team, applying to college wasn’t part of it.

Hard to get a kid to commit to a sport for any reason than their enjoyment of it.

You are also wrong that Boston Latin is a public school- it is a private school that charges 40K+ a year.

No, it's a public magnet .https://www.bls.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=206067&type=d&termREC_ID=&pREC_ID=406781

Anonymous wrote:

According to this list TJ is the second nationwide among public schools in being a feeder to Harvard. And despite your claim that "NYC top privates send at least 10% to Harvard every year" you can see what BS that is, because there's only 2 NY schools on the top feeders list ahead of TJ: one is Stuyvesant (public magnet), the only NY private ahead of TJ is Trinity HS.

Huh?!! According to that list TJ is 5th--not 2nd-- among public schools in terms of numbers--not percentages. Public schools listed above TJ are Boston Latin, Stuy, Cambridge Rindge, and Lexington HS.

And 3 NY schools are on the list ahead of TJ. You left out Horace Mann. There are certainly others which rank below TJ in terms of raw numbers, but have a higher percentage of students enrolled. For example, Dalton, a NY private ranked below TJ in terms of raw numbers still has more than 10% of its student body enrolled at Harvard. There are other privates which do not appear on this list because they are small and thus send fewer students to Harvard in terms of raw numbers, but still meet the 10% threshold. One of these is Brearley which has about 220 students in high school and in the years 2021-2025 had 25 students enroll in Harvard. https://www.brearley.org/college-advising/

The Harvard school newspaper uses the definition of top feeder as being number of students admitted to Harvard from 2009-2024, rather than per capita admittances, because that is the definition of top feeder--prevalence of students from a given high school.

You seem to be referring to the concept of acceptance rate per capita of a given high school. If you had that data nationwide on % of students in a high school per capita admitted to Harvard from 2009-2024, you would cite it, but you don't--all you do is cherry pick data from a website of a single NY private school from a 4 year timeframe that isn't comparable.

You are also wrong that Boston Latin is a public school- it is a private school that charges 40K+ a year. Yes, as was pointed out earlier Stuyvesant (a NYC public magnet) is ranked higher than TJ (and all the top NY privates) as being a top feeder, along with Trinity.