Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can't possibly overemphasize the impact of being in a community where learning is celebrated among 100% of the students. It's just different.

The school doesn't have magical properties, but the student body being 100% comprised of students who care about academics does. That is why TJ exists and must continue to exist.

Ironically, the admissions changes have a particularly detrimental effect on the lower-performing high schools, which now are more likely to lose their top students (even if not the top students in the county) who might set a positive example to TJ.

The types of kids who end up at TJ are quite likely to end up in rarefied environments in college and their professional careers where "100% care about academics" or "100% care about their jobs." There's arguably something very important for their development about their being around a more diverse group of kids as adolescents.

Given that TJ was created as a marketing tool rather than to serve pedagogical goals, the mantra that TJ "must continue to exist" rings hollow.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can't possibly overemphasize the impact of being in a community where learning is celebrated among 100% of the students. It's just different.

The school doesn't have magical properties, but the student body being 100% comprised of students who care about academics does. That is why TJ exists and must continue to exist.

Ironically, the admissions changes have a particularly detrimental effect on the lower-performing high schools, which now are more likely to lose their top students (even if not the top students in the county) who might set a positive example to TJ.

The types of kids who end up at TJ are quite likely to end up in rarefied environments in college and their professional careers where "100% care about academics" or "100% care about their jobs." There's arguably something very important for their development about their being around a more diverse group of kids as adolescents.

Given that TJ was created as a marketing tool rather than to serve pedagogical goals, the mantra that TJ "must continue to exist" rings hollow.

Anonymous wrote:You can't possibly overemphasize the impact of being in a community where learning is celebrated among 100% of the students. It's just different.

The school doesn't have magical properties, but the student body being 100% comprised of students who care about academics does. That is why TJ exists and must continue to exist.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MIT grad here, I'm strongly discouraging it.

Hard to believe your statement since you didn't explain why. TJ is about as close to MIT as you can get; it's hard to imagine an environment more similar.. So either you are not being honest, or perhaps you are suggesting you did not enjoy MIT either?

You're delusional. It is nothing like MIT. Sure, for a public high school, it's great, but the caliber of student isn't exactly even close.

I doubt there are 550 'MIT caliber' students at TJ, or 480 under the old system. However, MIT has a lot of students that would be more like the prepped kids that get talked about on here. They took tough math and science classes, but they are not as capable in these subjects as many TJ students.

That's ridiculous, since the TJ students you despise so much got into based on their middle school records and a test, whereas MIT is evaluating older kids based on a more robust academic record.

But keep pretending that the rank-and-file TJ students now are somehow among the top students nationally in STEM, when in fact many are now probably no stronger than the top 25% or so at a half-dozen or more other high schools in FCPS.

What I am saying is you are overestimating the STEM abilities of MIT students.

Anonymous wrote:No. Never even considered for DD who is a HS junior interested in STEM career. DD never identified as “gifted” nor applied for AAP. Just not her personality and like her mother, is a bit of an underachiever.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“But going to TJ can damage your kid's self-esteem and drive. He is not going to get a better education there, unless it's an education in suffering. ”

Hasn’t been my family’s experience so far. Education in 9th so far is light years away from 8th grade Honors classes (at a “good” not “top” MS) experience for math/science. Moreover DC seems to be more self confident and more willing to try things than was ever the case in 8th, giving the chance at learning / growth through extracurricular experiences. YMMV.

Sounds like a combination of a typical teen maturing and yet another TJ parent endowing the school with magical properties because her own snowflake goes there. These are the parents we want to avoid; they’re bad enough in middle school.

Feel free to dismiss people who don’t fit your narrative. The change I’ve seen in my own kid has been over a pretty short window though and DC has directly expressed more comfort with volunteering for things at TJ and participating in school life than at the base school - yes maturity increases in half a year but the level of shift seems pretty big for simply getting half a year older to be the main feature accounting for it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“But going to TJ can damage your kid's self-esteem and drive. He is not going to get a better education there, unless it's an education in suffering. ”

Hasn’t been my family’s experience so far. Education in 9th so far is light years away from 8th grade Honors classes (at a “good” not “top” MS) experience for math/science. Moreover DC seems to be more self confident and more willing to try things than was ever the case in 8th, giving the chance at learning / growth through extracurricular experiences. YMMV.

Sounds like a combination of a typical teen maturing and yet another TJ parent endowing the school with magical properties because her own snowflake goes there. These are the parents we want to avoid; they’re bad enough in middle school.

Anonymous wrote:“But going to TJ can damage your kid's self-esteem and drive. He is not going to get a better education there, unless it's an education in suffering. ”

Hasn’t been my family’s experience so far. Education in 9th so far is light years away from 8th grade Honors classes (at a “good” not “top” MS) experience for math/science. Moreover DC seems to be more self confident and more willing to try things than was ever the case in 8th, giving the chance at learning / growth through extracurricular experiences. YMMV.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MIT grad here, I'm strongly discouraging it.

Hard to believe your statement since you didn't explain why. TJ is about as close to MIT as you can get; it's hard to imagine an environment more similar.. So either you are not being honest, or perhaps you are suggesting you did not enjoy MIT either?

You're delusional. It is nothing like MIT. Sure, for a public high school, it's great, but the caliber of student isn't exactly even close.

I doubt there are 550 'MIT caliber' students at TJ, or 480 under the old system. However, MIT has a lot of students that would be more like the prepped kids that get talked about on here. They took tough math and science classes, but they are not as capable in these subjects as many TJ students.

That's ridiculous, since the TJ students you despise so much got into based on their middle school records and a test, whereas MIT is evaluating older kids based on a more robust academic record.

But keep pretending that the rank-and-file TJ students now are somehow among the top students nationally in STEM, when in fact many are now probably no stronger than the top 25% or so at a half-dozen or more other high schools in FCPS.

What I am saying is you are overestimating the STEM abilities of MIT students.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MIT grad here, I'm strongly discouraging it.

Hard to believe your statement since you didn't explain why. TJ is about as close to MIT as you can get; it's hard to imagine an environment more similar.. So either you are not being honest, or perhaps you are suggesting you did not enjoy MIT either?

You're delusional. It is nothing like MIT. Sure, for a public high school, it's great, but the caliber of student isn't exactly even close.

I doubt there are 550 'MIT caliber' students at TJ, or 480 under the old system. However, MIT has a lot of students that would be more like the prepped kids that get talked about on here. They took tough math and science classes, but they are not as capable in these subjects as many TJ students.

That's ridiculous, since the TJ students you despise so much got into based on their middle school records and a test, whereas MIT is evaluating older kids based on a more robust academic record.

But keep pretending that the rank-and-file TJ students now are somehow among the top students nationally in STEM, when in fact many are now probably no stronger than the top 25% or so at a half-dozen or more other high schools in FCPS.