Anonymous
Post 04/12/2011 22:54     Subject: TJ Admissions
The applicants should be assigned a number, so names aren't obviously asian, hispanic, whatever. There should be no place on the application to indicate race or sex, and admission is granted to those with the best scores on the test, grades, essay, and whatever they look at.
Anonymous
Post 04/12/2011 21:03     Subject: TJ Admissions
Well if your son is not going to TJ, let them know ASAP as there is a waiting list of students who do want to go!

There are plenty of bright kids who don't get accepted! You will find this is the case when your child begins the college admission process. Not everyone will get into HYP or UVA -- how many valedictorians or 2400 SAT's do Harvard turn down -- plenty!!!!
Anonymous
Post 04/12/2011 17:59     Subject: TJ Admissions
"The kids in middle school are confused at who got in and who didn't. Some of the brightest were turned down and the not so bright accepted. I have heard the bar is set at different levels for different middle schools."

With all due respect, sometimes kids don't really know who is smart and who isn't. They may not realize that the quiet, low key child in the class is extremely bright. By the same token, the child who brags about how smart he is, may not be quite as bright as he thinks he is.

Also, kids don't always know what the other kids are doing outside of school and how committed and accomplished they are in their outside activities. Or, how well their essays are written.

It might be hurtful to some children if kids are saying that the "not so bright" kids were accepted. Also, my understanding is that they look at the applicant pool as a whole and not separated out by middle school. The standards are the same for all the applicants.
Anonymous
Post 04/12/2011 14:29     Subject: TJ Admissions
Asians are the dominant sector because they have tiger moms making it happen. Years ago in our private school, there were 4th graders taking the SAT. They were all asian. They spent their weekends playing tennis, practicing piano, and their summers in math camp from 8:30 to 5 pm M to F. Social get togethers were limited, but they did have them.
Anonymous
Post 04/12/2011 13:26     Subject: TJ Admissions
Anonymous wrote:To be fair, PP, the Wash Post has done at least three negative articles on TJ in the last month (each one centering around the lopsided Asian admittance) and has also run a whole series on the pressure Asian parents put on their kids re: Math and Science, especially in Korea where a huge majority of parents pay for extra tutoring to increase the child's score on tests. It's not just this thread. Personally, my DC got in to TJ this year and we are probably turning it down in favor of the IB program at Marshall, almost entirely due to the fact that my DC doesn't want to go to a school where the supposedly smartest kids in the county/country need remedial English lessons. DC has many friends who should have been shoo-ins get rejection letters. Here's the hard facts - Fairfax[i] County is only 17% Asian. TJ is now 57% Asian. 224 African American students applied and they took only 6, rejecting two AA students at my DC's GT Center School who are straight-A award winning students. So please don't bash the parents on this thread. Facts are the facts, and lots of folks in the media and local government are focusing on this now.


Ok, but then isn't it just that this group wants it more and is willing to work harder to get there? It is a competitive world out there, and if there are people out there who are willing to drive themselves longer and harder to succeed, then you have two options. You can (a) take yourself out of the game or (b) get thee to Kumon. Instead, you whine and complain that the Asians "cheat." Well sorry. The year I graduated from my public h.s. in Fairfax, the class booed the Asian valedictorian because there was a rumor that she had "cheated" to get her grades. I know first hand that this rumor was started by some very nasty, racist white girls who thought it was funny to pull this kind of crap. Of course everyone believed it, because how else could she have been so successful without cheating. No proof, of course. It makes me sick to this day to think that this poor girl who had worked so hard and had sacrificed so much got booed at a moment she should have enjoyed, and which she earned.

Anonymous
Post 04/12/2011 13:11     Subject: TJ Admissions
Is the problem that there are too many Asians? Or that people are concerned that the Asians at TJ are not US citizens or here legally? What if the white population suddenly grew over the past few years? Would there be articles written about that in a negative light? Or would be all be proud that the whites are suddenly doing better and taking education more seriously? So demographics have changed. If the students are getting in fair and square, then there is no problem, assuming the students are in school legally. And frankly, that onus is on the middle school or elementary school when the student enters the system. Since no student is entering TJ from outside one of the school districts that feed into it, TJ should not be faulted.
Anonymous
Post 04/12/2011 12:51     Subject: TJ Admissions
The first article quoted here said 13 out of 1764 needed ESL at TJ. I don't think that's a catastrophe. And that every school in FCPS has ESL students. I wouldn't be too concerned about it.

Anonymous wrote:Here are a few - still can't find one of the links

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/as-thomas-jefferson-adds-help-for-poor-english-skills-some-va-parents-fume/2011/03/10/ABK7qVx_story.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/is-americas-best-high-school-soft-on-math/2011/02/24/ABJnDlJ_story.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/s-korea-tries-to-wrest-control-from-booming-private-tutoring-industry/2011/01/12/AFNXQfXC_story.html
Anonymous
Post 04/12/2011 12:00     Subject: Re:TJ Admissions
Looks like they have plenty of athletics available.

http://www.colonialathletics.org/

Not exactly a football powerhouse, but plenty of sports opportunities.
Anonymous
Post 04/12/2011 11:27     Subject: Re:TJ Admissions
Does TJ have any sports teams like the normal High Schools? What do the smart kids who like sports do? Are they at Woodson?
Anonymous
Post 04/12/2011 11:06     Subject: TJ Admissions
Here are some others to add to PP: (fyi, my kids got accepted, so no sour grapes here)

http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?article=341319&paper=82&cat=104

http://washingtonexaminer.com/local/asian-students-land-prime-spots-premier-science-school

http://washingtonexaminer.com/local/education/2011/04/minority-students-still-missing-thomas-jeffersons-new-class

Anonymous
Post 04/12/2011 10:55     Subject: TJ Admissions
Here are a few - still can't find one of the links

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/as-thomas-jefferson-adds-help-for-poor-english-skills-some-va-parents-fume/2011/03/10/ABK7qVx_story.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/is-americas-best-high-school-soft-on-math/2011/02/24/ABJnDlJ_story.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/s-korea-tries-to-wrest-control-from-booming-private-tutoring-industry/2011/01/12/AFNXQfXC_story.html
Anonymous
Post 04/12/2011 10:27     Subject: TJ Admissions
If you look at the profile for TJ on the FCPS website, fewer than 1% are limited English proficient:

http://schoolprofiles.fcps.edu/schlprfl/f?p=108:13:1358849260059725:::0_CURRENT_SCHOOL_ID:300
Anonymous
Post 04/12/2011 10:26     Subject: Re:TJ Admissions
Anonymous wrote:My (Asian) daughter didn't get in after 4.0, 100% on the test, stellar teacher recommendations, Decent Essays, a math passionate person in Algebra2/Trig in 8th grade, Chess champion, Chamber violinist, an all-star basketball player, Science Olympiad participant, Math counts winner. What else do you need? A paid student information sheet writer to write politically pleasing words??

Go figure!


The kids in middle school are confused at who got in and who didn't. Some of the brightest were turned down and the not so bright accepted. I have heard the bar is set at different levels for different middle schools.
Anonymous
Post 04/12/2011 09:43     Subject: Re:TJ Admissions
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:...a school full of absolutely driven, competitive students who can't even fully comprehend instruction in English...


i agree it's problematic that TJ accepts kids who need ESL, but the above is a bit of a stretch, don't you think? i believe the facts are, that there's only a handful students who need ESL.


o.k., you got me. A bit of a stretch perhaps, but it has to be more than "a handful" to need to hire an ESL teacher. How many are in this group I don't know but it was a noticeable enough problem the teachers had to point it out to the administration.



It was 13/480 for the incoming class - so they can hire a part-time ESL teacher - part-time is the model for specialist hires in any case - and you never know maybe some of the 13 kids are european? maybe only 57% of the 13 are asian kids i.e. 7 or 8 kids. 13/480=2.7% which isn't so much certainly doesn't account for the contribution or experience of the 57% asians.
Anonymous
Post 04/12/2011 09:25     Subject: Re:TJ Admissions
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:...a school full of absolutely driven, competitive students who can't even fully comprehend instruction in English...


i agree it's problematic that TJ accepts kids who need ESL, but the above is a bit of a stretch, don't you think? i believe the facts are, that there's only a handful students who need ESL.


o.k., you got me. A bit of a stretch perhaps, but it has to be more than "a handful" to need to hire an ESL teacher. How many are in this group I don't know but it was a noticeable enough problem the teachers had to point it out to the administration.