Anonymous wrote:For those who are accepted. Congratulations!! Please share how your kids prepare for the test and what is the highest math course the kids are taking in 8th grade. Thanks!!

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Anonymous wrote:If grades are awesome and the scores are brilliant, then the only reason has to be the SIS or the recs. Perhaps the recommendations aren’t as excellent as you think, or the child didn’t actually want to go and that was reflected in the SIS

+1. The three test scores are only part of it! Grades, SIS, teacher recs are considered in addition. Those of you posting three test scores are missing the point.

The point is that most weight is given to subjective scoring of essays/SIS. It is certainly not choosing
The top stem candidates

TJ no longer seems to be a STEM school at this point. I think this is good and bad but it looks like they are more about creating a well balanced instead of kids who are interested in STEM which I thought was a prerequisite since it is a STEM school

One possible strategy is that they take semi finalists off of test scores but then for who gets in it's much more subjective which might be how they are weeding out the cookie cutter hard core STEM folks but again why call it a STEM school if you aren't taking people actually interest in STEM

On what are you basing this strong statement? The speculation on an anonymous board? I guarantee you TJ is still a STEM school. I have two kids there and they have access to so many advanced STEM offerings and are surrounded by kids who mostly love STEM. They also have great humanities offerings but TJ specializes in STEM.

They aren't taking the strongest STEM folks from the semifinialist group. They are doing holistic admissions to create some kind of balanced class bs.

Or, they are defining “strong in STEM” differently than you. Highest math test score does not necessarily mean “strongest in STEM”.

Read the mission statement and beliefs. Really read it and think about it. TJ practices this. Interdisciplinary. Global. Literature, art and music. Collaboration. Effective communication. Math prep, or even math talent is a piece. But only a piece. TJ is spelling out what it’s looking for in applicants. I have no idea why people then get their noses out of joint when their kid who has never demonstrated collaboration or teamwork, never demonstrated cross disciplinary skills, and never written a coherent sentence is turned down. You would never apply for a job and not read the company’s mission statement and beliefs. Why is your kid applying for TJ and not looking at TJs? And clearly they haven’t. Because you clearly haven’t.


If your kid did hundreds of hours of TJ prep, and you never had them read the mission statement and beliefs and think about what they have done that could show they would be a good fit, you did them a huge disservice. Every kid who wants to go should write a practice SIS on why they want to go to TJ, and one on what they could contribute, and line it up against these. If for no other reason than to decide whether they would enjoy going to school there. That, plus one practice test, is the only prep my kids did, and both got in with good but not top scores. And are doing very well.

https://tjhsst.fcps.edu/about

Well said. I like your post. Could you explain a bit if a kid could fit band, sports and other club activities in his/her busy schedules on top of heavy coursework?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If grades are awesome and the scores are brilliant, then the only reason has to be the SIS or the recs. Perhaps the recommendations aren’t as excellent as you think, or the child didn’t actually want to go and that was reflected in the SIS

+1. The three test scores are only part of it! Grades, SIS, teacher recs are considered in addition. Those of you posting three test scores are missing the point.

The point is that most weight is given to subjective scoring of essays/SIS. It is certainly not choosing
The top stem candidates

TJ no longer seems to be a STEM school at this point. I think this is good and bad but it looks like they are more about creating a well balanced instead of kids who are interested in STEM which I thought was a prerequisite since it is a STEM school

One possible strategy is that they take semi finalists off of test scores but then for who gets in it's much more subjective which might be how they are weeding out the cookie cutter hard core STEM folks but again why call it a STEM school if you aren't taking people actually interest in STEM

On what are you basing this strong statement? The speculation on an anonymous board? I guarantee you TJ is still a STEM school. I have two kids there and they have access to so many advanced STEM offerings and are surrounded by kids who mostly love STEM. They also have great humanities offerings but TJ specializes in STEM.

They aren't taking the strongest STEM folks from the semifinialist group. They are doing holistic admissions to create some kind of balanced class bs.

Or, they are defining “strong in STEM” differently than you. Highest math test score does not necessarily mean “strongest in STEM”.

Read the mission statement and beliefs. Really read it and think about it. TJ practices this. Interdisciplinary. Global. Literature, art and music. Collaboration. Effective communication. Math prep, or even math talent is a piece. But only a piece. TJ is spelling out what it’s looking for in applicants. I have no idea why people then get their noses out of joint when their kid who has never demonstrated collaboration or teamwork, never demonstrated cross disciplinary skills, and never written a coherent sentence is turned down. You would never apply for a job and not read the company’s mission statement and beliefs. Why is your kid applying for TJ and not looking at TJs? And clearly they haven’t. Because you clearly haven’t.


If your kid did hundreds of hours of TJ prep, and you never had them read the mission statement and beliefs and think about what they have done that could show they would be a good fit, you did them a huge disservice. Every kid who wants to go should write a practice SIS on why they want to go to TJ, and one on what they could contribute, and line it up against these. If for no other reason than to decide whether they would enjoy going to school there. That, plus one practice test, is the only prep my kids did, and both got in with good but not top scores. And are doing very well.

https://tjhsst.fcps.edu/about

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If grades are awesome and the scores are brilliant, then the only reason has to be the SIS or the recs. Perhaps the recommendations aren’t as excellent as you think, or the child didn’t actually want to go and that was reflected in the SIS

+1. The three test scores are only part of it! Grades, SIS, teacher recs are considered in addition. Those of you posting three test scores are missing the point.

The point is that most weight is given to subjective scoring of essays/SIS. It is certainly not choosing
The top stem candidates

TJ no longer seems to be a STEM school at this point. I think this is good and bad but it looks like they are more about creating a well balanced instead of kids who are interested in STEM which I thought was a prerequisite since it is a STEM school

One possible strategy is that they take semi finalists off of test scores but then for who gets in it's much more subjective which might be how they are weeding out the cookie cutter hard core STEM folks but again why call it a STEM school if you aren't taking people actually interest in STEM

On what are you basing this strong statement? The speculation on an anonymous board? I guarantee you TJ is still a STEM school. I have two kids there and they have access to so many advanced STEM offerings and are surrounded by kids who mostly love STEM. They also have great humanities offerings but TJ specializes in STEM.

They aren't taking the strongest STEM folks from the semifinialist group. They are doing holistic admissions to create some kind of balanced class bs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If grades are awesome and the scores are brilliant, then the only reason has to be the SIS or the recs. Perhaps the recommendations aren’t as excellent as you think, or the child didn’t actually want to go and that was reflected in the SIS

+1. The three test scores are only part of it! Grades, SIS, teacher recs are considered in addition. Those of you posting three test scores are missing the point.

The point is that most weight is given to subjective scoring of essays/SIS. It is certainly not choosing
The top stem candidates

TJ no longer seems to be a STEM school at this point. I think this is good and bad but it looks like they are more about creating a well balanced instead of kids who are interested in STEM which I thought was a prerequisite since it is a STEM school

One possible strategy is that they take semi finalists off of test scores but then for who gets in it's much more subjective which might be how they are weeding out the cookie cutter hard core STEM folks but again why call it a STEM school if you aren't taking people actually interest in STEM

On what are you basing this strong statement? The speculation on an anonymous board? I guarantee you TJ is still a STEM school. I have two kids there and they have access to so many advanced STEM offerings and are surrounded by kids who mostly love STEM. They also have great humanities offerings but TJ specializes in STEM.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those who are accepted. Congratulations!! Please share how your kids prepare for the test and what is the highest math course the kids are taking in 8th grade. Thanks!!

DS asked for prep class but I persuaded him not to do it. Instead I bought an ACT book for him to prepare himself. He is currently do Geometry at school.

Anonymous wrote:Science and Technology isn't STEM?

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Anonymous wrote:Don't know how involved she would be in future decisions regarding TJ, but Pat Hynes is talking about having kids selected by geography--in other words, Carson's number would be limited.
Check out her tweets this week:
twitter.com/votepathynes

Apparently, NYC is doing this now.

NYC isn’t doing this now. Which is why the Stuvy numbers are so bad.

And the Eastern NOVA Rep. bring this up every year. And it gets quickly and roundly shot down in Committee. There is zero taste in the state legislature for messing with TJ’s success. But politicians gotta pander. And really, it addresses the wrong problem. Rather than whining about Equal TJ representation, Eastern County should be asking why the Western County kids are doing so much better, and what can be done to bring the Eastern County kids up. Rather than suppressing western county talent.

The “talent” is not only in the western part of the county. There are just fewer middle school AAP centers, so you end up with a monster AAP center like Carson. If the same policies were followed in eastern and western Fairfax, Franklin would also be an AAP center and Carson’s numbers would go down.

Anonymous wrote:For those who are accepted. Congratulations!! Please share how your kids prepare for the test and what is the highest math course the kids are taking in 8th grade. Thanks!!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If grades are awesome and the scores are brilliant, then the only reason has to be the SIS or the recs. Perhaps the recommendations aren’t as excellent as you think, or the child didn’t actually want to go and that was reflected in the SIS

+1. The three test scores are only part of it! Grades, SIS, teacher recs are considered in addition. Those of you posting three test scores are missing the point.

The point is that most weight is given to subjective scoring of essays/SIS. It is certainly not choosing
The top stem candidates

TJ no longer seems to be a STEM school at this point. I think this is good and bad but it looks like they are more about creating a well balanced instead of kids who are interested in STEM which I thought was a prerequisite since it is a STEM school

One possible strategy is that they take semi finalists off of test scores but then for who gets in it's much more subjective which might be how they are weeding out the cookie cutter hard core STEM folks but again why call it a STEM school if you aren't taking people actually interest in STEM

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't know how involved she would be in future decisions regarding TJ, but Pat Hynes is talking about having kids selected by geography--in other words, Carson's number would be limited.
Check out her tweets this week:
twitter.com/votepathynes

Apparently, NYC is doing this now.

NYC isn’t doing this now. Which is why the Stuvy numbers are so bad.

And the Eastern NOVA Rep. bring this up every year. And it gets quickly and roundly shot down in Committee. There is zero taste in the state legislature for messing with TJ’s success. But politicians gotta pander. And really, it addresses the wrong problem. Rather than whining about Equal TJ representation, Eastern County should be asking why the Western County kids are doing so much better, and what can be done to bring the Eastern County kids up. Rather than suppressing western county talent.