Anonymous wrote:I know two other kids who got off the waitlist too.

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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

Go and actually read TJ’s mission statement. It’s a much richer curriculum than just STEM. They do a lot of group projects. Put an emphasis on fine arts and language, and require the rigorous blocked humanities. Discuss and debate and do so f——g many PowerPoint presentations your head would spin. There is a lot more going on than who is the best mathbot. And more tears shed in many houses about APUSH than Math. Whether they are interested or not, no one gets out of TJ without the equivalent of 7 STEM APs: CS, Calc, Stats, Bio, Chem, Physics I and Geoscience (with the TJ intro science classes being taught from the AP books at the intro level. And a physics and geosciences curriculum they train other schools from around the work on). Plus design tech. Plus a year long senior research project. Bare minimum for every single kid. So yes— it’s a STEM school. But, it’s not just a STEM school.

+100

Also, a child who has of his or her own initiative, found ways to merge STEM with the arts or music is IMHO a much better STEM candidate than a child who’s just done a lot of resume-ready parent-driven STEM activities, e.g. Science Olympiad ( which let’s face it, is usually a lot of memorization without solid foundational grounding unless it is a lab event. Re build events - there are too many build events which are ‘helped/done’ by the parent), or even Science Fair ( most students seem to openly take stuff off Science Buddies or similar sites/sources). These activities do less to prepare a child for STEM than a self driven pursuit. See this re Science Fairs https://qz.com/367007/science-fairs-arent-actually-preparing-your-kids-to-do-anything/

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

Go and actually read TJ’s mission statement. It’s a much richer curriculum than just STEM. They do a lot of group projects. Put an emphasis on fine arts and language, and require the rigorous blocked humanities. Discuss and debate and do so f——g many PowerPoint presentations your head would spin. There is a lot more going on than who is the best mathbot. And more tears shed in many houses about APUSH than Math. Whether they are interested or not, no one gets out of TJ without the equivalent of 7 STEM APs: CS, Calc, Stats, Bio, Chem, Physics I and Geoscience (with the TJ intro science classes being taught from the AP books at the intro level. And a physics and geosciences curriculum they train other schools from around the work on). Plus design tech. Plus a year long senior research project. Bare minimum for every single kid. So yes— it’s a STEM school. But, it’s not just a STEM school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Could be lack of STEM activities. It seems to me that they are really looking for Science Olympiad, Mathcounts, etc. There are definitely more than 500 kids with all As, plenty of whom are in Alg II. But such high scores also, I don't know. The test is relatively new but it is bizarre that those scores wouldn't be high enough.

My sophomore did zero stem activities. He wrote his essays about his interest in history and about the sport he played. So I don't think they are looking for Sceince Olympiad. They have plenty of those kids and most of that activity is parent driven, not something the child has signed himself up for. Like any school they need all kinds of interests and kids. Not everyone can be in the biology club. they also need some lacrosse players.

That being said, all of the kids my DS has known on the wait list eventually got accepted. Maybe they were the most qualified or maybe the WL is small. So if its what your child wants then accept the spot.

The school went through a big renovation and so the target population of the school now is 2000 vs 1800 perviously. So it makes sense that they accepted close to 500. In the sophomore class their have already been about 20 kids who have left since freshman year.

Anonymous wrote:My DC got in and in algebra-2.

What exactly is Math 4 & Math 5? Are they equivalent to pre-calculus?

Only if DC satisfies the requirement for Placement test, can she take Math 4/5?

Any guidance please. Thank you!


These classes are exceedingly hard. Yes they are equivalent to pre-calculus on steroids. Please don;t rush. I thought people were crazy when they said these things to me before DS started at TJ. DO NOT RUSH MATH! Your child will be miserable if you let them.

Anonymous wrote:Could be lack of STEM activities. It seems to me that they are really looking for Science Olympiad, Mathcounts, etc. There are definitely more than 500 kids with all As, plenty of whom are in Alg II. But such high scores also, I don't know. The test is relatively new but it is bizarre that those scores wouldn't be high enough.

Anonymous wrote:or it means x% ranking among the applicants? thanks!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone from past years' waitpools have any information they can share on when they found out a decision in July? I see from the TJ admissions website that the freshman summer round decisions will come out June 28th, and presumably those offers will have a week or 2 to decide. But for purposes of management of expectations for DC (who is in this year's Waitpool), what is the likely timing of a decision? TIA!

Class of 2020: the Friday before the. 4th of July weekend.