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Don't get me wrong, TJ's a great school. But sometimes the "TJ Obsession" that some parents have gets carried away.
You can almost hear the gerbils in their minds saying things like "Oh my god! If little Suzy doesn't go to TJ she won't ever have a successful career!" or "If our Tommy goes to any other school we might as well just give up on our dreams of a college education for him and buy him a Wal-Mart uniform right now."
Personally, I think that most (if not all) of the schools in our area are really good schools, and that 95% of students will do just fine going to any of them. My kids didn't go to TJ, yet my son went on to graduate from Rensselaer with honors and he now has a high paying job. My daughter is doing equally well at Stanford. Their friends all seemed to get into top colleges. More importantly, I also think there is more to being a great school than having the highest test scores. Schools are also about art programs, athletic programs, shop classes, and classes that help average students excel (not just the academically gifted).
Getting to the point of this thread, I wonder if there's any truth to this fear that a child's life will be permanently altered depending on if he does or does not go to school at TJ?
Or, to put it another way, here's a question for those of us who did not happen to go to TJ:
Do you think your life would have been different if you had gone to Thomas Jefferson High School? In which ways? Would you be working at a different job? Married to somebody else? Living in a different state? Would you have gone to a different college? Chosen a different major?
I would have a much worse job--as a prison laundry worker. Because if they'd let science-hating, math-hating ME into TJ, it could only mean I'd murdered and stolen the identity of some budding Enrico Fermi.
Seriously--if your kid isn't a science/math genius, they'll be miserable and floundering at a school that's all about math and science.
My wife was eligible to attend, but it was too long a haul from Herndon. It would've meant getting up at 4AM or some nonsense. So she stayed at Herndon HS. Went to UVA on a full ride. And now is a GS-14.
I went to stuyvesant, so yeah, since TJ was just a local FCPS HS then, and my family lived in Brooklyn, I think that would have made my life very different.
Going to a neighborhood school in Brooklyn would have made a difference, instead of going to stuy.
My DD DID to go TJ.
"Schools are also about art programs, athletic programs, shop classes, and classes that help average students excel (not just the academically gifted). "
She took art and photography, with a caring art teacher. She did winter guard/color guard - she chose not to do a sport, but lots of her friends did sports (theres even a bumper sticker from the athletic boosters - TJ, we came for the sports" The shop classes sort of overlap the tehc classes.
TJ helps TJ kids excel. I think many academically gifted kids need an environment like that, both the academic offerings and the social environment. That doesnt preclude other high schools helping other kids excel.
BTW, the new grand marshall at Rensellaer is a TJ grad. RPI happens to LOVE TJ grads - I know this on pretty good authority
Im not sure what motivated the original post. Most of the kids at TJ that I know are nice kids and not inclined to brag. The chip on the shoulder populist resentment against TJ gets tiresome.
Seriously--if your kid isn't a science/math genius, they'll be miserable and floundering at a school that's all about math and science.
Not everyone there is a math science genius, but most have a strong interest and considerable ability. There are some surprisingly hard courses there that are NOT math/science (AP Japanese was murder, and not JUST for MY DD )
I would have a much worse job--as a prison laundry worker. Because if they'd let science-hating, math-hating ME into TJ, it could only mean I'd murdered and stolen the identity of some budding Enrico Fermi.
Seriously--if your kid isn't a science/math genius, they'll be miserable and floundering at a school that's all about math and science.
My wife was eligible to attend, but it was too long a haul from Herndon. It would've meant getting up at 4AM or some nonsense. So she stayed at Herndon HS. Went to UVA on a full ride. And now is a GS-14.
"Getting to the point of this thread, I wonder if there's any truth to this fear that a child's life will be permanently altered depending on if he does or does not go to school at TJ? "
In a butterfly wings flapping sense - sure. Going to oakton instead of chantilly, or vice versa, could mean not meeting your destined spouse, or the teacher who be your mentor, or whatever.
If you mean will it preclude admission to top U's? No. TJ is probably a wash for the Ivies, probably a net postive (but not a big one) for the private and out of state Us below the Ivies, and probably a net negative (but not a big one) for VA state U's. And of course what U you go to is only one factor in your career.
OTOH IF youre kid will thrive on the particular offerings there, or the environment, its probably good if they can go.
The question sounds somewhat provocative and rhetorical... to me.
Last edited by FindingZen; 09-09-2011 at 04:36 PM..
Reason: personal attack
]Do you think your life would have been different if you had gone to Thomas Jefferson High School? In which ways? Would you be working at a different job? Married to somebody else? Living in a different state? Would you have gone to a different college? Chosen a different major?
As a parent of a middle schooler who has said she wants to try to get into TJ, I asked essentially exactly those questions awhile back at a TJ Intro given at her middle school. What I asked in particular was "Have any followon studies been done of TJ graduates AFTER they have left college?" and was told "Not that I know of!" One of the Admin types from the middle school said that TJ served as a good enabler for college entry but that was about it.
Hmmm...
Well, in any case, =I= went to a mundane high school and a state university because that's all my parents could afford but majored in Computer Science and got a couple degrees in it. When entering the job market my income was well above average and has continued that way to this day, about 35-40 years later (!).
"But sometimes the "TJ Obsession" that some parents have gets carried away"
We know a LOT of TJ parents.
We know TJ parents who have at least one other kid who is NOT attending TJ, in many cases the other kid CHOSE not to attend or to apply.
We know families where the kid did not get in.
We know families there the kid did not apply.
I have NOT seen the kind obsession you mention. Is this something you have seen in RL, in CD, or elsewhere on the net? If in RL, was it something you saw in Loudoun County?
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RPI happens to LOVE TJ grads - I know this on pretty good authority 
