TJ Admissions (best, engineering, charges)

[Denton56]

[quote=Yankeesfan;16950084]

Originally Posted by pomme sauvage

I've always wondered about that. Same with the Arlington Traditional School, which people fight to get into. A man who had been on an advisory committee to create TJ said that some committee members had recommended that it be located in a place with room to expand, but the Superintendent and/or School Board at the time rejected the recommendation.

True. I was on two of those advisory committees, one was an advisory committee to the school board and one was the superintendent's advisory. The school board told us flat out that they would never approve a major expansion of TJ much less a second one. One school board member told me directly ''over my dead body, the other Principals and staff would hate it''. I responded by telling him that I was concerned about meeting the needs of students and much less concerned about the wants of principals and FCPS staff. He shrugged and walked away.

Public schools used to be decent and gave kids a chance at getting into any college in the country. That is simply no longer the case. Schools have continuously been dumbed down for political reasons that have nothing to do with educating our children. The agenda of educrats has nothing to do with meeting the needs of students, especially those who are above average. That makes parents all the more desperate to get their children into TJ when they see their neighborhood schools get worse and worse and they can't afford private schools. It's a shame for ALL the students who need and can preform at the level of TJ but have no chance of ever attending such a school. There are thousands of children like that in NOVA and only 500 are admitted to TJ each year. Inner cities are even worse. I feel so bad for those smart kids in DC who really want to learn but have no chance in those awful schools and no chance of escape. DC is paying over $18,000 per pupil, closer $28,000 with facilities factored in. Think what that amount could do to rescue a child who wanted to learn from a failing DC school! Every child could have school choice. There is nothing but politics preventing that reality. It will happen eventually because the public schools are working hard to make schools so bad that everyone will find a way to escape. Parents are getting more and more creative in finding ways out of public schools, and into TJ, private schools, or home schooling. This will continue as long as public schools continue down their path of lowering standards for all students and refusing to offer courses for above average students.
Here's one good example of what drives high achieving students out of public schools:
Honors class leads to diversity debate - Chicago Tribune
Because honors classes didn't have the right racial mix, the school simply drops honors classes. There. All better now?

I fail to see how things like that help any student, of any race. But that's just me.

[claremarie]

When you applied for admission in 1969, it was much easier to get into Yale.
But there is no question that most selective schools pay special attention to offspring of large donors. That only stands to reason, and there's really nothing wrong with it. Private schools are free to base admission on any number of factors.

[stpickrell]

Being a legacy is probably a "hook" these days, the same as being a good athlete, etc., etc.

[Yankeesfan]

Originally Posted by Denton56

True. I was on two of those advisory committees, one was an advisory committee to the school board and one was the superintendent's advisory. The school board told us flat out that they would never approve a major expansion of TJ much less a second one. One school board member told me directly ''over my dead body, the other Principals and staff would hate it''. I responded by telling him that I was concerned about meeting the needs of students and much less concerned about the wants of principals and FCPS staff. He shrugged and walked away.

On the one hand shocking but on the other not surprising.

[Yankeesfan]

Originally Posted by Denton56

It's a shame for ALL the students who need and can preform at the level of TJ but have no chance of ever attending such a school. There are thousands of children like that in NOVA and only 500 are admitted to TJ each year. Inner cities are even worse. I feel so bad for those smart kids in DC who really want to learn but have no chance in those awful schools and no chance of escape. DC is paying over $18,000 per pupil, closer $28,000 with facilities factored in. Think what that amount could do to rescue a child who wanted to learn from a failing DC school! Every child could have school choice. There is nothing but politics preventing that reality.

Sad but very true.

[brooklynborndad]

to be fair, FFX does have IB schools, which can also present major academic challenges. Though it does not provide the kind of social environment (nerd paradise) that TJ does. And IB schools are very writing intensive and not STEM.

I wouldnt want to see the size of TJ increased, as I dont know what that would do to TJ as a community/social environment. Anyway thats academic, as it has been decided to renovate TJ onsite.

[DC Oldtimer]

If I ruled the world, a computer would decide who is admitted to TJ based on a formula that best predicts academic success. Boxes for race and consideration of gender balance would be gone.

Of course, this will NEVER happen, and if it did, there would be charges that the formula was biased. As if a computer is capable of being as biased as a human being.

[IndiaLimaDelta]

Originally Posted by DC Oldtimer

If I ruled the world, a computer would decide who is admitted to TJ based on a formula that best predicts academic success. Boxes for race and consideration of gender balance would be gone.

That high school exists -- it's called Stuyvesant in lower Manhattan.

[CAVA1990]

Isn't parental income one of the best predictors of academic success? Why not just rank applicants based on that? Seems like it would be as good or better than any other method.

[IndiaLimaDelta]

Originally Posted by CAVA1990

Isn't parental income one of the best predictors of academic success? Why not just rank applicants based on that? Seems like it would be as good or better than any other method.

This is confusing correlations with a causal factor.

The best predictor of a pupil's academic success is, unsurprisingly, parental involvement (in fact, no amount of government funding, teacher pay or smaller class size is going to make up for the lack of the same). It's just that higher income parents TEND to be also highly educated parents and highly educated parents TEND to be more involved with the education of their children.

One of the main reasons why East Asian students tend to do well in academics all out of whack with their proportion in the general population is that, in general, there is a cultural proclivity to breed an intense desire for academic success in East Asian cultural ethos. And because these parents tend not to simply leave the education of their children in the hands of the public or government bureaucrats and hope for the best, their personal involvement level is often very high.

Contrary to the popular misperception and claims touted by public school teachers and bureacrats, most students of East Asian ethnic background who attend cram schools for SAT preparations, for example, are not offspring of wealthy parents. They are often the children of immigrant parents who are not well to do at all. It's just that these parents consider it their duty to expend resources on the education of their children and will do so by foregoing things the rest of us take for granted like cars, cable TV, eating out, shopping, etc. -- consumption items on which the average Americans, including those in low and lower-middle classes, expend considerable sums.