Whatever makes you feel better Whopper :)

Wow I can't believe I spent the time reading this. Why does Thomas Jefferson deserve all of the attention you guys are giving it? I know when I was in high school no one really talked or cared about the school. Did something happen? But I must say, props to the youngling for walking on all of your asses.

FCPS grad Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Wow I can't believe I spent the time reading this.
> Why does Thomas Jefferson deserve all of the
> attention you guys are giving it? I know when I
> was in high school no one really talked or cared
> about the school. Did something happen? But I must
> say, props to the youngling for walking on all of
> your asses.

it is the top, number one, public high school in America. People come from Asia to get in. I hope my kid gets in. My neighbors want their kids to get in. Yeah, I'd say it deserves some attention. Fairfax County can be rightly proud if it. I'm sure Montgomery County is a bit envious.

I think the problem is that people think that getting into TJ is somehow the dream of a lifetime.

TJ will pale later on if a person has a bad marriage or loses a child or any number of things in life. I hope that the above poster is not upset if his kid doesn't get in. The Asians might hold this up as the most important thing in life, but I tend to believe that keeping a balance in life serves a person well. Now, I'm sure some people at TJ can do that, but I have seen plenty of "successful" (academically) people who cannot do that and have not been real happy campers in life. Success is defined by each person for themselves. If you are happy with who you are and what/where you are, I would say you are more successful than lots of TJ kids (and lots of people in general).

I have seen people who come from Asia take advantage of our system to learn English and get credentials here. I do get a bit irked by that. I suppose I could go to Asia and take advantage of their system, but I am pretty happy being an American and pretty proud of this culture of openness that we have.

I guess I have no big hate for TJ, but I don't have a big love for it either. There are plenty of smart kids who are not at TJ and there are probably plenty of smart kids at TJ who would get just as far in life if they went to a base school.

BRAVO!! Very well stated, "On TJ".


"On TJ" said:

think the problem is that people think that getting into TJ is somehow the dream of a lifetime.

TJ will pale later on if a person has a bad marriage or loses a child or any number of things in life. I hope that the above poster is not upset if his kid doesn't get in. The Asians might hold this up as the most important thing in life, but I tend to believe that keeping a balance in life serves a person well. Now, I'm sure some people at TJ can do that, but I have seen plenty of "successful" (academically) people who cannot do that and have not been real happy campers in life. Success is defined by each person for themselves. If you are happy with who you are and what/where you are, I would say you are more successful than lots of TJ kids (and lots of people in general).

I have seen people who come from Asia take advantage of our system to learn English and get credentials here. I do get a bit irked by that. I suppose I could go to Asia and take advantage of their system, but I am pretty happy being an American and pretty proud of this culture of openness that we have.

I guess I have no big hate for TJ, but I don't have a big love for it either. There are plenty of smart kids who are not at TJ and there are probably plenty of smart kids at TJ who would get just as far in life if they went to a base school.

@FCPS grad haha I don't believe people's attention towards TJ has ever changed. The kids, at least to my understanding, don't give the school a second glance. Most of the people arguing on here are adults so maybe you just werent aware of their side. @OnTJ, I wholeheartedly agree with you, that there are smart kids not at TJ and they go just as far in life. However, I DONT agree with you that people think getting into TJ is the dream of a lifetime. I think you exaggerated that a little too much. We just think its a great opportunity. And it's not for everyone.

I think some people who don't know much about TJ misunderstand the atmosphere or enjoy slamming the school because of its reputation. Most of the students there have wonderful senses of humor and do not take themselves that seriously. Some of the *parents*---well, that may be a different story. Some parents are completely laid back, and others are aggressive and ambitious. You'll find that in every school.

Like TJkid stated, the students there view TJ as a great opportunity. But they are intelligent enough to understand that it will not determine how successful they are in life.

What would probably cause me to start hating TJ would be if the base schools started losing upper level classes and TJ retained them. That would upset me because then I would feel that many smart kids at the base high schools would not be getting "opportunities" while I am paying taxes for ALL of the students. But, as long as the base schools continue to offer a good selection of high level classes, I'm okay with TJ. The base schools graduate the vast majority of the students and, while TJ is a nice place, we need to make sure the foundation doesn't burn while Nero fiddles.

On TJ Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What would probably cause me to start hating TJ
> would be if the base schools started losing upper
> level classes and TJ retained them. That would
> upset me because then I would feel that many smart
> kids at the base high schools would not be getting
> "opportunities" while I am paying taxes for ALL of
> the students. But, as long as the base schools
> continue to offer a good selection of high level
> classes, I'm okay with TJ. The base schools
> graduate the vast majority of the students and,
> while TJ is a nice place, we need to make sure the
> foundation doesn't burn while Nero fiddles.

Absolutely.

Shadow Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> I personally know of over a dozen kids with IQ's
> over 140 that did not go to TJ.(And I'm only
> looking at one high school and I'm not a teacher
> so I don't know every kid) Given that, there are
> plenty of TJ kids that more than likely would not
> be above the top kids at the base schools.

I have to call out your stupidity on this one. Do you know how the IQ test works? Assuming an average population, you'd have to know almost 10,000 kids for this to be true. Have you really met the dozen smartest kids out of a population of 6-7 high schools? Having been tested by a real psychologist, I have a good baseline for what 140+ is, and after 4 years at TJ, not to mention another 4 at one of our own high-caliber VA public colleges, I don't think I could identify more than about 15 kids in that range. Internet IQ tests don't count.

> Some kids don't make the cut because they didn't
> do all the crap work at their base schools.
> Doesn't mean they aren't smart, just that they
> weren't willing to play the game and do all the
> crap work.

TJ doesn't want every smart kid in the county. They want the kids who, through whatever combination of work ethic and intelligence, performed well in middle school, as this is the best indicator they have of who will get the most out of TJ.

There are tons of kids and parents who, for whatever reason, do not take the TJ admissions test. You can only get in if you take the test (which is not given at schools during the school day). You have to go somewhere on a Saturday. That excludes lots of kids right there.

The combination of "work ethic and intelligence" has to include parents who are "in the know" and "motivated" to get their kid to the test. You could perform well in middle school and not make it to TJ for these reasons. I suppose, though, that if your parents are not motivated to take you to the test, you probably don't have that proper "work ethic" either.

TJ Grad -

Shadow is right.

An IQ of 140 is present in about 1 out of 160 individuals. Try this calculator if you don't believe it -

http://www.davidpbrown.co.uk/psychology/iq-conversion.html

TJ skims off a significant percentage of the >=140s in NoVa, but if you take National Merit Semifinalists(1 out of 200 by State) as a reasonable proxy for >=140, while TJ skims about 150/year, in total, the other HSes have about 60/year.

That is, the other HSes average about 3 per grade or 12 per HS.

National Merit Semifinalists
> Year, FCPS, TJ, Other
> 2004, 213, 153, 60
> 2005, 200, 167, 33
> 2006, 208, 158, 50
> 2007, 209, 151, 58
> 2008, 198, 143, 55
> 2009, 219, 149, 70
> 2010, 189, 125, 64


Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Shadow Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> > I personally know of over a dozen kids with
> IQ's
> > over 140 that did not go to TJ.(And I'm only
> > looking at one high school and I'm not a
> teacher
> > so I don't know every kid) Given that, there
> are
> > plenty of TJ kids that more than likely would
> not
> > be above the top kids at the base schools.
>
> I have to call out your stupidity on this one. Do
> you know how the IQ test works? Assuming an
> average population, you'd have to know almost
> 10,000 kids for this to be true. Have you really
> met the dozen smartest kids out of a population of
> 6-7 high schools? Having been tested by a real
> psychologist, I have a good baseline for what 140+
> is, and after 4 years at TJ, not to mention
> another 4 at one of our own high-caliber VA public
> colleges, I don't think I could identify more than
> about 15 kids in that range. Internet IQ tests
> don't count.
>
> > Some kids don't make the cut because they
> didn't
> > do all the crap work at their base schools.
> > Doesn't mean they aren't smart, just that they
> > weren't willing to play the game and do all the
> > crap work.
>
> TJ doesn't want every smart kid in the county.
> They want the kids who, through whatever
> combination of work ethic and intelligence,
> performed well in middle school, as this is the
> best indicator they have of who will get the most
> out of TJ.

Being a National Merit Semifinalist definitely does NOT qualify you as having above a 140 IQ. That would mean a significant portion of TJ's student body has a 140+ IQ. I don't think you guys realize how high a 140+ IQ is. Like I stated before, Einsteins IQ was 150. 140 is genius. GENIUS. More than a dozen students, like shadow stated, at one high school is simply outrageous. In fact, did he just go around and ask the smartest kids in the grade what their IQ was? Come on people, dont be stupid.

I'm certainly no expert--but I thought that 100 was supposed to be "average." That is what I was taught way back in the day. I think that is how the scale was set initially. However, everything changes and that may have, too. As I recall, there was a scale below 80 or 90 for "mentally retarded". There was "custodial", "trainable" and "educable". I don't recall learning any labels for those over 100......I was taught this in some education class, I think.

first off Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Being a National Merit Semifinalist definitely
> does NOT qualify you as having above a 140 IQ.
> That would mean a significant portion of TJ's
> student body has a 140+ IQ. I don't think you guys
> realize how high a 140+ IQ is. Like I stated
> before, Einsteins IQ was 150. 140 is genius.
> GENIUS. More than a dozen students, like shadow
> stated, at one high school is simply outrageous.
> In fact, did he just go around and ask the
> smartest kids in the grade what their IQ was? Come
> on people, dont be stupid.

IQ scores of >=140 are a dime a dozen. Enter 140 for Stanford-Binet in the calculator I referenced above and calculate.

Answer 1 out of 161.

If you don't like that calculator, search for IQ chart and see what you find.

While we are discussing IQ's, I think it would be worthwhile to go to the old descriptions from the early 20th century:


Idiot - IQ 0-25
Imbecile - IQ 26-50
Moron - IQ 51-70

Mom: We got Johnny's IQ test results, looks like he's an imbecile
Dad: Wait, it's 51. It's better than we thought - he's a moron.
Mom: Oh thank goodness!

gettin in Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> There are tons of kids and parents who, for
> whatever reason, do not take the TJ admissions
> test.

I think that FCPS is increasingly embarassed by the demographics of the school. There are tons of kids that don't take that test because FCPS has long since failed them.

Here's some numbers on TJ's demo's compared to FCPS as a whole that make you wonder:

Asian - TJ - 46% FCPS - 19%
Black - TJ - 1% FCPS - 10%
Hispanic - TJ 2.5% FCPS - 18%
White - TJ - 43% FCPS - 45%
ESOL - TJ - 0% FCPS - 12%
FRM - TJ - 2.5% FCPS - 22%

These demographics are really an indictment of the poor job that FCPS does in anything other than wealthy, white/asian areas. FCPS runs around trumpeting its successes, but the dirty secret is that they are no better in developing students in poor, non white/asian areas than DCPS. They are just fortunate that the population is so low enough of ESOL and non white/asian that it doesn't impact the overall school performance scores.

Because if you believe that all children start from the same place in Kindergarten, you would expect that the population of a school like TJ would roughly mirror the total FCPS demographic. And it most certainly does not. FCPS is 28% Black/Hispanic, and TJ is 3.5% black/hispanic.

If you are a student at TJ, your classmates are White or Asian, and wealthy. No one else need apply - FCPS gave up on you a long time ago.

the real deal Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> gettin in Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > There are tons of kids and parents who, for
> > whatever reason, do not take the TJ admissions
> > test.
>
> I think that FCPS is increasingly embarassed by
> the demographics of the school. There are tons of
> kids that don't take that test because FCPS has
> long since failed them.
>
> Here's some numbers on TJ's demo's compared to
> FCPS as a whole that make you wonder:
>
> Asian - TJ - 46% FCPS - 19%
> Black - TJ - 1% FCPS - 10%
> Hispanic - TJ 2.5% FCPS - 18%
> White - TJ - 43% FCPS - 45%
> ESOL - TJ - 0% FCPS - 12%
> FRM - TJ - 2.5% FCPS - 22%
>
> These demographics are really an indictment of the
> poor job that FCPS does in anything other than
> wealthy, white/asian areas. FCPS runs around
> trumpeting its successes, but the dirty secret is
> that they are no better in developing students in
> poor, non white/asian areas than DCPS. They are
> just fortunate that the population is so low
> enough of ESOL and non white/asian that it doesn't
> impact the overall school performance scores.
>
> Because if you believe that all children start
> from the same place in Kindergarten, you would
> expect that the population of a school like TJ
> would roughly mirror the total FCPS demographic.
> And it most certainly does not. FCPS is 28%
> Black/Hispanic, and TJ is 3.5% black/hispanic.
>
> If you are a student at TJ, your classmates are
> White or Asian, and wealthy. No one else need
> apply - FCPS gave up on you a long time ago.

complete twddle. Sadly, black and Hispanics are at the bottom of the heap education-wise everywhere around the country. Not just Fairfx. This is a simple fact of life. They score lower on cognitive tests. period. No one has figured out how to fix this. nd it has nothing to do with wealth.

I hate to disagree with you edumacted, but I money is definitely a factor. But there are ALSO many others, like self-motivation and parent traits to name a few. Many students that are wealthy are not necessarily smart because of that fact, but because of the parents that earned that money (generally worth ethic and intelligence lead to higher income). So having wealth alone doesn't guarantee your success, and everyone at TJ is not wealthy. But having money is certainly an advantage (paying for books/and such). And when the admissions process is not as complicated as a guy stated before. They make sure to let each and every able kid know of the test. In GT, they tell the parents and the students in 6th grade. At my base school (non-GT) they told the honors students and encourage us to take it. Trust me, it does not go unnoticed. Certainly a couple kids don't take it for other reasons (sports, etc.), but not because they were unaware. @WestfieldDad/Whopper/Bill N., I really really do not feel like arguing with you to no avail. You obviously know NOTHING of IQs and you are relying on what Shadow said (which was a rough estimate) and coming up with his exact answer. You are telling me that being a National Merit Semifinalists (NMS) indicates a 140+ IQ which obviously shows your mid understanding of what a 140IQ is and even what a NMS is. Shadow said he knows MORE than a dozen people at his high school with over a 140+ and he even concludes that those are only out of the people he spoke with. First off, did he just go around and ask people for their IQs??! He was obviously making up facts to enhance his point, something not uncommon for the stupid folk. Now tell me, are you one of these people?

It's like that book "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mama". This woman who is Chinese-American and her struggle to make her kids super-achievers.

http://www.thenation.com/article/158285/tiger-mama-syndrome

edumacted Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> complete twddle. Sadly, black and Hispanics are at
> the bottom of the heap education-wise everywhere
> around the country. Not just Fairfx. This is a
> simple fact of life. They score lower on
> cognitive tests. period. No one has figured out
> how to fix this. nd it has nothing to do with
> wealth.

I guess you are right - we should give up on these groups.

the real deal Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> edumacted Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > complete twddle. Sadly, black and Hispanics are
> at
> > the bottom of the heap education-wise
> everywhere
> > around the country. Not just Fairfx. This is a
> > simple fact of life. They score lower on
> > cognitive tests. period. No one has figured out
> > how to fix this. nd it has nothing to do with
> > wealth.
>
> I guess you are right - we should give up on these
> groups.


No, of course not. Keep trying, just be realistic about what can be accomplished. As we all know,the kids who do best in school come from homes where the parents place a high value on education.

I was at the library recently. Everyone in there was white or Asian,except one black parent with their child. On the way home went past the playground and basketball courts - saw dozens of black & Hispanic kids playing basketball and soccer. Anecdotal, yes, but illustrative, So who's going to better in school?

Honestly if you look at it do you think cutting Tj's """supposedly""" bloated funding is going to make a noticeable difference on your tax bills? Give me a break and stop groveling for pennies.

Don't get naive on me either... the government doesn't want to spend money giving every child an equal education. They just want to squeeze what they can out of the next generation. It's wrong and messed up but true.

the real deal Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> If you are a student at TJ, your classmates are
> White or Asian, and wealthy. No one else need
> apply - FCPS gave up on you a long time ago.

I'm not white, asian, or wealthy. And I have attended Tj. Take your bitter stereotypes and go home.

And "On Tj" says that Asians think that getting into TJ is their life goal... is fairfax county full of racist and ignorant idiots like you?

Some kids might think its a "life goal," but certainly not all of them are asian, many are not motivated by their parents alone. These are kids, for christ's sake. They make big deals out of things when they're little, they all learn later about life.

Tj is an opportunity, a choice that kids take. Will it guarantee a successful life? No. Will it make them superior to everyone else? No. Will they necessarily trump all base high school kids at everything academic? No. Unlike the common belief here, TJ kids are not sniveling nerds, in my time or now. There are some that are, sure, but you can't judge a school based on a few individuals. These people are normal, don't treat themselves too seriously, have a sense of humor, and are athletic (do a little research).


You can see who individuals really are on anonymous forums; whiny, sterotypical, and greedy.

aww whopper don't cry that your precious money is being sucked away by evil TJ.

kid, deal with it. If you were willing at all to do something about it you wouldn't be whining on an online ANONYMOUS forum.

I skipped school once and was bored so I went to TJ with a friend to see what it was like there. All of their lockers were open and their stuff just sitting around the hallway. It was weird.

I guess it wouldn't have been that weird if I had gone to TJ from the start but when I applied they told me that I wasn't Asian enough for them. I tried taping my eyes back but the principle said "no dice son, you're either going to have to get your penis shortened or stop pronouncing your L's". Needless to say, I went to JEB Stuart and was raped in the locker room by my gym teacher. The moral? Racism is not funny. It has and always will lead to rape.

Just for clarification, and I am not sure where this entire rumor started, but we most definitely do get letter grades, and we do have weighted GPAs. I know this for a fact, because I know my current GPA...

And also, in response to an aforementioned comment, TJ is precisely a happy little nerd bubble. No denying that. I embrace the isolation! - it is probably the best thing about TJ. We have the freedom to satisfy our geeky hearts to their fullest content, all without losing friends. But then again, this doesn't mean that we don't experience the world, and other people outside of our small realm.

Yes, there are crazy, overstressed, overworked, sleep deprived people here. But, to be honest, I have learned to appreciate the "anti-TJ" things in life a lot more after attending this school every day.

Let's face it: we have some absolutely phenomenal faculty, but we have absolutely awful teachers, too. We have some top rate equipment, but our building ... it sucks. We are just another FCPS public school, but when you stick a large group of semi-intelligent - yet motivated - people together, and put them in a competitive environment, some amount of achievement is bound to occur.

YouDontMakeSense Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> forum.endThread(FCPS to TJ students, Screw YOU);
> <--- if only that would work.

while(ignorantPosters.compareTo(knowledgablePosters) < 0)
{
me.shakeHead();
me.chuckle();
}

@ A Real Life TJ Student - you seem to have a good brain in that head of yrs

keep on keepin' on, kiddo :)

A Real Life TJ Student Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Just for clarification, and I am not sure where
> this entire rumor started, but we most definitely
> do get letter grades, and we do have weighted
> GPAs. I know this for a fact, because I know my
> current GPA...
>
> And also, in response to an aforementioned
> comment, TJ is precisely a happy little nerd
> bubble. No denying that. I embrace the isolation!
> - it is probably the best thing about TJ. We have
> the freedom to satisfy our geeky hearts to their
> fullest content, all without losing friends. But
> then again, this doesn't mean that we don't
> experience the world, and other people outside of
> our small realm.
>
> Yes, there are crazy, overstressed, overworked,
> sleep deprived people here. But, to be honest, I
> have learned to appreciate the "anti-TJ" things in
> life a lot more after attending this school every
> day.
>
> Let's face it: we have some absolutely phenomenal
> faculty, but we have absolutely awful teachers,
> too. We have some top rate equipment, but our
> building ... it sucks. We are just another FCPS
> public school, but when you stick a large group of
> semi-intelligent - yet motivated - people
> together, and put them in a competitive
> environment, some amount of achievement is bound
> to occur.

do the TK kids date? I mean seriously, do they go out on dates? Do they go to prom? Forgive me, I am not tryin g to start something, I just don't know. And do the Asian girls have any non-asian boyfriends. Is that permissible in their culture? I'm thinking the more recent immigrants esp. Chinese & Indians, do the parents allow any inter-racial, inter-ethnic dating?

wonderin' Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> do the TK kids date? I mean seriously, do they go
> out on dates? Do they go to prom? Forgive me, I am
> not tryin g to start something, I just don't know.
> And do the Asian girls have any non-asian
> boyfriends. Is that permissible in their culture?
> I'm thinking the more recent immigrants esp.
> Chinese & Indians, do the parents allow any
> inter-racial, inter-ethnic dating?

Of course we date; just because we are "smart" doesn't mean that we aren't normal teenagers. Albeit, we generally don't have ample time to go out during the week.

There are many relationships between two people of the same race, but at the same time, it is not uncommon to have interracial relationships. If any racially based problems arise, it is - as you mentioned - usually because of issues that the parents have.

In general, everyone at TJ is blind to race when they are "looking for love," and when making friends. When I see a couple, I don't see a color or a stereotype.

Kids with zits doing HW over the cell phone is not a date.

Please move it along.

Yuck Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Kids with zits doing HW over the cell phone is not
> a date.
>
> Please move it along.

--------------------------------------------

you sound like this crazy old man, old man

It shows why everyone should own a gun.

personally, I hate the fact the old man is such a dick he wont even let his OWN DOG BARK o_0

I do not see what the big thing is; this all appears to be diploma fetishism.

What everyone of you don't understand is that Asians work for what we get.
We (yes, I'm asian, so what? I know what I'm about to say are not biased) work our asses off for all those things.

I mean, like the saying in TJ 'my GPA is higher than the number of hours I sleep', we literally work our asses off. Because the goals we have mostly require studying our brains out and getting into a good college, etc.

You only get one life, why not endure just a fifth of of that lifetime for a better six fifth of it? And what's the point of living if when you die, you haven't left a change in the world, a trace of your existence?

About the 'why is African American admittance rate lower than Asian admittance rate that's racist' bit, I don't understand why you guys don't understand that. Obviously TJ staff wasn't racist against black people. Right now, they're dying to admit black and hispanic kids. Asians are engulfing the school, so they hate Asians and don't want to admit that as many as possible. (so we have to work as twice as much than let's say a native Indian student)

Okay. Never mind all that, and let me ask you all this: if you had one child who was first chair in the highest level orchestra in school with many trophies earned with straight A's all years with 93 admission test score with 2nd or 3rd place in math competitions vs. another child who's had straight As with minor extracurricular activities here and there, who are you going to pick? for a number 1 science school? Obviously the first one. The latter was good too, except the first one had more achievements, (and probably more motivation and efforts because those achievements needed all those), and was more fit to the school's academic demands.

And I don't think, if the first child was an African American and the second Asian, the tj staff would have picked the second child. All I know is, tj staff wants to pick kids of races that are not asian.


And uh, people, if you're that annoyed at Asians taking your jobs and land, why don't you work hard like us? I don't understand. It's not like we're born with all those knowledge. We work for them, and starting since we were young. We're not trying to sabotage america, we just live here because we like here, or relatives live here, want a new life, etc etc. We're not trying to 'take advantage' of your education systems and vast land. My goodness, no.

Like I said in the beginning, we work for what we want. We're all motivated and competitive (very), but we also have great work ethics and morals and principles. Some asian parents are too...pushy. And sometimes rude and greedy, but... well, the kids know better. I know they are, because I am one, and I haven't seen many asian kids around me that are unwilling to help each other out when in trouble. (There are some asian kids who're rude, hypocritical, and lofty and bossy because they think they're smart and all that, but there are out-lying kids like that in every ethnicity, no?) and If they were born here or raised here since childhood, we know the culture and manner and we're also americanized...so yeah.

If your GPA is higher than the number of hours of sleep you get at TJ, you're doing something wrong. Even with EC's after school there is no reason not to get 7+ hours unless you're one of those kids coming in from Leesburg or further out.

Unless you're exaggerating and treating a once-a-month occurrence as normative.

­



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/13/2014 03:58AM by chuckhoffmann.

all of the asian kids in middle school live to go to TJ (at the GT middle school), their parents are all Tiger moms and dads and they have no social life, but after ALL of that, all of that suffering do they find a cure for cancer or write an epic novel? No, they go to Tech and work in defense, whats the point?

Americans value a well rounded, exploratory type of education for their children. They do not value competitive tests to the point of exclusion of other ways of knowing oneself and one's path in life. This is who we are as a culture. So far it has worked pretty well for us. In fact it worked well until we started doubting it and creating all kinds of measures and standards. I believe that TJ was created with the best intentions. It was created for students who had found their path early and were intelligent. It was probably never supposed to mean that there weren't intelligent students at the other high schools---just that they (for one reason or another) took longer to find themselves (which isn't altogether a bad thing). It's not how fast you get there---it's about the experience of getting there and actually getting to your "fit" in life. Some kids aren't allowed to take the time to explore due to parental, cultural, or other "pushes" (more these days with all the testing). We have been very fortunate here in America to be able to allow our kids to take the time to have dreams and pursue them. It's what we fear losing. I think TJ is a great place if a kid is there for the right reasons. None of this should be about a "fifth of your life" or whatever. All this measurement has gotten out of control. Life is hardly something we can put on a graph and at the end say "Wow, that was a successful life". That's just my opinion and I grew up in America and love America. I was not a TJ kid, but was smart enough to become a productive citizen. I believe I will never regret the one fifth of my life that I spent in a high school that was not a TJ. I have fantastic memories of friends, teachers, and time spent there. I do believe the only person I have to justify "success" to at the end of the day is myself. This is America. Independence. Freedom. Opportunity. Self determination. Each person makes it for him or herself. It doesn't matter which path you choose. It matters that it's YOUR path.

Rude and bitter people might be the result of unhappiness due to external pressures. We are living the pursuit of happiness. Our country was founded on these ideals and they are not about to go away. They have served us well so far.

Screwing them by asking us to shell out 84 million on this bond issue?

Ah, no.

logicaldog Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> all of the asian kids in middle school live to go
> to TJ (at the GT middle school), their parents are
> all Tiger moms and dads and they have no social
> life, but after ALL of that, all of that suffering
> do they find a cure for cancer or write an epic
> novel? No, they go to Tech and work in defense,
> whats the point?

actually alot more of them go to UVA. But your point is well taken. For most of them it is just a race to nowhere.

the road Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Americans value a well rounded, exploratory type
> of education for their children. They do not
> value competitive tests to the point of exclusion
> of other ways of knowing oneself and one's path in
> life. This is who we are as a culture. So far it
> has worked pretty well for us. In fact it worked
> well until we started doubting it and creating all
> kinds of measures and standards. I believe that TJ
> was created with the best intentions. It was
> created for students who had found their path
> early and were intelligent. It was probably never
> supposed to mean that there weren't intelligent
> students at the other high schools---just that
> they (for one reason or another) took longer to
> find themselves (which isn't altogether a bad
> thing). It's not how fast you get there---it's
> about the experience of getting there and actually
> getting to your "fit" in life. Some kids aren't
> allowed to take the time to explore due to
> parental, cultural, or other "pushes" (more these
> days with all the testing). We have been very
> fortunate here in America to be able to allow our
> kids to take the time to have dreams and pursue
> them. It's what we fear losing. I think TJ is a
> great place if a kid is there for the right
> reasons. None of this should be about a "fifth of
> your life" or whatever. All this measurement has
> gotten out of control. Life is hardly something
> we can put on a graph and at the end say "Wow,
> that was a successful life". That's just my
> opinion and I grew up in America and love America.
> I was not a TJ kid, but was smart enough to
> become a productive citizen. I believe I will
> never regret the one fifth of my life that I spent
> in a high school that was not a TJ. I have
> fantastic memories of friends, teachers, and time
> spent there. I do believe the only person I have
> to justify "success" to at the end of the day is
> myself. This is America. Independence. Freedom.
> Opportunity. Self determination. Each person
> makes it for him or herself. It doesn't matter
> which path you choose. It matters that it's YOUR
> path.
>
> Rude and bitter people might be the result of
> unhappiness due to external pressures. We are
> living the pursuit of happiness. Our country was
> founded on these ideals and they are not about to
> go away. They have served us well so far.

you're not asian are you?

And for all those TJ kids that went to VA Tech. How smart are you really?

Eos wrote:

"I mean, like the saying in TJ 'my GPA is higher than the number of hours I sleep', we literally work our asses off. Because the goals we have mostly require studying our brains out and getting into a good college, etc."


If you have to do that, you should not have been admitted to TJ. You're in the wrong school.

Its not a matter of racism; it is due to the fact that that race doesn't perform as well.

whopper Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> TjStudent Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> Also says you are about 1.5% Black and 2% Hispanic
> - if you were a business you'd be sued.

The concept that one should be sued to the fact that they have a little amount of minorities and are therefore racist is racism in itself. That really irks me, when people bitch about racism. What pisses me off more is when minorities complain about how they deserve a promotion, etc., and weren't given it due to their race. Maybe the fact that you pull the race card every time is what caused your lack of promotion. I don't see why businesses have to accept minorities instead of others, even if the others were more intelligent/competent than the minorities, to avoid racial discrimination charges. That whole concept is stupid.

.... Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> whopper Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > TjStudent Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > Also says you are about 1.5% Black and 2%
> Hispanic
> > - if you were a business you'd be sued.
>
> The concept that one should be sued to the fact
> that they have a little amount of minorities and
> are therefore racist is racism in itself. That
> really irks me, when people bitch about racism.
> What pisses me off more is when minorities
> complain about how they deserve a promotion, etc.,
> and weren't given it due to their race. Maybe the
> fact that you pull the race card every time is
> what caused your lack of promotion. I don't see
> why businesses have to accept minorities instead
> of others, even if the others were more
> intelligent/competent than the minorities, to
> avoid racial discrimination charges. That whole
> concept is stupid.


Yes. Affirmative Action is state sponsored racism. The boeeom line is that you shouldnt be able to force a business owner tnow hiring someone he doesnt want.

Should the NRA have to hire anti-gun folks? Abortion clinics, a pro-lifer? A business owner should be able to hire whoever he wants to work next to him. Plain and simple. The reality is that any good business owner will hire the most qualified candidate because they will give them the greatest return on investment.

Look at it like this... If a small business owner knowingly hires one of his own kind over a minority, knowing that the minority is more qualified; who are we to tell him to not squander his money?

Some of these comments are extremely racist. Are you saying them because you can or because you truly have no guts to say it to the population of Asian people. Ill buy you a ticket and you can fly over to China and Korea and tell them how you feel about them.
However you don't realize the struggle they had to face to get to this country. None of us where of true american descendant because immigration is the reason we are all here. Our ancestors struggled to get here. However, the people who are still coming are working just as hard so their lifeline will have an easier life just like your ancestors meant for you to.
Lets say we removed China from all of American connections. Look around you!!! How many things say made in China???!??!?! Yea imagine then just in a puff of smoke GONE! Suck right? Yeah thought so.
Lets go back to TJ Students. I truly do hate their "better than base school student attitudes." But, realize the cold hard facts! GPA isn't really the reason colleges accept students. If you are a try-hard in all your classes then you probably disagree with me. To be honest with you guys... colleges care about your uniqueness among the applicants. In that sense, instead of taking all Tj Students to Harvard they might take 3-5 and they might take 6-7 from Langley. It doesn't mean one school is better it means that about 2-3 people in Langley tried harder and were more unique in the batch of applicants.
Don't pick on Tj and its grading systems and its acceptances of Asians. Every person regardless of race has a choice in life. Its just that Asians prefer to be academically orientated. Deal with it. You are saying its discrimination but its actually not its just that the other races are not trying as hard. Anyway, tj is 50% Asian, 25% White, and 25% Other. But all of you have a terrible misconception... 99& Asian 1% Other.
Everyone here is truly no factual evidence and if you do I would be delighted to be proven wrong. Just show me where you got your facts from.

Fairfax out of control
Stop it. Stop it

We are ruining our kids lives

Wow. This was certainly quite amusing. I'm starting TJ in September, and it's been 3 years since the last post. We still have GPAs ;). This thread was very interesting. There were a lot of different sub-arguments dealing with race (I'm black and an immigrant from Somalia), which schools get more money, whether TJ is worth going to or not, student/teacher ratios, etc. There were also quite a lot of stupid posts (and unnecessarily rude ones, too!). It seems like a lot of bitter people are attacking TJ and Asian students because either they didn't get in or their child didn't. Stop attacking Asians. Also, get a life.