<p>MomCat2, I live 2500 miles away and do not qualify as an East Coast elite no matter how much I practice my air kiss (my CC name refers to my high school, also 2500 miles away from TJ). I knew that TJ stands for Thomas Jefferson, which is a STEM school. Just sayin’. 
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<p>Good luck, Peace. Hope it works out for your son. I think your concerns are valid and am worried that there is no easy answer.</p>
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<p>As a former journalist, I believe spelling out on first reference is preferable.</p>
<p>But it is also interesting to me that some small minds in this day and age still don’t apparently know how to do a Google search.</p>
<p>:rolleyes:</p>
<p>I am not saying that I couldn’t find TJ. (I wasn’t looking for it, because I had already learned from CC what TJ is.) My point was just that “New Trier” is clearer as a specification than “TJ.” :)</p>
<p>As a former Midwesterner and who now lives in the south I didn’t know what TJ stood for. OP could have have written out the schools name and I wouldn’t have looked it up in google.
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<p>What mattered to me was that she was trying to figure out if she should keep her son in a school that she felt was more challenging or move her son to a school she felt he would get better grades.</p>
<p>Right, MichiganGeorgia, #44. That is an incredibly difficult question to answer. I have already punted on it, in post #35. Your suggestion to wait and see, and possibly move the student after 10th grade is probably the wisest course.</p>
<p>I have seen a few instances in which students struggle due to difficulties with confidence, after encountering a challenge that was a little too hard–and even when the new work is not too hard. In some cases, it is difficult to help a young person surmount these difficulties. But in other cases, the problem doesn’t arise.</p>
<p>I am not seeing how his performance so far, as described by the original poster, in a single, extremely difficult summer course would justify turning his world upside down by sending him to base school. </p>
<p>If he is disheartened now, that disheartenment would become etched in stone once at base school. He could no longer make up for the seeming misstep at the elite place because he would no longer be at the elite place. </p>
<p>His grades freshman year prove that he can excel at the elite place. Look at summer Chem as a lesson in resilience. If he needs to see a counselor about it, encourage and support that.</p>
<p>Seems like it is more the parent (the OP) who is disheartened, rather than the student. But it also seems like the OP has an exaggerated sense of how difficult it is to get into various universities.</p>
<p>Class of 2013 Destinations:
As reported in TJ Today:
Air Force Academy 1
Univ. of Alabama 3
Babson 2
Berkeley 6
Boston College 1
Bowdoin 1
Bradley 1
Brown 7
Cal Poly 1
Cal Tech 7
Carnegie Mellon 10
Case Western 5
Centre College 1
Chicago 6
Clemson 1
Columbia 5
Cooper Union 1
Cornell 19
Davidson 1
Denison 1
Drexel 2
Duke 6
Franklin Olin 1
Furman 1
Georgetown 3
Georgia Tech 6
Gettysburg College 1
GMU 4
GW 4
Harvard 3
Harvey Mudd 1
Univ. of Illinois 6
JMU 2
Johns Hopkins 2
McGill 2
Univ. of Maryland College Park 5
UMBC 1
Univ. of Michigan 10
Middlebury 1
MIT 11
University of Minnesota 1
Naval Academy 3
UNC 1
UNC Chapel Hill 2
Northeastern 2
Northwestern 4
Notre Dame 1
NYU 3
Oberlin 1
Ohio State 1
Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins 1
Penn 6
University of Pittsburgh 2
Princeton 10
Purdue 2
Rhode Island School of Design 1
Rice 2
Univ. of Rochester 1
Rochester Inst. of Technology 4
RPI 6
Saint Louis University 1
University of San Diego 1
School of Visual Arts 1
Smith 1
Univ. of South Carolina 2
USC 1
SMU 1
Stanford 8
Swarthmore 1
Temple 2
Univ. of Tennessee 3
UVA 86
VA Tech 21
VCU 11
Wake Forest 2
Wash U 7
Washington & Lee 1
Wellesley 2
West Point 3
William & Mary 65
Worcester Polytechnic Institute 1
Yale 1</p>
<p>Class of 2012 Acceptances (10 or more) from TJHSST:
University of Virginia 219
College of William and Mary 181
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University 166
Virginia Commonwealth University 53
Carnegie Mellon University 50
Cornell University 46
Georgia Institute of Technology 38
Duke University 34
George Mason University 29
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 29
University of Michigan 29
Pennsylvania State University, University Park 29
Case Western Reserve University 27
New York University 24
James Madison University 23
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 22
University of Maryland, College Park 21
Drexel University 20
University of Pittsburgh 20
Boston University 18
Massachusetts Institute of Technology 18
Princeton University 18
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 18
The University of Alabama 17
Purdue University 17
Rochester Institute of Technology 17
Stanford University 15
Brown University 13
University of Miami 13
University of California at Berkeley 12
Northwestern University 12
University of Notre Dame 12
Rice University 12
The George Washington University 11
Georgetown University 11
University of Pennsylvania 11
Washington University in St. Louis 11
Columbia University 10
Dartmouth College 10</p>
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<p>It depends on what the target school is. If they are looking at the Ivies or MIT then having the highest GPA would be better. </p>
<p>The final 2013 Destination (attending) numbers can be a little different as students came off waitlists. Of course, this number does not tell you how many were accepted at each school originally. Ex: I know of two students that turned down Harvard so there was a minimum of 5 acceptances from Harvard this year.</p>
<p>UVA is not a given for any kid. Repeat that. Geo diversity within the state matters and you have a huge contingent of highly qualified applicants from NVA. It is not an ordinary state school that sets a tier and likes nearly everyone there or above. Yes, they take plenty of kids from TJ. What they will look for is not simply stats. Repeat that, too. </p>
<p>We’re talking about a rising soph with a tough summer course. Too soon to freak. If you are interested in highly competitive colleges, the real question is what else is he doing with his life? Is there room for him in the math-sci clubs and competitions- and can he play a significant role in those? Does he branch out into non math-sci activities? Is he the sort of kid who will naturally impress teachers and get the better LoRs? What’s are his operating strengths, the things not measured by the difference between an A and A-? And, is he engaged outside school? Holistic matters.</p>
<p>Not all the “base” hs in NVa are that great. We don’t know what OP’s alternative is. To some extent, just based on what TJ is, the others are in its shadow. Plus, they deal with a range of SES challenges. There are no guarantees a tippy top kid at an easier hs would get farther in college apps. Or be happier in the academic climate. Or satisfied with the range and nature of the math-sci ECs.</p>
<p>Matching oneself to TJ, in this case, imo, should be about whether there is a fit with the opportunities.</p>
<p>If he is disheartened now, that disheartenment would become etched in stone once at base school.</p>
<p>Just a strategic comment: transferring out of TJ??? There would need to be a far better reason than that he got an A- and a B in a tough summer class. </p>
<p>The pressure doesn’t end by transferring down.</p>
<p>I’m impressed with the out of state Virginia acceptance numbers at some of the colleges listed. IMO some of those schools are not easy to get into. Please note I am NOT saying it’s easy to get into the in state Virginia schools. Just we looked at some of the other schools on that list.</p>
<p>Regarding TJ - I know the term from years on CC, not because I am some East Coast elite. </p>
<p>Personally I think this poor kid should be doing something more fun and different from school during the summer. I don’t think there would be any consequences whatsover from a WP on a summer course. Why not let him drop it and breeze through chemistry next year with his confidence restored? I see no evidence that a kid who is getting mostly As should drop out of TJ, but the hothouse atmosphere of these sorts of schools is not for everyone.</p>
<p>It seems the entire freshman class is usually taking a class during the summer. I was very surprised by this when DS took his summer class. With the increase requirements for graduation, most kids take a summer class to fulfill some of the requirements. DS took a history class bypassing chemistry because he surmised it would be a killer to cover all that info during the summer. Also those taking chemistry want to take AP chemistry sophomore year. </p>
<p>The OP’s son should be involved in clubs etc. The 8th period is when the clubs meet. It is built into TJ’s schedule since students come from other counties so it makes it easier for them to participate. Some of the kids are traveling several hours on the bus to get to the school. My son caught the bus at 6:25 AM and returned home around 5:25 PM (if he didn’t have anything after school).</p>
<p>Yes, kids do transfer out of TJ. If they don’t meet the GPA requirement, they are asked to leave. I know of one student who left after the first week at TJ. He realized it was not for him and he is heading to UVA this Fall.</p>
<p>I am part of the East Coast “elite” as referenced by more than one poster. However, my “elitism” didn’t teach me what TJ stood for. Being on CC since 2004 did. ;)</p>
<p>I think the OP should try to take a breath if possible. Her son is only a rising soph and what he does in this fast-paced summer course will not destroy his college choices. The “readers” of college applications for different colleges will know TJ and the strength of it’s curriculum and how well it’s students are prepared for college work.</p>
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<p>I agree with this. This kid is already as advanced as any college, Harvard or MIT included, would require. The only reason one should take classes in the summer if one is already advanced is if the kid thoroughly enjoys it, which it’s clear that he doesn’t.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for their input.</p>
<p>Hi! I haven’t read past page 1 of this thread, so you probably got the answers you were looking for, but here’s my 2 cents worth: