还是拿这个最聪明的高中来讨论一个问题:让孩子进这个如此高压力的高中,到底值不
值?网上的家长已经问过这个问题了,我摘几个不错的回答在下面供你参考。简单点儿
就是说:父母推不行;孩子自推的话(又热爱科学技术的),行!而且,进这种高中的
目的,不是为了爬藤,而是为了应对更高的自我挑战。
Question: How hard is it to get my son into Thomas Jefferson High School for
Science and Technology, and is it worth it?
Comment 1:
[–]PandaMomentum 14 points 5 months ago
My daughter spent a year and half at TJ before transferring back to her base
school, where she is the top student and on path to a top selective college
. So that's the basis for what I'm going to say here.
First, socially, it's fine, because everyone there is a geeky misfit and
they all know what that's like.
But second, look, if your child is not deeply fascinated by engineering,
then don't go to TJ. If your child has not already demonstrated exceptional
math abilities (which typically show by age 10) then don't go to TJ (how
many digits of pi does he have memorized? can he factor large numbers? does
he understand concepts like how the distance between prime numbers varies?
modular arithmetic? basic number theory? these should all be expressed by
middle school). If your child is not highly self motivated (again, you
should know this by now, because he will be practicing a musical instrument
more hours than you ask him to, or doing odd projects that seem to engross
him for hours, days on end) then don't go to TJ.
Because: Students learn more in the first year biology course than most
colleges teach in their first year course. Students do higher math at TJ
than almost any college undergraduate in any major, including math. The
winners of the robotics competition will match up against undergrads at
Purdue, MIT and Cal Tech. TJ music students write and arrange complex
compositions for performance.
You have never seen competition like this. Look, I went to Harvard for my
undergrad and Michigan for my grad work, as did my wife. We never saw peer
competition anything like what we saw among my daughter's peers at TJ.
Let me put it another way: you will know if you have a TJ kid because all
your kid's elementary school teachers will tell you. Your friends will know.
You will know.
Comment 2:
[–]berkeleykey 17 points 5 months ago
TJ Grad here, '07. I loved my experience at TJ. Getting in was mostly my
doing, coming from Arlington my math teachers said I should apply and with a
few of my close yet nerdy friends I did. Only about a tenth of the kids I
knew to apply were accepted.
The opportunities are one of a kind. From working on our own supercomputer
to scoring incredible internships in one of the most tech and PHD rich areas
of the country. I choose to focus my extra curricular time on sports, as it
happens we have excellent rowing, tennis, soccer, and cross country teams.
By the time I finished at TJ my love of math and science had gotten beaten/
pressured out of me, but I did find college classes spectacularly easy (UC
Berkeley '11 Political Science). Still to this day the smartest people I
know are those that went to TJ with me. I'm 25 and my high school friends
are mostly doctors, lawyers, PHD candidates, investment bankers, and Rhode
Scholars.
Kids I knew who stayed at their "base" high schools certainly did succeed,
but at a much smaller percentage.
More so than a love of math and science, your kid needs to have a strong
desire to be challenged. Good luck!
EDIT: People got along for the most part. Loners (and there are many) stuck
to themselves but kids there are too busy to bother with petty class/racial
social distinctions in any serious way.
Comment 3:
[–]AllAroundPerson 1 point 5 months ago
I am a current student at Thomas Jefferson High School. Personally, I say
that my school is the absolute best thing that has ever happened for me. I
have friends in base schools and, while we were at the same place when we
left middle school, I am light years ahead of them now and I love it. There'
s so much learning going on in the school. Vandalism is of math equations.
Students actually write out entire mulitvariable calculus problems on the
drywall(that is up for construction) I have not met a single student who I
do not enjoy talking to or that is rude. We're not a perfect school by any
means, but for a student coming into TJ, its really the best you can hope
for. My parents put forward the idea for me to apply when I was in 6th grade
, for me to mull and chew over, and I don't regret my decision. There are
groups of people all over the school willing to help you if you're having
academic issues or have an intrest in something. They'll take you under
their wing and teach and help, if you're bold enough to ask. Before TJ I had
absolutely no idea how to program, but now I attend hackathons and other
such computer related events. All because of people I met, who were willing
to teach me anything. TJ isnt for the faint of heart, though. TL;DR: If your
son is interested, do it! I live two hours away from school but I wouldnt
change for anything.
Comment 4:
[–]mmmtoastmmm 1 point 1 month ago
Yes, it's worth it.
The opportunities I got from going to TJ were amazing. Classes, extra-
curriculars, great teachers, etc. I can't speak with full confidence on what
my experience would have been if I hadn't gone, but at my base school the
only science/math/tech related clubs were robotics team and the math team.
Arguing over whether you're more likely to get into X or Y school if you
went to TJ or not is ridiculous, in my opinion. Any disadvantage that you
might incur by having to compete against your classmates (which I would
argue is close to zero) is nullified by the fact that you have more
opportunities to make yourself a more admissible candidate by being at the
school. If I hadn't gone to TJ I would not have had the same experiences
that made me a strong candidate for college admission.
But you shouldn't go to TJ because it will help you get into college. The
real value is in everything else. It was an amazing social environment.
Because we all knew we had some kind of commonality, everyone got along
amazingly (and no, non-Asian kids were not excluded socially. We were all
friends). Being around other kids who are as smart or smarter than you just
challenges you to be better.
I feel that too many people think the point of TJ is to get their child into
college/make them a "successful" person, when the school's real value is
just providing an enriching educational experience. If you are wondering
whether a 3.0 at TJ looks better or worse than a 4.0 at your base school,
you're asking the wrong question. If you think going to TJ will give your
child a great education and enable them to pursue learning in subjects that
interest them, they should go.
I will include this caveat: it's not worth it if you have no inclination or
aptitude for math, science or technology. If your son says "I hate math,"
don't let him go.