TJ Admission Process 2020-2022: TJ Test, The Most Challenging and Quantifiable Measure of Prospective Students Has Been Eliminated.

Facts To Know Before Starting Your TJ Admission Prep: Student Portrait Sheet (SPS) essays and the Problem Solving Essay (PSE). SPS must show your persuasive writing skills and incorporate any language or socioeconomic adversities you may have encountered and potentially overcome. Problem Solving Essay (PSE) must show your knowledge, skills and abilities to correctly solve a math and/or science problem and to produce a logically written essay to describe how you arrived at the answer.

The Old vs. The Current TJ Admission Process

Since 1985 to 2020, TJ Admission Process was designed to select the most academically capable students from FCPS and other eligible school districts. It relied on a test

The New TJ admission no longer relies on a quantifiable test; it does not even require teacher recommendations. What does it rely on? 4 short SPS essays and a single math or science problem solving essay (PSE). Students who get the single PSE question wrong get in the wait pool (almost certain rejection).

Before you choose between preparing on your own or enrolling in a TJ Prep program, read this to familiarize yourself with the selection process – students have only one chance to apply for freshman admission to TJ so it behooves you to put your best foot forward.

Optimal TJ Prep, a service of Tripathi Learning and Enrichment Center, has over 31 years of experience in helping several hundred students obtain admission to TJ and has worked with hundreds of other TJ students on math, science or PSAT/SAT prep.

The Biggest Misconception Most Students and Their Parents Have About the New TJ Admission Process

Most parents whose children get an A in Algebra I or II do not realize their child is getting an A in Algebra without necessarily learning how to solve word problems. Often families prematurely or outright incorrectly conclude that their child does not need TJ Prep for the Math/Science Problem Solving Essay and SPS based process. Many parents fail to consider the effect of high-stakes one-question math/science Problem Solving Essay and its impact on creating test anxiety even for confident students who normally don’t exhibit test anxiety or nervousness.

In Previous years when a quantifiable multiple question test was used, getting a single question incorrect did not equate with rejection. Under the current admission paradigm that uses a single math or science question and the associated problem solving essay (PSE) to winnow down the list of eligible applicants, it is crucial that your child prepare and train to achieve his best performance on the single question problem solving essay. Most students can prepare and write acceptable Student Portrait Sheet Essays whose topics are announced and known in advance. However, most students will not do well on the problem solving essay unless their command of word problems, critical reading and analytical and scientific reasoning (to interpret the problem) is at the highest (top 1-1%) possible level.

For those who are not ready to solve challenge word problems or properly analyze and interpret a science concept/data, the new TJ admission process indeed is tantamount to TJ rejection process.

Your child can take a complimentary TJ SPS/PSE readiness assessment I have developed through my years of experience that can help you understand where your child stands.

Myths & Facts About TJ Admissions

From the founding of TJ until about 2000, its administrators and admissions office told prospective students at TJ open houses, "You can't prepare for the TJ Test." Shortly afterward, Fairfax County Public Schools began offering TJ preparation courses. We have been helping students prepare for both freshman and transfer (10th or 11th grade) admission to TJ for 29 years.

Some common myths about TJ prep:

If a student has straight A's, he or she will not need any help with TJ prep.

This was never true. Different schools in the same county have different course difficulty levels and grading standards. Each year I teach 7th graders who are receiving A's in Algebra I, yet cannot solve simple word problems. Unless you analyze your strengths and weaknesses and have historical data to evaluate your performance, you will not know how you stack up against other applicants.

With the 2021 removal of test, the admission of highly able students who do not contribute to TJ’s diversity objectives hinges largely on your performance on 4 short SPS essay and even more importantly on a one Problem Solving Essay. Think of it as one problem quiz — one mistake and you get a wrong answer resulting in being placed on the “wait pool.”

Students that need TJ prep help will not do well in courses at TJ.

Not necessarily. In fact each year, several of my students start at a level where they are not able to do well on the TJ test. After our training the vast majority of these students attend TJ and excel there.

Students that attend Gifted and Talented (G/T) center schools will not need help with TJ prep.

Not quite. All G/T courses are not equally rigorous. Receiving high grades in a G/T program does not always lead to a strong performance on the TJ test. 

An elementary or junior high school student who is not performing well in math or science courses will not do well on the TJ admissions test.

Actually, many such students respond to our training and dramatically improve their performance in several academic areas, in addition to math and science. They go on to perform well on the TJ test and succeed academically in high school and beyond.

Some students are naturally "wired" to be high achievers; it is equally true that students who are motivated and willing to put in sufficient effort can improve significantly.

Some facts about TJ prep and TJ admissions:

What is the admissions process?

According to the official TJHSST Admissions information website, the first step considers the student's TJ test scores and his or her GPA. There are minimum requirements for GPA (3.0), the overall TJ test score (65/100), and the math component score (30/50). The second step considers a combination of the math component score of the TJ test, teacher recommendations, essay responses, GPA from math/science courses, and responses to a series of questions on a "Student Information Sheet."

Where do you stand in relation to the competition?

The answer to this question is critical before you plan and start your TJ test preparations. The answer is not easy to determine for most students as it depends on your strengths and weaknesses in math, reading, logical reasoning, and writing. The admissions process is competitive and only about 15% of students who apply are accepted. Access to a measure (TJ Prep Readiness Index and Quant Q Performance Simulator Index) which enable you to compare your abilities with those of other TJ aspirants (those who are bound to succeed and those who may not) is invaluable. We have given our TJ prep readiness assessment to over one thousand students and have an accurate idea of what kind of performance is predictive of a score in the 90th percentile or higher. We have evaluated over 70 students and computed our newly designed and calibrated QQPSI. Only such unique indices can empower you to know from the beginning the proper effort level required for you to succeed on the TJ test.

How do you prepare to excel on the TJ test?

We firmly believe that a single method of teaching does not suit every student. Through two decades of working with thousands of students in many academic subjects and standardized tests, we have developed and refined successful strategies for raising grades and test scores. 

If you wish to learn how the unique training by Optimal TJ Prep can assist you in preparing for the TJ admissions test, or if you wish to find out where your student stands in relation to thousands of others, please take our TJ prep readiness assessment.

Our students have been doing exceedingly well on the TJ test since 1994. Our TJ prep program was recognized by The Washington Post in a December 2001 article which headlined that our students were "outsmarting the competition." To see how your student can achieve similar success, please contact us to schedule your TJHSST admission assessment.

Unfortunately, most school in FCPS, LCPS and other neighboring schools do not teach their students how to solve word problems. There 90% of my incoming students have difficulty in solving the word problems on my initial assessment and are unable to create a logical and coherent problem solving essay.