WWTBAM Bored

(according to USN&WR)

Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology

Second year in a row for ol' TJ.

ne1410s wrote:(according to USN&WR)

Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology

Second year in a row for ol' TJ.

Is this the one that ranks by AP or IB scores? That is a ridiculous way to rank since many schools don't offer those. The small rural school in Michigan where I used to teach would have received a zero from US News but we typically had half our senior class actually attending college part-time. It seems like that should count for something compared to taking standardized tests.

aj:

Is this the one that ranks by AP or IB scores?

I think it's the former. All lists, like sweeping generalizations, are crap.

My oldest son graduated from TJ last year.

It was/is an amazing place.

Competitive exam/admission process for entrance, have to keep a B or 3.0 average to stay in.

A Cray, a booster club with some seriously deep pockets, partnerships with NASA, et al, and a student body of Type A +s.
With that type of student body, they really didn't have many of the same issues as a 'normal' high school - drugs and other risky behavior weren't nearly as prevalent as the typical high school. Nearly every kid was a high achiever and didn't want to detract from his/her studies.

All classes are considered 'honors' level and most were AP. Someone in the education field correct me if I'm using the terminology wrong. The point is that the courses were all advanced and nearly all carried college credit.

The conversations between he and his friends were brainiac/nerd vs. sports, etc.

Starting with his freshman year homework, I had to tell him he was on his own as my political science degree wasn't really much help for the math he was really interested in.

He taught himself calculus over a summer so he could CLEP it to take an advanced calculas course during his 10th grade.

And so on.

The scholarship/big name university follow-ons for TJ is phenomenal (sp?) as well.

Unfortunately, my kid couldn't grasp that blowing off courses he didn't like - English, Geography (Geography, for pete's sake?!) affected the overall GPA and his future. So, goodbye MIT, hello VT.

Seriously, it is a fantastic school.

Just for a point of clarification, I think that the list only was of the top Public high schools. (AJ already addressed the method of determination.)