<p>My S goes to Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJ) in Northern Virginia and was accepted early action to Caltech. He plans on majoring in physics or chemistry and eventually becoming an academic. He has, is, or will be taking all the most ambitious math, physics and chemistry courses given at TJ and does exceptionally well in all of them. I know there are usually several TJ kids who go to Caltech every year and I was wondering how well TJ prepares them for the experience and how they fare once they get to Pasadena. Any insights?</p>
<p>Congrats on your S’s accomplishment. I’d ask the former TJ students and their parents. If you/your S do not know of any, TJ’s guidance office or the parent’s association should be able to give you names to contact.</p>
<p>My expectation (observing friends’ children who graduated from TJ and attend peer-competitor schools) is the TJHS kids as a group are as well-prepared as any students can be. Just like TJ, at Caltech, “everyone here is smart”. Only more so (instead of Fairfax County, the competition is US & international). Some will continue to thrive in that environment, some will discover they’re no longer the biggest fish in the pond and adapt to being average, or go someplace else.</p>
<p>If TJ wouldn’t prepare you well for Caltech, what would? I’m sure he will do well here.</p>