<p>I go to a pretty competitive school in Northern Virginia.
It was on Newsweek's top 100 or whatever, but the thing is...</p>
<p>I'm right next to Thomas Jefferson HS aka #1 (magnet) High School in the country. Filled with overachieving kids who get straight As & 2400 sats, win every essay competition, go to every summer program, etc. and ALWAYS end up at awesome schools whether they get such stats or not. I applied there when I was an 8th grader and I really didn't want to get in nor did I have any chance since I slacked and got Ds all of middle school in the easy classes. Anyone w/ reasonable stats got in there if they were in GT though...</p>
<p>So is the fact that all these kids are in my region really hurt me when I apply to top schools that they ALL apply to? And will they check that I got rejected? I didn't expect my middle school work to haunt me like this.</p>
<p>I expect to have a pretty good ranking in my school - although its the expert in grade deflation.</p>
<p>lol, this is why I didn't apply to TJ and am now happily at another Fairfax County School where my scores actually make me look excellent instead of average. I think TJ hurts TJ kids' chances more than your chances. They have to compete with everyone else from TJ because colleges can't take the entire TJ class, but you really just have to compete from within your school (to an extent).</p>
<p>If you perform as objectively well as TJ kids (in test scores, competitions, AP courses, internships, etc.), it probably won't hurt that you're not from TJ. You might need a higher GPA, however.</p>
<p>oi, he was part of the 2% at william and mary w/ under a 3.2 GPA? I guess that proves how well-renowned it is - you can have a GPA in the bottom 2% of an accepted class but still get accepted. Can't do that at most public schools.</p>
<p>Depending on what schools you are applying to, just being from N. VA will hurt your chances. If you are applying to W&M, UVA, Tech... being from N. VA decreases your chances of getting in, because there's a limit on how many from that part of the state they will accept. In that sense, no, you don't just have to compete from kids in your school. You compete against them to a small extent... but popular schools definitely are more difficult to get in from N. VA as opposed to the rest of the state.</p>
<p>Those kids at TJ are all from your own region anyway. If there were no TJ, some of them would be at your school, potentially pushing down your class rank.</p>
<p>yeah i know. but im thinking that colleges will just look at my region and start off with the TJ kids....and then fill their quota.
but about 50+ kids from my school's senior class last year got into UVA. more into Tech & W&M. but anyway im not applying to those ones i don't think.</p>
<p>i'm probably not going to end up at an AWESOME school</p>
<p>i would be very happy with uva, but seeing as how the majority of my class applies there.. it might be tough for me. some kids are truly rediculous. one girl i know studied for 9 hours for a ap calculus bc test. she has over a 4.0 at my school.
however, some of those over achievers aren't as naturally smart so hopefully I can come out okay with higher sats. that being said. there are still many people who are over achievers AS WELL AS very naturally talented
it's a cut throat environment in terms of standing out at tj</p>
<p>Huhhh???? I seriously doubt that anybody TJ or otherwise got into William and Mary with a 3.2 unless that could throw or kick a ball really well. Then again if daddy gave a few million, that sure could help..............</p>
<p>So what about TJ? So what??? A 3.1 is a 3.1. At my high school there were 30 students who had a GPA of over 4.0. They were recognized at graduation. So TJ would just have many more over a 4.0 if it's such an outstanding school AP Calculus can only be so hard, if you catch my drift. If you have a GPA of 3.1 you don't need to be applying to William and Mary or UVA. A 3.1 is a 3.1 and you would probably not cut muster at a very challenging college. </p>
<p>I'd have to say that the odds weighing against you is about the same as the odds weighing for you. Granted, TJ's name does carry some weight, but there are also many schools (like UVA) that are annoyed that TJ students apply to their schools as safeties and are cutting down the number of students they accept.</p>