Historically, the TJ Admissions Process was a 2-round process. In the old, merit-based admissions process (2020 and prior), the two rounds consisted of:

• Round 1: GPA/Transcript Review Standardized Admissions Test (similar to the ACT Aspire)
  Round 2: Teacher recommendations, Student Information Sheet (SIS), and Problem-Solving Essay (PSE).
  This process also had an application fee, a minimum GPA of 3.0, and a minimum completion of Algebra 1 by the end of 8th grade.

 

In 2020, several changes were made by the Fairfax County Public Schools School Board to the TJ Admissions process. This new TJ Admissions process featured the following:​​​

• Removed: Standardized Admissions Test (multiple choice math, science, reading)​

• Removed: Teacher Recommendations

• Reformatted: "Student Information Sheet" is now called "Student Portrait Sheet (SPS)" It is slightly reformatted, but still extremely similar to the old student information sheet.

• Reformatted: Problem-Solving Essay (PSE) is now "Math or Science Problem Solving Essay"

• Removed: Application Fee

• Increased GPA minimum to 3.5 and requires 3+ honors courses, with honors level Math & Science).

  • Only 2 honors courses are required for students whom Fairfax County has identified as a "Young Scholar."

  • Kept: Minimum of Algebra 1 completed by end of 8th grade

• Increased class size from 487 students to 550 students

• The TJ Admissions Process now considers "special experience factors" such as whether or not a student attends an "underrepresented middle school," if they are on free/reduced lunch, if they are in the ESOL English as a Second Language Program, or if they have a learning disability. These factors give students a "boost" in the admissions process

• Automatic 1.5% admission rule: the top 1.5% of each public middle school's 8th-grade class will automatically be admitted. An example is provided below.

In 2021, yet another change was made to the TJ Admissions Process: 

• Removal of "middle school attended" as a special factor. Because there are no longer any "underrepresented middle schools," due to the top 1.5% rule, whether or not a student attends an underrepresented middle school will no longer be considered.

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Holistic Review in the TJ Admissions Process:

Based on the student's GPA/Transcript, Student Portrait Sheet, Problem-Solving Essay, and "special experience factors (free/reduced lunch, English as a Second Language, Disability Status), public school students will be ranked by middle school in the TJ Admissions Process. It's considered a "holistic review." Each element is NOT individually scored. Instead, they will look at the entire package together to determine the ranking. The top 1.5% of the size of the 8th-grade class will automatically be admitted. For example, if a school has 400 8th-grade students, then 1.5% of 400 (or 6 students) would automatically be admitted. They will repeat this process for each public middle school. This will take up approximately 300 of the 550 total seats, and are referred to as "allocated" seats in the TJ Admissions process.

 

That leaves approximately 250 unallocated seats, for which private school students and all remaining public school students will compete on a county-wide level. Some counties (like Fairfax and Loudoun) have far more unallocated seats than districts like Arlington, Falls Church, or Prince William County which might have 0 or very few "unallocated" seats.

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Other Notes:

• There is no lottery system. This was an idea that was only proposed, yet failed on a 4-8 vote by the Fairfax County Public Schools School Board. 

• Private school students cannot compete for "allocated" seats, placing them at a massive statistical disadvantage under the new admissions process.

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Want more information on how to best prepare? We want to make it crystal clear and ensure that you have no outstanding questions. Please feel free to email us at TJPrep@EduAvenues.com