College Guidance

As a "college prep" school, TJ's most obvious function is to help its students get into college and be successful there.  In the school's 56-year history, 100% of its graduates have gone on to attend college, and a large number have gone on to graduate or professional schools.

Each student receives a great deal of individual attention throughout the college-application process. The Head of School, Bill Rowe, and one other faculty member, Karen Fairbank, serve as college advisers, guiding the seniors through the process, helping them develop a realistic list of choices, and critiquing their essays.  Mr. Rowe also spends many hours following up with colleges by phone and e-mail.

Our goal is for each senior to gain admission to one or more colleges that are appropriate in academic level and atmosphere and for that student go on to be happy and productive at the one he or she chooses.  By this most important criterion, we consider our college-admissions outcomes to be outstanding.

FAQ about TJ's College Guidance Program

When does college counseling begin?
Ninth and tenth graders are encouraged to come to college presentations and look at materials, but the real structure begins in the junior year: the Head delivers a "pep talk" to the group; they are encouraged individually to come to fall presentations; and in the spring trimester, he gives them a Wednesday-afternoon class on the ins and outs of the application process, with handouts and timetables. Some class time is also spent on SAT prep.  During that spring and the following fall, Mr. Rowe and Miss Fairbank schedule individual meetings with all members of the class (and often their parents) to talk over college possibilities, respond to their ideas, and offer suggestions.     

Each senior has a college adviser (either Mr. Rowe or Miss Fairbank) to help them with applications, to shepherd them through the process, and to write secondary school reports.  Students' application essays are critiqued as well. Though the school provides some oversight, seniors are responsible for keeping track of their own deadlines and requirements. 

How does the school educate parents about the college-application process?
At the end of each year, we offer an information session to which all TJ parents are invited; it is given one evening for local parents and repeated the morning of Graduation Day for the benefit of out-of-town parents.  For the past two years, we have hired an independent educational consultant whom we know well to join us for these sessions and offer the parents her perspective.  The school also sends out periodic bulletins to parents of juniors and seniors on current issues in college admissions and reports from the Head on his travels.

How well do colleges know TJ?
The school maintains contacts with a wide variety of high-quality colleges and is constantly developing relationships with new ones.  Mr. Rowe visits some colleges every year to discuss Thomas Jefferson and its standards, to hear news of the college and learn about its admission criteria, and to form or maintain a personal acquaintance with the officer.  If the Head knows of individual students who have an active interest in that college, he may discuss them as well, and he links up with any young TJ alumni at the college to hear firsthand how things are going for them.  Conversely, we encourage colleges to visit TJ.  Each year this results in more than 20 visits between late September and late November by college representatives.   

How does a college or university know how to interpret TJ grades?
Attached to every transcript that goes to a college is the school profile. It shows the school's uninflated grading standards graphically, with an extensive list of where students have gone to college by Thomas Jefferson GPA range.  Both Mr. Rowe and Miss Fairbank make many phone calls to colleges during the application season to add information about our students, find out how they are faring in the process, and make sure each college understands our grading standards.

What information sources are available to students?
Current viewbooks, catalogs, and videos from virtually every college that a TJ student might be interested in are kept in our library, along with the major college handbooks.  While students do use these resources, just as often they go to the colleges' own web sites for facts and impressions. 

Which tests do students take?
PSAT's are normally taken twice: once in October of 10th grade as a practice run and an early indication of how each student is likely to test, and once in October of 11th grade as the "real thing" for National Merit qualification. 

The SAT I is generally taken twice, in the spring of 11th grade and in the fall of 12th.  A certain amount of practice testing for both verbal and math sections occurs in the months before the spring test, and a few students elect to take such courses on their own.  TJ is proud to be ranked #1 in the nation by boardingschoolreview.com for having the highest median SAT scores in the nation among boarding schools: 705 verbal, 710 math. 

SAT II's (subject tests) are taken in June of 11th grade and sometimes again in the fall of 12th, depending on how many and which tests are required by the institutions to which the student plans to apply. 

The ACT is taken only at the student's or the parents' initiative.  Some counselors advocate taking it routinely in addition to the SAT because some people may do better on it. 

Advanced Placement (AP) Exams occur in the spring of both 11th and 12th; these are never required by colleges but may have some impact on admission if shown on the transcript, especially at the most competitive places. 

Our international students take the TOEFL in the spring of 11th and usually one or more times in the fall of 12th; most colleges use this as a substitute for the SAT verbal.