4 ms·
Hah. I went to TJ and, at a gathering with a few other high school classmates, I bemoaned how unhealthy I thought the atmosphere was there. I'm not saying it
by ble 11y ago
Hah. I went to TJ and, at a gathering with a few other high school classmates, I bemoaned how unhealthy I thought the atmosphere was there. I'm not saying it was disastrous when we went there, but it was a divorced-from-reality, barely-visible-high-pressure environment. Going to a prestigious, competitive state school was seen by several of my classmates as "failing" because it wasn't as good as going to an Ivy or another high profile institution.
An environment made up entirely of kids who are accustomed to being the smartest student in the class is going to produce some very unpleasant results under high pressure. I wonder how the counseling team approaches the problem.
- rayiner 11y agoWhen were you there? I attended from 1998-2002, and it was a pretty collegial place back then. Very little competitive pressure from the teachers or administration, no class ranking, etc. Lots of self-imposed consternation about getting into top colleges, but that usually didn't bubble up into the social interactions.
- hga 11y agoHmmm, this helps me better understand a former college who went to MIT, would have been class of '97, and before that decided not to attend TJ because he wanted a more normal high school experience. Struck me as strange at the time, but if TJ is this aberrant, much more than any of the other schools in its class you hear about like Stuyvesant and the other NYC high schools that puts lots of graduated into MIT.