TJ Admissions Prep

Prepare for the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology admissions process, with an emphasis on crafting strong personal statements and problem-solving essays.

TJ Prep courses are now also available online during the 2024-2025 school year. Learn more at our School-Year TJHSST Prep page.

The course is fully up to date for the revisions implemented by the FCPS School Board over the past years and guides students through the details of the modern admissions process.

Students practice answering a variety of Student Portrait Sheet essay prompts and learn what the TJ Admissions Committee is looking for in their essays. They also learn a framework for responding to the Problem-Solving Essay question, which requires a written answer and explanation for challenging mathematics or science-related problems.

Each class meeting includes instruction and feedback to support students in efficiently writing organized, informative and grammatically correct essays under time constraints.

Instructor feedback emphasizes student progress on Student Portrait Sheet responses, developing strategies to highlight the strengths of each student across a wide variety of prompts, as well as progress on Problem-Solving Essays, developing strategies to highlight the STEM strengths of each student within time constraints.