Eighth-graders have the opportunity to submit an essay to apply to Thomas Jefferson High School of Science and Technology this Saturday, Feb. 4, at 8 a.m. 

Interested students should have received an email with details for the test. 

“Applicants should arrive between 7:30 and 7:45 a.m. for check in,” the email read. “Be sure to [the printed email] with you for identification purposes.”

Students have been instructed to conduct a health check to prepare for the essay test. Instructions have been posted on Schoology. In addition, students taking the test should restart their school laptop the day before testing and charge their laptop the night before.

Food, drinks, other electronic devices, like phones, watches and calculators, or scratch paper is not to be brought. Bringing these items could result in disqualification. 

“If you have questions about the application process,” read the email that went out to students applying to Thomas Jefferson High School, “please contact the Admissions Office at 571-423-3770 or [email protected].”

Thomas Jefferson High School, or “TJ” for short, is one of the best high schools in America with a STEM-related focus. Arlington, Fairfax, Falls Church, Loudoun, and Prince William Counties participate in TJHSST according to the FCPS website.  

The website also reads that applicants must have completed a full-year course of Algebra 1 or above, be enrolled in honors science, enrolled in honors social studies or English, and must have a 3.5 GPA or higher in all core classes. Grades in a high school credit world language will also be part of that GPA.

 An A- is a GPA of 3.7 and a B+ is a GPA of 3.3.

“Students that applied for the Freshman Winter and were not offered admission may be eligible to apply during the Sophomore Round,” the FCPS website read. “The number of students who can be accepted to the sophomore class is based in part on student attrition at TJHSST. In recent years, the number of admitted sophomores has ranged between 10 to 15 students.”