TJ admissions data

TJ Admissions by Middle School

Every participating middle school in Fairfax, Loudoun, Arlington, Prince William, and Falls Church, with its estimated share of TJ seats and every offer rate FCPS has released. Parents ask us about their school every fall, so we put it all in one place.

By the EduAvenues Team · Updated September 2026 · Sources: FCPS public records, Virginia Department of Education

  • 21.1%All applicants, Class of 2029
  • 70Participating public schools with 8th graders
  • 1.5%Of each school's 8th grade, set aside in seats

Every School, by Division

Seats are estimated from each school's 2024-25 eighth grade. The latest rate is the most recent class FCPS has released for that school. A dash means FCPS hasn't released one.

Fairfax County

Loudoun County

Arlington

Prince William County

Falls Church City

School8th gradersSeats, est.Latest rate
Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School2213–

Private schools

SchoolLatest rate
The Nysmith School50.0% 2028

Offer Rates by Year

Every school-level offer rate FCPS has released, labeled by graduation year. The Class of 2029 got its offers in the spring of 2025.

School2017-2120252026202720282029
Brambleton–––23.1%17.9%11.4%
Cooper–20.4%17.4%19.3%29.3%28.4%
Eagle Ridge–––16.2%22.0%17.4%
Frost22.4%–23.3%21.4%28.7%19.0%
Glasgow–17.1%21.3%20.4%13.6%–
Gum Spring–––15.4%––
Johnson––––23.4%19.4%
Kilmer22.1%–12.6%31.8%31.0%12.0%
Lake Braddock15.0%10.0%17.8%19.7%18.7%15.0%
Hughes21.7%–––––
Longfellow32.1%18.8%26.2%25.6%28.8%33.6%
Luther Jackson13.9%15.7%––41.1%17.2%
Twain13.9%–21.1%21.4%––
Carson35.5%17.1%23.3%23.5%22.4%23.0%
Rocky Run23.7%18.9%22.6%16.7%17.9%24.7%
Sandburg–19.4%22.2%28.2%25.0%16.7%
Stone Hill–16.1%19.4%17.9%12.8%20.8%
Nysmith––––50.0%–
Thoreau26.8%–––––
Trailside–32.4%––––
Irving–––––19.2%
Willard––15.3%32.1%17.6%–

How to Read These Numbers

A school's rate tells you how its applicants did as a group. Since 2020, every participating middle school has TJ seats set aside for it, equal to 1.5% of its eighth-grade class. Students compete within their own school first, and anyone who doesn't get one of those seats is considered again with applicants from everywhere else.

Your child's result depends on their own application. Above the 3.5 GPA minimum, that mostly means the Student Portrait Sheet and the Problem-Solving Essay. More on the 1.5% rule, how school rates shifted after 2020, or all of our TJ admissions data.

Questions Parents Ask

How many TJ seats does my middle school get?

Each participating public middle school has seats set aside equal to 1.5% of its eighth-grade class. Based on 2024-25 enrollment, that ranges from about 1 seat at the smallest schools to about 11 at the largest. FCPS doesn't publish how it rounds, so treat these as estimates.

Which middle schools send the most students to TJ?

We show rates rather than headcounts. For the Class of 2029, Longfellow (33.6%), Cooper (28.4%), Rocky Run (24.7%), and Carson (23.0%) had the highest offer rates among the schools FCPS reported. Rates move from year to year, so one strong year doesn't guarantee the next.

Why don't some schools have an offer rate?

FCPS has only released school-level rates for some schools, and it withholds numbers for small groups to protect student privacy. Where we don't have a rate, the page shows the school's estimated seats instead. We don't estimate missing rates.

Can my school's rate predict my child's chances?

No. It tells you how one group of applicants did in one year. Your school decides who your child is compared with first, but the offer comes down to your child's own application.

Where These Numbers Come From

Offer rates come from Fairfax County Public Schools' responses to Virginia public records requests, including the Class of 2029 admissions summary and request VFOIA-11221. They are rounded to a tenth of a percent, and when FCPS withholds a number to protect student privacy, we leave it blank instead of estimating it. Eighth-grade enrollment comes from the Virginia Department of Education's fall membership count for the 2024-25 school year. Seat estimates are 1.5% of that number, rounded. FCPS describes the process itself on its freshman application page, which is the final word if anything here differs.

TJTestPrep by EduAvenues is independent and is not endorsed or sponsored by Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology or Fairfax County Public Schools.

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