TJ admissions now verifying free and reduced price meal status for successful 2026 applicants

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Was anyone’s reevaluated application for the free food question rejected?

Yes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Was anyone’s reevaluated application for the free food question rejected?

Yes.

I’m shocked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
My objection is the parents (there are quite a few parents like this, but certainly not everyone who has a kid at RSM and Kumon) who do it not because their kid needs the reinforcement or because their kid likes it, but because they want to push their kid ahead for the bragging rights or out of fear that their kid won’t get their piece of the economic pie as an adult. Honest to God, your career is not dependent on whether you took Algebra in 6th grade or even (gasp) 9th grade. It just isn’t. Your kid would be much better off trying a bunch of things and seeing what they like and are good at. You can force math and science but for some kids, it’s downright painful. You can’t bend their strengths and interests to your will as much as you may want to.

My kids attend AoPS. AoPS isn't set up to get kids into Algebra early. I don't think RSM is, either. The AoPS general sequence has Algebra in 7th grade, and that's assuming that the kid does well enough in pre-Algebra in 6th to move up. Kids are not often skipped ahead unless they're already way beyond the AoPS curriculum.

For the most part, FCPS doesn't allow kids to skip ahead, either. They have very specific criteria for Algebra in 6th, and simply being ahead isn't one of them. Most of the kids taking Algebra II in 8th are there due to taking summer Geometry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Was anyone’s reevaluated application for the free food question rejected?

Yes.

I’m shocked.

What does this mean?? Please provide details. Does this mean that your kids acceptance was rescinded?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Was anyone’s reevaluated application for the free food question rejected?

Update decisions have not yet been issued. The admissions portal has a note saying it's down for maintenance, and the admissions decision tab is missing. The deadline for verifying FARMS status has passed and all appeals have been reviewed, so TJ has all of the information it needs to re-evaluate applications.

Updated admissions decisions should be forthcoming within a week. It seems very likely that some admitted students will be unadmitted and vice versa. Surely there were some applicants who checked yes, didn't have verification of FARMS status, and without the experience factor points are not strong enough to merit admission.

Given that they were quite clearly forced into verifying FARMS data, I would be shocked if they try to claim that there was no impact on admissions decisions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Was anyone’s reevaluated application for the free food question rejected?

Update decisions have not yet been issued. The admissions portal has a note saying it's down for maintenance, and the admissions decision tab is missing. The deadline for verifying FARMS status has passed and all appeals have been reviewed, so TJ has all of the information it needs to re-evaluate applications.

Updated admissions decisions should be forthcoming within a week. It seems very likely that some admitted students will be unadmitted and vice versa. Surely there were some applicants who checked yes, didn't have verification of FARMS status, and without the experience factor points are not strong enough to merit admission.

Given that they were quite clearly forced into verifying FARMS data, I would be shocked if they try to claim that there was no impact on admissions decisions.

You know nothing. See previous posts. Someone is saying their question was rejected. We need more information.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Was anyone’s reevaluated application for the free food question rejected?

Update decisions have not yet been issued. The admissions portal has a note saying it's down for maintenance, and the admissions decision tab is missing. The deadline for verifying FARMS status has passed and all appeals have been reviewed, so TJ has all of the information it needs to re-evaluate applications.

Updated admissions decisions should be forthcoming within a week. It seems very likely that some admitted students will be unadmitted and vice versa. Surely there were some applicants who checked yes, didn't have verification of FARMS status, and without the experience factor points are not strong enough to merit admission.

Given that they were quite clearly forced into verifying FARMS data, I would be shocked if they try to claim that there was no impact on admissions decisions.

You know nothing. See previous posts. Someone is saying their question was rejected. We need more information.

My friend's daughter was re-evaluated last night. She went from Acceptance to Waitlist

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Was anyone’s reevaluated application for the free food question rejected?

Update decisions have not yet been issued. The admissions portal has a note saying it's down for maintenance, and the admissions decision tab is missing. The deadline for verifying FARMS status has passed and all appeals have been reviewed, so TJ has all of the information it needs to re-evaluate applications.

Updated admissions decisions should be forthcoming within a week. It seems very likely that some admitted students will be unadmitted and vice versa. Surely there were some applicants who checked yes, didn't have verification of FARMS status, and without the experience factor points are not strong enough to merit admission.

Given that they were quite clearly forced into verifying FARMS data, I would be shocked if they try to claim that there was no impact on admissions decisions.

You know nothing. See previous posts. Someone is saying their question was rejected. We need more information.

I would be thrilled to be wrong about this! If decisions are already being announced, and in particular if admissions are indeed being rescinded, this is very good news!

Not all decisions have been made, of course. Some of us have no updates. It seems that perhaps they're coming out in dribs and drabs rather than all at once.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Was anyone’s reevaluated application for the free food question rejected?

Update decisions have not yet been issued. The admissions portal has a note saying it's down for maintenance, and the admissions decision tab is missing. The deadline for verifying FARMS status has passed and all appeals have been reviewed, so TJ has all of the information it needs to re-evaluate applications.

Updated admissions decisions should be forthcoming within a week. It seems very likely that some admitted students will be unadmitted and vice versa. Surely there were some applicants who checked yes, didn't have verification of FARMS status, and without the experience factor points are not strong enough to merit admission.

Given that they were quite clearly forced into verifying FARMS data, I would be shocked if they try to claim that there was no impact on admissions decisions.

You know nothing. See previous posts. Someone is saying their question was rejected. We need more information.

My friend's daughter was re-evaluated last night. She went from Acceptance to Waitlist

How did they word it to the family? Did they get an email/phone call/letter?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Was anyone’s reevaluated application for the free food question rejected?

Update decisions have not yet been issued. The admissions portal has a note saying it's down for maintenance, and the admissions decision tab is missing. The deadline for verifying FARMS status has passed and all appeals have been reviewed, so TJ has all of the information it needs to re-evaluate applications.

Updated admissions decisions should be forthcoming within a week. It seems very likely that some admitted students will be unadmitted and vice versa. Surely there were some applicants who checked yes, didn't have verification of FARMS status, and without the experience factor points are not strong enough to merit admission.

Given that they were quite clearly forced into verifying FARMS data, I would be shocked if they try to claim that there was no impact on admissions decisions.

You know nothing. See previous posts. Someone is saying their question was rejected. We need more information.

My friend's daughter was re-evaluated last night. She went from Acceptance to Waitlist

Thanks for the information. D you know if your friend's daughter can see the decision tab? Has anyone else heard anything?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
My objection is the parents (there are quite a few parents like this, but certainly not everyone who has a kid at RSM and Kumon) who do it not because their kid needs the reinforcement or because their kid likes it, but because they want to push their kid ahead for the bragging rights or out of fear that their kid won’t get their piece of the economic pie as an adult. Honest to God, your career is not dependent on whether you took Algebra in 6th grade or even (gasp) 9th grade. It just isn’t. Your kid would be much better off trying a bunch of things and seeing what they like and are good at. You can force math and science but for some kids, it’s downright painful. You can’t bend their strengths and interests to your will as much as you may want to.

My kids attend AoPS. AoPS isn't set up to get kids into Algebra early. I don't think RSM is, either. The AoPS general sequence has Algebra in 7th grade, and that's assuming that the kid does well enough in pre-Algebra in 6th to move up. Kids are not often skipped ahead unless they're already way beyond the AoPS curriculum.

For the most part, FCPS doesn't allow kids to skip ahead, either. They have very specific criteria for Algebra in 6th, and simply being ahead isn't one of them. Most of the kids taking Algebra II in 8th are there due to taking summer Geometry.

Kumon isn't for every kid. For one thing, it is not designed to teach critical thinking. The goal is to learn math concepts and learn to do them very fast. Thats all there is to it. Its monotonous and could be boring for the kids. However, it does serve a purpose. I like kumon because, doing mental math fast and not depending on calculators or paper all the time for simple math or basic algebra is important to me. I didn't do any kumon back then, but I love being able to do lots of math, probabilities, estimations etc mentally and I would like my kids do the same. However, my older kid never got hooked to kumon and dropped out of few months, but my younger kid holding on and starting to get bored but wants to keep at it at least until the pre-algebra. It should be noted that kumon isn't really in line with school math, such as word problems and school touches a variety of concepts that kumon doesn't really teach. Having said, kumon does serve a purpose, though not for everyones liking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
My objection is the parents (there are quite a few parents like this, but certainly not everyone who has a kid at RSM and Kumon) who do it not because their kid needs the reinforcement or because their kid likes it, but because they want to push their kid ahead for the bragging rights or out of fear that their kid won’t get their piece of the economic pie as an adult. Honest to God, your career is not dependent on whether you took Algebra in 6th grade or even (gasp) 9th grade. It just isn’t. Your kid would be much better off trying a bunch of things and seeing what they like and are good at. You can force math and science but for some kids, it’s downright painful. You can’t bend their strengths and interests to your will as much as you may want to.

My kids attend AoPS. AoPS isn't set up to get kids into Algebra early. I don't think RSM is, either. The AoPS general sequence has Algebra in 7th grade, and that's assuming that the kid does well enough in pre-Algebra in 6th to move up. Kids are not often skipped ahead unless they're already way beyond the AoPS curriculum.

For the most part, FCPS doesn't allow kids to skip ahead, either. They have very specific criteria for Algebra in 6th, and simply being ahead isn't one of them. Most of the kids taking Algebra II in 8th are there due to taking summer Geometry.

Kumon isn't for every kid. For one thing, it is not designed to teach critical thinking. The goal is to learn math concepts and learn to do them very fast. Thats all there is to it. Its monotonous and could be boring for the kids. However, it does serve a purpose. I like kumon because, doing mental math fast and not depending on calculators or paper all the time for simple math or basic algebra is important to me. I didn't do any kumon back then, but I love being able to do lots of math, probabilities, estimations etc mentally and I would like my kids do the same. However, my older kid never got hooked to kumon and dropped out of few months, but my younger kid holding on and starting to get bored but wants to keep at it at least until the pre-algebra. It should be noted that kumon isn't really in line with school math, such as word problems and school touches a variety of concepts that kumon doesn't really teach. Having said, kumon does serve a purpose, though not for everyones liking.

Thank you for your honesty. Can you see how doing this is messing with learning things traditionally in school.

Also, there is 0 reason to take geometry over the summer, that needs to stop as well.

Again when you are applying for a job none of this matters, APP doesn't matter, TJ doesn't matter, where you went to college doesn't matter.

The sooner folks on these boards learn how the world actually works the better it is for everyone and we can have an accurate picture of who should be actually going to TJ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Thank you for your honesty. Can you see how doing this is messing with learning things traditionally in school.

Also, there is 0 reason to take geometry over the summer, that needs to stop as well.

Again when you are applying for a job none of this matters, APP doesn't matter, TJ doesn't matter, where you went to college doesn't matter.

The sooner folks on these boards learn how the world actually works the better it is for everyone and we can have an accurate picture of who should be actually going to TJ.

Finally you provide an insight into your thinking through the word "traditionally". That's the way things have always been, so that's the way they should always be? No changes, no progress? And no differences between how you do things and how others do things?

By "how the world actually works" you mean how you think things should be. Sorry to tell you, but not everyone shares your worldview, and thank goodness for that.

Some people see value in AAP, TJ and/or their choice of college for reasons other than what matters when applying for a job. is that OK with you? Some people see reasons to take geometry over the summer and FCPS permits them to do so. Is that OK with you?

As for "an accurate picture of who should be actually going to TJ", you seem to mean those who can succeed based on natural talent with no effort. Of course, you don't really mean that; some effort is OK as long as it's the appropriate kind of effort. And you have named yourself the arbiter of how much effort and which types of effort are permissible (e.g. working hard in school? studying for certain exams?) and which kinds of effort are impermissible (e.g. supplementing what FCPS offers in any way? studying for certain other exams?). Completely arbitrary...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
My objection is the parents (there are quite a few parents like this, but certainly not everyone who has a kid at RSM and Kumon) who do it not because their kid needs the reinforcement or because their kid likes it, but because they want to push their kid ahead for the bragging rights or out of fear that their kid won’t get their piece of the economic pie as an adult. Honest to God, your career is not dependent on whether you took Algebra in 6th grade or even (gasp) 9th grade. It just isn’t. Your kid would be much better off trying a bunch of things and seeing what they like and are good at. You can force math and science but for some kids, it’s downright painful. You can’t bend their strengths and interests to your will as much as you may want to.

My kids attend AoPS. AoPS isn't set up to get kids into Algebra early. I don't think RSM is, either. The AoPS general sequence has Algebra in 7th grade, and that's assuming that the kid does well enough in pre-Algebra in 6th to move up. Kids are not often skipped ahead unless they're already way beyond the AoPS curriculum.

For the most part, FCPS doesn't allow kids to skip ahead, either. They have very specific criteria for Algebra in 6th, and simply being ahead isn't one of them. Most of the kids taking Algebra II in 8th are there due to taking summer Geometry.

Kumon isn't for every kid. For one thing, it is not designed to teach critical thinking. The goal is to learn math concepts and learn to do them very fast. Thats all there is to it. Its monotonous and could be boring for the kids. However, it does serve a purpose. I like kumon because, doing mental math fast and not depending on calculators or paper all the time for simple math or basic algebra is important to me. I didn't do any kumon back then, but I love being able to do lots of math, probabilities, estimations etc mentally and I would like my kids do the same. However, my older kid never got hooked to kumon and dropped out of few months, but my younger kid holding on and starting to get bored but wants to keep at it at least until the pre-algebra. It should be noted that kumon isn't really in line with school math, such as word problems and school touches a variety of concepts that kumon doesn't really teach. Having said, kumon does serve a purpose, though not for everyones liking.

Thank you for your honesty. Can you see how doing this is messing with learning things traditionally in school.

Also, there is 0 reason to take geometry over the summer, that needs to stop as well.

Again when you are applying for a job none of this matters, APP doesn't matter, TJ doesn't matter, where you went to college doesn't matter.

The sooner folks on these boards learn how the world actually works the better it is for everyone and we can have an accurate picture of who should be actually going to TJ.

I don’t think it’s messing with school learning. My younger kid does calculations faster that pretty much every other kid in class except a one or two other and they might be doing kumon too. But it doesn’t mean my kid gets full marks in all the tests all the time and has to lear rest of the concepts just like anyone. But my kid is definitely known for being one of the smartest in class, not just math. I keep telling my kids math is really important in life and you can never get away from it, no matter what career they choose, so it’s better to just get used to it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
My objection is the parents (there are quite a few parents like this, but certainly not everyone who has a kid at RSM and Kumon) who do it not because their kid needs the reinforcement or because their kid likes it, but because they want to push their kid ahead for the bragging rights or out of fear that their kid won’t get their piece of the economic pie as an adult. Honest to God, your career is not dependent on whether you took Algebra in 6th grade or even (gasp) 9th grade. It just isn’t. Your kid would be much better off trying a bunch of things and seeing what they like and are good at. You can force math and science but for some kids, it’s downright painful. You can’t bend their strengths and interests to your will as much as you may want to.

My kids attend AoPS. AoPS isn't set up to get kids into Algebra early. I don't think RSM is, either. The AoPS general sequence has Algebra in 7th grade, and that's assuming that the kid does well enough in pre-Algebra in 6th to move up. Kids are not often skipped ahead unless they're already way beyond the AoPS curriculum.

For the most part, FCPS doesn't allow kids to skip ahead, either. They have very specific criteria for Algebra in 6th, and simply being ahead isn't one of them. Most of the kids taking Algebra II in 8th are there due to taking summer Geometry.

Kumon isn't for every kid. For one thing, it is not designed to teach critical thinking. The goal is to learn math concepts and learn to do them very fast. Thats all there is to it. Its monotonous and could be boring for the kids. However, it does serve a purpose. I like kumon because, doing mental math fast and not depending on calculators or paper all the time for simple math or basic algebra is important to me. I didn't do any kumon back then, but I love being able to do lots of math, probabilities, estimations etc mentally and I would like my kids do the same. However, my older kid never got hooked to kumon and dropped out of few months, but my younger kid holding on and starting to get bored but wants to keep at it at least until the pre-algebra. It should be noted that kumon isn't really in line with school math, such as word problems and school touches a variety of concepts that kumon doesn't really teach. Having said, kumon does serve a purpose, though not for everyones liking.

Thank you for your honesty. Can you see how doing this is messing with learning things traditionally in school.

Also, there is 0 reason to take geometry over the summer, that needs to stop as well.

Again when you are applying for a job none of this matters, APP doesn't matter, TJ doesn't matter, where you went to college doesn't matter.

The sooner folks on these boards learn how the world actually works the better it is for everyone and we can have an accurate picture of who should be actually going to TJ.

Agree. Hate to give up the secret sauce but all of these folks should have their kids learn how to network. That’s how one really gets a job.