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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If there are kids who declined AOS/AET because they got in TJ, this will be a disaster for them.

How is it a "disaster"? They can verify that they indeed qualify for FARMS (as they stated on their application), and they will remain at TJ.

Because there will be students who are unadmitted from TJ as a result of this fiasco, and people make important life decisions on the basis of information such as admissions decisions.

The TJ admissions office apparently counseled applicants that they could answer yes because everyone was receiving free meals during the pandemic. Even those who didn't obtain such counsel may reasonably have believed that answering yes was honest and truthful regardless of their economic circumstances. As such, it is unfair to claim that everyone who answered yes is a liar or a cheater.

If the point of the question was to ask whether one would have been eligible for free meals even if the pandemic policy was not in place, they should have carefully asked the right question. They instead used an old application (it also asked about teacher recommendations and made reference to semifinalists, both of which are vestiges of the old admissions process) and failed to update it in light of the new admissions process or the pandemic policies.

Having failed to ask the right questions, they should not have automatically awarded FRM points to anyone who checked yes without confirming FRM status. They could have asked for verification of FRM status back in October or November.

And no matter what else they screwed up, surely they should have sorted this all out *before* issuing admissions decisions (and a press release touting the FRM numbers)!

It is blatantly obvious that the purpose of the question is to identify low income kids. You can dance around the meaning of what "is" is, but you knew you were attempting to gain an unfair advantage.

+1

This is clear to anyone not trying to game the system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If there are kids who declined AOS/AET because they got in TJ, this will be a disaster for them.

How is it a "disaster"? They can verify that they indeed qualify for FARMS (as they stated on their application), and they will remain at TJ.

Because there will be students who are unadmitted from TJ as a result of this fiasco, and people make important life decisions on the basis of information such as admissions decisions.

The TJ admissions office apparently counseled applicants that they could answer yes because everyone was receiving free meals during the pandemic. Even those who didn't obtain such counsel may reasonably have believed that answering yes was honest and truthful regardless of their economic circumstances. As such, it is unfair to claim that everyone who answered yes is a liar or a cheater.

If the point of the question was to ask whether one would have been eligible for free meals even if the pandemic policy was not in place, they should have carefully asked the right question. They instead used an old application (it also asked about teacher recommendations and made reference to semifinalists, both of which are vestiges of the old admissions process) and failed to update it in light of the new admissions process or the pandemic policies.

Having failed to ask the right questions, they should not have automatically awarded FRM points to anyone who checked yes without confirming FRM status. They could have asked for verification of FRM status back in October or November.

And no matter what else they screwed up, surely they should have sorted this all out *before* issuing admissions decisions (and a press release touting the FRM numbers)!

I agree, but it will certainly be amusing seeing how many of the 33% FARMS admissions numbers were cheaters. I wouldn't be surprised if the majority of kids admitted from Carson and Longfellow were only admitted due to the 90 extra points, and will lose admission offers if and when they verify FARMS eligibility. I also wouldn't be surprised to see the final FARMS numbers in the 5-10% range.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know many points was saying yes to FARMS worth?

90 points

How many total possible points?

Not sure what it means? I think they just added 90 points to total

How many points were the other components worth? GPA. Essays etc

300 GPA, 300 SPS, 300 Math/Science test. up to 225 additional experience points of which meals was 90.

Stop lying on these threads. GPA is only worth 37.5 points, with a minimum possible value of 262.5 through a maximum of 300. The meals bonus was worth over twice as many points as the entire span from a 3.5 GPA through a 4.0.

Huh?

According to the rubric that was made public as part of discovery during the ongoing lawsuit, the score for GPA is 75 * GPA.

Since there is a 3.5 minimum GPA required to be eligible to apply and a 4.0 maximum GPA based on how it was calculated for the purposes of the application, every student will have. GPA score between 262.5 and 300.

As such, the maximum difference in terms of GPA between any two applicants is 300 - 262.5 = 37.5.

To say that GPA is worth 300 points, while strictly true, is misleading, since every applicant earns at least 362.5 of those points.

Since the experience factors are worth either 45 or 90 points each, that means that a 3.5 GPA combined with any experience factor outweighs a 4.0 GPA with no experience factors. In other words, the experience factors are extremely valuable.

Not that valuable. Only 12% of total possible score.

Almost irrelevant since almost everyone accepted had 4.0.

The high-point components of the application are:
300 for the SPS
300 for the math/science essay

They comprise the vast majority of the applicant’s score. If a kid didn’t get in, they probably didn’t write an exceptional essay or portrait.

The total possible score is irrelevant and you're being intentionally misleading.

Consider two hypothetical students
Student A: 4.0 GPA, 4.5 on both essays, no experience factors: 840 points
Student B: 3.61 GPA, 4 on both essays, FRM: 840.75 points
In this hypothetical case, FRM makes up for a much weaker GPA *and* lower scores on both essays. In other words, Student A outscores Student B fairly significantly on all 3 core areas of the application but still loses out to Student B due to Student B's experience factor.

Even worse, consider these two:
Student C: 4.0 GPA, 5 on both essays, no experience factors: 900 points
Student D: 3.9 GPA, 4.5 on both essays, FRM: 922.5 points
Student E: 3.8 GPA, 4 on one essay and 4.5 on the other essay, FRM: 885 points

Student C effectively has a perfect application - it can't be improved in any of the 3 core areas - but still loses out to Student D by a considerable margin and nearly loses out to Student E as well.

What should Student C's parents tell their child?

+1. Even worse. Let's say your hypothetical student A and student C are both taking Honors Algebra II in 8th grade, with straight As for all of their high school level math classes. Also, both are in AAP classes in all core subjects. Students B, D, and E are taking Honors Algebra I in 8th, and they're taking one regular level class among Science, History, or English. The point totals would still all be exactly the same, since the kids aren't rewarded in any way for taking more advanced courses.

Wouldn’t all bright TJ kids get straight As?

The average GPA for admitted kids was very high.

Very few kids had <4.0.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If there are kids who declined AOS/AET because they got in TJ, this will be a disaster for them.

How is it a "disaster"? They can verify that they indeed qualify for FARMS (as they stated on their application), and they will remain at TJ.

Because there will be students who are unadmitted from TJ as a result of this fiasco, and people make important life decisions on the basis of information such as admissions decisions.

The TJ admissions office apparently counseled applicants that they could answer yes because everyone was receiving free meals during the pandemic. Even those who didn't obtain such counsel may reasonably have believed that answering yes was honest and truthful regardless of their economic circumstances. As such, it is unfair to claim that everyone who answered yes is a liar or a cheater.

If the point of the question was to ask whether one would have been eligible for free meals even if the pandemic policy was not in place, they should have carefully asked the right question. They instead used an old application (it also asked about teacher recommendations and made reference to semifinalists, both of which are vestiges of the old admissions process) and failed to update it in light of the new admissions process or the pandemic policies.

Having failed to ask the right questions, they should not have automatically awarded FRM points to anyone who checked yes without confirming FRM status. They could have asked for verification of FRM status back in October or November.

And no matter what else they screwed up, surely they should have sorted this all out *before* issuing admissions decisions (and a press release touting the FRM numbers)!

I agree, but it will certainly be amusing seeing how many of the 33% FARMS admissions numbers were cheaters. I wouldn't be surprised if the majority of kids admitted from Carson and Longfellow were only admitted due to the 90 extra points, and will lose admission offers if and when they verify FARMS eligibility. I also wouldn't be surprised to see the final FARMS numbers in the 5-10% range.

It might be close to the 2025 numbers.

For the 2025 application, kids weren’t in school to claim they were getting free lunches - aside from the kids who actually did go to pick up lunches.

This is unique to 2026.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know many points was saying yes to FARMS worth?

90 points

How many total possible points?

Not sure what it means? I think they just added 90 points to total

How many points were the other components worth? GPA. Essays etc

300 GPA, 300 SPS, 300 Math/Science test. up to 225 additional experience points of which meals was 90.

Stop lying on these threads. GPA is only worth 37.5 points, with a minimum possible value of 262.5 through a maximum of 300. The meals bonus was worth over twice as many points as the entire span from a 3.5 GPA through a 4.0.

Huh?

According to the rubric that was made public as part of discovery during the ongoing lawsuit, the score for GPA is 75 * GPA.

Since there is a 3.5 minimum GPA required to be eligible to apply and a 4.0 maximum GPA based on how it was calculated for the purposes of the application, every student will have. GPA score between 262.5 and 300.

As such, the maximum difference in terms of GPA between any two applicants is 300 - 262.5 = 37.5.

To say that GPA is worth 300 points, while strictly true, is misleading, since every applicant earns at least 362.5 of those points.

Since the experience factors are worth either 45 or 90 points each, that means that a 3.5 GPA combined with any experience factor outweighs a 4.0 GPA with no experience factors. In other words, the experience factors are extremely valuable.

Not that valuable. Only 12% of total possible score.

Almost irrelevant since almost everyone accepted had 4.0.

The high-point components of the application are:
300 for the SPS
300 for the math/science essay

They comprise the vast majority of the applicant’s score. If a kid didn’t get in, they probably didn’t write an exceptional essay or portrait.

The total possible score is irrelevant and you're being intentionally misleading.

Consider two hypothetical students
Student A: 4.0 GPA, 4.5 on both essays, no experience factors: 840 points
Student B: 3.61 GPA, 4 on both essays, FRM: 840.75 points
In this hypothetical case, FRM makes up for a much weaker GPA *and* lower scores on both essays. In other words, Student A outscores Student B fairly significantly on all 3 core areas of the application but still loses out to Student B due to Student B's experience factor.

Even worse, consider these two:
Student C: 4.0 GPA, 5 on both essays, no experience factors: 900 points
Student D: 3.9 GPA, 4.5 on both essays, FRM: 922.5 points
Student E: 3.8 GPA, 4 on one essay and 4.5 on the other essay, FRM: 885 points

Student C effectively has a perfect application - it can't be improved in any of the 3 core areas - but still loses out to Student D by a considerable margin and nearly loses out to Student E as well.

What should Student C's parents tell their child?

Only 33% ED got in (maybe even fewer after they eliminate cheaters) which still leaves 66% non-ED. Plenty of seats for the exceptional 5.0 + 5.0 kids.

The kids who didn’t get in had less-than-exceptional essays/portraits.

[Anonymous]

By definition, the majority of the essays/portraits would be “typical” if they normalized scores. Very small % would be “exceptional”.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If there are kids who declined AOS/AET because they got in TJ, this will be a disaster for them.

How is it a "disaster"? They can verify that they indeed qualify for FARMS (as they stated on their application), and they will remain at TJ.

Because there will be students who are unadmitted from TJ as a result of this fiasco, and people make important life decisions on the basis of information such as admissions decisions.

The TJ admissions office apparently counseled applicants that they could answer yes because everyone was receiving free meals during the pandemic. Even those who didn't obtain such counsel may reasonably have believed that answering yes was honest and truthful regardless of their economic circumstances. As such, it is unfair to claim that everyone who answered yes is a liar or a cheater.

If the point of the question was to ask whether one would have been eligible for free meals even if the pandemic policy was not in place, they should have carefully asked the right question. They instead used an old application (it also asked about teacher recommendations and made reference to semifinalists, both of which are vestiges of the old admissions process) and failed to update it in light of the new admissions process or the pandemic policies.

Having failed to ask the right questions, they should not have automatically awarded FRM points to anyone who checked yes without confirming FRM status. They could have asked for verification of FRM status back in October or November.

And no matter what else they screwed up, surely they should have sorted this all out *before* issuing admissions decisions (and a press release touting the FRM numbers)!

ONLY if the bolded is true should anyone be given any latitude here. However, I won't believe it's true until someone posts written evidence because it seems like a wild rumor.

[Anonymous]

By now it should be obvious that TJ has become a sh*t show. Why anyone would want to go there any longer is a mystery - the admissions process is a sham; the student body no longer is composed largely of the kids with the most STEM aptitude; and the environment is consistently toxic, whether it's allegations of test or essay prepping, misrepresenting one's income status (intentionally or otherwise), or constant litigation over who "belongs" at the school.

I suppose that, if your alternative is Mount Vernon or Lewis, you might stick it out to avoid those schools, but otherwise stick a fork in it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:By definition, the majority of the essays/portraits would be “typical” if they normalized scores. Very small % would be “exceptional”.

Why would you assume that they would normalize scores? "Typical" might refer to what they'd expect a completely average 8th grader to produce, and thus most TJ applicants would be well above that level. Without actual data on the admissions cutoffs and the mean and standard deviation for each category, we're all just speculating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If there are kids who declined AOS/AET because they got in TJ, this will be a disaster for them.

How is it a "disaster"? They can verify that they indeed qualify for FARMS (as they stated on their application), and they will remain at TJ.

Because there will be students who are unadmitted from TJ as a result of this fiasco, and people make important life decisions on the basis of information such as admissions decisions.

The TJ admissions office apparently counseled applicants that they could answer yes because everyone was receiving free meals during the pandemic. Even those who didn't obtain such counsel may reasonably have believed that answering yes was honest and truthful regardless of their economic circumstances. As such, it is unfair to claim that everyone who answered yes is a liar or a cheater.

If the point of the question was to ask whether one would have been eligible for free meals even if the pandemic policy was not in place, they should have carefully asked the right question. They instead used an old application (it also asked about teacher recommendations and made reference to semifinalists, both of which are vestiges of the old admissions process) and failed to update it in light of the new admissions process or the pandemic policies.

Having failed to ask the right questions, they should not have automatically awarded FRM points to anyone who checked yes without confirming FRM status. They could have asked for verification of FRM status back in October or November.

And no matter what else they screwed up, surely they should have sorted this all out *before* issuing admissions decisions (and a press release touting the FRM numbers)!

ONLY if the bolded is true should anyone be given any latitude here. However, I won't believe it's true until someone posts written evidence because it seems like a wild rumor.

Even if it's not true, the question was poorly asked, and could have honestly been answered yes by applicants with no ill intentions. And either way, the fact that they're having to clean up the mess at this stage of the process is an embarrassment. They could have asked the question more clearly, issued clarifications long ago, collected documentation and conducted verification before rather than after issuing decisions.

Prediction: there won't be a follow-up press release announcing that any of this happened or that the FARMS number went down significantly (which it inevitably will).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:By now it should be obvious that TJ has become a sh*t show. Why anyone would want to go there any longer is a mystery - the admissions process is a sham; the student body no longer is composed largely of the kids with the most STEM aptitude; and the environment is consistently toxic, whether it's allegations of test or essay prepping, misrepresenting one's income status (intentionally or otherwise), or constant litigation over who "belongs" at the school.

I suppose that, if your alternative is Mount Vernon or Lewis, you might stick it out to avoid those schools, but otherwise stick a fork in it.

The kids are all well-qualified even if they haven’t all been prepping for tests since 2nd grade.

And the admissions group has nothing to do with the operation of the school.

Fake hysteria.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:By definition, the majority of the essays/portraits would be “typical” if they normalized scores. Very small % would be “exceptional”.

Why would you assume that they would normalize scores? "Typical" might refer to what they'd expect a completely average 8th grader to produce, and thus most TJ applicants would be well above that level. Without actual data on the admissions cutoffs and the mean and standard deviation for each category, we're all just speculating.

I would assume “typical” of an applicant. We do need more info to draw a conclusion.

[Anonymous]

When was the FARMS documentation requested? Today???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:By now it should be obvious that TJ has become a sh*t show. Why anyone would want to go there any longer is a mystery - the admissions process is a sham; the student body no longer is composed largely of the kids with the most STEM aptitude; and the environment is consistently toxic, whether it's allegations of test or essay prepping, misrepresenting one's income status (intentionally or otherwise), or constant litigation over who "belongs" at the school.

I suppose that, if your alternative is Mount Vernon or Lewis, you might stick it out to avoid those schools, but otherwise stick a fork in it.

The kids are all well-qualified even if they haven’t all been prepping for tests since 2nd grade.

And the admissions group has nothing to do with the operation of the school.

Fake hysteria.

One misstep after another. Congratulations on the contributions you undoubtedly made to TJ turning into the laughing-stock it's fast becoming.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:By now it should be obvious that TJ has become a sh*t show. Why anyone would want to go there any longer is a mystery - the admissions process is a sham; the student body no longer is composed largely of the kids with the most STEM aptitude; and the environment is consistently toxic, whether it's allegations of test or essay prepping, misrepresenting one's income status (intentionally or otherwise), or constant litigation over who "belongs" at the school.

I suppose that, if your alternative is Mount Vernon or Lewis, you might stick it out to avoid those schools, but otherwise stick a fork in it.

The kids are all well-qualified even if they haven’t all been prepping for tests since 2nd grade.

And the admissions group has nothing to do with the operation of the school.

Fake hysteria.

One misstep after another. Congratulations on the contributions you undoubtedly made to TJ turning into the laughing-stock it's fast becoming.

I’m a parent with a kid who applied this year. No connection to TJ/FCPS admissions/administration.

TJ will be just fine.

And you will go on hating smart kids who happen to grow up ED. Gross.