How exactly do children get selected for AAP?

[Anonymous]

How exactly do children get selected for AAP? I know children can get referred and I hear this is common, as are appeals. I hear about the tests they take in first and second grade (NNAT3, CogAT), but then I hear they "aren't important". So what is? Does it vary by pyramid or school? Is it disadvantageous to be at a higher-performing school within a pyramid or within the county? To put in another way, if I wanted my child to have their best shot at getting into AAP, what should I do? I wasn't planning on intensive prepping anyway but is there any value in prepping? And for what tests? What other things might be (more) important?

We haven't settled yet on where DC will go to school for first grade (are renting) and we want to take all of this into account.

[Anonymous]

Nobody knows exactly what the committee is looking for and a lot has changed in the past 2 years. It’s a holistic approach now so it all matters (scores, GBRS, work samples) and students are compared with peers at their local school. In-pool Scores will be higher at higher SES, where parents are known to prep and lower at lower SES schools, where fewer kids are prepped, but anyone can refer and in-pool only gets you a packet made, just like a parent referral would.

I think you’d be insane to rent in a lower performing school just for the purpose of trying to game the system, but nothing surprises me on this forum anymore.

Why do you think your 1st grader needs AAP so badly?

[Anonymous]

buzz words in your packet, test scores, teacher recommendations, make-up of the specific committee/team reviewing your packet and sometimes random darts?

I think if you were in a lower SES school, your DC would standout, and get the teacher recco's but at the detriment of a likely lesser education for 2 years before they segregate. Lower SES = more focus on the lower performers and less attention on kids at class level or higher. Higher SES, you're likely competing with more qualified kids trying to get in and won't stand out. FFX will tell you its the same holistic evaluation, but the real examples of kids excluded vs kids getting in is laughable.

[Anonymous]

It's a bunch of BS, Op.

[Anonymous]

GBRS is huge I heard. Just appeal, I heard almost everyone gets in on appeal. *Heard* is the keyword in both my statements.

NNAT and COGAT of over 136 and a decent GBRS should get you in if you're not in a super high SES area.

If you get looked over first round and you have the 136 scores, just appeal and you'll more than likely get in. Sometimes the committee misses things. I knew of only one person that got in on appeal, but her daughter had scores in the 99th percentile and probably should've been in first round.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nobody knows exactly what the committee is looking for and a lot has changed in the past 2 years. It’s a holistic approach now so it all matters (scores, GBRS, work samples) and students are compared with peers at their local school. In-pool Scores will be higher at higher SES, where parents are known to prep and lower at lower SES schools, where fewer kids are prepped, but anyone can refer and in-pool only gets you a packet made, just like a parent referral would.

I think you’d be insane to rent in a lower performing school just for the purpose of trying to game the system, but nothing surprises me on this forum anymore.

Why do you think your 1st grader needs AAP so badly?

NP. This is such a typical DCUM question and it's a big reason that AAP was removed from the general VA/FCPS Forum (not to provide a private helping-to-get-in forum). Posters just can't help themselves, they have to attack posters regarding AAP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nobody knows exactly what the committee is looking for and a lot has changed in the past 2 years. It’s a holistic approach now so it all matters (scores, GBRS, work samples) and students are compared with peers at their local school. In-pool Scores will be higher at higher SES, where parents are known to prep and lower at lower SES schools, where fewer kids are prepped, but anyone can refer and in-pool only gets you a packet made, just like a parent referral would.

I think you’d be insane to rent in a lower performing school just for the purpose of trying to game the system, but nothing surprises me on this forum anymore.

Why do you think your 1st grader needs AAP so badly?

NP. This is such a typical DCUM question and it's a big reason that AAP was removed from the general VA/FCPS Forum (not to provide a private helping-to-get-in forum). Posters just can't help themselves, they have to attack posters regarding AAP.

I’m the PP and I’m not attacking anyone. My kids are already in AAP so clearly I’m not anti-AAP. A rising 1st grader is young to know whether or not a kid needs AAP. Given the lengths this poster seems to want to go to get their kid in, including moving virtually anywhere in FCPS to game the system for best chances, I do think it’s a reasonable follow-up to to ask why their 6-yr old so desperately needs this program.

[Anonymous]

NNAT/CoGat score get you in the running, and teacher's recommendation is very important.

AAP admission has no fixed percentage, some school has more AAP students than others, they don't have a quota. You should definitely buy in a good pyramid and let everything else to fall in place. Game the system by attending a lower performing school is ... self-defeating.

[Anonymous]

I didn’t prep my kid and felt that it was a mistake in retrospect because when practically everyone else is prepping at the high SES schools, the scores are skewed and your child will be measured against the prepped kids at their particular school (which is how it works nowadays). In theory I’m still against prepping but it’s hard to stick to your principles when everyone else is gaming the system. My kid ended up getting in on appeal.

[Anonymous]

OP, of course AAP is going to be be harder to get into at certain high SES schools, because the average kid there is so much more prepared and so the average classroom is also much more advanced. AAP represents enrichment beyond what is possible with the average classroom/cohort. We are at Churchill Rd and the average Cogat/scores for example to get into AAP feels higher than higher than some of the other schools (anecdotal) but that’s fine because that means the average curriculum/classroom is also more advanced! Buying a home in a lower performing school district seems insane for this reason.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Higher SES, you're likely competing with more qualified kids trying to get in and won't stand out. FFX will tell you its the same holistic evaluation, but the real examples of kids excluded vs kids getting in is laughable.

You're saying that kids that many kids who get excluded should get in but don't because they don't stand out against their peers (at a higher SES school)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do you think your 1st grader needs AAP so badly?

Why do so many people on this forum (and beyond) want to get in?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nobody knows exactly what the committee is looking for and a lot has changed in the past 2 years. It’s a holistic approach now so it all matters (scores, GBRS, work samples) and students are compared with peers at their local school. In-pool Scores will be higher at higher SES, where parents are known to prep and lower at lower SES schools, where fewer kids are prepped, but anyone can refer and in-pool only gets you a packet made, just like a parent referral would.

I think you’d be insane to rent in a lower performing school just for the purpose of trying to game the system, but nothing surprises me on this forum anymore.

Why do you think your 1st grader needs AAP so badly?

NP. This is such a typical DCUM question and it's a big reason that AAP was removed from the general VA/FCPS Forum (not to provide a private helping-to-get-in forum). Posters just can't help themselves, they have to attack posters regarding AAP.

I’m the PP and I’m not attacking anyone. My kids are already in AAP so clearly I’m not anti-AAP. A rising 1st grader is young to know whether or not a kid needs AAP. Given the lengths this poster seems to want to go to get their kid in, including moving virtually anywhere in FCPS to game the system for best chances, I do think it’s a reasonable follow-up to to ask why their 6-yr old so desperately needs this program.

I am the OP and personally I don't think your q is reasonable. It's none of your business why I want my child in AAP or why I think they belong there. And to clarify, I'm not looking to move into a low performing school in order to get into AAP. I am just curious and asking questions in order to better understand how it all works.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NNAT/CoGat score get you in the running, and teacher's recommendation is very important.

AAP admission has no fixed percentage, some school has more AAP students than others, they don't have a quota. You should definitely buy in a good pyramid and let everything else to fall in place. Game the system by attending a lower performing school is ... self-defeating.

OP here. Thanks. This is what we're hoping to do. Wasn't so much looking to game the system by going to a lower performing school but trying to consider all variables in a still-crazy housing market. We might not be able to buy in the neighborhood that would get DC in the center elementary we like.

Do parents still submit work samples if referring?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, of course AAP is going to be be harder to get into at certain high SES schools, because the average kid there is so much more prepared and so the average classroom is also much more advanced. AAP represents enrichment beyond what is possible with the average classroom/cohort. We are at Churchill Rd and the average Cogat/scores for example to get into AAP feels higher than higher than some of the other schools (anecdotal) but that’s fine because that means the average curriculum/classroom is also more advanced! Buying a home in a lower performing school district seems insane for this reason.

I see people lamenting that it's harder to get in at a very high SES school. Why do people want their kids in AAP at these schools if they are providing ample enrichment in the non-AAP classrooms?