prep for Hunter college elementary?

[Anonymous]

Hi all. I am new to NYC and my child is eligible to apply to Hunter elementary this fall. From what I hear, people prep their children even though technically it is not allowed. Any tips? Thank you.

[Anonymous]

I would read Karen Quinn's Testing for Kindergarten.

[Anonymous]

No prep for Hunter elementary. If your child is actually gifted they don't need prep! Hunter (high school) parent.

[Anonymous]

The way I saw a consultant put it, she knew no one who got in without doing some prep. There are ways to do prep that isn't formal or systematic- buy the books, slip them in to other play- all I can tell you is, it worked for us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The way I saw a consultant put it, she knew no one who got in without doing some prep. There are ways to do prep that isn't formal or systematic- buy the books, slip them in to other play- all I can tell you is, it worked for us.

Thank you. Do you like Hunter for your child so far?

[Anonymous]

We arent there yet.

[Anonymous]

HCES discourages test prep. In the past parents were told that if it was obvious that a child had received prep that they would be disqualified. However, that doesn't stop parents from having their child assessed and then using the results to prep their child for the HCES test. A family from our nursery school did that and their child got in. I think it's unethical, but that's me. That said, now that the DOE ruined G&T by eliminating the G&T test, HCES is the only free school that screens for K. It's unfair that HCES still screens while the DOE no longer does for all intents and purposes. I hope this situation will be rectified one of these days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No prep for Hunter elementary. If your child is actually gifted they don't need prep! Hunter (high school) parent.

Please, that's not true. My child with an IEP bombed the Hunter test, but then scored 99% on the G&T test and thrived at a citywide. Hunter is a certain test for a certain kind of child. I'm so glad the DOE was offering the G&T test then, because we were able to get the perfect fit for my child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:HCES discourages test prep. In the past parents were told that if it was obvious that a child had received prep that they would be disqualified. However, that doesn't stop parents from having their child assessed and then using the results to prep their child for the HCES test. A family from our nursery school did that and their child got in. I think it's unethical, but that's me. That said, now that the DOE ruined G&T by eliminating the G&T test, HCES is the only free school that screens for K. It's unfair that HCES still screens while the DOE no longer does for all intents and purposes. I hope this situation will be rectified one of these days.

What does that mean, the parents had the child assessed? Like they went to a tester ahead of time and had the child do the Stanford Binet?

[Anonymous]

There are more qualified students than available seats. You will want to apply broadly and have a safety school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HCES discourages test prep. In the past parents were told that if it was obvious that a child had received prep that they would be disqualified. However, that doesn't stop parents from having their child assessed and then using the results to prep their child for the HCES test. A family from our nursery school did that and their child got in. I think it's unethical, but that's me. That said, now that the DOE ruined G&T by eliminating the G&T test, HCES is the only free school that screens for K. It's unfair that HCES still screens while the DOE no longer does for all intents and purposes. I hope this situation will be rectified one of these days.

What does that mean, the parents had the child assessed? Like they went to a tester ahead of time and had the child do the Stanford Binet?

Yes, exactly.

[Anonymous]

We didn’t prep my son at all before the first-round assessment. Back then, we didn’t know anyone attending the school and were new to the neighborhood. We only applied because a realtor friend suggested it—we didn’t even know the school existed, as we didn’t grow up here. It never really crossed our minds to do any extra prep for round one, especially after reading on the school’s webpage that prepping was strongly discouraged.

Personally, I’m in favor of no-prepping. Prepping doesn’t guarantee a pass and might make a no-pass decision feel even more bitter. But that’s just my perspective. Looking back, I feel the best decision I made was not trying to dig up any additional info or intel about the test beyond what the school shared on their website. We approached both rounds of assessments with almost no expectations, and honestly, I think that was better for my sanity anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We didn’t prep my son at all before the first-round assessment. Back then, we didn’t know anyone attending the school and were new to the neighborhood. We only applied because a realtor friend suggested it—we didn’t even know the school existed, as we didn’t grow up here. It never really crossed our minds to do any extra prep for round one, especially after reading on the school’s webpage that prepping was strongly discouraged.

Personally, I’m in favor of no-prepping. Prepping doesn’t guarantee a pass and might make a no-pass decision feel even more bitter. But that’s just my perspective. Looking back, I feel the best decision I made was not trying to dig up any additional info or intel about the test beyond what the school shared on their website. We approached both rounds of assessments with almost no expectations, and honestly, I think that was better for my sanity anyway.

That makes a lot of sense. Is there anything you can share about the round 2 experience?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:hat makes a lot of sense. Is there anything you can share about the round 2 experience?

Sorry for my late reply—I don’t visit here regularly...

Maybe just make sure the kids are happy, healthy, and get plenty of sleep the night before. Also, remind them that they’ll see many new faces during the 'play date,' so they can be mentally prepared.

As parents, we really have no control over how kids will react on site, and it’s almost impossible to ask kids to ‘act’ differently from how they usually are. I don’t think HCES is looking for one specific type of child. In fact, I once heard that they aim to select a group of kids who represent a very diverse set of characteristics. To me, this aligns with the experimental nature of how HCES initially approached gifted education.

If that’s the case, then parents should expect their kids to simply show their “real” selves. Even though all the kids who move into the second round are intellectually qualified, they can still be very different and unique—it’s not about fitting into one specific mold.

Just my two cents.

[Anonymous]

Admission is also possible in 7 th grade just in case