Please convince my DH that 99th percentile doesn't mean that much

[Anonymous]

OP, ask him to read nurtureshock by Po Bronson. First chapter deals with gifted children. Basically says that the wippsi test is useless, though most schools require them. Was an interesting read.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, ask him to read nurtureshock by Po Bronson. First chapter deals with gifted children. Basically says that the wippsi test is useless, though most schools require them. Was an interesting read.

That's not an accurate description of Nurtureshock, IMO. My recollection is that Bronson says some studies suggest that WPPSI scores are not stable, especially at young ages, and thus are not well-suited to be the sole measure of G&T issues. I've read some of the underlying articles, and many of them note the limits of WPPSI scores, but none say they're useless.

[Anonymous]

To me the WPPSI and WISC seemed to be more about the environment the kid grew up in. For the WISC, for example, there's a vocabulary section. Very few of the bright kids in my child's public school would do that well. Their parents are not that educated, the home doesn't have tons of reading material, and in some cases they don't speak English n the home. So this test that my child did great on I think is more about just being middle class/upper middle class and exposure to a broad vocabulary range in English. Yes she's bright, OK, but a lot of the kids in her class are too, but they would not score nearly as well. Maybe the test then predicts the future ability to do complicated work, but it really doesn't seem like a level playing field or fair.

[Anonymous]

I think some folks here are mean/jealous. Of course 99% is great. My kid didn't get anything near that but managed to get into a great private as well as an Ivy. Cheers to you that your child did so well OP. Why would people bash such excellence? Makes no sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think some folks here are mean/jealous. Of course 99% is great. My kid didn't get anything near that but managed to get into a great private as well as an Ivy. Cheers to you that your child did so well OP. Why would people bash such excellence? Makes no sense.

Grateful for you to explain how you deduced that folks are jealous. My read is that PPs are just telling OP that 99 percentile scores are excellent, but they do not write a DC's ticket for the private of his or her choice. Don't confuse realism with jealousy.

[Anonymous]

I am not seeing any jealousy in these posts. People are simply confirming OP's sense that a sky-high test score is no guarantee for admission. She sounds grounded and practical to me!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:99 will give your child a second look, but no guarantee. Also, there is a statistically significant difference between children who score 99 and 99.9--the latter being extremely rare anywhere, but 99 being not uncommon in NW DC, parts of MoCo and NoVa.

Here is a thread from urbanbaby that might give you some idea about the prevalence of high scores in a well-educated urban area:

http://www.urbanbaby.com/talk/posts/52316299

I agree with this. OP, if your DC is 99.9% overall, and if DC is okay socially and emotionally, then I think your chances are quite good at getting admitted to at least some competitive privates.

[Anonymous]

My adorable DD was 99.3%, rejected at Sidwell, waitlisted at GDS and Beauvoir. She's in public now and she is not too happy there, specifically asking for more art and music. etc. Apply to a wide range of schools!

[Anonymous]

I do think that when you get scores like that you automatically start dreaming that your dc will be accepted anywhere s/he applies. It's easy to do. And it may well be the case...

But I think you have to try to see your child's entire application - does the WPPSI narrative & playdate & teacher recommendation(s) describe a child ready and eager to learn? Is everyone saying the same great thing about this child? Is the story consistent? Does the family seem 100% on board with this school and a good fit with the culture? There are lots of criteria that do into the overall application.

And even if the answer is a YES!, the next step is to see how many open spots there are for the desired entry year.

[Anonymous]

...go into...

[Anonymous]

Thanks all. I showed him the thread and he is now somewhat convinced that we should not get our hopes up too much! But now he is pointing out that since we are not applying to the "big 3" we are probably still ok!! He may be right. I just really don't want him to be disappointed.
DS is a fantastic kid all around, if I do say so myself!!!

[Anonymous]

OP-- sounds like you have a good handle on this. Just apply to several schools so you have some options. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
OP, if your DC is 99.9% overall, and if DC is okay socially and emotionally, then I think your chances are quite good at getting admitted to at least some competitive privates.

Do you have evidence of this? I think many of us would assume that the schools actually would be less interested in extreme outliers. They don't really want to be dealing with a 1st grader ready for 5th grade math, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
OP, if your DC is 99.9% overall, and if DC is okay socially and emotionally, then I think your chances are quite good at getting admitted to at least some competitive privates.

Do you have evidence of this? I think many of us would assume that the schools actually would be less interested in extreme outliers. They don't really want to be dealing with a 1st grader ready for 5th grade math, right?

WPPSI does not test for academic achievement. Kids who score in the highest percentiles aren't necessarily advanced academically. They tend to have very good vocabularies, good problem solving skills, and are able to follow directions, but they typically do not need to skip grades in particular subject matters.

Also, does OP's kid have 99,9? I thought OP's kid had a 99?

[Anonymous]

OP said 99, not 99.9, which I gather from previous threads on this topic is not that unusual. From what I can tell from previous threads, OP's DC is definitely in the mix for the most competitive schools, but there is no guarantee.