AAP consultant

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This name keeps popping up in this forum. Is this self advertising?

I doubt it, I think a lot of people have just used her. I'm a NP to this thread, and I did. She was also recommended to a friend of mine by someone else.
Part of the reason I used her was because she was so good at writing back immediately when I contacted her.

[Anonymous]

So, there's a school that "preps" kids for AAP - Learningfun.com. It's a place where young kids go to take classes in critical thinking, etc for parents to become more aware of their kids' capabilities versus actually doing tests in the COGAT/NNAT format. The expectation of most parents is obviously to get their kids into AAP.

The founder of this school Dr. Aditi Vij is very knowledgeable with the AAP program and the associated processes. Ping her to see if she can help in any way.

[Anonymous]

NP. I'm somewhat surprised there aren't people who do this professionally in Fairfax Co. I know there are plenty of test prep centers, but I don't get the impression they coach families individually about how to fill out referral forms or select the "right" work samples. We've never used one of those places, so someone can correct me if I'm mistaken. It would probably be a goldmine if a former AART and former AAP teachers wanted to start such a business. I DO think there are a lot of parents who have successfully navigated the process and they share their insights with other parents, which may or may not explain why certain neighborhoods have dozens of kids who attend a center school and others have <5.

That said, I suspect there's a lower limit on test scores (NNAT, CogAt, WISC). It seems like a student needs scores reasonably close to the cutoff to be considered, or at least a history of stellar report cards and very very high GBRS. There's probably no chance of a kid with test scores close to average and a low GBRS getting in, regardless of how much money parents paid a consultant. Maaaybe if their parents have a serious connection in the school system, but I wouldn't even bet on that.

[Anonymous]

I will help you. I have 3 kids - all is n AAP since 3rd grade. Appealed for 2 of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Diana Dahlgren for a WISC and at follow up meeting she will provide some guidance on the application, but not reading work samples or anything. You are way overthinking this. It’s primarily going to be test scores and GBRS that’s looked at in the process.

Go to George Mason for the WISC. Someone posted last year that their child didn't get in with very high scores from Dahlgren.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP. I'm somewhat surprised there aren't people who do this professionally in Fairfax Co. I know there are plenty of test prep centers, but I don't get the impression they coach families individually about how to fill out referral forms or select the "right" work samples. We've never used one of those places, so someone can correct me if I'm mistaken. It would probably be a goldmine if a former AART and former AAP teachers wanted to start such a business. I DO think there are a lot of parents who have successfully navigated the process and they share their insights with other parents, which may or may not explain why certain neighborhoods have dozens of kids who attend a center school and others have <5.

That said, I suspect there's a lower limit on test scores (NNAT, CogAt, WISC). It seems like a student needs scores reasonably close to the cutoff to be considered, or at least a history of stellar report cards and very very high GBRS. There's probably no chance of a kid with test scores close to average and a low GBRS getting in, regardless of how much money parents paid a consultant. Maaaybe if their parents have a serious connection in the school system, but I wouldn't even bet on that.

Why would you be surprised? The most important factors are test scores and GBRS, which a consultant has no control over. Everything you need to know is on the website or this forum. Also, since the consultant couldn't guarantee eligibility, there might be a lot of angry clients.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. I'm somewhat surprised there aren't people who do this professionally in Fairfax Co. I know there are plenty of test prep centers, but I don't get the impression they coach families individually about how to fill out referral forms or select the "right" work samples. We've never used one of those places, so someone can correct me if I'm mistaken. It would probably be a goldmine if a former AART and former AAP teachers wanted to start such a business. I DO think there are a lot of parents who have successfully navigated the process and they share their insights with other parents, which may or may not explain why certain neighborhoods have dozens of kids who attend a center school and others have <5.

That said, I suspect there's a lower limit on test scores (NNAT, CogAt, WISC). It seems like a student needs scores reasonably close to the cutoff to be considered, or at least a history of stellar report cards and very very high GBRS. There's probably no chance of a kid with test scores close to average and a low GBRS getting in, regardless of how much money parents paid a consultant. Maaaybe if their parents have a serious connection in the school system, but I wouldn't even bet on that.

Why would you be surprised? The most important factors are test scores and GBRS, which a consultant has no control over. Everything you need to know is on the website or this forum. Also, since the consultant couldn't guarantee eligibility, there might be a lot of angry clients.

A consultant who knows the system could definitely evaluate various prepping methods and point parents toward the best ones. He/she could also assist with selecting work samples and filling out the parent referral forms and questionnaire. And, they'd know which psychologists are familiar with the process and willing to go the extra step and write recommendation letters (or pay to play, which probably also exists). Of course they couldn't guarantee eligibility, but if they established a strong track record of helping with borderline cases or getting kids in on appeal, they'd probably be able to get a lot of business.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. I'm somewhat surprised there aren't people who do this professionally in Fairfax Co. I know there are plenty of test prep centers, but I don't get the impression they coach families individually about how to fill out referral forms or select the "right" work samples. We've never used one of those places, so someone can correct me if I'm mistaken. It would probably be a goldmine if a former AART and former AAP teachers wanted to start such a business. I DO think there are a lot of parents who have successfully navigated the process and they share their insights with other parents, which may or may not explain why certain neighborhoods have dozens of kids who attend a center school and others have <5.

That said, I suspect there's a lower limit on test scores (NNAT, CogAt, WISC). It seems like a student needs scores reasonably close to the cutoff to be considered, or at least a history of stellar report cards and very very high GBRS. There's probably no chance of a kid with test scores close to average and a low GBRS getting in, regardless of how much money parents paid a consultant. Maaaybe if their parents have a serious connection in the school system, but I wouldn't even bet on that.

Why would you be surprised? The most important factors are test scores and GBRS, which a consultant has no control over. Everything you need to know is on the website or this forum. Also, since the consultant couldn't guarantee eligibility, there might be a lot of angry clients.

A consultant who knows the system could definitely evaluate various prepping methods and point parents toward the best ones. He/she could also assist with selecting work samples and filling out the parent referral forms and questionnaire. And, they'd know which psychologists are familiar with the process and willing to go the extra step and write recommendation letters (or pay to play, which probably also exists). Of course they couldn't guarantee eligibility, but if they established a strong track record of helping with borderline cases or getting kids in on appeal, they'd probably be able to get a lot of business.

The only work samples that are taken seriously are the school ones. As far as pay to play, I'm sure FCPS would figure out which psychologists did this and discount anything submitted with their names on it. I think they sent a letter out warning about this a few years back to psychologists because they were seeing a pattern of this. If you want advice about prepping methods, find a nice Asian mom and get her advice. There are Asian prep centers that have good results. OP could also just get workbooks off of amazon and prep her kid herself. You'd get better results doing that and telling you kid to make sure to participated in class so the teacher notices them than paying a consultant who really won't tell you any more than this. Forgot to mention, don't be shy about appealing. Schedule WISC for right after eligibility letters are scheduled to come out and cancel if your DC gets in.

[Anonymous]

We used Dr. Dahlgren. She was great!

[Anonymous]

My kids are not that smart and got into AAP without much effort. Getting in is like aiming for your town's lowest travel team. It just isn't that hard if your kid has some ability.

[Anonymous]

A good consultant isn't going to get an average kid into AAP, but probably could help push borderline kids in. I'm sure there's a certain art in presenting a kid with a 120 CogAT in such a way that the kid appears to "need AAP." If people started earlier with the consultants and prep, in addition to raising test scores, they also could coach kids in how to raise their hands more in class, turn in neater work, produce better writing samples, etc.

[Anonymous]

If you need a consultant to get your kid into AAP, they probably don't belong there. It's not a G&T program, and a consultant can't help with test scores or GBRS. The rest of it only matters if your kid is on the bubble.

If you're going to waste your money like this, put it away for private school or spend it on test prep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids are not that smart and got into AAP without much effort. Getting in is like aiming for your town's lowest travel team. It just isn't that hard if your kid has some ability.

+1