AAP Results and Discussion 2025

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Top athletes are being "prepped" as well. By top, I mean the very best in any league in any sport in our area. They have parents who played D1, D2, or D3 and spend time with their kids perfecting the sport, working on them from a very young age. Some can even afford to get trainers for additional workouts....It's the same game, people. Just the sport happens to be academia. So stop complaining.

Prepping for an aptitude test makes the tests unreliable. When kids who are gifted are losing out on gifted education because other kids are being prepped, parents have the right to complain, just like you do.

HA! So then prepping for a tryout makes the tryout unreliable?? When kids that are athletic are losing out on spots at top teams in the DMV because John was prepared/conditioned to excel from an early age, how many parents' complain? NONE.

Because oh John is just "naturally talented".

Giftedness is a type of neurodivergence. There are supposed to be gifted education classes to meet the needs of gifted kids. FCPS essentially provides advanced classes, not gifted education support— in part because of all this prepping. Bless you if you do not need to understand the difference.

Oh, so you don't like the parallel between prepping for an academic test and prepping for sports? And therefore, you are making this about "giftedness" and what "FCPS provides." You have the choice of completely opting out of all tests if you do not like the format or offerings. But here you are, complaining on an AAP forum about the "advanced support" that kids receive because parents are "prepping" and how that's diluting the service offerings and keeping gifted kids from getting in.

My point is simple, its preparing to excel at something else. It isn't all that different. Namaste!

You are rationalizing unethical behavior. It's ok to get a book and review a couple of tests to make sure the kid is not making silly errors from not having encountered such a format before, but to attend multi-week classes or force your kid to complete 10+ tests so that you can game the score... well, you know why it's not all about the scores. Because no one thinks that getting a 160 via that path is meaningful.

I'm glad I didn't go that route (I would have felt guilty and bad for my kid). My kid's scores were not out of this world but were good enough and meant something.

And going back to your sports analogy, no one likes athletes who cheat and you are talking about cheating.

No, I am not referring to D1 parents coaching their kids from a very young age, or getting trainers as cheating. I am absolutely not! You are missing the point. People prep their kids. My issue is the hate when people make a big stink with academic "prepping" and call it "unethical". You are "prepping" your kid because you can and want to for whatever reason. Be it sports, be it school tests. Its your decision.

Parents are spending thousands on trainers, league fees, sports travel which is giving their kids a head start. That is their PRIORITY. And guess what, my child as a result, is losing spot on a nationally recognized baseball team. BUT I live with that decision. I take my time and $$ and spend on education. Why the bitterness??

You are ridiculous and trying to blur the line between prepping and actually cheating. I'm sorry that you don't understand the difference (or pretend not to in order to spare yourself the shame).

Prepping tests/competitions is not cheating, only those parents don't have the ability to prep their kids would complain those prepping their kids. even if a kid is supper smart, and the parents not doing any prepping for math contest/competition, that kid won't do well in those contest/competition.

Actually, my super smart kid made honor roll in AMC 8 with absolutely no prep. Now, that’s a competition where kids are expected to prep, but it is possible to do well w/o doing so.

Cogat is not a test for which students are supposed to prep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Top athletes are being "prepped" as well. By top, I mean the very best in any league in any sport in our area. They have parents who played D1, D2, or D3 and spend time with their kids perfecting the sport, working on them from a very young age. Some can even afford to get trainers for additional workouts....It's the same game, people. Just the sport happens to be academia. So stop complaining.

Prepping for an aptitude test makes the tests unreliable. When kids who are gifted are losing out on gifted education because other kids are being prepped, parents have the right to complain, just like you do.

HA! So then prepping for a tryout makes the tryout unreliable?? When kids that are athletic are losing out on spots at top teams in the DMV because John was prepared/conditioned to excel from an early age, how many parents' complain? NONE.

Because oh John is just "naturally talented".

Giftedness is a type of neurodivergence. There are supposed to be gifted education classes to meet the needs of gifted kids. FCPS essentially provides advanced classes, not gifted education support— in part because of all this prepping. Bless you if you do not need to understand the difference.

Oh, so you don't like the parallel between prepping for an academic test and prepping for sports? And therefore, you are making this about "giftedness" and what "FCPS provides." You have the choice of completely opting out of all tests if you do not like the format or offerings. But here you are, complaining on an AAP forum about the "advanced support" that kids receive because parents are "prepping" and how that's diluting the service offerings and keeping gifted kids from getting in.

My point is simple, its preparing to excel at something else. It isn't all that different. Namaste!

You are rationalizing unethical behavior. It's ok to get a book and review a couple of tests to make sure the kid is not making silly errors from not having encountered such a format before, but to attend multi-week classes or force your kid to complete 10+ tests so that you can game the score... well, you know why it's not all about the scores. Because no one thinks that getting a 160 via that path is meaningful.

I'm glad I didn't go that route (I would have felt guilty and bad for my kid). My kid's scores were not out of this world but were good enough and meant something.

And going back to your sports analogy, no one likes athletes who cheat and you are talking about cheating.

No, I am not referring to D1 parents coaching their kids from a very young age, or getting trainers as cheating. I am absolutely not! You are missing the point. People prep their kids. My issue is the hate when people make a big stink with academic "prepping" and call it "unethical". You are "prepping" your kid because you can and want to for whatever reason. Be it sports, be it school tests. Its your decision.

Parents are spending thousands on trainers, league fees, sports travel which is giving their kids a head start. That is their PRIORITY. And guess what, my child as a result, is losing spot on a nationally recognized baseball team. BUT I live with that decision. I take my time and $$ and spend on education. Why the bitterness??

You are ridiculous and trying to blur the line between prepping and actually cheating. I'm sorry that you don't understand the difference (or pretend not to in order to spare yourself the shame).

Prepping tests/competitions is not cheating, only those parents don't have the ability to prep their kids would complain those prepping their kids. even if a kid is supper smart, and the parents not doing any prepping for math contest/competition, that kid won't do well in those contest/competition.

DP. Giftedness is considered relatively innate and relatively stable. If a child has a healthy childhood, not a stimulant-free childhood similar to a Romanian orphanage, their IQ will be relatively testable and stable. Schools used to use IQ tests for entrance to GT programs but when they started testing all children instead of only a few, they started using IQ proxy tests like the Cogat. In theory, the Cogat score of a child who has never encountered anything like it will be similar to the child's IQ score. But when a child has encountered the questions before, then it is no longer useful.

In essence, practice tests are cheating. The Cogat isn't like a chemistry test where studying is the right thing to do. We all know this, some people just pretend that they don't.

When the test becomes the determiner to get into a program that parents want their children in, then it is no longer an IQ proxy but is instead a gate that parents will do anything to overcome. But the AAP program is good for some kids, especially quirky kids or high IQ kids, but not good for all kids. Parents are not making the best decision for their kids by trying to get them in any way they can.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Top athletes are being "prepped" as well. By top, I mean the very best in any league in any sport in our area. They have parents who played D1, D2, or D3 and spend time with their kids perfecting the sport, working on them from a very young age. Some can even afford to get trainers for additional workouts....It's the same game, people. Just the sport happens to be academia. So stop complaining.

Prepping for an aptitude test makes the tests unreliable. When kids who are gifted are losing out on gifted education because other kids are being prepped, parents have the right to complain, just like you do.

HA! So then prepping for a tryout makes the tryout unreliable?? When kids that are athletic are losing out on spots at top teams in the DMV because John was prepared/conditioned to excel from an early age, how many parents' complain? NONE.

Because oh John is just "naturally talented".

Do you actually have anything to respond with? "
Giftedness is a type of neurodivergence. There are supposed to be gifted education classes to meet the needs of gifted kids. FCPS essentially provides advanced classes, not gifted education support— in part because of all this prepping. Bless you if you do not need to understand the difference.

Oh, so you don't like the parallel between prepping for an academic test and prepping for sports? And therefore, you are making this about "giftedness" and what "FCPS provides." You have the choice of completely opting out of all tests if you do not like the format or offerings. But here you are, complaining on an AAP forum about the "advanced support" that kids receive because parents are "prepping" and how that's diluting the service offerings and keeping gifted kids from getting in.

My point is simple, its preparing to excel at something else. It isn't all that different. Namaste!

You are rationalizing unethical behavior. It's ok to get a book and review a couple of tests to make sure the kid is not making silly errors from not having encountered such a format before, but to attend multi-week classes or force your kid to complete 10+ tests so that you can game the score... well, you know why it's not all about the scores. Because no one thinks that getting a 160 via that path is meaningful.

I'm glad I didn't go that route (I would have felt guilty and bad for my kid). My kid's scores were not out of this world but were good enough and meant something.

And going back to your sports analogy, no one likes athletes who cheat and you are talking about cheating.

No, I am not referring to D1 parents coaching their kids from a very young age, or getting trainers as cheating. I am absolutely not! You are missing the point. People prep their kids. My issue is the hate when people make a big stink with academic "prepping" and call it "unethical". You are "prepping" your kid because you can and want to for whatever reason. Be it sports, be it school tests. Its your decision.

Parents are spending thousands on trainers, league fees, sports travel which is giving their kids a head start. That is their PRIORITY. And guess what, my child as a result, is losing spot on a nationally recognized baseball team. BUT I live with that decision. I take my time and $$ and spend on education. Why the bitterness??

You are ridiculous and trying to blur the line between prepping and actually cheating. I'm sorry that you don't understand the difference (or pretend not to in order to spare yourself the shame).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Top athletes are being "prepped" as well. By top, I mean the very best in any league in any sport in our area. They have parents who played D1, D2, or D3 and spend time with their kids perfecting the sport, working on them from a very young age. Some can even afford to get trainers for additional workouts....It's the same game, people. Just the sport happens to be academia. So stop complaining.

Prepping for an aptitude test makes the tests unreliable. When kids who are gifted are losing out on gifted education because other kids are being prepped, parents have the right to complain, just like you do.

HA! So then prepping for a tryout makes the tryout unreliable?? When kids that are athletic are losing out on spots at top teams in the DMV because John was prepared/conditioned to excel from an early age, how many parents' complain? NONE.

Because oh John is just "naturally talented".

Giftedness is a type of neurodivergence. There are supposed to be gifted education classes to meet the needs of gifted kids. FCPS essentially provides advanced classes, not gifted education support— in part because of all this prepping. Bless you if you do not need to understand the difference.

Oh, so you don't like the parallel between prepping for an academic test and prepping for sports? And therefore, you are making this about "giftedness" and what "FCPS provides." You have the choice of completely opting out of all tests if you do not like the format or offerings. But here you are, complaining on an AAP forum about the "advanced support" that kids receive because parents are "prepping" and how that's diluting the service offerings and keeping gifted kids from getting in.

My point is simple, its preparing to excel at something else. It isn't all that different. Namaste!

You are rationalizing unethical behavior. It's ok to get a book and review a couple of tests to make sure the kid is not making silly errors from not having encountered such a format before, but to attend multi-week classes or force your kid to complete 10+ tests so that you can game the score... well, you know why it's not all about the scores. Because no one thinks that getting a 160 via that path is meaningful.

I'm glad I didn't go that route (I would have felt guilty and bad for my kid). My kid's scores were not out of this world but were good enough and meant something.

And going back to your sports analogy, no one likes athletes who cheat and you are talking about cheating.

No, I am not referring to D1 parents coaching their kids from a very young age, or getting trainers as cheating. I am absolutely not! You are missing the point. People prep their kids. My issue is the hate when people make a big stink with academic "prepping" and call it "unethical". You are "prepping" your kid because you can and want to for whatever reason. Be it sports, be it school tests. Its your decision.

Parents are spending thousands on trainers, league fees, sports travel which is giving their kids a head start. That is their PRIORITY. And guess what, my child as a result, is losing spot on a nationally recognized baseball team. BUT I live with that decision. I take my time and $$ and spend on education. Why the bitterness??

First, you’re talking to more than one person over here. Apparently I am in good company.

Second, if I must engage more with your sports analogy, I will tell you that people who understand youth sports *do* take issue with the way some work because naturally talented kids aren’t always the ones with the money to get recognized, and, as a result, some sports have a huge breakdown in the talent pipeline. Look into youth soccer and the problems with the pay-to-play model. It’s a widely recognized issue. Our national sports suffer because of economic privilege. The same thing happens with academics.

Also, you are allowed to defend your choices. I see things differently, and I am allowed to be frustrated that prepping is ruining aptitude identification, especially because my gifted child loses out on opportunities because of it, and I find it disingenuous to fabricate work and pad scores. At the end of the day, we both have to live with ourselves, and, if you are comfortable with your choices, I am not naive enough to believe I’ll change your mind. Seems like you are fairly set in your opinions.

Got it. Love your hate towards parents of AAP kids prep, are disingenuous, fabricate work and oh pad scores.

Bruh 😂 😂 Have a good weekend, buddy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Top athletes are being "prepped" as well. By top, I mean the very best in any league in any sport in our area. They have parents who played D1, D2, or D3 and spend time with their kids perfecting the sport, working on them from a very young age. Some can even afford to get trainers for additional workouts....It's the same game, people. Just the sport happens to be academia. So stop complaining.

Prepping for an aptitude test makes the tests unreliable. When kids who are gifted are losing out on gifted education because other kids are being prepped, parents have the right to complain, just like you do.

HA! So then prepping for a tryout makes the tryout unreliable?? When kids that are athletic are losing out on spots at top teams in the DMV because John was prepared/conditioned to excel from an early age, how many parents' complain? NONE.

Because oh John is just "naturally talented".

Giftedness is a type of neurodivergence. There are supposed to be gifted education classes to meet the needs of gifted kids. FCPS essentially provides advanced classes, not gifted education support— in part because of all this prepping. Bless you if you do not need to understand the difference.

Oh, so you don't like the parallel between prepping for an academic test and prepping for sports? And therefore, you are making this about "giftedness" and what "FCPS provides." You have the choice of completely opting out of all tests if you do not like the format or offerings. But here you are, complaining on an AAP forum about the "advanced support" that kids receive because parents are "prepping" and how that's diluting the service offerings and keeping gifted kids from getting in.

My point is simple, its preparing to excel at something else. It isn't all that different. Namaste!

You are rationalizing unethical behavior. It's ok to get a book and review a couple of tests to make sure the kid is not making silly errors from not having encountered such a format before, but to attend multi-week classes or force your kid to complete 10+ tests so that you can game the score... well, you know why it's not all about the scores. Because no one thinks that getting a 160 via that path is meaningful.

I'm glad I didn't go that route (I would have felt guilty and bad for my kid). My kid's scores were not out of this world but were good enough and meant something.

And going back to your sports analogy, no one likes athletes who cheat and you are talking about cheating.

No, I am not referring to D1 parents coaching their kids from a very young age, or getting trainers as cheating. I am absolutely not! You are missing the point. People prep their kids. My issue is the hate when people make a big stink with academic "prepping" and call it "unethical". You are "prepping" your kid because you can and want to for whatever reason. Be it sports, be it school tests. Its your decision.

Parents are spending thousands on trainers, league fees, sports travel which is giving their kids a head start. That is their PRIORITY. And guess what, my child as a result, is losing spot on a nationally recognized baseball team. BUT I live with that decision. I take my time and $$ and spend on education. Why the bitterness??

You are ridiculous and trying to blur the line between prepping and actually cheating. I'm sorry that you don't understand the difference (or pretend not to in order to spare yourself the shame).

Prepping tests/competitions is not cheating, only those parents don't have the ability to prep their kids would complain those prepping their kids. even if a kid is supper smart, and the parents not doing any prepping for math contest/competition, that kid won't do well in those contest/competition.

Actually, my super smart kid made honor roll in AMC 8 with absolutely no prep. Now, that’s a competition where kids are expected to prep, but it is possible to do well w/o doing so.

Cogat is not a test for which students are supposed to prep.

let's see if your kid can do well in AIME or USAMO without prep... i don't think so..

Prepping can make kids become smarter than those without prep..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Top athletes are being "prepped" as well. By top, I mean the very best in any league in any sport in our area. They have parents who played D1, D2, or D3 and spend time with their kids perfecting the sport, working on them from a very young age. Some can even afford to get trainers for additional workouts....It's the same game, people. Just the sport happens to be academia. So stop complaining.

Prepping for an aptitude test makes the tests unreliable. When kids who are gifted are losing out on gifted education because other kids are being prepped, parents have the right to complain, just like you do.

HA! So then prepping for a tryout makes the tryout unreliable?? When kids that are athletic are losing out on spots at top teams in the DMV because John was prepared/conditioned to excel from an early age, how many parents' complain? NONE.

Because oh John is just "naturally talented".

Giftedness is a type of neurodivergence. There are supposed to be gifted education classes to meet the needs of gifted kids. FCPS essentially provides advanced classes, not gifted education support— in part because of all this prepping. Bless you if you do not need to understand the difference.

Oh, so you don't like the parallel between prepping for an academic test and prepping for sports? And therefore, you are making this about "giftedness" and what "FCPS provides." You have the choice of completely opting out of all tests if you do not like the format or offerings. But here you are, complaining on an AAP forum about the "advanced support" that kids receive because parents are "prepping" and how that's diluting the service offerings and keeping gifted kids from getting in.

My point is simple, its preparing to excel at something else. It isn't all that different. Namaste!

You are rationalizing unethical behavior. It's ok to get a book and review a couple of tests to make sure the kid is not making silly errors from not having encountered such a format before, but to attend multi-week classes or force your kid to complete 10+ tests so that you can game the score... well, you know why it's not all about the scores. Because no one thinks that getting a 160 via that path is meaningful.

I'm glad I didn't go that route (I would have felt guilty and bad for my kid). My kid's scores were not out of this world but were good enough and meant something.

And going back to your sports analogy, no one likes athletes who cheat and you are talking about cheating.

No, I am not referring to D1 parents coaching their kids from a very young age, or getting trainers as cheating. I am absolutely not! You are missing the point. People prep their kids. My issue is the hate when people make a big stink with academic "prepping" and call it "unethical". You are "prepping" your kid because you can and want to for whatever reason. Be it sports, be it school tests. Its your decision.

Parents are spending thousands on trainers, league fees, sports travel which is giving their kids a head start. That is their PRIORITY. And guess what, my child as a result, is losing spot on a nationally recognized baseball team. BUT I live with that decision. I take my time and $$ and spend on education. Why the bitterness??

You are ridiculous and trying to blur the line between prepping and actually cheating. I'm sorry that you don't understand the difference (or pretend not to in order to spare yourself the shame).

Prepping tests/competitions is not cheating, only those parents don't have the ability to prep their kids would complain those prepping their kids. even if a kid is supper smart, and the parents not doing any prepping for math contest/competition, that kid won't do well in those contest/competition.

DP. Giftedness is considered relatively innate and relatively stable. If a child has a healthy childhood, not a stimulant-free childhood similar to a Romanian orphanage, their IQ will be relatively testable and stable. Schools used to use IQ tests for entrance to GT programs but when they started testing all children instead of only a few, they started using IQ proxy tests like the Cogat. In theory, the Cogat score of a child who has never encountered anything like it will be similar to the child's IQ score. But when a child has encountered the questions before, then it is no longer useful.

In essence, practice tests are cheating. The Cogat isn't like a chemistry test where studying is the right thing to do. We all know this, some people just pretend that they don't.

When the test becomes the determiner to get into a program that parents want their children in, then it is no longer an IQ proxy but is instead a gate that parents will do anything to overcome. But the AAP program is good for some kids, especially quirky kids or high IQ kids, but not good for all kids. Parents are not making the best decision for their kids by trying to get them in any way they can.

Its "Advanced Academic" placement, not "Gifted Academic" placement. Why are parents so upset if some X Y Z kids that scored high on cogat, got in? That kid, if not the right fit, will not get the best grades. Again, why hate if the parents want to prep the rest of those kids that DO thrive ultimately?? Parents prep for sports!!!! I keep bringing it up because you see the same attitude from parents wanting the best for their kid in sport. Why can't we do the same?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just to add another layer to this discussion…for the kids that got in, did you redshirt them?

I wonder this as well. I posted earlier that my child did not get in even though they were In pool (pretty solid scores), parent referred.. However, they are early September and one of the youngest if not youngest in 2nd grade.

IF we had red shirted them, they might look like a 1st grade rockstar and bored out of their mind right now? We debated it at the time and felt they were ready for K and knew that going in that might effect this type of outcome for them?

My spouse and I are questioning if the committee made that connection and they are in fact right where they should be, basically a young 2nd grader, yet excelling?

Obviously I requested the packet at this point so waiting for more info....

I dont know the details but I heard scores are age normed so younger kids on level with the rest of the grade actually score higher. Or red shirted kids nees to perform better for the same scores. I had heard having an August birthday and sending on time could be a benefit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Top athletes are being "prepped" as well. By top, I mean the very best in any league in any sport in our area. They have parents who played D1, D2, or D3 and spend time with their kids perfecting the sport, working on them from a very young age. Some can even afford to get trainers for additional workouts....It's the same game, people. Just the sport happens to be academia. So stop complaining.

Prepping for an aptitude test makes the tests unreliable. When kids who are gifted are losing out on gifted education because other kids are being prepped, parents have the right to complain, just like you do.

HA! So then prepping for a tryout makes the tryout unreliable?? When kids that are athletic are losing out on spots at top teams in the DMV because John was prepared/conditioned to excel from an early age, how many parents' complain? NONE.

Because oh John is just "naturally talented".

Giftedness is a type of neurodivergence. There are supposed to be gifted education classes to meet the needs of gifted kids. FCPS essentially provides advanced classes, not gifted education support— in part because of all this prepping. Bless you if you do not need to understand the difference.

Oh, so you don't like the parallel between prepping for an academic test and prepping for sports? And therefore, you are making this about "giftedness" and what "FCPS provides." You have the choice of completely opting out of all tests if you do not like the format or offerings. But here you are, complaining on an AAP forum about the "advanced support" that kids receive because parents are "prepping" and how that's diluting the service offerings and keeping gifted kids from getting in.

My point is simple, its preparing to excel at something else. It isn't all that different. Namaste!

You are rationalizing unethical behavior. It's ok to get a book and review a couple of tests to make sure the kid is not making silly errors from not having encountered such a format before, but to attend multi-week classes or force your kid to complete 10+ tests so that you can game the score... well, you know why it's not all about the scores. Because no one thinks that getting a 160 via that path is meaningful.

I'm glad I didn't go that route (I would have felt guilty and bad for my kid). My kid's scores were not out of this world but were good enough and meant something.

And going back to your sports analogy, no one likes athletes who cheat and you are talking about cheating.

No, I am not referring to D1 parents coaching their kids from a very young age, or getting trainers as cheating. I am absolutely not! You are missing the point. People prep their kids. My issue is the hate when people make a big stink with academic "prepping" and call it "unethical". You are "prepping" your kid because you can and want to for whatever reason. Be it sports, be it school tests. Its your decision.

Parents are spending thousands on trainers, league fees, sports travel which is giving their kids a head start. That is their PRIORITY. And guess what, my child as a result, is losing spot on a nationally recognized baseball team. BUT I live with that decision. I take my time and $$ and spend on education. Why the bitterness??

Also, with your mindset it is not clear where you would draw the line. Why don't you do your child's school work for them as well? Write their essays and such? And maybe your kids won't know where to draw the line either and they'll use ChatGPT and other methods of cheating to get ahead. They'll get into MIT and you can brag on here.

I am in higher ed and I'm increasingly getting high schoolers asking me about opportunities to work with me and I know it's crazy parents like this who are putting them up to it so that they can pad their resume in hopes of top college admittance. As a result, I have a no highschoolers policy! Sorry, not feeding the monster.

I'm sorry you don't understand. Just like I won't expect you to wear a uniform and pitch for John at the baseball game, I wouldn't write my child's essays or do her homework for her. I am not trying to set her up to fail in life, just so I can brag on an anon forum. You are very narrowminded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Top athletes are being "prepped" as well. By top, I mean the very best in any league in any sport in our area. They have parents who played D1, D2, or D3 and spend time with their kids perfecting the sport, working on them from a very young age. Some can even afford to get trainers for additional workouts....It's the same game, people. Just the sport happens to be academia. So stop complaining.

Prepping for an aptitude test makes the tests unreliable. When kids who are gifted are losing out on gifted education because other kids are being prepped, parents have the right to complain, just like you do.

HA! So then prepping for a tryout makes the tryout unreliable?? When kids that are athletic are losing out on spots at top teams in the DMV because John was prepared/conditioned to excel from an early age, how many parents' complain? NONE.

Because oh John is just "naturally talented".

Giftedness is a type of neurodivergence. There are supposed to be gifted education classes to meet the needs of gifted kids. FCPS essentially provides advanced classes, not gifted education support— in part because of all this prepping. Bless you if you do not need to understand the difference.

Oh, so you don't like the parallel between prepping for an academic test and prepping for sports? And therefore, you are making this about "giftedness" and what "FCPS provides." You have the choice of completely opting out of all tests if you do not like the format or offerings. But here you are, complaining on an AAP forum about the "advanced support" that kids receive because parents are "prepping" and how that's diluting the service offerings and keeping gifted kids from getting in.

My point is simple, its preparing to excel at something else. It isn't all that different. Namaste!

You are rationalizing unethical behavior. It's ok to get a book and review a couple of tests to make sure the kid is not making silly errors from not having encountered such a format before, but to attend multi-week classes or force your kid to complete 10+ tests so that you can game the score... well, you know why it's not all about the scores. Because no one thinks that getting a 160 via that path is meaningful.

I'm glad I didn't go that route (I would have felt guilty and bad for my kid). My kid's scores were not out of this world but were good enough and meant something.

And going back to your sports analogy, no one likes athletes who cheat and you are talking about cheating.

No, I am not referring to D1 parents coaching their kids from a very young age, or getting trainers as cheating. I am absolutely not! You are missing the point. People prep their kids. My issue is the hate when people make a big stink with academic "prepping" and call it "unethical". You are "prepping" your kid because you can and want to for whatever reason. Be it sports, be it school tests. Its your decision.

Parents are spending thousands on trainers, league fees, sports travel which is giving their kids a head start. That is their PRIORITY. And guess what, my child as a result, is losing spot on a nationally recognized baseball team. BUT I live with that decision. I take my time and $$ and spend on education. Why the bitterness??

You are ridiculous and trying to blur the line between prepping and actually cheating. I'm sorry that you don't understand the difference (or pretend not to in order to spare yourself the shame).

Prepping tests/competitions is not cheating, only those parents don't have the ability to prep their kids would complain those prepping their kids. even if a kid is supper smart, and the parents not doing any prepping for math contest/competition, that kid won't do well in those contest/competition.

DP. Giftedness is considered relatively innate and relatively stable. If a child has a healthy childhood, not a stimulant-free childhood similar to a Romanian orphanage, their IQ will be relatively testable and stable. Schools used to use IQ tests for entrance to GT programs but when they started testing all children instead of only a few, they started using IQ proxy tests like the Cogat. In theory, the Cogat score of a child who has never encountered anything like it will be similar to the child's IQ score. But when a child has encountered the questions before, then it is no longer useful.

In essence, practice tests are cheating. The Cogat isn't like a chemistry test where studying is the right thing to do. We all know this, some people just pretend that they don't.

When the test becomes the determiner to get into a program that parents want their children in, then it is no longer an IQ proxy but is instead a gate that parents will do anything to overcome. But the AAP program is good for some kids, especially quirky kids or high IQ kids, but not good for all kids. Parents are not making the best decision for their kids by trying to get them in any way they can.

Your points are valid. However, the reality of the world we live in is complex. For instance, African American children often excel in athletics, see representation in the NBA/NFL. Similarly, Asian children are frequently perceived as academically gifted/academically advanced. Your argument seems to suggest that by not preparing, we are isolating a small percentage of students, potentially identifying more non-Asian children. This raises the question: why does Northern Virginia invest so much time and energy in sports coaching and appear to accept this disparity?

[Anonymous]

t is a natural parental instinct to help your child and want to see them do better. Ninety percent of the responses here are from those who are angry that the system stole a spot from their deserving child. I doubt that these parents lack the instinct to want their own kids to succeed. Perhaps you're investing time elsewhere, so instead of accusing those of us who want to help, or prep, our kids, either shift your focus or don't complain.

[Anonymous]

love how 10. People posted the results because there's like 10 people on this stupid forum and now it's evolved into this prep versus no prep versus innate iq vs cheater debate.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Top athletes are being "prepped" as well. By top, I mean the very best in any league in any sport in our area. They have parents who played D1, D2, or D3 and spend time with their kids perfecting the sport, working on them from a very young age. Some can even afford to get trainers for additional workouts....It's the same game, people. Just the sport happens to be academia. So stop complaining.

Prepping for an aptitude test makes the tests unreliable. When kids who are gifted are losing out on gifted education because other kids are being prepped, parents have the right to complain, just like you do.

HA! So then prepping for a tryout makes the tryout unreliable?? When kids that are athletic are losing out on spots at top teams in the DMV because John was prepared/conditioned to excel from an early age, how many parents' complain? NONE.

Because oh John is just "naturally talented".

There's nothing wrong with prepping and there's nothing irresponsible with no prepping. Ok? The problem is the test. It's called the COGNITIVE Ability Test. If somehow you're able to prep for test for cognitive ability, which implies it is a test of innate features then it needs to be revamped. Like it or not, our society favors those with resources (time and money), and any "test" can be gamed/prepped.

Giftedness is a type of neurodivergence. There are supposed to be gifted education classes to meet the needs of gifted kids. FCPS essentially provides advanced classes, not gifted education support— in part because of all this prepping. Bless you if you do not need to understand the difference.

Oh, so you don't like the parallel between prepping for an academic test and prepping for sports? And therefore, you are making this about "giftedness" and what "FCPS provides." You have the choice of completely opting out of all tests if you do not like the format or offerings. But here you are, complaining on an AAP forum about the "advanced support" that kids receive because parents are "prepping" and how that's diluting the service offerings and keeping gifted kids from getting in.

My point is simple, its preparing to excel at something else. It isn't all that different. Namaste!

You are rationalizing unethical behavior. It's ok to get a book and review a couple of tests to make sure the kid is not making silly errors from not having encountered such a format before, but to attend multi-week classes or force your kid to complete 10+ tests so that you can game the score... well, you know why it's not all about the scores. Because no one thinks that getting a 160 via that path is meaningful.

I'm glad I didn't go that route (I would have felt guilty and bad for my kid). My kid's scores were not out of this world but were good enough and meant something.

And going back to your sports analogy, no one likes athletes who cheat and you are talking about cheating.

No, I am not referring to D1 parents coaching their kids from a very young age, or getting trainers as cheating. I am absolutely not! You are missing the point. People prep their kids. My issue is the hate when people make a big stink with academic "prepping" and call it "unethical". You are "prepping" your kid because you can and want to for whatever reason. Be it sports, be it school tests. Its your decision.

Parents are spending thousands on trainers, league fees, sports travel which is giving their kids a head start. That is their PRIORITY. And guess what, my child as a result, is losing spot on a nationally recognized baseball team. BUT I live with that decision. I take my time and $$ and spend on education. Why the bitterness??

You are ridiculous and trying to blur the line between prepping and actually cheating. I'm sorry that you don't understand the difference (or pretend not to in order to spare yourself the shame).

Prepping tests/competitions is not cheating, only those parents don't have the ability to prep their kids would complain those prepping their kids. even if a kid is supper smart, and the parents not doing any prepping for math contest/competition, that kid won't do well in those contest/competition.

DP. Giftedness is considered relatively innate and relatively stable. If a child has a healthy childhood, not a stimulant-free childhood similar to a Romanian orphanage, their IQ will be relatively testable and stable. Schools used to use IQ tests for entrance to GT programs but when they started testing all children instead of only a few, they started using IQ proxy tests like the Cogat. In theory, the Cogat score of a child who has never encountered anything like it will be similar to the child's IQ score. But when a child has encountered the questions before, then it is no longer useful.

In essence, practice tests are cheating. The Cogat isn't like a chemistry test where studying is the right thing to do. We all know this, some people just pretend that they don't.

When the test becomes the determiner to get into a program that parents want their children in, then it is no longer an IQ proxy but is instead a gate that parents will do anything to overcome. But the AAP program is good for some kids, especially quirky kids or high IQ kids, but not good for all kids. Parents are not making the best decision for their kids by trying to get them in any way they can.

Its "Advanced Academic" placement, not "Gifted Academic" placement. Why are parents so upset if some X Y Z kids that scored high on cogat, got in? That kid, if not the right fit, will not get the best grades. Again, why hate if the parents want to prep the rest of those kids that DO thrive ultimately?? Parents prep for sports!!!! I keep bringing it up because you see the same attitude from parents wanting the best for their kid in sport. Why can't we do the same?

[Anonymous]

My kid didn't prep the tests but still didn't do well but in based on amazing in class work samples and teacher recommendation.

[Anonymous]

prep tests like cogat so kids have better chance to get their feet in the door. What is wrong with that? You have to prep everything in life if you want to achieve any goals. Parents here definitely obsessed with getting their kids to aap so why complaint about kids prepping tests? For whatever reason kids score well on tests prep or no prep. They both deserve the placement. Btw what really made the difference is the feedback from grade reports and teachers input.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: prep tests like cogat so kids have better chance to get their feet in the door. What is wrong with that? You have to prep everything in life if you want to achieve any goals. Parents here definitely obsessed with getting their kids to aap so why complaint about kids prepping tests? For whatever reason kids score well on tests prep or no prep. They both deserve the placement. Btw what really made the difference is the feedback from grade reports and teachers input.

Stop. You know exactly what is wrong with it and no one is talking about looking at a couple of tests to be familiar with format. It's the kind of prep that invalidates the test and if you think because everyone does it and is obsessed is a good reason then you need your head and your morals examined.

FCPS knows it's wrong too hence the downweighting of the tests.