2021 AAP Admissions Thread

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

My 140s WISC child was leagues beyond his AAP classmates and got nothing at all out of the program, despite being skipped ahead in math. He's in a much more rigorous school now, and he's much happier. I'd strongly consider the private school or at least supplement with AoPS, where he'll learn 10x as much as he would have in FCPS AAP.

What schools handle 140's FSIQ children well?

The old FCPS GT program did, before it was watered down with a bunch of above average kids. Aside from that, any rigorous private will serve the 140+ IQ kids better than FCPS for elementary school and potentially middle school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did anyone with a child of an NNAT lower than 120 get in? That's the lowest I've seen in this thread.

4 years ago my DC got in with NNAT lower than 120. I think it was 110 or something in the low teens. But, she had 135 in Cogat, 16 GBRS and ADV math and reading, AAP LII in second grade. So, she was accepted in the first round. The NAAT was an outlier compared to her other metrics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For appeals, would you mention in a letter that an older sibling attends AAP? What should be included in the letter? I am at a loss. My daughter had a perfect GBRS and rave reviews from teacher, max DRA, and checked yes to above grade level for both math and Lang arts on GBRS sheet. Report cards all perfect. She is light years ahead of her peers. Her one downfall was NNAT. Not in pool score. Feeling like we got screwed because she didn’t have the CogAT this year. I am certain she would have done well on CogAT. Any ideas? Thanks.

if what you wrote is all true, get a WISC done. I find it hard to believe she didn't get it w/ a raving GBRS. There's more weight on GBRS than NNAT. So, if it's test core an issue, in your opinion, then, have her take the WISC!

I don’t feel comfortable doing one during covid. It is 2-3 hours in a small room. Also, I feel like the committee won’t care anyway. We did a WISC for older sibling which was awesome and he was still rejected!

My son had a 99th percentile WISC and perfect GBRS. Still rejected. Cause his NNAT was apparently not good enough even though Cogat was good.

This seems really bizarre. Perfect GBRS and good Cogat (assuming in pool) should get you in for second grade

It did not get him in. It also did not get him in for 3rd grade this year. Ill add that his GBRS was ALL 4CO.

I am sorry to hear that. One advice I got from others is to make sure that DC is also in Adv Math, Adv Reading and LIII. Those are all of the metrics that play into the assessment. I don't know if that is accurate or not, but that may be another way to elevate your child's application. (Of course, fully acknowledging that he should have been accepted already.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think one piece of the admissions puzzle everyone is missing here is the fact that the committee wants to see how/why your child "Needs" to be in AAP. My understanding is many parents write narratives that only talk about how great their kid is. They want to know why you child will not do as well if they stay in general education. Perhaps some of the children with lower test scores have parents who wrote referrals clearly explaining this -- with concrete examples. It's not just all about high performance, it's also about justifying *why* your kid needs AAP to succeed.

I agree 100%. People seem to view the application as something that will be viewed objectively, rather than as something that a person with human feelings will read and be persuaded one way or the other by intangibles in the application. The whole thing is ridiculous, because acceptance is more about whether the parent knows how to present his/her child well and less about the child's actual merits. When I first applied for my oldest, I made the mistake of thinking that it was mostly about the scores, so I presented my child as a smart, good student rather than presenting her as a child who "needs AAP." She was rejected with a 97th percentile CogAT, 15 GBRS, and LII in math and language arts since K.

When I had to appeal for my DD, the AART gave me a lot of advice on what to include and what not to include in the letter. These were things like DON'T: Try to prove that your kid is smart, suggest your kid is bored in regular classes, suggest that the AAP committee or your child's teachers made a mistake, criticize anything about the process, compare your child to anyone else who got in. DO: Give concrete examples of how your child is being held back or denied opportunities in gen ed that your child needs, Give specific examples of why your child would thrive in AAP. My kid got in on appeals, so the advice must have been decent.

I'm betting that a decent number of the mystery rejections are from parents who are doing things on the "Don't do" list. The AART seemed to suggest that saying your kid is bored in school, coming across as arrogant or presumptive, or in any way criticizing your kid's teachers or the AAP process would irritate the reviewers and lead to almost certain rejection.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For appeals, would you mention in a letter that an older sibling attends AAP? What should be included in the letter? I am at a loss. My daughter had a perfect GBRS and rave reviews from teacher, max DRA, and checked yes to above grade level for both math and Lang arts on GBRS sheet. Report cards all perfect. She is light years ahead of her peers. Her one downfall was NNAT. Not in pool score. Feeling like we got screwed because she didn’t have the CogAT this year. I am certain she would have done well on CogAT. Any ideas? Thanks.

if what you wrote is all true, get a WISC done. I find it hard to believe she didn't get it w/ a raving GBRS. There's more weight on GBRS than NNAT. So, if it's test core an issue, in your opinion, then, have her take the WISC!

That’s what I thought too. But when you look at the ones who got IN, all had higher NNAT scores. I think they weighed NNAT higher than GBRS because we were all virtual. They probably felt the teacher couldn’t rate properly this year.

I'm in the same boat as this poster - low NNAT but great GBRS and everything else. So, yes, it is a fact that great GBRS didn't guarantee the admittance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For appeals, would you mention in a letter that an older sibling attends AAP? What should be included in the letter? I am at a loss. My daughter had a perfect GBRS and rave reviews from teacher, max DRA, and checked yes to above grade level for both math and Lang arts on GBRS sheet. Report cards all perfect. She is light years ahead of her peers. Her one downfall was NNAT. Not in pool score. Feeling like we got screwed because she didn’t have the CogAT this year. I am certain she would have done well on CogAT. Any ideas? Thanks.

if what you wrote is all true, get a WISC done. I find it hard to believe she didn't get it w/ a raving GBRS. There's more weight on GBRS than NNAT. So, if it's test core an issue, in your opinion, then, have her take the WISC!

I don’t feel comfortable doing one during covid. It is 2-3 hours in a small room. Also, I feel like the committee won’t care anyway. We did a WISC for older sibling which was awesome and he was still rejected!

Same experience exactly! Did WISC, still rejected, and WISC is very expensive!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
However, my experience this year with my daughter is different - NNAT was 122, but school gave highest GBRS and comments recommending for Level IV. She did NOT get in though. So, looks like low NNAT score was a determining factor regardless of school's recommendation. I read posts from parents here with similar or lower scores, and their kids got it. So, I came to conclusion that it all depends on who looks at the file and the # of kids applying from a particular school in that particular year. Not sure what to do next for my daughter.

You're correct. Your DD's file was reviewed by a harsher panel than many of the others. A lot of getting accepted is a random luck of the draw. What you should do is appeal with a letter and new work samples. Emphasize that your DD's teachers who've worked with her all year strongly believe that she belongs in AAP. It should be easier for you to articulate why your DD needs to be in AAP, since you already have a kid there. Describe some of the things your son has done in AAP and how your DD needs access to those same opportunities. The main thing you're hoping for with an appeal is that you'll have a different panel reviewing your child's file.

Really appreciate your suggestion - thank you! Will do exactly that!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did anyone with a child of an NNAT lower than 120 get in? That's the lowest I've seen in this thread.

112 here

DC in with 117

[Anonymous]

GBRS REPORT
Area of strength in: Mathematics N
Reading. N
What is meaning of N ?
It means Not strength area?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:GBRS REPORT
Area of strength in: Mathematics N
Reading. N
What is meaning of N ?
It means Not strength area?

Basically means they are not in Advanced Math or Reading (i.e., above grade level).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GBRS REPORT
Area of strength in: Mathematics N
Reading. N
What is meaning of N ?
It means Not strength area?

Basically means they are not in Advanced Math or Reading (i.e., above grade level).

Thank you for clarification...

[Anonymous]

I appreciate the advice being given on appeals, but what are some examples of why a kid needs AAP other than being bored with the level of Gen Ed content? If a kid is ahead of classroom pace and therefore bored ... that seems like the reason to move to AAP. I don't understand what other things AAP offers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GBRS REPORT
Area of strength in: Mathematics N
Reading. N
What is meaning of N ?
It means Not strength area?

Basically means they are not in Advanced Math or Reading (i.e., above grade level).

Thank you for clarification...

For such a small note at the top of the GBRS I think this section has a lot of meaning. Y means that they are differentiating for your child in that area fairly consistently. If they don’t have to differentiate for your child then their needs are being served in Gen Ed. If your child has two Ys then they have to differentiate consistently in both subjects, so that is likely to indicate that they need an AAP setting.

AAP offers a lot of social aspects for kids, creative thinking, independent work, self guided leanring and project based learning. They love to talk about the PBLs. So showing that your child learn best when able to collaborate, create projects, write creatively....those are all AAP curriuculm strengths. It might help to read over the AAP website description or look back at your AARTs presentation in the fall to talk about what is unique about AAP that best serves your child. I don’t know anyone in person who got in on appeal, but I assume some people must.

[Anonymous]

For the person who wouldn't feel comfortable with WISC this year due to COVID:

DS got in with decent NNAT (135). We also included in our application that DS was accepted to the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth, which requires a test that is conducted online (with video and mic on to make sure there is no cheating). If your child is accepted, it means they are at least 2 grade levels above their current grade, so maybe that would help convince the appeals board even without WISC or other in-person testing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did anyone with a child of an NNAT lower than 120 get in? That's the lowest I've seen in this thread.

112 here

In previous years, low NNATs were common, b/c it was the lest important part of the packet. My own 3 dc were all in AAP with 115, 112 and 99 NNAT scores.