Gifted and talented test prep

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Factually correct statement but the real test is nothing like the sample.

My kids just took the MS and HS tests, and they said that the real tests were like the sample tests.

No, real tests are much more difficult.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

This is a great suggestion, rather than doing the test in a non-transparent way.

MCPS does post sample test questions for the middle-school and the high-school tests.

The questions remain:

1. Do the test prep companies that charge a lot of money have information about the tests that you can only get if you pay the test prep companies?
2. Do the test prep companies that charge a lot of money give kids whose parents pay for test prep an advantage that kids whose parents don't pay for test prep don't have?

Well, and also 3. If the test prep companies that charge a lot of money don't give kids whose parents pay for test prep an advantage that kids whose parents don't pay for test prep don't have, are the test prep companies that charge a lot of money committing fraud?

Actually OP's initial question, 7 pages ago was about prepping for the elementary school test for her second grader, not the middle and the high school test. No public sample test is available for that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

This is a great suggestion, rather than doing the test in a non-transparent way.

MCPS does post sample test questions for the middle-school and the high-school tests.

The questions remain:

1. Do the test prep companies that charge a lot of money have information about the tests that you can only get if you pay the test prep companies?
2. Do the test prep companies that charge a lot of money give kids whose parents pay for test prep an advantage that kids whose parents don't pay for test prep don't have?

Well, and also 3. If the test prep companies that charge a lot of money don't give kids whose parents pay for test prep an advantage that kids whose parents don't pay for test prep don't have, are the test prep companies that charge a lot of money committing fraud?

My kid prepped for HS magnet and was accepted to all programs DC applied. I did not have my kid attend because I thought that the prep company offered a secret sauce. I prepped because I didn't think my DC would study hard enough for what's on the test without it. There are lots of resources available for one to prep without spending thousands.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My nieces and nephews have always been in magnet schools and Ivy league colleges. They always prepped. They are now in highly successful careers and really enjoying the fruits of their labor because in real life they do not have to have genius brains. They just need to work hard and get ahead.

Are most successful people in the world, the people in position of power also the smartest people with innate abilities? No. So, don't worry if someone tells you that your kids do not have innate abilities if they have to prep. If they can prep and get ahead at least they have worked hard and studied hard to reach where they need to reach.

Some kids have innate abilities, some were breastfed and have superior brains, some had SAHMs parenting them and some were not allowed to CIO. There are so many advantages that a child can have, how can we say that one advantage helped more than another?

+1

Totally agree. The reality is that hard, disciplined work trumps innate ability in the long run.

[Anonymous]

My kid went to one of the test prep programs for HGC. She said the test prep didn't help at all, didn't get in. She went to a different test prep center for MS. Again claimed that it didn't help. Got in. For HS, she didn't go to any test prep, accepted into all magnet programs.

As far as I know, the test prep centers did not share any secrets with the students. The centers gave the students homeworks covering topics one or two grade above. Most of the homeworks or practices are copies from other books.

[Anonymous]

So which test prep works best? I don't want to read through all the whiney posts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So which test prep works best? I don't want to read through all the whiney posts.

the one that gives you the exact problems that will be on the exam

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So which test prep works best? I don't want to read through all the whiney posts.

Then how do you know that they are whiney?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So which test prep works best? I don't want to read through all the whiney posts.

Then how do you know that they are whiney?

Aren't 99% of the posts on this forum?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So which test prep works best? I don't want to read through all the whiney posts.

Then how do you know that they are whiney?

Aren't 99% of the posts on this forum?

Well, no, maybe about 50%. Including posts about not wanting to read whiny posts.