Reply to Is Basis really as hard as people think?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

In the meantime, little Basis robots are not going to be prized at highly selective universities.  
[/quote]

BASIS students in Arizona are admitted to lots of highly selective universities. [/quote]

True, but a couple of points to keep in mind.

(1) Whenever schools list the acceptances for seniors, a handful of the best students account for almost all of the selective schools. The one that gets into Princeton also gets into Williams, etc. A good percentage of the class go to state school or 2nd tier liberal arts schools.

(2) Students that perform well on APs and can handle the accelerated curriculum (i.e., basically those with aptitude / high IQ & parental support) will do well at BASIS and be competitive for college applications. The question is whether they are best served by the BASIS experience. I personally feel that focusing solely on APs in high school leaves critical skill sets underdeveloped (creative/lateral thinking, problem solving, independent study, intrinsic motivation etc.). These are the skill sets that are the primary focus in private schools, and there is a reason for that. Now some gifted students at BASIS may well develop all or some of these non-AP-test-based skills, but it would seem to be in spite of the BASIS curriculum rather than because of it.

By the way, to the "robot" poster... if you feel, as I do, that BASIS is not for your child, then please feel free to share your thoughts and experiences. But please refrain from making such insulting and baseless personal attacks on the students/parents who happen not to share your views. Although I withdrew my DC based on concerns with the overall philosophy of BASIS, I was VERY impressed generally with the students and the teachers.

Finally, to address the OP directly... BASIS is a challenging experience from day 1 and the challenge increases steadily from grade to grade. The most difficult part of the curriculum is math, since all kids are expected to be doing some level of calculus (either AB or BC) by 9th grade. That said, I think you'd be surprised at what kids can do with adequate focus, good teachers, a culture that supports learning, and a lot of parental support. However, there are costs to this for many, especially kids who don't "get it" as readily as others. Homework completion time will increase, as will list of concepts not fully understood. If your kid stumbles, the cumulative load of trying to review old material while absorbing new material can be too much. Burnout is a constant risk. [/quote]

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