Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It appears that the difference in many of the discrepancies in high test scores not eligible, vs comparatively low scores and eligible, is GBRS. I had no idea this was such a weighted factor as it is seemingly such a subjective assessment. If a child's test scores identify a gifted mind, it would stand to reason that that child would be a good candidate for a more challenging curriculum regardless of the teachers experience in a normal classroom environment. I certainly don't want to trivialize the educators assessment but a subjective factor should not outweigh otherwise qualifying test scores (in my opinion).

NNAT 136
cogat 128
GBRS ?

Not eligible

Your child only had one high test score, not two (not plural) and it was the less important of the two. I'm not trying to be mean but had your child been in the pool from both high test scores (132 or above on both tests), it is highly unlikely you're child would not be admitted.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live in McLean & rumors rage about underground Asian test prep going on. That's the word on the street. But I think that relates more to the bigger picture--the TJ goal!!!! Some keep their eyes on the TJ prize--AAP is just the stepping stone.

Name your school.

If you want to make serious accusations, then you should provide specifics.

Because I live in McLean but I've never heard about this underground prepping raging through our community.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: We did not test prep him to death. We just wanted DS to be familiar with the questions. I don't think I would have been able to raise his score all that much with going over the one test. Perhaps a few careless mistakes on questions. I think some people on this forum may consider this cheating, which I think is ridiculous. He also has all 4s on his report card. I am sure DS would have gotten into AAP whether we went over the one practice test or not.

Don't delude yourself. A few careless mistakes on a few questions IS the difference between a 138 and a mid 120's score. The scoring is very harsh at the top, and a single extra problem wrong can be the difference between a 140 and a 130 on any section.

Well my kid is in and I am sure he will do great in AAP. DS is highly motivated. You can make yourself feel better by calling us cheats. AAP takes like 15% of the student population. DS would have made that cut off.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn't realize people prepped 1st and 2nd graders for these tests until after my kid had taken both of them. We didn't even know that they were administering the NNAT until we got the score report.

How do you even get a 6-8 year old to test prep? Practice tests? Games? I can't see either of mine being at all interested in that.

When I see kids with consistently high scores and a low GBRS, I assume that they are either shy about sharing their talents in class or have a personality conflict with their teacher, but I'm also not on the selection committee so my opinion probably doesn't matter.

It's big among certain ethnic groups. People sign their kids up for classes that teach them how to take the tests.

I disagree with PP's assertion about "certain ethnic groups". Look, if your kid is dumber than a box of rocks, no prepping will get him/her into AAP.

I think we can agree that we're not talking about Steven Hawking smart. We're just talking about your-average-geniuses. For the later, it a mixture of talent, hard work and dedicated parents. Making time everyday to do homework with your child has more impact than any test prep. Just stop griping about what you perceive in "certain ethnic groups". There is NO limit on the AAP class sizes. There is room for everyone. Just worry about your own kid.

Uhhhh....because they are 7 years old.

Doing homework everyday with your kid does more for overall academic success, but being prepped on how to do the problems on the NNAT and CogAT has a bigger impact on the test results. That's why when kids are preparing for the SATs they don't just rely on homework, they actually take practice SATs. You are right about no limits on number of admits, so I don't care if any eithnic groups prep, but prepping for tests using tests will similar materials can make a bigger difference than homework.

So... why is prepping for the SATs okay but not for AAP? Because one is accepted by the main stream but the other is not.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It appears that the difference in many of the discrepancies in high test scores not eligible, vs comparatively low scores and eligible, is GBRS. I had no idea this was such a weighted factor as it is seemingly such a subjective assessment. If a child's test scores identify a gifted mind, it would stand to reason that that child would be a good candidate for a more challenging curriculum regardless of the teachers experience in a normal classroom environment. I certainly don't want to trivialize the educators assessment but a subjective factor should not outweigh otherwise qualifying test scores (in my opinion).

NNAT 136
cogat 128
GBRS ?

Not eligible

Your child only had one high test score, not two (not plural) and it was the less important of the two. I'm not trying to be mean but had your child been in the pool from both high test scores (132 or above on both tests), it is highly unlikely you're child would not be admitted.

My child had similar scores last year and didn't get in with a gbrs of 11. We did the Wisc which was 129 and child was accepted. The school isn't contacted on appeal. It's frustrating when kids who weren't in the pool at all get in and your child who was in the pool is denied. You should appeal.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It appears that the difference in many of the discrepancies in high test scores not eligible, vs comparatively low scores and eligible, is GBRS. I had no idea this was such a weighted factor as it is seemingly such a subjective assessment. If a child's test scores identify a gifted mind, it would stand to reason that that child would be a good candidate for a more challenging curriculum regardless of the teachers experience in a normal classroom environment. I certainly don't want to trivialize the educators assessment but a subjective factor should not outweigh otherwise qualifying test scores (in my opinion).

NNAT 136
cogat 128
GBRS ?

Not eligible

Your child only had one high test score, not two (not plural) and it was the less important of the two. I'm not trying to be mean but had your child been in the pool from both high test scores (132 or above on both tests), it is highly unlikely you're child would not be admitted.

Anonymous wrote:It appears that the difference in many of the discrepancies in high test scores not eligible, vs comparatively low scores and eligible, is GBRS. I had no idea this was such a weighted factor as it is seemingly such a subjective assessment. If a child's test scores identify a gifted mind, it would stand to reason that that child would be a good candidate for a more challenging curriculum regardless of the teachers experience in a normal classroom environment. I certainly don't want to trivialize the educators assessment but a subjective factor should not outweigh otherwise qualifying test scores (in my opinion).

NNAT 136
cogat 128
GBRS ?

Not eligible