Advice for bright 7th Grade Duke TIP Girl

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hello,
My sister recently got her Duke TIP SAT Scores, she received a 600 on the Math, a 510 on the Verbal and a 520 on the Writing section.</p>

<p>She is very interested in Math/Science/Engineering, however, she would like to develop her holistic side as well.</p>

<p>I was hoping that some of you out there could give links to camps or other programs at top Math/Science/Engineering schools that she is qualified to attend. MIT, CalTech, Johns Hopkins, Cornell etc. I was wondering also if any of you could submit your own personal experiences.</p>

2

<p>Umm...7th grade is way too early to tell. Although those scores are very good for someone her age.</p>

3

<p>let her enjoy middle and high school, and go where life takes her. I got a 1070 (M + V) in 7th grade, I never did anthing special, and I turned out ok I think. If she wants to do those kind of programs then help her, but don't force anything on her, just let her enjoy life.</p>

4

<p>That's way better than I did on my PSATs as a sophomore and a freshman. I didn't crack 1000.</p>

5

<p>If your sister's idea of fun is to spend 3 weeks delving intensely into an academic subject that interests her, she'd probably enjoy the camps affiliated with the Duke TIP program. </p>

<p>Both of my sons qualified for the program. My older son had no interest in spending his summer doing academic things like TIP, so we sent him to a local sports camp and a foreign language camp through Concordia College (He was interested in both). </p>

<p>My younger son was delighted to spend 3 weeks in a TIP program. He decided to pursue a subject that he couldn't do at middle/high school, so he took philosophy through TIP and an existentialism class through CTY.</p>

6

<p>If you asked me what Duke was in 7th grade, I would have said something about the Duke of York.</p>

7

<p>I'm going to reiterate Northstarmom's recommendation of the TIP summer classes. I participated two summers in a row and had a blast. Most other math/science programs that I know of are for high schoolers and probably wouldn't provide the level of supervision required for younger students.</p>

8

<p>My daughter attended Duke TIP the summer after 10th grade and had a tremendous experience. After having such a great time, she wished she'd gone starting in 7th grade when she originally qualified for the program. I highly recommend Duke TIP's 3-week summer program.</p>

9

<p>My daughter took the SAT through Duke TIP when she was in 7th grade (she's now in the 10th grade) and received a score of 1110. (old SAT and I don't remember the individual score). We were extremely proud of her and still are. She received state recognition and a medal. She was also eligible to go to the TIP summer programs, but those programs were so expensive, we did not send her. However, she continues to get the newsletters, college guides, etc and that is very helpful.</p>

<p>One thing the TIP experience did (in taking the SAT early) is to alert us as her parents into just how much potential she does have. And it also has been very exciting seeing how much she has achieved since then in school.</p>

<p>It's a good thing to see how they score early on. And if your parents can afford the summer TIP tuition, and if she wanted to go, it would be a great thing. Good luck to her!!</p>

10

<p>My son went to Duke TIP last summer, and will be returning this summer. He particularly enjoys being around students who are similar to him in interests and abilities. If you are interested in various summer programs offered, you can find a good listing at <a href="http://www.hoagiesgifted.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.hoagiesgifted.com&lt;/a> Click on "Parents" then click on "Programs" then click on "Summer programs".</p>

11

<p>Wow...and to think, I've farmed all my summers away! (Except for two years ago...taking a two month tour of the US was interesting, anyway!)</p>

<p>Gah. Overachievers! (Just kidding, before anyone gets their bloomers in a wad.)</p>

12

<p>For those who can't afford the summer programs, Duke offers weekend programs for about $300. These are offered through Duke and Duke-affiliates such as New College in Florida and University of North Carolina at Asheville.</p>

<p>You have to check the individual sites because unless you live in the immediate area of the workshops, you will not get a mailing. The weekend programs fill up quickly. </p>

<p>They also are open to students who are gifted, but did not qualify for TIP.</p>

<p>My son went to one at New College and one at Duke, taking one course in storytelling with sound and the other in fuel cell engineering. He enjoyed both a lot.</p>

13

<p>I am a mother of two children. My daughter got a 1030 SAT as a 7th grader and I thought that was very bad. My son got an over all 99% on the 8th explore test as a 5th grader. On the math section, he got a 98%. I thought that was not good enough. Now reading you parents' post about how proud you are of your children's achievements, I feel so bad. I really need to change my way of thinking toward my children's achievements. Thank all for sharing. I have been very unfair to my children.</p>

14

<p>
[quote]
If you asked me what Duke was in 7th grade, I would have said something about the Duke of York.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>If I heard the word Duke in 7th grade I would have thought of the following:</p>

<p>Duke, duke, duke, duke of earl
Duke, duke, duke of earl
Duke, duke, duke of earl
Duke, duke, duke of earl</p>

<p>Duke, duke, duke, duke of earl
Duke, duke, duke of earl
Duke, duke, duke of earl
Duke, duke, duke of earl</p>

<p>As I walk through this world
Nothing can stop the duke of earl
And you, you are my girl
No one can hurt you, oh, no</p>

<p>And so on......</p>

15

<p>" I really need to change my way of thinking toward my children's achievements. Thank all for sharing."</p>

<p>I am so glad that you found the posts helpful. It can be difficult to know how to assess one's kids when they take standardized tests at such an early age.</p>

<p>Truth is that no matter what score a middle schooler gets on the SAT, that score is something to be proud of. Only the brightest middle schoolers are invited to take the SAT at that young age. For them to sit through that test requires a lot of courage, and since it is a test for college-bound seniors, any score that they get is a good score!</p>

<p>Your daughter's 1030 7th grade score was extremely high for kids her age (and remember that only the brightest 7th graders take that test). If she had been a college bound high school senior, the score would have been average, but for a middle schooler, it's extraordinary.</p>

<p>Typically one can predict students' senior SAT scores by adding 100 points a year to their 7th grade scores. Consequently, there's a good chance that as a high school senior, your daughter would score around 1530.</p>

<p>In fact, both of my sons got 1020s on their 7th grade SATs. My older son got a 1410 as a high school junior, and didn't bother to take the test again. (While he knew that he probably would go up, his gpa was only a 2.9, so he knew that having an even higher SAT would not open any additional doors for him).</p>

<p>My younger son took the SAT three times as a junior, getting a 1410 (Dec.) and then about a 1370 (Jan). Then, on the new SAT in March, he got a 1540 (cr, m).</p>

<p>Both of my sons were National Merit commended due to their junior year PSAT scores.</p>

<p>One bit of advice, it can be good practice for you to have your kids take the PSAT as high school freshmen and sophs. They should not take the SAT then, though, because it will go on their permanent record (The College Board does not put middle school scores on their permanent records). Do not worry if the scores don't go up dramatically between freshman and soph years. Both of my sons' scores stayed stable those years, but went up a great deal their junior year, the year that it counts for scholarships.</p>

16

<p>JuiceBox - your sister will get a book from Duke University listing all of the available programs in the U.S. We didn't take advantage of them. I do wish we would have signed up for math classes with Stanford EPGY.</p>

17

<p>I took the TIP test in 7th grade (30 ACT), but I didn't do any of the programs. They're nice if you have the money, but there's plenty of other options out there. That said, I'm probably going to be an RA for TIP this summer, and I think it'll be a blast. :) There's plenty of options- there's the programs at Duke and Davidson, the Marine Lab, Kansas, Italy, Paris, Costa Rica, London, and others I'm forgetting.</p>

<p>It's a bit early, but a high school guidance office should have suggestions. Your state may have free programs like Governor's School, Summer Ventures, etc. for when she gets into high school.</p>

18

<p>Thank you so much for your reply. My daughter is a junior now. She got 222 on the PSAT. Being in TN, this may qualify her as Notational Merits Finalist. However, she got a poor score on her first try of SAT (2090). I don't know whether this is going to hurt her chance for the NMF. The problem I have with her is, all the friends she hangs out with score lower than her so she doesn't see the urgency to score higher. Trust me; I can't say anything negative about her friends. She takes it personally. I am not wishing for a 2300. I think she shall be in the range of 2100-2200. I am afraid the 2090 SAT will hurt her chance to become a NMF. She has a 4.x weighted GPA and has been taken all the possible advanced classes. She is an officer of several clubs and even was elected as vice president of the student body once. What do you think her chance to become a NMF? What will be her chance to go to a good college?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

19

<p>Through Duke TIP, my daughter also took the SAT as a 7th grader, scoring 1320(!). Still, we didn't take advantage of the TIP summer programs, for many reasons. While those summer programs are excellent, they're much more appealing if your child (or you) feels that he or she isn't being sufficiently challenged academically throughout the school year. I agree that the weekend TIP programs are a good alternative to the summer programs (less time and money). But I think warblersrule makes a good point--that there are lots of other excellent (and free) summer programs, too, and not all academically based.</p>

20

<p>It is great that you are helping your sister. The national association of gifted children has a great search function to find summer programs and other resources.<br>
[NAGC</a> - Resource Directory - Resource Directory](<a href=“http://www.nagc.org/resourcedirectory.aspx]NAGC”>http://www.nagc.org/resourcedirectory.aspx)
Energetic Einsteins in Clearwater, Fl offers one week science camps. This program may appeal to your sister’s desire to develop holistically since the academically challenging science programs contain aspects of the arts, competitions, games, movement, logic, and puzzles. [Energetic</a> Einsteins Home](<a href=“http://www.EnergeticEinsteins.com%5DEnergetic”>http://www.EnergeticEinsteins.com)</p>