Zing.
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La Cañada might be a good school to checkout.
I frankly cannot think of a school that would care. If you are gifted, you will get great scores. That is enough. You being smarter than the test scores can show is immaterial to the school, it doesn’t add anything to the school. Does that make sense? They just need you to be capable enough to do the work and contribute in some way to the school community. They already have enough kids to fill the math team multiple times over. What they really want is kids who will lead a varsity team to a NEPSAC championship. If you can do something like that it will matter far more than a kid who can put “gifted” on their application.
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So true! My kiddo, (new Junior at a HADES school coming from a public school background) just said to me that ALL of the kids are so smart and well-spoken, if she thinks about it, it’s intimidating. At her old school probably more than half of the kids didn’t want to be there or care about their grades.
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Thank you for your reply-that cleared up a lot. I had it on my resume but didn’t put it in my application as I expected that putting highly gifted would be “obnoxiously boastful”, as you stated. I was just confused, as for some other applications that I’ve completed in the past, they requested/required the statistics of the highly gifted test if applicable. Thank you again!
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I don’t think so, it’ll just make you look a little braggy.
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I do find it interesting that one can say they are in the top 99th percentile of players in a certain sport, with supporting awards, wins or recognition, but to do so with intelligence, which also can have supporting data is boastful or braggy. And all of the kids at these schools, while smart, are not in the 99.9th percentile. Just an observation that I have had.
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I think if you were a part of something like Davidson Young Scholars, you could add that. It implies you are highly gifted, but you are putting it to use. Just putting down a test score doesn’t have the right effect.
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I think what users were objecting to was adding the “highly gifted” part. Similarly, I would not simply list Mensa membership or a 98 mph fastball without showing how these attributes have added value to something.
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Oh I get it. I agree, on an application both need to be demonstrated by activities, not just by a claim. It was more just a general observation and experience that it’s ok to brag about sports but not intelligence. Both of which have a lot to do with genetics, but also must be cultivated.
For what it is worth, I don’t think the OP is using the term “highly gifted” as a brag, or as a self-assessment. The OP mentioned he is from Los Angeles, and the LAUSD does have a “Highly Gifted Magnet” program, with a few “Highly Gifted Magnet” schools. That’s really what they are called.
To be eligible to apply for a Highly Gifted Magnet school, a student must score in the “Highly Gifted” (99.9) or “Highly Gifted Applicable” (99.5-99.8) percentile range on the intellectual test. Gifted and Talented Programs / FAQs about Intellectual Testing
Despite the unfortunate name, qualifying for the program may say something about the student that is application worthy.
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The LAUSD HG designation is hard to achieve, at the very least because of the bureaucracy. I was talking about North Hollywood earlier and I would absolutely choose it over many of the private schools in LA.
I think most of the admissions officers are familiar with the designation but you would include this way. You can say it, but by itself it is not most relevant. It may be what allows you to do X. Not everyone who is HG is a star, or an excellent student and it is not unusual to also have say, anxiety etc.
Middle School:
Portola Middle School (Highly Gifted Magnet)
Or
Honors: Admitted to Walter Reed Middle School- Individual Honors Program (include lofty description); Science Academy, same thing
Davidson Young Scholar (you need comprehensive WISC or correct SAT score for this; likely did not have the correct test from LAUSD unless you also have an IEP)
John Hopkins Center for Talented Youth “High Honors” etc
We have had several applications over the years which requires all testing data.
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I don’t think it is ok to brag about sports - and I don’t know any parents I like who do so. There is a big difference in saying “my kid is recruited and will be an impact athlete freshman year.” That is like saying “I will be taking calculus freshman year of high school.” The parents who brag about their kid being sports stars are almost always wrong. Most good players I know, for example, will say “I played on a team that went to nationals” that is enough to convey how good the player is.
So if OP wants to list awards and accomplishments that is great. Just saying they are gifted is a little off.
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It may sound a little off, but that is the terminology used by the school district he attends. If he attends one of the “Highly Gifted Magnet” schools and/or is enrolled in a “Highly Gifted” program, how does he leave that out of the application and why should he?
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Does that mean saying my kid has a 2.00 era is like saying my kid got a perfect score on the SAT and the ACT? Or, my kid was invited to xyz travel team is like saying my kid is in MENSA. For some reason, in my observation it is ok to talk about sports accomplishments, but people do not like to hear about academic accomplishments. That’s all I am saying. If OP’s school name has the words Highly Gifted in it, great, there is nothing wrong with that being on the application. If a club is called Gifted, then that’s fine, other ways for OP to indicate giftedness is with test scores, and memberships to high IQ organizations. But I agree don’t write an essay about how highly gifted you are.
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No opinion for the OP, but whether it is sports or academics bragging is unattractive. Full stop… Listing accomplishments is different.
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Just to clear things up, when I said “other: highly gifted” on my resume, I meant the test score for the gifted identification test; I didn’t mean that I was going to self-assess myself and say that I was “highly gifted”.
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I’m sorry so many of the adults in the room feel the need to continue focus on this. It isn’t really your fault that the LAUSD describes its test and program using those terms. My suggestion would be for you ask a counselor at your school how you should represent this on your applications, as they will be more familiar with the terminology. If that isn’t available, perhaps try to reach out to some of the families that have successfully applied in the past, to find out the language they used. Also, the suggestions @Sweetboy1 provided above might be worth considering.
Best of Luck. Any of the schools mentioned would be lucky to have you.
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Just to clarify on my part, I did not say you were going to do that, others had implied such. I am in support of you expressing this in an appropriate way. Good luck on your application. I was trying, I guess badly, to express the discrepancy I see and have experienced with how athletic achievements seem acceptable to talk about but academics not so much. (And especially in our local public district where athletes are all anyone cares about)
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To my knowledge there is a single HGM middle school, Portola, in the LAUSD system. If the poster attends this school, it will be quite clear that he/she is designated HG when listing the school currently attended on the application. FWIW, I believe Walter Reed sends many students to HW in any case and AOs there are very familiar with it. It is not, iirc, HGM.
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