<p>I have a d who is highly gifted. The childen in our school district are identified by their scores on a group mental maturity test given at the end of first grade. A subtest (which is part of a national test ) is administered by the school district to screen the children. The children who scored above 135 are then given the WISC II. (IQ Test) Her range was in the top 2% of people tested. She is presently a junior. Her classes include honors and AP and she is an excellent student.... It is nice to see a female so strong in math and psychics. Our problem is this......she cannot finish the SAT in the time allowed.....therefore, her scores are just above average... we have done practice tests and she has been tutored at great lengths.......we have tried everything.....has anyone experienced this situation? what did you do and did it work? What about the colleges? Do we have any hope for the reach schools...... I know there are people who just don't test well but she has always scored in the 99%...National, State and Local over the past eleven years....Help....we are wide open for any and all suggestions.....</p>
<p>Does she have time problems on all sections of the test?</p>
<p>
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It is nice to see a female so strong in math and psychics
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</p>
<p>Oh. I love this Freudian slip!</p>
<p>I have an S who is strong in math and physics and is headed for college next fall. I'll PM you this evening with some suggestions if you will let me know which part of the country you are in. Texas137 and Tokenadult may also wish to contribute, as, I'm sure, will other posters.<br>
Welcome aboard!</p>
<p>You might have her tested by your school psychologist, it is possible to be both gifted and learning disabled. She could have a processing disorder or something which might require extra time on exams.</p>
<p>A full battery of testing, 3-4 hours, is generally required to show a problem on some one who is very bright, otherwise, she would compensate for the problem and teachers would not notice any issues, as she would still be performing better than other kids!</p>
<p>marite.....oops sorry about the slip.....</p>
<p>Ohio_mom.....she has trouble with all sections...</p>
<p>My two youngest are highly gifted and score wonderfully in school on tests, exams, etc. They have done great in K-12 and are active in their communities, great ECs etc. That said, both did so-so on the SAT and slightly better on the ACT. Middle child got into his reach school, youngest child did not. But both are very happy where they stand now and I'm sure it was meant to be that things worked out this way. I never could figure out how such brilliant kids could not do stellar on the SAT. I've been told that sometimes the highly gifted over-analize on these tests. I'm very glad this is behind us now (testing and college choice) and wish you the best. BTW, I'm a female that loves math and physics as well :)</p>
<p>Is your daughter perfectionistic? Does she do other work at a slow speed to make sure it is all just right? Has her SAT tutor taught her how to take tests, or reinforced the content that is on the test. Does she know how to skip items and then go back to them, for example?</p>
<p>A young relative of mine was just diagnosed with ADD and Learning problems at the Ivy league college she attends. She always has been a very slow worker, but very bright (and she had brilliant SAT scores), but in fact she has long been compensating for some mild learning issues....so late identification certainly happens.</p>
<p>If you have a good school psychologist, it would be worth talking with him or her...to start with, I would think.</p>
<p>My daughter has LDs/ADD and is gifted- very gifted apparently she was tested in the .03% of population but because she doesn't do well at group testing she didn't qualify for the school district highly capable program
oh well
The scores of the WISC should illustrate if there is a LD
D scores went from the top to the bottom- the average was very high- but in some areas she was well below grade level-
I am assuming the WIsc was given individually? the psych should be able to tell if she has an LD from the scores then you can go on from there
ldonline.org
has info on gifted and ld</p>
<p>One of my kids took the WISC-III and scored very highly. She hit the ceiling on several areas but scored under her age for Coding. The psychologist attributed this to personality and the perfectionistic tendancies of the gifted child. Her teachers have remarked to me that she's always the last one to hand in a test, but that she's meticulous and thoughful with her answers. She's not taken the SAT yet but I can forsee her having the same issues with time. I believe they offer time exempt testing, anyone have experience with what is required for this and how colleges view it?</p>
<p>There's a very simply solution - simply choose schools that don't require 'em. There are so many great ones! Bowdoin, and Mt. Holyoke, and Bard and Bates and...well, here's the beginnings of a list:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.fairtest.org/optinit.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.fairtest.org/optinit.htm</a></p>
<p>If she is truly gifted, it will come through to the admissions officers in other ways, so you don't have anything to worry about. (I presume, from what you wrote, that she does fine with the AP tests.)</p>
<p>Is there a reason she would necessarily "want" one of those reach schools, where she would have to contend with hundreds of students who are quicker "on their feet"? That question was not meant to be rhetorical, she may really want one or need one for reasons not immediately apparent. </p>
<p>(And know that things change, too - my older d. - 800 verbal SAT at age 12 - was dysgraphic, and has since turned into a brilliant writer.)</p>
<p>marite ......we are from Pa.
robym.....she is a perfectionist.....and a slow worker.....I have talked with the psychologist and she is going to have her tested....
mominin.....I feel the way you do....I never thought for one moment the SAT would be an issue........glad to hear everything worked out for your children....it gives me hope.....and I love math and psychics
I am feeling better already.....I am so happy that I found CC...</p>
<p>Yes, Birdie, & robrym & somemom are also correct. (I have some training in Gifted Education as a subset of my educational credentials.) What you describe does happen, & it is happening now to my younger D. She is brilliant & highly artistic. It can be especially true for the artistically gifted. She has managed fine until now (high school), but I am also not surprised at the poster whose student has discovered it only now, in college. (Various CC student posters have also discovered theirs "late," as I understand.) Mine went through the 3-4 hr. testing thing, but is resisting diagnosis/treatment, due to concerns about labeling, & due to confusion about this versus her abundant & rapid comprehension. (The gap seems not credible to her, understandably; this is additionally why discovery/diagnosis is delayed for many people who have no history of being slow learners or labored learners -- which is the way "learning differences" used to be understood & defined -- as disabilities, handicaps, etc., particular to intellectually-challenged students. Au contraire: it is more related to differences in perception & processing -- magnified, the more imaginative a person is -- rather than as a function of the rate or level of comprehension.)</p>
<p>I feel universally for all of us with teens & college applicants. I'm worried sick about D#2 -- not that my worry is a very proactive way of dealing with it. But she will need a radically different college list, college preparation, and application strategy than D#1. That is despite the fact that they are often spoken of (positively) in the same breath by their high school teachers. Ironically, because of that, I'm also getting resistance by D#2's teachers regarding these learning differences. (Because she's so sharp, they don't see the problem!)</p>
<p>Momofour-
To be given extra time on the SAT you have to have a certified professional (school psychologist, neurophsychologist, pediatrician, etc) state that you are learning disabled and document how that was diagnosed. I think the paperwork is something most school counselors work with, or school psychologists.</p>
<p>Birdie-<br>
As for what Mini has said, I truly think that in the case of the girl I mentioned (gifted, LD) she would be better off in an equally rigorous smaller school...the school she is in has 'support' but it is overwhelmed with kids and there is no one person who takes a personal interest in her...which would really make a difference. The schools Mini mentions, which are terrific schools, are among those which have not only a NO-SAT policy, but also support for bright kids. Lots of schools do...</p>
<p>You are fortunate to be dealing with this now and not 2 years from now....honestly.</p>
<p>I'm going to be a dissenting opinion here! The SAT is a timed test, and as such, tests speed and accuracy of student's work. Your daughter obviously doesn't have a serious learning disability or she would not have done so well throughout school. Finding a psychologist who will test her for learning differences so that she can have an untimed test is scamming the system. MANY kids don't finish the test - because it is a DIFFICULT test, and one has to work quickly. Many kids are perfectionists. Should they all get to take the test untimed? If they are not as bright as your daughter, maybe they could claim they have a subtle learning disability? I know you are trying to do what is best for your child - but it seems like an unfair advantage.</p>
<p>Hi anxiousmom,
I think that there are definitely people who scam the system, don't get me wrong. However, the diagnosis of a learning difference is a legitimate process and if a child has a specific learning difference that interferes with them showing what they know in a timed setting...it should be accomodated(according to current laws and provisions). </p>
<p>However, as with my young relative, it may be that the nature of that learning difference is such that it also has to be accomodated at another stage, that is ultimate school selection. </p>
<p>I am less worried about kids getting extra time on a test than I am about kids not understanding what that means, for them, in terms of the kind of schools they should be looking at...As is the case with ephiphany's child, understanding what it all means in the context of being a very capable person is quite a challenge.</p>
<p>In fact Birdie's daughter might not have a learning difference, she might just have a personality style or some other factor that will impact her ability to take the SAT. If that is the case, then hopefully the testing will reveal that as well....</p>
<p>emeraldkity4 ... yes... the test was given individually and I am reviewing my D standard scores and percentiles for Verbal IQ and Performance IQ ...one is 99.6 and the other is 99.7....you can't be more balanced.....her freedom from distractibility index was 88% ....the verbal and peceptual were 99.5% and processing speed index was 95% ........it really is quite even across the board.......</p>
<p>Just point of information, robrym:
Perfectionism is more often associated with OCD than with ADD. OCD often manifests in the intellectually gifted and in the artistically gifted. ADD is more often seen in the artistically gifted, but can be manifest in either.</p>
<p>Tutoring in test-taking strategies is indeed often helpful, according to those who have "exploited" that advice faithfully & consistently.</p>
<p>Birdie,
Mindset has a lot to do with these silly tests - if you feel like they have the whammy on you, they do. At this point, time seems to be an issue. </p>
<p>See if your D is up for a little experiment. Ask her if she will do a section (one of those that is meant to take 30 minutes) untimed - no clock in the room. Maybe a math section since she likes math. </p>
<p>Before she starts, go for a brisk 10-15 minute walk together, and just chat. Only requirement is that you both must giggle at least once.</p>
<p>When you get back from the walk, you will do the timing - she tells you when she starts, she tells you when she is done - no time constraint. Also - no contraint to finish every problem. Have her circle the ones she is not sure of. Tell her to look at them again - but if they are still annoying - just leave them and be done. </p>
<p>Note the time, score the section. If she only took a little (say, ten minutes) longer, and scored a good bit better, there may be an LD but there's almost certainly test whammy going on. Test whammy is common but not incurable!</p>
<p>If you look at the way the SAT's are structured, you don't have to complete all the questions to get a good (or good enough) score. She may need to give herself permission to skip a certain number of questions. </p>
<p>Further, except for CR, they tend to get harder as they go along. You can tell by the pattern of her scores if she is otherthinking the simple problems.</p>
<p>I'm sorry, Mini, but the "fairtest" list is by no means a "simple solution." I've seen the list: about 95% of them are unsuitable for my own D, due to her interests & various other factors.</p>
<p>The vast majority of arts schools, and colleges/U's with strong art programs have unfortunately caved in to the testing mania. With a few exceptions, most of them seek students with as high scores as any selective LAC.</p>