Just curious, for those labeled as gifted, what college did you end up at? Was it your first choice?
I was in the “gifted program” in my school district from 3rd grade on. Ended up at Penn State + Schreyer. It was my second choice.
I don’t know if gifted programs mean a lot. There were several people in mine where it was just like…how?? Even my own grades are more hard work than anything, haha.
My father fought for me to skip Kindergarten because I was advanced for math and reading at the time, which put me on an unofficial gifted track that was made official in third grade. I also don’t think gifted programs mean that much unless you’re so gifted, you’ve reached a child prodigy kind of level. I ended up at Johns Hopkins, which actually the only school I didn’t pick for myself (my father insisted, because he wants me to be a doctor, lol) and was thus my last choice, although I love it now.
At our school kids were given an IQ test. If they scored high enough, they were in GT. If they were borderline, they had to submit additional documentation, like teacher recs. One of my kids had such high scores he was accepted into the gifted program right away, no letters of rec or anything else required. Ended up at UT in an honors science program. First choice, very happy. Second child had less high score, did require the additional testing and letters of rec, but did get in. Not sure where he will end up, not sure what his first choice is. He scored higher on his SAT and SAT II than his original IQ score would have suggested. I think he needed a little more time to mature. He will likely end up at UT in a selective program or at a selective LAC.
As I look at the other GT kids where we live, I have to say many of them didn’t end up at such great schools, or even do so well in high school. Some of that was due to identifying too many kids as gifted, I think. The kids got some nice enrichment; being in GT was highly desirable, especially in elementary school. There was a lot of parent lobbying to get their kids into GT and some of the kids were well turned out, but not really that gifted. A few kids were truly gifted, but didn’t have the study skills or personalities to do well in high school. And then there were a few kids who didn’t get IDed as gifted who bloomed later on.
@Lizardly
Essentially sums
Up my experience.
Lizardly’s point about being borderline reminds me: my sister is just as smart as me. Probably smarter in some areas. And yet the gifted program rejected her.
My gifted kid went to a mediocre college. The Ivy League, our state flag ship, and many top schools did not offer the Physician Assistant program that she wanted.
By the way, the top three kids in her high school class had all been tested and found “not gifted”. They were, however, high achievers. Because many gifted kids have quirky personalities and like to think -and act - outside the box, the gifted kids don’t always have the best grades.
What is your definition of gifted? Our district was IQ above 130. I was in a very limited gifted program, maybe one year, and then they just put kids in honors classes in middle school and beyond.
Our state requires G&T programs from kindergarten on. Instead, they tried to classify my daughter because she wanted to read chapter books in kindergarten instead of learn letters. They have a math-only gifted program from 3rd grade on for 1/2 hour per week.
I ended up at a non-HYP Ivy. Was very happy there. Based on behavior, I’d say there were certainly kids there who were not gifted in any sense, certainly not gifted in terms of common sense! But on the other hand, some kids like my spouse 
were very very smart (yeah, it was his 150 IQ that attracted me to him!).
I have three identified, but only one is at the stage of admission to colleges. However, my brothers and I were all products of TAG in the 70s and 80s. Straight Stanford-Binet testing only and cut off of 135-140 (it varied over time). We didn’t have special schools, just pull out. The schools we wound up at were Rutgers (Bio), Lafayette (Bio) and Wesleyan (Molecular Bio/BioChem) as undergrads. Penn Grad School (Virology), got Masters, went to Law at NYU. Another went to Penn Law. And the other decided to see the world and did a random stint in Naval Nuclear Power (now works in a non profit).
I don’t think our TAG label (or my kid’s) really mattered much beyond how their individual gifts and talents assist or detract from their school experience. Gifted kids are not always gifted in every subject, and not all are go getters. Trust me on that as I am living it as we speak. My kids could not be more different in their learning styles if they tried. .
The district here uses Cogat testing to screen, and then has a matrix that includes teacher recs and parent observations. Can’t say that I agree that their method is the best way to identify, but it is what it is. Two went to the local gifted school but the third? We opted for private school. It’s tougher.
I will say that one potential pitfall that I see is that TAG kids are often pushed into disciplines (STEM) because of their perceived potential and talent, and yet their passion lies elsewhere (say, Humanities). “That would be a waste of your talent” is an oft heard phrase. Way too much baggage is tossed on TAG kids. Which is how you get… Bio degree with Math Minor, ran off to the Navy, then wound up happily saving the world in a non profit (LOVE IT).
Our school district here in CA is pretty cruddy, so the GATE program was the only way to ensure that my kids got a decent education through middle school, until IB and AP could take over! Luckily both of mine tested in to the program. The older sibling went to Reed College, which accommodated her quirkiness, while the younger is applying now. He has a likely letter from a “lesser” Ivy so far, and the rest we are still waiting to hear about!
@moscott My personal expeience is that those students who placed high enough to be part of the Duke Talent Program–specifically those who scored in 7th grade high enough to attend Duke Center programs (there are similar programs put on by Johns Hopkins and others depending on what area of the country you live in) was a better gauge of a student ending up at a more selctive/highly selective college than being in the Giffed Program.
Your question does not really take into consideration financial issues. My son was accepted at every school he applied to, but ended up accepting a very large scholarship at a school that was not even in his top 4. Sometimes, due to finances, attending an Ivy or other top private school is simply not realistic for the family. I have often joked, the easy part is getting the accpetace, the hard part is figuring out how you are going to pay for it.
Lol, I wasn’t trying to take anything into consideration or extenuating circumstances etc…just curious where kids that were labeled gifted ended up for college and if it was their first choice.
I was in a JHU gifted program in middle school. We don’t have it in high school but my stint was recorded in my transcript and I’ll be going to Vassar this fall semester 
I think OP, since you mention “first choice”, maybe you should be asking:
“Where did kids who were labeled G&T get rejected from?”
I didn’t get any rejections, but I didn’t apply to HYPSM either. My working class family had a negative connotation for HYP being very snobby, M being too geeky (my brother had toured), and S too far.
@KKmama, frankly, I think that labelling kids as “gifted” hinders them. Many come to believe that achievement comes through something innate and unchangeable rather than hard work (which is more often the case in life).
Both my kids were labeled G&T, and neither was loving school by the time they hit middle school. The oldest is in a very selective magnet program, and does well in the classes he likes and badly in those he doesn’t. I think he’s just ready to be done with high school. The younger is in another selective program, and halfway through freshman year is liking it well enough. Neither has any interest in going to a selective college, which is fine with me. As long as they find their way to a fulfilling life it’s ok by me.
This is getting very interesting. I never in my posts mentioned anything about HYP or top 20 colleges yet many are going down that road. simply curious what college you ended up at and if it was your first choice…wherever it was.
My school system has a “gifted” program. It’s a sham, the kids are definitely not gifted. It’s more about grade inflation than anything else.
I never liked the GT label. It can be rigged and varies from year to year. For example, after 2nd grade, my brother should have qualified but the school principal wouldn’t let him since she wanted to keep his scores in house. He got in everywhere he applied (with substantial scholarships at several, and honors college at two), and had a very high school GPA. He could have gotten into HYPSM (or my high school for that matter), but wasn’t interested (national and international level at music- that’s his chosen career path). He ended up at one of his second choice schools (two schools had a bidding war for him) since his top choice didn’t give merit money and was just not affordable.
I didn’t qualify in 2nd grade for some reason, but in 4th grade when I retested, I got a perfect score. Obviously, the test wasn’t a very good one. I went to a math/sci magnet school that consistently ranks among the top 5 schools in the country, but was midpack (we don’t rank) and was pretty much a B student in my core classes. I got in to the honors college at my safety, waitlisted at another safety, and got full-tuition scholarships (because of music) to my top two choices. I ended up choosing my second choice because I ended up liking it better in the end and the scholarship had more perks and less restrictions. I would have never been competitive at an Ivy League or top-50 school like my brother, however, so you can see how the label doesn’t really mean anything.
They did a GATE test for our school around 2nd grade, I believe, and I was one of the gifted kids. But it didn’t even matter anyways because they didn’t do anything special with the gifted kids because parents had complained that it was unfair. But I don’t think everyone who was in the GATE program did that well later in high school. Some didn’t have the study habits. But I’m not really sure because nobody talks about whether they passed the GATE test in elementary school. It’s not that big of a deal where I live. I don’t even know if they still have it.