My 7th grader was not asked to take the SAT

Parents Forum
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<p>The CTY and similar summer programs are wonderful for kids who have certain intellectual interests and would love the opportunity to delve into those interests with like minded peers.</p>

<p>While some very smart kids would love to spend their summers like that there are others who would prefer to spend their summers as twomules describes.</p>

<p>The purpose of the CTY and similar programs isn't to help kids get into top colleges, but to give kids a chance to pursue intellectual passions that they wouldn't have an opportunity to do otherwise until they were much older.</p>

<p>Both of my sons qualified for our regional talent search summer programs. One had no interest in the summer programs, so we sent him to sports and other camps that matched his interests. The other absolutely loved his two summers at Talent Search programs, and would have attended more, but we couldn't afford any more.</p>

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<p>Are "regional talent search" programs stndardized in some way, or do they vary tremendously in cost, content, and prestige? Ours was hosted by Cal State University, our city was probably it's farthest draw ( maybe 40 miles), and if I remember correctly was pretty cheap ( currently $100-384, commuter). Does the Duke TIP or CTY thing draw nationally?</p>

<p>Nevermind...I found this</p>

<p>Center</a> for Talented Youth - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</p>

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<p>I know a local university offers programs, but they are a VERY costly, day ones, you still need to qualify, but at a cost of 1500 for 5 days for 6 hours, I would rather my kids look for frogs that is if they could find them in this suburban metropolis for that kind of $$</p>

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<p>Another parent of a TIP kid here. No clue this was done until info came home from the school. The test wasn't even offered in our city so we had to travel (on an <em>incredibly</em> cold & icy South Texas January weekend) to a testing site. The positive thing I can say about early standardized testing is by the time she was taking these for PSAT & the real SAT, she wasn't bothered by long tests at all.</p>

<p>She was interested in the summer programs, but the cost was too much for us.</p>

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<p>My kids were not asked to participate in the JHU program but since they qualified, I asked them if they were interested & since they were, we applied & they were allowed to take the tests they wanted from grade school. S did much better on the tests & actually enjoyed them. D took them because they were available--she tolerated them but didn't actually "enjoy" them. Neither wanted to take the CTY courses because they thought the prices were high. S was awarded two scholarships to take 2 courses at a local U at no charge (for getting the highest & 2nd highest scores in the state for 7th & 8th grades or something like that). He redeemed one of the scholarships & took a summer course in statistics after his 10th grade year--he found the caliber of the students & teaching below that of his competitive HS. He chose not to take another course there.</p>

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<p>So you can be seen in the check in line????!!!! Smart Camp??!! Thank goodness I'm not your kid, I'd need therapy as an adult. Why does this mean so much to you? This is your kids accomplishment not yours. It's one thing to be proud and quite another to attach your own self importance to their accomplishments. I mean seriously...so YOU could be seen in line? Do you think other adults care? If they do then you live in a very sad, sad place.</p>

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<p>Our schools do not recommend anyone for CTY. It's all word of mouth.
We found out about the program through a summer camp counselor who thought that my S would be outgrowing it the following summer despite enjoying its social aspects very much. S took the PLUS test and got into "junior CTY" and loved it, so he took the SAT in 7th grade to qualify for senior CTY. He did two summers, enjoyed both very much, and got great preparation for AP classes. By then, he was old enough for summer math camp and that's where he spent his next three summers.
When he went to take the SAT, he saw a high school senior who'd taught him swimming. The senior was tense, as were the other test-takers; S, who had nothing more riding on the results than getting into summer camp, was relaxed. He was also the first to finish the test and leave. In high school, he found that other students had also taken the SAT and attended CTY; but it was not something people talked about very much or that the school encouraged.</p>

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<p>Yeah, I kinda wanted to be one of those parents in the check in line. My kid was invited to take the test in 7th grade, signed up for the test, then blew off the test (refused to go) on Test Day. As someone on CC has said, "Love the kid on the couch"....</p>

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<p>" I told him he got to take the SATs so he could go to smart camp!!!! He was absolutely horrified. I persuaded him to take them just so I could be seen in the check-in line. "</p>

<p>??? "Smart camp" isn't what those programs are, and I don't think many -- if any kids -- would be attracted to the camps by how you describe them.</p>

<p>??? Why would you be in the check-in line? The kids check in themselves. All I did with my kids was make sure that they found the right building, which was confusing to find on the college campus where they took the test. I didn't care if anyone saw me or my kids.</p>

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<p>boomu, actually, the kids who get to go to the camps mentioned here don't call it "smart camp," but "nerd camp." Many many kids love the experience; you can find testimonials all over the web. Heck, you can even find them here at CC -- go look in Summer Programs.</p>

<p>My son loves nerd camp. It's a frightful stretch financially, but so far, we've sent him to both sessions every summer. (This summer may be the exception...)</p>

<p>missypie, I think I might have seen ONE person I sort of knew in the line when S took the SAT as a 7th grader! I did get to talking with a number of other parents, however, two of them also parents of middle-schoolers, and one the parent of a high school senior. The high school senior's mom was hoping her kid would score well enough to go to college to play baseball; that was all she was worried about (and wow, was she worried about it!). She was very surprised to find that the other three of us standing around yakking had middle-schoolers. </p>

<p>I was so nervous about my kid being in with all those "big" high school students, I was a wreck, even though the middle-schoolers were in a room by themselves. I went home and cleaned the house, baked a cake, made corn chowder, did laundry, and made pumpkin bread while S was taking the test -- anything, ANYthing to distract me, even cleaning!!</p>

<p>When he took it in 8th grade, I was much calmer about it. I baked brownies and took them with me when I went back to wait for him. Sure enough, I found other parents of middle-schoolers waiting, too, so we ate brownies and talked while we waited. Made some new friends that day!</p>

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<p>"Are "regional talent search" programs stndardized in some way, or do they vary tremendously in cost, content, and prestige?"</p>

<p>They vary in cost and in their qualifying scores. The last time I checked, I think the program at Johns Hopkins had the highest qualifying scores.</p>

<p>If your kids take the SAT or ACT and send their scores to a Talent Search program, whether or not they qualify for their regional talent search, they'll get a booklet with info about summer camps for gifted kids. Some of the camps require qualifying SAT scores, which vary depending on the camp. Some of the camps just require a teacher recc or something similar.</p>

<p>Duke's TIP program also has weekend residential experiences at various places in the country that students can go who self identify. Because the programs don't want kids traveling there on their own, they send the info only to people in their locale, but other students also can apply. My younger son went to 2 -- one had to do with music and videos or something similar. The other had to do with fuel cell engineering. We found it was affordable ($300 about 4 years ago), and was a nice way for him to check out a subject he was interested in while being around like-minded peers. It also was a nice way for us to see the college. </p>

<p>Check Duke's Talent Search website to see if the programs still are being offered.</p>

<p>Warning: They fill up quickly, and it's first come, first served.</p>

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<p>DS was invited in forth grade to sign up for the Duke TIP program. Wife and I researched it and decided to let him decide whether he was interested or not. We explained to him that it would entail advanced level testing and could offer the opportunity to attend some advanced placement classes and camps. The ensuing conversation offered a few laughs and really opened wife's and my eyes as to the thought process going on inside of our son's head.</p>

<p>DS - "I might be interested but I have a few questions first"
DS - "What exactly are the differences between the ACT and the SAT?"</p>

<p>US - We tried to explain the differences, but I kept thinking to myself about how I didn't even know these tests existed until I was well into high school.</p>

<p>DS - "OK. IF I sign up for this program do I have to attend Duke? At this point I don't know that I want to have to committ to one place."</p>

<p>US - "No, you will still have choices of where you want to attend college" (Sly smile on my face. Obviously he didn't really understand the process)</p>

<p>DS - "Which of the entrance tests does Harvard take? I don't want to waste time by taking the wrong one"</p>

<p>ME - Sly smile is now gone from my face. Obviously I was the one who didn't understand the process. :-) Wife and I walked away from the conversation just shaking our heads. Todays kids just don't think the same way we used to.</p>

<p>BTW, DS went on to take the ACT in 7th grade and did quite well, and yes, the awards ceremony is ont the most exciting thing you will ever attend. But it is pretty cool for the kids.</p>

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<p>The awards ceremony that younger S went to was awful. The person who spoke was a former physics prof who headed the university's honor program, and who made condescending and erroneous statements such as saying the parents of the kids in the audience probably had to tear the kids away from TV to get them to read books.</p>

<p>The kids in the audience were the type that the parents had to force to put the books aside at the dinner table!</p>

<p>That talk is a big reason why years later my S turned down an admission offer from that college.</p>

<p>The most fun related to the ceremony was going out for ice cream with S's friends and their parents. Many of the local kids at the regional ceremony had been friends of S since kindergarten. Many still stay in touch even though they are attending colleges up to 1,000 miles apart.</p>

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<p>How did it happen? The private boys school my S attended submitted his standardized test information and Duke sent me an invitation letter.</p>

<p>*Pressure? We don't need no stinkin' pressure! * I asked my then 7th grade S if he would be interested in participating in the Duke TIP by taking the SAT I. The name gave it away and he said "cool." He looked over the example booklet the night before the test. I explained what I thought was important to taking a long test: get everything that you must and/or can take to the test in one place the night before the test, including sharpened pencils, get a good night's sleep and arrive early-ish to the test site.</p>

<p>Ceremonies? His school had a monthly assembly at which time notable achievements were announced. We passed on the Grand Recognition ceremony. </p>

<p>Those brainiac summer programs? S never did the summer academic stuff. He liked going to camp in Colorado.</p>

<p>IMO--let the student decide w/o pressure and NO PREPPING</p>

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<p>In my hysterical all-consuming excitement to be seen in the check-in line (and just because the kid was asked to take the SAT does not imply he can figure out what door to go in)...I never told him what was on the SAT, just that he should try his best....As we were walking up to the test site school he asked if he should guess if he didn't know the answer - what a great question!! He said the first section was an essay and he didn't understand what he was supposed to do with it at all. I learned that it really is impossible to score under a 200! (he did do well on the math, though)</p>

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<p>Is 200 the lowest possible score? I had forgotten. Last year Son was doing an on-line practice SAT and he only wanted to do the math, but it made him do the verbal too, so he just randomly fillied in answers without reading the questions....that is what gave him the knowledge of the lowest possible score.</p>

<p>I think taking the SAT as a 7th grader is only "good practice" if you child does reasonably well. It's totally no fun to sit there and not know how to work most of the math problems. That could give a kid an unnecessary fear of the SAT when it counts. Like I mentioned, I had planned on not having the third child take it (but then she wasn't asked.)</p>

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<p>"It's totally no fun to sit there and not know how to work most of the math problems. "
Yeah, that was me taking the SAT in high school.</p>

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<p>Kids can call it what they want. The poster was a mom not a kid, that is different. Sorry, but I have noticed how some parents on here just can't separate their children's lives from their own. The thing is, if you feel like it is a badge of honor for you when your kid does something of note, then I hope that those same parents would be willing to take responsibility when the child falls down. And we all fall down at some point. My mom is not a bragger, she will tell someone what I am doing if the person asks first. But she could care less about being seen in line as if I were a trophy. And the pressure of living up to a parents idea of what I should be doing would drive me nuts! I have made mistakes but my parents stood by me but let me take my lumps. The poster didn't say she wanted to see who else was in line for company or anything like that. She stated that SHE wanted to be seen....what on earth for? So everyone knows she has a trophy kid, or that she is a good mom? No. She wants to be seen because it will raise her self esteem. I have friends with moms like this and it is so annoying. Sometimes embarrassing for the kid...</p>

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<p>"I think taking the SAT as a 7th grader is only "good practice" if you child does reasonably well. "</p>

<p>It depends on how the kid and their parents approach things. I took my kids out for a treat after they took the test. What we celebrated was their having the guts to take a test designed for h.s. seniors. I told them that whatever score they got would be fine since the test was designed for much older kids.</p>

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<p>
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Sometimes embarrassing for the kid...

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This is but one of the torments we parents have in our arsenal.</p>