I think that conversations about college that happen prematurely, can essentially distort the whole high school (and in this case also 8th grade) experience, as can premature conversations about career. Focusing on admissions too early can cause a kid to do things just to get into college, which in the long run is really quite harmful.
An 8th grader is going to go through a lot of changes. Make sure he is learning, developing interests, and makes friends. In 8th grade, I remember thinking that eating and sleeping were priorities
When the time comes, Ivies and other top colleges offer financial aid for incomes as high as $150k (or even higher in some cases).
That said, I would think that the UC system would be a great option. You are fortunate to be in California. He can apply to dream schools and some of them should be UC’s as well as the ones you list!
Having a gifted kid can certainly be a challenge but don’t channel his life toward college just yet. Focus on his happiness now, and in three years or so your family can start the college exploration process.
There are many ways to keep challenge in his life, besides rigorous classes at school. There are many online options (see Virtual High School), community college and other college courses, summer programs, and extracurriculars, which are very important for growth. He’ll be fine.
@JC1228 Your S sounds like a great kid. Sometimes with driven high achievers, the key is to keep them emotionally balanced. Able to deal with failures. Able to relax. Able to find balance in life. Sometimes your job as a parent is to help them take their foot off the pedal. Help him live true to himself and not just for a future dream college.
I agree with @ynotgo that there are some amazing summer camp opportunities out there. Cogito.org used to be a great resource for searching for camps, but it doesn’t seem to be in existence any more.
I personally would pursue camps like Math Camp, Awesome Math, SSP, etc instead of camps offered by CTY type programs. I would search here and ask questions for fun, educational camps that are full of kids like him: https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/q1_camp
My son says he likes math but I don’t know if that’s what he’s passionate about. I feel he says that because it’s the easiest out of all the subjects for him, and it is the subject that gets him noticed by peers and teachers. He expresses his fondness for math yet when I asked him to go through old AMC8 tests he just does it to get it done, not like as some parents have mentioned how their children can work on it endlessly. He does get 24 or 25 out of 25 all the time.
With current school curriculum very easy to him, I don’t know what’ll challenge him and how he’ll find his passion. That I feel is what I should focus on. I agree with many parents that I should take him on trips to visit different schools, but just as a fun getaway. It is too early to decide on any one college plus plans change and he’ll most likely change within the 4-5 years.
I like the UC system - went to UCSB for CS but I hated all the GE and tell the truth don’t remember anything I learned in them. LOL. Not sure if it’s truth, it’s hard for kids to get into the classes they want nowadays it’s likely they’ll be there for an extra year. At private college though there’s not that problem.
@JC1228 Would he like programming? Hopefully high school is more challenging and interesting for him. That actually often.happens in middle school. Not challenging kids enough. The calm before the storm.
Or maybe chess? Or robotics? Those FIRST competitions.
He likes Chess and Robotics… Took robotics and EE courses from local college that came to his middle school afterschool. He did extremely well, yet I don’t see him wanting to learn more or express an undying interest.
Currently I the only thing I can see he’s passionate about is playing video games on wii u or on the smart phone. We only let him play them on weekends, but he can play endlessly and seems like it is his only LOVE right now. :))
@JC1228 My 8th grade boy will probably end up being the academic superstar in the family. I don’t track his progress online because I know he’s super organized and focused. We’re really trying to preserve this last year of childhood and help with balance for the long game.
But about the gaming… In my old school way, I also don’t see it as an awesome use of time but apparently, you can get scholarships and fame if you’re really good at gaming. The kids even watch other people playing online which seems inane to me but this is our modern world. Those gaming skills also are put to use in the military. His dad would really like him to write his own games but we haven’t made the jump from player to creator.
My younger son took the aviation aptitude test for fun when he was applying to Officer’s Candidate School. He did so well they kept asking him if he was sure he didn’t want to be an aviator! He swears playing computer games (especially ones with joysticks) was the best preparation! He also swears he learn most of his geography from play Civilization 4.
As I said upthread we were quite surprised when we discovered our kid had actually gotten an award for a game mod he’d worked on.
I know I’m an outlier in the parenting department but we saw the whole video game/online stuff as being enormous time sinks with very little upside. I don’t know what I would do if I had a HS kid now (I know kids who are regularly losing money in online poker forums-- at age 16 no less- and the parents are wringing their hands “how do we stop this?” In my home, I’d be going back to 1965 and taking the entire household offline if I were paying for a teenagers gambling losses but I digress).
Lots of my neighbors explained how you can become famous as a gamer, which to me is like telling yourself that your kid who plunks a guitar every weekend is going to become Paul McCartney.
OP- don’t push math if he’s not into it. Having raised a kid to whom math came very easily- but it wasn’t a passion- and another kid who loved math like it was oxygen, I don’t think you can get a kid who doesn’t love it (even if the kid is at the top of the heap in their HS math) to turn it around. What you can do is create a really broad base of interesting stuff. Subscribe to the Economist or the FT. Bring home the New Yorker. Have everyone in the house read the same book and then argue about it over dinner. Create a scavenger hunt for little kids in the neighborhood writing the clues in code. Go visit a cool bridge or weird tunnel or awesome cave or local archaeological dig or historical society or find a factory which makes organic ice cream or pickles and allows tours.
You can create an enriching environment with a little thought.which makes gaming less appealing as a weekend/evening activity.
@mathmom Civilization an awesome game. We actually play that with them sometimes and not only geography but history. The Hagia Sophia? We know that well from Civ.
It probably was the gaming that resulted in the high aviation aptitude.
Follow the National Merit threads and you will see that the score required varies by state and tends to be higher in states with bigger populations because it’s the top half of one percent of each state that becomes semi-finalists. The raw scores needed can vary quite a bit by state. And then you apply to become a finalist. Depending on the student, the schools they want to attend, and their current location there can be some much better alternative ways to invest time to reach their goals.
This is not to say studying for the PSAT/SAT isn’t important or they shouldn’t give it a shot, but unless they typically score in the 99th percentile and in highly competitive states 99.9th percentile of the national score expecting an 8th grader in the 95th percentile to become a National Merit Semi-Finalist to secure scholarships is not realistic. Can he do it if he really dedicates himself to it? Maybe. The scores continue to rise. It’s the awards and leadership roles semi-finalists tout on their NMS applications in the hopes of becoming a finalist which make them great applicants to any college whether or not they actually become finalists or happened to do well on a single day on a single test in the spring of their Junior year. There are a lot of ways to get great merit aid and get into great schools don’t let National Merit become the focus.
I second the caution given above about discussing specific schools with your child. More and more students have access to the course rigor that moves them into the ‘capable of success’ pile and that makes getting into prestige schools much more of a lottery system because there are not enough seats for everyone that has demonstrated they could handle the rigor. Avoid the mistake of a ‘well rounded’ applicant. Colleges want well rounded student bodies and they can’t get that by admitting cookie cutter, high stats, class presidents with a laundry list of ECs that don’t reflect a student’s particular passion. With 3.5 million hs students graduating every year, 35,000 will be top 1%, and only about 4,500 freshman slots for HYP and that is before legacies. By all means apply, just don’t buy the kid a sweat shirt until he’s been admitted.
Even if the school is the state flagship and you can be assured of admittance, I would still caution you about speaking too specifically about it because your child may overlook other programs and schools that could be a better fit simply because they become emotionally tied to the institution from a young age and refuse to consider alternatives. I learned this with my D, and though she loves her choice and it has worked out well, her singular focus taught me not to be specific when discussing ‘future plans’ with her younger siblings. My youngest wants to be an architect and a well meaning architect he knows mentioned a university to him that he thought had a great program. Guess what? Now that’s the only school he wants to go to. I will have to make sure it is one of the last schools we make a visit to because I want him to explore his options.
This seems to be a very overstated problem, although it may be more of an issue with out of major courses, since the UCs may prioritize class space for majors.
Private schools may not automatically be better because they are private. The situation likely depends on how wealthy the school is.
@JC1228 As far as getting into classes at the UCs, at least for engineering majors at UCSB and UCLA, it doesn’t seem to be an issue. Their schedule is mapped out for them to finish in 4 years. Could be different for other majors. If a GE is full, there is always another one and that shouldn’t prevent you from finishing on time. I have one at your alma mater and he is right on track after 2 years. The other will do engineering at UCLA and didn’t have an issue getting the classes required for his major. Your son will likely be pretty far ahead in math, so he may be able to skip a bunch of math classes which will give him a head start. One of mine satisfied 4 of 6 math classes before entering the university.
I disagree, an 8th grader whose SAT score is in the top 95%ile for SENIORS, has a very good shot of having a score in the 99th%ile on the PSAT/NMSQ junior year in high school. But I wouldn’t sweat it now. If his school has 10th graders take the PSAT like many do, the parents will have a better idea if he’ll be in the ball park as a junior.
You’ve received a lot of great advice here, but just want to mention Art of Problem Solving for books and online classes. Challenging, fun classes for competition math topics and also the traditional high-school math sequence, but at a much higher level of abstraction and rigor. https://artofproblemsolving.com/school
MANY private universities have core course requirements that each student MUST take. Both of our kids went to private universities...and both had core course requirements they had to fulfill.
It is VERY possible to graduate from a UC or Cal State in four years...and many students do so each year.
I hate to say it...but I personally think college is a time to learn...learn broadly. Those core course requirements give students exposure to a wide range of topics. And remarkably...some kids actually change or tweet their majors because of a core course that captures their interest.
That’s what I would say to my kids too. Especially if I’m paying for their education.
In a perfect world everyone loves learning, even subjects that doesn’t interest them. Yet, the world is filled with different types of people, one’s that wants to learn everything and know everything, and ones like myself who can only be motivated by subjects that interest me. I’m not perfect! :(( LOL
In UCSB I believe I averaged a C+ in all the GE’s and A in Math and Comp. Science courses. I’m not proud, it’s just who I am. I also admit that my writing is probably below college level, and I read very slow. BUT, my programming skills are very impressive. HAHA joking…
I hope my kids learn a lot in college, but I think living in this world full of different personalities and opinions is very exciting. If they hate GE’s like I did, I wouldn’t blame them, I’d know where they got it from.
@JC1228 one of my kids was an engineering major. That kid LOVED her core classes because they were a diversion from all the science and math. That same kid also loved playing in the orchestra at her college…again because it was so different from those science and math course.
She also had a lot of choice for core courses…and says those were so much fun to actually get to choose. She had NO choice in courses for,her major.
Re: writing. I believe every professional job requires a decent level of writing skills now.
