THere are many summer programs, you just have to search them out. Do not put too much pressure on her though. She’s not the only one in the tip program to get those kind of scores. You can use them to apply to STEM summer programs, they usually don’t search you out, you have to search for them. You are in the tip program before taking the SAT in 7th grade. Then, if you do awesome ( my son did this kind of scoring), they send you the programs through DUKE you can do over the summer. We never signed him up as they were EXPENSIVE!! Most summer programs are NOT free.
I’d start with the Davidson Young Scholars - once accepted into their program they have complimentary consulting to help students and parents figure out and advocate for appropriate educational opportunities.
Boarding schools may not be able to offer classes as advanced as she needs. Maybe only Exeter or Andover have a few classes that are higher than college 200 level. Most other boarding schools won’t. Why not educate at local school and supplement with online?
Kids I know with scores like that have done variations of the following:
- Apply for Caroline Bradley scholarship if she’s still in 7th grade. It would pay for boarding tuition and help her connect with other similar kids. http://www.educationaladvancement.org/caroline-d-bradley-scholarship/
- Grade skip.
- Early college.
- Subject acceleration so that AP type classes are started in middle school and students end up taking a broader range of classes as high school can occur over 6 or 7 years staring in 6th or 7th in some or all subjects.
- Summer experiences like TIP or CTY or math path or THINK.
- Boarding school has worked for some kids like this, but others I know have preferred early college. Some kids really want a high school experience with college-level academics and programs like the Davidson Academy (which I think no longer has boarding as an option), certain boarding schools, or the Bard Academy at Simon’s Rock may offer the possibility of college level academics and a high school type experience.
- The advice to look at the Davidson Young Scholar program is helpful, not so much for the program which is limited, but for access to other parents making decisions about similar kids and experience about what has worked or not. Similarly, SET through CTY has some counseling and interaction with other parents if needed.
This is one of those situations where fit becomes extremely important and all boarding schools do not have the same range of academic options. A kid who finishes calculus before high school needs a school with a lot of math past calculus and many schools just won’t have enough math, but some do.
We have considered early college. This is where I feel meets our situation. For less than what our local private schools charge we can send her to our local state college.
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I’ve heard of Stanford Online High School as well.
If she has a serious interest in Davidson Academy, it would be worth emailing to ask the about boarding. I am not sure they ever put the info on their website, but they did offer the opportunity for a small number of students to board with local Davidson families as an experiment a few years ago. It could still be an option. What could work is for your daughter to try the summer THINK program, and then consider whether the academy appeals to her and makes sense for her.
If you didn’t sign her up for the SAT through one of the talent search programs, you probably won’t get mailings from a lot of the progrms. But it is easy enough to contact them – we did that with CTY. One thing my kid got through CTY was an invitation to join an online chat site called COGITO that they were hosting at the time. It was a lifesaver for my middle school kid, who really didn’t have any peers with the same interests and level of giftedness (no surprise, given the statistical numbers of kids with those kinds of scores at that age). She didn’t end up doing any CTY programs, she did THINK instead, but she is still friends now as a sophomore in college with some kids she met online through COGITO in middle school.
Congratulations on her academic achievements!
You’re right, these kids are a challenge.
Our family cobbled together Davidson young scholar info, CTY summer programs, subject acceleration, on-line coursework and were considering early college until we decided on Exeter. For my D, Exeter has been a great chance for academic challenge all four years, yet socially spending high school with similar peers. My D is one of several Davidson kids who have thrived at Exeter, including one who had previously GRADUATED from Davidson/Univ of Nevada. It’s pretty typical for these kids to come in with a few years of calculus before starting 9th grade. And no need to mention “gifted” in the application, the students at Exeter basically all meet that definition in some way. Really.
Each family and very gifted child is different, and there are many other scenarios that can be considered, depending in large part on parental time/local resources/mobility.
I do suggest thinking through attending full time early college carefully. After graduating from early college, next step choices become more narrow and many kids just end up doing another undergrad degree (and as transfer students, they don’t have as good a chance of admission to highly selective universities), while a few STEM types go on to graduate school early. Not many other options exist. Professional schools and employers do not see any advantage in young applicants, they cannot have much social independence until 18, like signing a lease or buying a car, and are very out of step with older college students at a critical period in development.
Take a look at the data on Hoagie’s page about early college programs for radically accelerated kids. 50% flunk out because of social maturity issues - mainly spending their time playing video games with their friends. They are still kids.
I echo the good advice about applying for membership in the Davidson Young Scholars program. It is a good place to start and costs nothing to apply or participate.
Are you speaking about summer programs? high school?
Thank you guys for all the positive feedback! @2prepmom your reply was sobering.
I just want to second 2prepmom’s point. I do alumni interviewing for admissions at a HYPMS university, and I teach at a highly ranked LAC. I have, on rare occasions, had a 13 or 14 year old apply with perfect (or close to perfect) scores and advanced grades. As far as I know, they are NEVER admitted. They are too young and can’t fit in socially-- and college, especially really good colleges, are much more than just the classroom experience. The reason elite schools work so hard to put together an interesting class, rather than just go by the numbers, is because students DO learn so much from one another, and get so much out of their non- classroom activities. Some young super- gifted kids still want the early college route (Simon’s Rock or whatever)-- but then don’t necessarily continue to the best universities, unless they do another round of college. (although at least at that type of program, they ARE with kids closer to their age). But I encourage you to keep her in some version of secondary school (exceptional public school, private school or BS) and give her extra enrichment through summer programs, on line courses etc. Meanwhile, let her mature socially and get involved in various extra curricular activities that interest her–music, sports, art, community service, etc. some of these kids spend summers working in a lab or doing research projects in history or whatever interests them. Some have publications by the time they apply to college. Some just discover activities outside the classroom in which they also excel. But, again, at last in my experience, they do better in the long run, and fit in better, than kids who go to some version of college at 14 or 15. If she finds other ways to challenge herself, she won’t be wasting her time, and will be MORE ready to get everything put of her college or university experience she can get.
My son attended Bard College at Simon’s Rock, which accepts students as young as 14 years old into their 2 year and 4 year college program. This was a better option for him than boarding school - it has some general education requirements but also allowed him to delve deeply into subjects which interested him.
@daykidmom I’m not quite sure I agree with you on all points. And when you say “continue to the best universities” I’m not sure your opinion of what is “best” and mine are the same thing.
We do have a friend who sent their daughter to Mary Baldwin (early college), and were sorry they had done so. She had social issues, and came out with a college degree, but short on maturity. And having to move on to adult type situations (either working or grad school) at the age of 18. She is still having some struggles, and is around 21 now.
I am not a parent, but I am a student so perhaps those on this thread would appreciate a kid/student’s POV. I agree with @intparent’s and @2prepmom’s statements regarding early college based on my own experiences and my parents’ decisions regarding early college. I have always studied 3+ grade levels ahead in middle school, so oftentimes, my family is asked the question, “Will she graduate college early?”
However, next year, my parents have decided to put me with other 9th graders when I am in 9th grade, because of the exact reason intparent and 2prepmom stated above–my parents (and I) did not want me to be with those who were much older and/or much more mature than I. Being 14-15 years old and trying to make friends or fit in with a bunch of 19-20 year olds would be extremely intimidating and also socially scarring. My parents (and I) were also worried about older kids bullying me, using me, or taking advantage of me and wanted to avoid that drastic situation. The college scene would also have proved to be too much for me as a future high schooler–drugs, drinking, partying, etc., even more so than what happens in high school, as many of these “adults” are now legal to drink.
My parents much more preferred for me to be with kids my age so I would have an excellent high school experience. That is one of the reasons why instead of early college I am applying to BS this year, for the opportunity to be academically challenged, yet still be with students my age. If I am not accepted to BS, I will attend the local public school, which often allows for their gifted/excelling students to take courses at the local university as well (that is what I will do). I know high schoolers who have done this and they say that they were still challenged after working with university professors–perhaps you could look into that, OP. I believe this is called dual enrollment, but instead of a high schooler being by himself/herself, they also have their high school friends and other kids their age with them (at least that is how it works at the local public schools here).
There are just some things you can’t rush, and instead of putting OP’s daughter into early college, I think the time in between should be used for OP’s daughter to further develop and pursue her passions, develop good relationships with her teachers and friends, and learn more about herself as a person and her talents.
I hope my POV helped, at least a little bit.
(Sorry for all of the grammatical mistakes. I’m in a bit of a hurry typing this.)
I agree with the above points. Try enrolling her in summer programs or online classes. I don’t recommend sending her off to college that early. She may be academically ready, but college life is more than just academics. I’m sure many boarding schools and summer programs would love to have someone with those scores!
I should say that Davidson does a mixture – students do take some college classes in the areas where they are more advanced, but not in areas that maybe aren’t their best areas.
Also, our state has an option to allow high school students to enroll in some college classes for free. Public high schools are required to let them do this and accept the credits, I think. You should investigate this option. Some kids do a mixture of college and time at their high school in this program.
What about instead of shipping her off we just send her full time to our local state college and she lives at home. She’s active in music ensembles and other clubs and has buddies here. Wouldn’t that be the best of both worlds? Anyhow, we aren’t going to push anything on her. This is her interest. I’m merely feeling these things out. I believe this has been motivated by a combination of seeing her brother recently go through the college app experience and the recommendations by our educator friends. We saw something like this coming early on but really haven’t given much thought to it until the SAT score and her enjoying the college courses.
One of the problems with this can be that although the academics are at a higher level at her state school, her fellow students will still not necessarily be her intellectual peers. That is one of the things my kid loved about the Davidson summer program was meeting other kids like herself.
I think you really need to balance a lot of things. (1) What exactly are you trying to accomplish by having her take local college classes – acceleration in subject matter, avoiding boredom in high school, what else? (2) What the long term plan for her education if she does this? Is she helping or hurting her chances at attending an elite college for her undergrad degree or graduate school? Could she end up earning a bunch of college credits that don’t transfer to her final undergrad institution, if it is a different school (that can happen at top schools)? Is that okay with both you and her? (3) Can you achieve your goals in a local high school (either private or a public with a strong program, maybe an IB program) and supplementing with summer/EC activities? There are a lot of ECs that are great for gifted kids at the high school level – debate, speech, music, Quiz Bowl, Academic Decathlon, History Bowl, Robotics, Math competitions, science olympiads, science competitions, etc.