Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment re-apply?

Does anyone have information on re-applying for Davidson? Or adding to an existing application? Our son was not accepted, but all we did was send in his test scores (which were 1 qualifying and 1 borderline). He is only 7 so we didn't have much in the way of academic records or achievement to submit. What sorts of things do people send in to help illustrate giftedness?

I don't have any information about reapplying but the DYS admissions people are really friendly and helpful so I would contact them directly. I have one child admitted a couple of years ago and another one 6-7 years ago and I know I did stupid things like messing up attached files and then had to contact them. You do know that you need to answer background questions and provide a third-party recommendation in addition to submitting the qualifying test scores? By the way, you now only need one qualifying score rather the two previously required. I actually have never heard of an applicant with qualifying scores getting rejected; there have been cases where an applicant with borderline scores was asked to submit more data. The fact that your DS was rejected rather than given instructions to supplement his file and resubmit warrants direct contact with the admissions staff to get specific information.

Ben'sMom, was your son found to be ineligible?
Have you read all the links about qualifying and applying... including all documents, webpages, PDFs?
Did the psychologist who tested your son have the correct information on qualifications, etc?
If it helps in choosing a nominator, you can view the 4 questions which nominators are asked at the Checklist in Step 2 on this webpage: How to Apply

Even if your child does not become a DYS, please remain an active member of the forum... it is a great way to receive help along your journey.

Yes, we filled out the full application online, submitted the full psych eval and test results. His WISC-V VCI qualifies him, but he needs another score to qualify. His GAI was only high enough if you consider the confidence interval. Our psych recommended we apply anyway in hopes they'd consider the confidence interval, and the fact that he's 2e. We did have the nominator form filled out by his teacher. So we had all the necessary stuff. What we didn't include were any examples of his work (all we had were his report cards and other school tests that don't really show anything). We do have a school administered test for reading that shows that he was reading well above grade level, but the WISC already shows that.

We considered sending in videos of him talking about what interests him (the kid is currently building molecules and talking about chemical elements), he reads Greek and Norse mythology all day long, and can talk about supernovas, black holes, etc. Since that's not really academic achievement (more interests and curiosities) we weren't sure if that sort of thing would sway them.

His psychologist, whom we love, basically told us he will not find peers in a normal school setting. So we were really looking forward to the Davidson community and his ability to meet peers like him. In addition, since we are at a school that refuses to place him in gifted until they give him their own test (which they won't do for 2 more years), we were hoping that the Family Consultant provided by Davidson might provide some assistance in helping us know what to do for him moving forward.

It may be too late to add the scores now, depending on how long ago the original WISC-V was administered, but did your psychologist also consider administering the other two verbal subtests, to see if he would obtain a qualifying 145+ on the VECI, which would be sufficient as a stand-alone score? All that would be necessary would be Information and Comprehension.

Testing was done in May of this year. Our psychologist said he met the ceiling on many parts of the WISC so re-testing (which she won't do for 12-18 months at least) won't make too much of a difference. Again, I think he JUST missed the cutoff on the GAI score. He was also just diagnosed ADHD which could have contributed to lack of focus during some of his testing (which she stated several times in her report).