Whenever admissions are competitive, whether it's for gifted elementary schools, selective middle schools, or selective colleges, some parents will try to prepare their children. I don't think this is a big problem, partly because the effects of test prep are usually found to be small in studies.
I disagree. It really depends on the test. A kid who is reasonably bright who is prepped can do well on certain tests. Or, if they have a very broad exposure.
The bracken is pretty trivial as it is about facts. Mr W missed a handful of questions last year when he was 3y8m, all related to geometric shapes. Had we "tutored" him on them, he would have gotten those questions right.
He was given the WPPSI-III last fall as well. He did very well on the PIQ part but fell down on the VIQ. When I asked him how the test was, he said that the tester would not let him go back and look at things so he started thinking about that part and so he stopped cooperating. He also found some of the questions silly so he got bored. Had we "drilled" him no doubt he would have zipped through the verbal part. Does this mean his VIQ is 120? Probably not as his verbal reasoning skill is his strongest suit.
As way of comparing, we know a kid 2 years older than Mr W who was "tutored" in a well regarded private preschool and had WPPSI-III composite of ~ 140 from the same tester. Mr W is currently on this kid's level and is ahead in some respects. Does this kid really have an IQ around 140? I am not so sure.
