Egads I'm sweating bullets looking at this thing. Anyone have any input on how to answer these college essay questions? lol Feeling heavy pressure to say the "right" thing.

For reference - my daughter is 5.5. She is possibly 2E (ADHD, dad has a severe case) but holding off on that eval for a couple yrs per neuropsych recommendation b/c what we're seeing could also be b/c of giftedness. She had the WPPSI-IV done in October at recommendation of dev pedi we saw b/c we assumed ADHD. We were not at all prepared for her results:
FSIQ 148
GAI 147

I have no idea if the DYS program is run so that if you have that minimum eligible score then you're automatically in or you have to "wow" them w/ the questions and the nominator too but we are really freaking out b/c we have not a clue how to proceed from here w/ the new info. I was identified as gifted at 6 (not this high though) and was basically thrown to the sharks after grade acceleration followed by subject acceleration. It was not a good ending. We're also dealing w/ some of those OEs that Dabrowski discussed. Really really hoping to get into the DYS program b/c that individual consultant and online forum options sound like the holy grail to me to keep me from losing my mind w/ overanalysis and screwing our poor daughter up. I'm extremely nervous and hesitant b/c of what I experienced and desperately do not what her to go through that too if it can be helped.

Not sure if anyone here is able to answer these questions but any input at all is greatly appreciated. TIA!

That was tongue-in-cheek - it feels like I'm filling out essay questions for a college application. More than I'd ever imagined I'd be doing for a 5 yr old but boy am I desperate for some guidance.

I think some of my questions are answered in another thread so apologies if this is an inconvenience here. Still figuring the forum out. It appears as though the questions aren't as scary as they appear if your child has the qualifying scores? Although they might still be denied even *with* the qualifying scores?

I have never heard of anyone with qualifying scores getting refused. The scores were dropped a few years ago even. If your child has the scores then I would not worry about not getting in provided that the application is complete.

I have never heard of anyone with qualifying scores being refused, either. The only way I can imagine it happening is if your application suggested that you'd been having IQ tests administered over and over until you got the magic number you wanted. Don't sweat too much over the questions. Imagine that the psych in your intake interview for testing is asking the same questions - would they stress you out then?

I agree with the above. They are looking for gifted kids, not kids with parents who can wax poetic. I think I spent about 20 minutes coming up with a few anecdotes. At age 5, I don't think I would have had anything.

Yah, I don't seem to have anything. At least nothing that stands out as beyond typically gifted, I don't think. I mean she read fluently shortly before 5, but our friends' daughter who is in the same range and is also applying, she started reading at 1. That's what I think of when I see "prodigious ability". She was able to recite The Lorax when she was 3...but it seems others were doing so much more that would fit these questions better.

GAH. I guess the thing is she has all kinds of the overexcitabilities and other traits we'd assumed were ADHD instead and it's stressful and overwhelming. And my own experience as a gifted child was unpleasant. I'm really hopeful that DYS has some resources that will benefit us as some have suggested even gifted programs won't be the saving grace for her. I don't know if that's b/c of asynchrony or what.

Do they still ask you to give an example of your child working at least 2 grades above their age? I found that question to be difficult to answer, but it helped to just think of my kid's strengths and interests and pick something he was really into and describe how he was into it.

Keep in mind what seems typical to you likely isn't typical at all. After all, you see your kid frequently and she is probably primary person you go on when you think about ability by age. So that's inherently going to seem typical, at least to a certain extent.

So just stating that your child is already one full grade skipped and currently enrolled in 7th grade but further subject accelerated to 9th grade English and easily getting 100s on assignments with additional differentiation from the teacher....would you include a report card or a letter from the teacher? A sample list of paperback books about landmark law cases he is reading for fun because he is into law at 11 years old?

Hi George,

No they didn't ask that. They want examples of prodigious ability, a need to explore things in depth, and an incident that shows she can learn and process complex info rapidly, something like that.

It's odd b/c I can think of all kinds of examples of things that are advanced compared to "neurotypical" kids, but when I think of DYS, I feel like it needs to be so much more substantial.

Really, it doesn't. Just pick a story that you think really highlights how she thinks. Maybe it's one of your favorites. Don't worry about whether it's good enough compared to some undefined excellence you have in your head. It'll be fine.

Agreed - Mom/Dad's writing ability isn't going to outweigh the actual child's testing.

I can't remember where I read it, but many DYS kids are clustered near the minimum qualification levels with only a small minority who are significantly beyond the minimums. I have one DYS near the minimum and another who is significantly beyond. It follows that many of the more extreme accomplishments for the Kindergarten and younger ages may correlate with the more extreme DYS kids. At the same time, some kids who appeared extreme as toddlers/preschoolers/kindergarteners may just be manifesting interest/focus on a particular skill set at the expense of other skill sets at that point in time. My point is do not feel intimidated or feel like your anecdotes have to wow the committee. For my more typical DYS, I couldn't think of many academic examples especially in view of my more extreme DYS and ended up pulling artistic examples even though the committee specifically indicated that they were not interested in art or music or athletic accomplishments. I did spin it by explaining how those examples tied into prodigious ability, deep exploration and processing complex info. As "wrong" as my "mommy descriptions" probably were, DD still got accepted so stop worrying and just start writing. I did the writing both times in a single day partly so I wouldn't agonize over the application. Good luck!

Statistically, this is probably true. If you cut off the tail at one end of the curve, especially way out from the middle like the DYS qualifier, the bulk of the people remaining will be close to the cut line, with relatively few further out. So, for example, if the cutoff score is 145, 68% of the population will be at or under 150 (assuming a normal distribution and a standard deviation of 15: 1-(P(Z=3.333)/P(Z=3.000)) ). I don't know exactly how the multiple ways to qualify as a DYS affect this calculation, but my "gut feeling" is that it makes the group more likely to be clustered close to the qualifier line, rather than increasing the weight of the tail. I'd be interested to hear from anyone whose statistics is less rusty than mine about whether my gut is correct or not.

I guess that makes sense, Quantum2003. When you look at the incidence, it makes sense that more would be in the lower ranges. Thanks for pointing that out

I finally did put my big girl pants on and finished the application. Now waiting on the nominator to finish her form.

Thanks to all that responded. This is making me such a nervous nelly. I contacted the gifted development center in CO last week b/c they'll provide individual guidance too...but the $$ is pretty steep. Sure would be nice to get the free resources in DYS.