Our DS2 (6th grade) took EXPLORE in Jan 2012 & has been invited to a state-level award ceremony, so that's great & we will go. However, I *assumed* DS2 would also qualify for a national award at Duke, based on his score. So I called Duke TIP a few weeks back & the lady said that no national awards ceremonies are held for EXPLORE or for the 7th grade talent search. She said that national award ceremonies have never been held for either. I remembered differently from the year DS1 took the ACT in 7th, so I checked online today & - sure enough - there IS a *Grand Ceremony* for very high-scoring test takers. However, the Grand Ceremony criteria does not reference EXPLORE test-takers, so perhaps EXPLORE students are not included? The thing is, the letter Duke sent our DS2 made no mention of EXPLORE, either. It only referenced the 7th grade ACT/SAT talent search - and DS2 did not take the ACT or SAT. He wasn't part of the 7th grade talent search.

Has anyone here had an EXPLORE test-taker who attended a national ceremony/grand ceremony?

I'm thinking of calling Duke TIP again, but thought I'd check here, first. Overall, I have been underwhelmed by lack of info from Duke TIP.

Thanks.

The highest scoring 6th graders are invited to the state recognition ceremonies for the 7th graders. They get special recognition at the ceremony; my daughter enjoyed it.

My dd (6th grade) got her invitation to the state recognition ceremony on this past Saturday. My dd does not want to go so we decided that it was her choice.

Thanks, posters, & I have additional info from Duke, FWIW. Went ahead & called again, which I should have done in the first place: approx 6,500 EXPLORE test-takers thru TIP in the 2011-12 year. Of those test-takers, 288 achieved a composite score of 23 or above and this qualifies those students for a state-level award. These students are not invited to the national ceremony (bummer, IMO).

This info was not included in the letter we received, so others here may find it useful. Our letter pertained to 7th grade search, which had nothing to do w/our DS2. A letter providing info above would have been nice to send to DS2's school, but they probably wouldn't notice, anyway. I told the counselor his scores over the phone & she said they were "great," but not to expect them again when he took the EXPLORE thru the school in 7th grade! She said his scores would probably go down!!

Didn't know what to say to that, so I just let it go.

Anyway, breakdown of last year's EXPLORE stats via TIP can be found on their web site - or so I was told but I haven't had a chance to look yet. Stats for this year will be up by early June.

We will definitely go to the award at our flagship U and its good to know that EXPLORE students received a special recognition, so thanks ch64. Our older DS enjoyed the 7th grade ceremony and our flagship conducts a nice event, so DS2 will probably have a great time. He will especially enjoy pics w/the university mascot, as DS1 did ;-)

A letter providing info above would have been nice to send to DS2's school, but they probably wouldn't notice, anyway. I told the counselor his scores over the phone & she said they were "great," but not to expect them again when he took the EXPLORE thru the school in 7th grade! She said his scores would probably go down!!

Didn't know what to say to that, so I just let it go.

Wow - you do have to wonder why some people go into their chosen profession?!? There really isn't anything to say to this. UGH!