Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Scholarship testing

Chenchuan, I am not surprised that merit aid is tough to get at JHU, Duke, etc. ... and as I strongly believe, your kid does NOT need to go to a top 20 school (as all of those pretty much are) to get a good education. Go down to number 50 on the LAC list, and you can find some nifty merit scholarships and a very good education. Sometimes the whole "top school" fixture that so many parents have reminds me of demand for designer jeans.

Regarding the scholarship testing, I guess that sounds like SAT Prep here in the US, but at a younger age. If I thought my kid had a chance at one of those schools, I would certainly consider some kind of prep. Here in the US you can get books that help you "self prep" for a test like the SAT; if you have a good relationship with your kid, you could probably do that. But I am not so sure you have that option, and a service might be a good idea. Can you ask parents of older kids you know if they used the services (esp. ones at the school)? Do you know anyone who works at the G/T school (they might have an opinion on different services)?

If you have to pick "blindly", I would probably meet with a few to see who has been around doing it for a while, what approach they use, cost, time commitment, what results they claim they can get. Ask them for a few references of parents whose kids DID get into the program, and kids who DIDN'T.