Bostonian, I am assuming that you are in the Boston area based on your name. I researched a few of the talent searches and found two that uses the Explorer and starts with 3rd graders. What made you decide to go with the Iowa-based talent search, especially since it starts with 4th graders? The Carnegie Mellon and the Northwestern talent searches start with 3rd graders.
I also found that the Explorer is mainly offered in January and February for the talent searches although there were limited opportunities to take it in October and in March or May. If you arrange testing privately, are you bound by the same test dates? For example, I am assuming that I would have to wait until October for the 2011-2012 version to come out although it would be easier to arrange testing during the summer even if DS won't technically start 3rd grade for another two months.
Thanks for your help!
