I think what applicants need to ask for themselves, is whether or not ceiling issues are at play (is the score falsely low), or are they really in that also incredibly high "but not quite off the charts" 99.5-99.8 range. Fortunately time will help answer those questions.
Very true about the ceilings. There are other things that many of us wonder about the scores in the 99.5-99.8 range. Was the tester prepared to deal with a kid that gifted? Did the kid get full credit for unusual (but correct) answers? Was my kid in his best form that day? Was he sick? Tired? Cooperative? Would he have done better on a different test (one that emphasized verbal? math?) Did he get bored and shut down toward the end?
I keep thinking of world class Olympic speed skaters falling a fraction of the second before breaking a world record. Does that mean that couldn't have broken the record or just didn't happen to break it that day? These are little kids we're testing and there are just a lot of variables, reasons they may not be at their best that day. And most of us can't afford to keep testing until we get the best testing situation for our kid. Just like the Olympics, the tests only come around once or twice in their lifetimes.
So yes, there are kids who do really fall in the 99.5-99.8 range(and they are dang smart), but for some kids who get that score, it is still not accurate. I just wish there was a way to know the difference. I'd be happy either way; it would just be nice to know. Sometimes I feel a little nuts
wondering....
