Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Thinking about reapplying ...

... and a few questions.

Does anyone have success stories of reapplying to DYS? I wonder if the selection committee takes a glance at that "Have you applied before box" and, if yes, they kind of inwardly groan on seeing a re-applicant. Or, if they see a kid back who was really close last time, do they give the same consideration they'd give everyone else, or even closer consideration?

Would I use the same sources for letters of recommendation, since they obviously didn't do the trick last time? Or do I try to find someone else? Since KG's K teacher clearly doesn't *get* him, she's not a great choice. We don't have a lot of close friends around here who have really seen KG in action. After his preschool teachers, there's pretty much only the teacher at his gifted Saturday class -- but that class was only 7 Saturdays for 2.5 hours. Not a great choice. I'm not married, but have a live-in boyfriend of 2+ years (who's at least EG himself, btw) who is *not* ds's father ... does that count as "in the family" or could he write a recommendation?

Can I include video/portfolio material if we have two qualifying test scores, or should I not bother? If we do have him take the WISC and his scores are, once again, very, *very* close, could I reapply with his 2 qualifying+ WIAT scores and the portfolio option? Or would that be a sign to not bother applying?


Final question: How much of the last application can I recycle for this one? I used a few of my best anecdotes on the last one, and now I'm in a conundrum -- I don't want to use "less good" anecdotes, but I don't want to recycle. I have a few new ones up my sleeve ... but should I replace a really *good* anecdote for a new one?

And a related last question ... this is the funny one ... so the application asks for an incident that describes the child's need to explore a subject in surprising depth. Well, for some kids it's weather, for others it's dinosaurs, etc. KG loves role-playing games and is a nut about them, knows all the details and stats, etc. Has his own RPG called "Super KG" that he plays in his head all the time and narrates for us. Other than that, he doesn't really *have* a topic of focus -- because that *is* his topic of focus! Is that ridiculous? It's not that he doesn't have an intense interest, it's just not academic in the least. It's more recreational.

Thanks for any help, I know that was long.

Mia-

I would guess that it is ok to reuse the same information, as long as you are also adding greater detail to highlight his precocity. Ask if they require new recommendation letters- it may be that they don't. You can call and they may tell you exactly what sort of new information they need. Perhaps a single new test, stronger references, or behavior examples that are more unusual...

hth!

gratified3 -- Yep, that's where we were -- ceiling scores on WIAT, 2 points away with 6 ceilings on the WPPSI. I wasn't sure how hard and fast the "minimum" line is, but I'm guessing it's pretty durn hard and fast! Like I say, not sure we're going to do the WISC; just pondering what I'd do if he *did* take it and *did* have qualifying scores, two big ifs.

Thanks for the thoughts, both of you. I've put in a call to Davidson to see if I can glean any more information, and waiting to hear back from them.

Good luck Mia. Hope you get some good info that helps clarify what to send.

Neato

I'm SOOOOOOO glad you're considering reapplying!

I think Lorel's right--call them and ask. From what others have said, they're really good about answering questions. I don't think they see themselves as trying to keep kids out. They want to help.

Depending upon what they say--since they may say your previous letters of rec are fine!--I think I might suggest waiting until your DS has a new teacher/expert in his life to write the rec. If you can't wait until fall (since that's a gamble that the teacher will get him), maybe enroll him in a camp this summer? Find someone to babysit or work with him who has teaching experience? Something like that so that you have another voice with experience with kids.

I think you could add a letter of rec from your boyfriend, but I wouldn't rely upon that. If you need new letters, I'd treat his as an extra one. You can always add more, provided it all supports your DS's case.

If you have the scores, I'm not sure you need the video. (And if you don't I'm not sure it would help...) But if you've got the video, you might as well send it. They're not going to reject your DS because you sent them too much info! LOL!

I'd approach the whole app from a "more/and" stance. I wouldn't remove any examples or anecdotes, but I'd add the new ones. I'd just make sure to put the new ones at the top and the older examples below so that they see the new material first.

As for the RPG, my DS's obsession for the past year+ has been Transformers, and you can bet they heard all about that in our app. I say put it down! RPGs are known for attracting HG+ kids, and they're full of math and history and mythology and literature and and and...So work it! Show them what he's doing with it! Use it for all it's worth!

I'm pulling for your DS! Here's hoping he gets the test scores that we know he's capable of getting so that the process is easy for you. That bubble is so hard on Mom. And I want him in!!!

I say go ahead and have WISC done and then worry about the rest. I don't think Davidson would hold his previous IQ scores against him. He was so close and it's known that testing at 5 can cause lower score due to the ceilings. They used to admit with 148 on WPSII before so it's not like there are no such DYS kids.

I think he wasn't accepted thanks to the IQ scores and the rest of the application didn't really matter. If his AT scores are close to the cut off then you may consider portfolio, if not I wouldn't bother.

Try WISC IV and go from there.

Mia,
As you may recall, we applied at the same time and our kids' WPPSI scores were very similar. I spoke to Bryan Hallauer at Davidson and it is my understanding that we can just submit the results of a new IQ test and don't need to do the full-blown application again. We are trying to decide between the WISC IV and the SB-V. Any wisdom out there on the pros and cons of each?
ZM

Mia,
I also sent you a private message...
Thanks,
ZM

Of course, with extra challenges (lack of sleep, oncoming illness), my slow, logical, spatial kid did not show well on the SB-V and did great on the WISC.

Maybe those other factors made a big difference, but he is exactly the kid you describe, yet he did much better on the WISC.

<shrug> I can't understand it!

That's really, really helpful. Thank you! I'll have to double check to make sure that applies to us too, because our letter asked for more test results, not more information.



Sorry, no info on that ... but since he did well on the WPPSI regardless of what Davidsons thought of it (seriously, a 148 FS *is* still 99.9 percentile!), I'm thinking the WISC is the way to go here. <shrug>