Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Experiences w/Davidson Young Scholars Program?

Thank you so much for the information!

After much procrastination, we turned in DS application this month. I'm wondering if anyone knows - can a child be turned down for membership if they have met the minimum scores and the test is valid (full report, qualified professional, within the timeline)? Also, if the committee requires additional information, will that be asked during the month or at the end of the review period (pushing the decision to the following month)? I keep checking my email in case there are more questions. I am not getting an awful lot done this month

I think they can be turned down, but from the impression I've gotten, that's pretty rare.

My experience is that you probably won't hear anything until the last business day of the month, and that it is very unlikely that there will be any questions if you have qualifying scores.

Thank you for your replies George C and ElizabethN.

Hi all. N00b here. Got a question or two.

So, in March my 5yo received the Woodcock-Johnson assessment that's listed under Option 2 of the Davidson criteria. (He's a 2E. This was part of his SpEd re-eval.) Later, another parent mentioned the Davidson program to me. I looked into it, and I see that my son's results qualify him under the Option 2 criteria.

But even though the criteria say I can submit something from Option 1 OR something from Option 2, and I don't need to send any supplementary material if I don't want to, I get the impression that one achievement test may not be sufficient for the DYS deciders. Am I wrong? Can I just send in the full W-J test report and proceed to wait to hear? If not, what else should I include in order to improve my son's chances?

Hi Skepchick,

Let me see if I can help. Davidson seems to periodically revise their criteria. Not too long ago they made a pretty major revision that allowed someone to essentially submit IQ OR achievement equivalents instead of IQ AND achievement equivalents. You may be referring to the old criteria. It's important to note, though, that if you are now using achievement results only, I believe that a child needs to qualify in 2 areas (not just one; carefully reviewing the current criteria is key). I'm not sure if this helps, but please feel free to ask if you need more help! Best wishes!

One achievement test with 2 indices (in the WJ case, 145 or above) is sufficient to meet the current minimum qualification criteria (2 of Broad Math, Broad Reading, Broad Written Language, or Total Achievement).

I believe that an applicant probably can be turned down for membership even if they meet the minimum but that it would be increasing unlikely the further their scores are from the minimum. Why else would it be a minimum and why would Davidson not offer automatic acceptances otherwise? However, I think that it is far more likely that Davidson will request work product samples to bolster/supplement a single set of qualifying test scores than outright reject applicants, even if they are just at the minimum. It would not make sense for you to get any "additional information" request from Davidson until around the time that they issue decisions (near end of month) since the request itself is a decision arrived after reviewing your application. Since the committee would then have to review all your supplementary information in view of your existing application, you will unlikely get a final decision until the next round of decisions. I think that is especially true now since the membership has expanded so much just in the years (~ 4-5) since my first DYS joined.

Disclaimer: Although I have two kids who are DYS members, I am really applying common sense more than anything. However, I am not employed by Davidson or qualified to speak for them so take everything I say with a grain of salt.

Good luck and try to forget about the whole thing until the end of June! By the way, both of my DYS received their acceptance emails about five days before the end of the month, around the 25th/26th, but you should hear by the last day certainly.

Where do you get the impression that one achievement test may not be sufficient? I think that you can just apply with the one report and worse case scenario Davidson will let you know if they want more. I don't think that you would get an outright rejection if you have qualifying scores. A number of posters on this forum over the years were given a chance to submit supplementary documentation even though the scores fell below the minimum. However, for your peace of mind and to avoid potential delay, you can always send in some supplementary documentation (other 99.9 percentile test scores, writing samples, videos, etc.) if you can gather them quickly, assuming that you are after a quick acceptance.