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Early Entrance Talent Search
Summer Opportunities for Highly Gifted Students
Looking for a different summer program for that highly gifted 11-15 year old? Consider one or two college courses. Many local colleges offer literally hundreds of courses to choose from:
anthropology, world art, ceramics, photography, astronomy, computer science, web design, sign language, forensics, creative writing, poetry, literature, investments, geography, geology, history, journalism, kinesiology, marketing, music, nutrition, philosophy, political science, psychology, sociology, theatre arts, technology, linguistics, media studies, physical science, and so much more!
Help your child feel more at ease in future college classes. Improve his/her high school transcript -- nothing impresses colleges with proof of college readiness than success at college! Even earn college credits.
For example, thousands of teens have enjoyed spending 10 weeks in the summer at CSULA taking classes such as these. CSULA, just five miles east of downtown Los Angeles (at the junction of the 10 and 710 highways), is convenient by car and metro. And if your child enjoys these summer courses, he/she may even qualify for full-time early entrance to college program, such as CSULA's EEP (see website) -- an alternative for teens unhappy in traditional school environments.
Pre-College Testing / Talent Search
To qualify for programs such as these, your child will likely need to take either the SAT or ACT. Did you know that both of these tests can be taken at any age, and even more importantly, the test results are completely confidential for younger children? And, did you know that this test is quite appropriate for younger students, for example, the math covers only what is required at the 9th grade level (see Newsweek Magazine article on the Five Lies About the SAT.)
These tests are available several times a year at many college and high school locales. Generally the SAT is offered seven times a year and the ACT six:
For 2007-2008, the SAT is available:
10/6, 11/3, 12/1, 1/26, 3/1, 5/3, and 6/7
For 2008-2009, the ACT is available:
9/13, 10/25, 12/13, 2/7, 4/4, and 6/13
For both, the normal registration is approximately a month in advance; check their websites for more details.
Children ages 13 and above can enroll themselves online for the SAT at the SAT website or the ACT at the ACT website
For children under age 13, it is illegal to enroll online for the SAT or ACT, due to internet privacy laws, however hard-copy mail-in registration is still available. Registration forms can be picked up at any local high school, or through the SAT website or ACT website, or contact the Early Entrance Talent Search (see below) to request a packet.
For children in 8th grades and below, all SAT scores are automatically deleted from the child's file in June. Only by student request will the scores remain on file and be sent in the future to academic or talent institutions. Should your child score below expectations, such low first-time scores will not haunt your child for years to come.
Conversely, for ACT, while all scores are kept on file, only specific scores are released and only by student request -- in other words, the score release is totally controlled by the student -- ACT "will release only the scores from the test date you [the student] tell us."
So why should a child consider taking the SAT/ACT "college tests" before grade 9? For many profoundly-gifted children, the only tests they have ever taken have been grade-appropriate ones, and therefore their potential may not be accurately measured. If your child is "topping out" on the grade-level exams (e.g., ERBs), then you do not have a true measurement of his/her abilities. It is like measuring your 5-foot-tall teenager with a yardstick! The SAT/ACT will give you an accurate measurement of how advanced your child is in an absolute sense, compared to other very bright students of all ages, and not just compared to same-age peers.
The information gleaned from the test scores will help you the parents as well as school administrators evaluate your child's abilities more realistically, and will greatly assist in planning a more optimal educational program for your highly gifted child.
Your college-bound child will probably be taking many similar tests in the years to come. The experience of taking a difficult exam, often the first difficult test many highly gifted students have ever taken, is valuable, and often humbling. It is advisable that the first attempt at such a difficult test be only a practice one, at a young enough age that the score will not count on any permanent records. Furthermore, taking the SAT/ACT is perfect practice for the PSAT (used to determine National Merit scholarship standings) in grade 9 as well as the SAT/ACT in grades 10 and 11 for college applications. Find out what areas your child needs to concentrate on to improve scores for later, when it determines the colleges for which he or she is eligible. And do it while the results of these practice tests are private (for the SAT), so only the "perfected" scores remain on the permanent file.
The SAT/ACT also qualify students aged 11-15, whose scores are sent to the Early Entrance Talent Search, to receive referrals to an Early Entrance College Program or other advice on alternative educational paths. Visit the Early Entrance Foundation website for more information on the programs available nationwide -- in Los Angeles (California), Seattle (Washington), Staunton (Virginia) and Reno (Nevada).
Please feel free to contact the Early Entrance Talent Search with any questions -- by phone (323/906-0300) or by email (earlyentrance@sbcglobal.net).
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