<p>Found this site while contemplating my 7th graders ACT scores as part of the Duke TIP. I am searching for the best course of action with regard to his next few years.</p>
<p>C26, M24, R28, E25, S26</p>
<p>Please decode. </p>
<p>Hi there</p>
<p>Welcome, JBrink. You’ll find this site a wealth of information, and with your head’s-up, you’ll undoubtedly be way ahead of the game when it comes time for your S to send out his apps. But, be warned: CC is addictive:D. I came here when my D was a high school junior, in the process of her college search and selection. She graduated last spring, and is now establishing a career in her new job, but I’m still a CC junkie…:eek:</p>
<p>ACT categores are: Composite, English, Math, Reading, Science</p>
<p>Scores top out at 36.</p>
<p>The composite is 1170-1200 on the SAT. Good scores for a 7th grader. My younger son scored a little lower than that in 7th and 8th grade and scored a 206 (National Merit commended range in our state) on the PSAT with minimal studying. So your son is likely to do quite a bit better when it counts for colleges. Math scores, in particular are likely to go up, since most middle schoolers haven’t been exposed to ACT/SAT level math.</p>
<p>Welcome! Nice to meet you.</p>
<p>DS was invited into Duke TIP (I am pretty pos.4th grade, NC starts at elem) It is a great program, but they are selling a product. I was a teacher at that time and gave him a practice PSAT…he scored quite well, actually in the 1300 range.</p>
<p>My advice…throw away those programs and let your child thrive in what they enjoy. Don’t start believing that they will score a perfect SAT, let them be a kid, but make sure you are at all times on a good repore with their teacher. For our DS we were approached every yr starting in K to jump him, several even stated there is nothing I can teach him, we never jumped him. (2 reasons…small for his age and concern over social aspects…to be successful you must relate to everybody, including those who don’t get it). We did put him in TAG and that program allowed him an enoyable outlet. In 7th grade he was approached to apply for TJ in NoVa(Magnet school and has been ranked as the number 1 in the nation for yrs) we spoke to other parents and realized that it is a great school, but he would lose the ability to be a kid…he stayed in public…it never hurt him, Princeton, Stanford, UPenn, Johns Hopkins and Notre Dame actively recruited him along with DUke and UNCCH (he never applied to these 2, but in Feb. they personally called and said if you want in we will get you in). He is at UMDCP Scholars and AFROTC as a typical freshman carrying a 3.6 after his 1st semester with merit scholarship. He enjoys being just a kid and strives for his own grades for himself. I am not sure that he would be as well adjusted/successful if we made education the top priority and not the whole pic.</p>
<p>Your child will thrive with or without TIPS, you are doing a great job being proactive for your child, but please realize that colleges don’t just look at GPA and SAT, they may take the kid with a lower GPA and SAT, but the capt of Volleyball before the 2400 SAT. They want to know that the child knows how to manage their time with their academic responsibilities.</p>
<p>BTW DS was a NSMF from his PSAT.</p>
<p>Again…welcome and best of luck</p>
<p>For the record, TJ is a public school, not private as implied in previous post.</p>
<p>My son has been involved in CTY (Johns Hopkins’s program for gifted kids; TIP is modeled after it) since sixth grade; it’s been really wonderful for him. Sure, it’s a product, and for him, has been well worth the price. It’s a financial stretch to send him, but send him his dad and I do, every summer for both sessions. Socially, the kid blossoms anew every summer in these programs. He enjoys the courses, but the social environment is what really brings him back year after year.</p>
<p>Son has also used their distance learning to excellent benefit when the math instruction at his school at the time was abyssmal.</p>
<p>Whether TIP is a benefit to your son will depend on your kid, his interests, and available opportunities within his school/your area. </p>
<p>Enjoy the ride!</p>
<p>TIP and CTY are not making any money on their programs. For some kids these programs meet a real need. They aren’t right for everyone - both my kids qualified, only one took part. My older son loved the programs and learned things in them that he didn’t meet again until he was in college level courses. Accelerated math classes were a godsend for my kids and my only regret is that we didn’t accelerate him even more in middle school.</p>
<p>I never implied that TJ is a private
MAGNET implies a specialty school within the public school system. You cannot just enrll your child into TJ, you must pass tests and be accepted, it is public and your will not pay tuition, but it is NOT PUBLIC in the sense you live in the county line.</p>
<p>I am suggesting that look through the resources within your own district, it doesn’t hurt to ask if your child could take courses 1/2 day at hs. Try to work around your school district, these are credits that uniersities will accept without paying one penny</p>
<p>
is why I said that there was an implication that TJ was private.</p>
<p>Some (many) magnet programs are housed in comprehensive public high schools. It’s the funding that makes a school a public school, not whether there are admissions criteria. </p>
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<p>I hear you on that, mathmom! If I had a do-over, things would definitely be different!</p>
<p>Welcome jbrink! I had no clue when mine were in 7th grade and they both turned out just fine…
I would be open to whatever yours shows an interest in without pushing too hard at this stage…read around the boards a bit. You will find some posts from students who are HS seniors and end up burnt out by the process.<br>
Not saying that your son will end up that way but bulletpima makes some good points.
If he isn’t doing so already, you may want to consider community service projects not necessarily for the college resume but because I feel it is a good step in responsibility for a child that age.
Welcome!</p>
<p>How do you do?</p>
<p>You’re new?..me too! I decided it was high time I stopped lurking and started posting.</p>
<p>Both of mine also qualified for TIP through 7th grade ACT. One had no interest in going, the other begged to go. Expensive as it was (including airfare), it was worth every penny for him. He went 2 summers and spent the next 3 at free science programs (which was great for the parents).</p>
<p>If he’s interested in science and/or math, see if his school has a Science Olympiad team, robot team, Science Bowl team, Math team, etc. Depending on where you live there may be other science and math related activities available. Local colleges may have weekend or summer programs for middle schoolers.</p>
<p>I agree with the advice not to push, but I also offered what opportunities we could afford (or scrape together).</p>