@anne_1973 has he had his vision tested? Not with a regular eye doctor, but a vision specialist?
He could have double vision, a processing or tracking disorder, other issues.
Definitely seek out a specialized optometrist -who has been trained in vision disorders. If you live in a smaller town, you may need to drive to a large city…but worth it!
Also agree with mentioned above in the thread about too much screen time-is he studying alone in his room, on a laptop/computer or using textbooks? Is his cell next to him? Does he have a smartwatch?
I’d monitor all those things closely.
And a 3.13 is not low… not every student can be valedictorian or Top 10%.
Read what I posted above. Lol Developmental optometrist is who does this and yes, tracking issues are easily corrected. Had two kids that fixed theirs and helped greatly.
I have a child who was diagnosed with a tracking disorder and double vision (drawing a blank on the medical diagnosis for both at the moment). Prism lens and vision therapy made all the difference in the world!
It does sound like something else is going on, and whatever it is, it doesn’t impact ability to take a timed test.
I’d also think about anxiety/depression. I’m pretty sure I’d suffer from both under these circumstances – so many hours of study with such pressure to perform.
It could also be that this kid is missing “the point”. Perhaps trying to memorize everything but without a great idea of why.
I have no professional knowledge about these issues, but I am wondering if there is an auditory or language processing disorder. These can be expressive or receptive. I feel like one of these could account for the high SAT score because everything is in the written rather than the spoken word.
I would research processing disorders and look back at the neuropsych to see what it specifically tested. It may not have tested for these. Agree also with those who raised a visual type processing disorder too.
A neuropsychologist here who is also a parent of a very bright kid who was underperforming until formally diagnosed and given accommodations. First, a 99th percentile IQ does not square with low problem-solving ability, so that just doesn’t make sense. Does your son say he does not understand the material? Does he have the same difficulty regardless of how it is presented (e.g. lectures vs reading)? Across all different subjects? Did he have the same issues since elementary school or are they more recent? What is happening for him internally when he’s in class? What keeps him from participating? Attention/executive function issues for very bright kids are not always apparent on the formal tests, our tests are just not that sensitive. Most versions of the CPT only assess visual attention and not auditory (there are others that assess both). And average scores may be well below expected level for someone that bright. I assume the neuropsychologist also administered questionnaires assessing his attention and executive functioning to your son, you, and his teachers? Were any subtle learning disorders ruled out? Auditory processing issues? Any health concerns, like headaches or sleep problems? Were depression and anxiety formally assessed? Other mental health issues? These are just some questions off the top of my head, you don’t have to answer them here. Not sure if there’s a DM function here, but if there’s, feel free to DM me.
Is it possible that he is so smart that he cannot effectively understand the course material? I don’t know where the actual study is (there are probably many), but apparently effective communication is extremely difficult when 2 subjects are 2 SD apart. So for example, Einstein’s IQ was estimated at about 160. This means it would be difficult for him to communicate with anyone that has an IQ below 130.
So the lower GPA (which really is fine) but with the very high Sat without a tutor to me shows a disconnect.
When talking to kids with slower processing like my son at this age we noticed his delay response to us just asking him questions. He never responded if it wasn’t a question so we played 21 questions with him. Lol.
Once he hit college it like almost went away. Went to a known engineering school and as an adult he’s fine. Kinda more talkative then ever at 25. So the sorts question isn’t about my son. But do you see this also just with mental maturity? I just really wonder about slow processing with the OP kid. My sons school was the top school in our state and we were really worried about him going there but the principal told us that like most of these highly intellectual kids have some form of slow processing. The teachers are taught to pose a question but wait a bit before selecting someone to answer it. I found that fascinating.
Yes the OP said the neuropsych ruled out anxiety/depression. I am also wondering if they did any academic/achievement testing. Would be interesting to see performance in those and also timed vs untimed tests. Some super bright kids have such a fund of knowledge that hey may have trouble prioritizing which is the most salient information to share in an assignment or in class.
Can you please shed some light as to how he did in school up to this point, starting in kindergarten?
If he was reading…decoding and comprehending…at a HS level in kindergarten, how did the school handle this?
When he read on a HS level- what does this mean? Was he reading non-fiction or fiction? Does he prefer one over the other?
What were the teachers saying? Did he also hesitate to raise his hand back then? How did he do during recess? Was he involved in activities- clubs, talent shows, etc… things that kids might do?
He’s clearly a smart kid but I need to see the whole picture.
Minor comment. Slow processing speed is not necessarily means slow reading. Person with slow processing speed can be very advanced reader who will enjoy reading for pleasure.
Think about old computer. It reads fast but needs extra time to synthesize output.
Here is another point.
Smart kids with very high IQ often think outside of the box. All questions/options on multiple choice tests (especially reading related) may look wrong and they can clearly articulate why…They just function on different level and think differently. You almost can’t teach them to think like “normal” people since it is totally irrational to them.
This was my thought as well. My daughter did great in school…until she didn’t. We noticed from the time she was very young that she didn’t jump into anything right away, but watched other kids for a long, lllooonnnggg time before attempting anything new. Then she’d go off and practice on her own. By the time she did conquer the skills, she was usually pretty far ahead of the other kids and was much better at applying it.
We always said that her learning looked like a staircase while the other kids looked like a ramp. Other kids showed small and consistent improvement while she flatlined until she suddenly jumped beyond where the other kids were. While this wasn’t a problem in elementary school, by the time she got to high school where information comes in like a firehouse rather than a slow steam and you are tested on it shortly after, she was really struggling. They had already moved on before she could show that she mastered the material. Often she would have low scores on all of the quizzes and unit tests and then do relatively well on the final as long as it was a test of the full course rather than just the last unit. Teachers saw this as not putting in effort or having poor study skills and then cramming for the final which led to a lot of discussion of “if you would just try harder” or " You’re so smart, you just need to put in more effort" or “perhaps you don’t have effective study strategies” or assumptions that she didn’t care. None of this was true and all of it was detrimental. She also happens to do really well on standardized tests (top 1% of our district) as they test previously acquired skills and application.
When we finally got around to a neuropsych in grade 10 it all made sense. She scored extremely high in application of knowledge, but significantly lower on processing speed when learning new information.
She avoided AP classes in high school mostly because she felt like she didn’t need them and was not interested in competing for class time or extra help when she felt that the kids in those classes that tended to monopolize that time didn’t even really need it. Turns out, it was also a recommendation from her neuropsych as the pace of AP classes can not be slowed down. It was sad because it forced a change in her friend group (which she welcomed and I had a harder time with). Not being in AP classes allowed her to take “more interesting” (to her) classes and she found something she loved in one of the school’s pathway programs (child development).
She is now beginning her junior year in college in one of our non-flagship state schools, known for the program she was interested in, where she has made the Dean’s list every semester, won departmental awards, and loves her classes and professors. The smaller class sizes and personal attention from professors brought out the best in her and she is now so self confident and excited about her future.
All of this is to say he can still do great. His high test scores and willingness to put in time on assignments lead me to believe that he will do fine in the right setting. Don’t worry about the colleges everyone else is focusing on. Figure out what his strengths are and what brings him happiness. Find a program he loves at a school where professors spend more time with students and less time doing research and administrative tasks. I may be off the beaten path (often smaller state schools where a 3.13 will be just fine for admission) and will most probably be smaller and less overwhelming. He may very well end up being the big fish in a smaller pond which will garner a lot of attention from professors and potentially open doors, especially when they see how motivated he is.
Neuropsych evals measure speed of information processing. And some tests can be measured under timed and untimed conditions. OP were there any scores or subtest scores that were outliers? If so which ones?
If he is a Junior in high school, you all might consider having him take a gap year before starting college OR going to a community college for a year. My son did that and is now transferring from the community college to a 4 year university and has a 4.0. He just needed to grow up and relax a bit. The brain of a teenager is all over the place (I teach high school) and sometimes it’s just a matter of maturing. And— having taught for 25 years, I believe that a student’s mental health is far more important than getting into a top tier college. Just my humble two cents.
Be open to helping him explore pathways to careers that will play to his strengths. He has lots of options for college with a solid B with a high test score.
When you look at the breakdown of his grades for a class are there patterns you see? High test scores, then low grades due to homework, class assignments, papers/projects, group work, or class participation? Many highly intelligent people do not do well in traditional school. Help him work on some of the skills needed in the workplace that are causing him to struggle in high school.
If your school district still hasn’t let out, what about an experiment -NOT studying over the weekend. 1-2 hours on sunday evening, tops.
See what happens.
Does studying change anything? Does he need it? (His % and test score would indicate he might not need to).
By the way, a B/B+ average is not bad at all. With his test score, he WILL get into a good college.
That being said, there is a discrepancy between his grades and his scores.
Are the grades in specific subjects?
Does he get points docked for not turning things on time or not following directions?
Beside math, is he interested in physics?
Has he taken AP exams in any subject (even if he’s not taken the course)?