You didn’t fail him, you open your heart and home to this child. Sending many prayers for you and your family.

I think it hard for parents who went through the college admissions process themselves 20-30 years ago to understand how hard it is now. My Asian friends who have been here for several generations are completely clueless or vaguely know about these competitions. They think that as long as they are raising well rounded kids who play a sport, an instrument, and have good grades the kids are set.

True, the skills that me girls gain from participating in math and science contest have helped them greatly in college and help open doors to research opportunities as well. I think that I was referring to kids like some of my PS dd’s classmates who would participate in 10+ activities so the would have lots of things to put on college apps.

The UCs only look at 10 and 11 grade classes for gpa calculations, you can always just have you kids take APs for the two grades.

Genuinely curious, what is the difference between precocious and gifted? I had always used the two interchangeably.

According to DH about $6000

Maybe something like USAMTS would interest him. The contest is a month long. My ds has been looking at the problems and some are very interesting.

The counselor showed us the list because she wanted us to have realistic expectations when dd was applying for college. My dd’s extracurriculars were unconventional and not listed. I think that because her extracurriculars were unconventional, it helped her get into the CS program at all the top UCs and private colleges, she applied to. So there are many factors that go into college admissions.

It was given to by a college counselor we hire to help dd junior year of high school

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You can take APs without taking the class. My dd took a couple without a class and self study. AMC, science Olympiad and the like are viewed as extracurricular. Thousands of kids participate in these contest, unless you stand out, you are view as one of many.

Dd has allergies to tree nuts. My dd had an anaphylactic reaction to the meningitis vaccine and could not take the second dose. Her doctor told us that she should take the J&J vaccine, that way she would not have to worry about taking a second dose in case she has an allergic reaction to the covid vaccine.

My dd uses Toggl Track to help her track how she is spending her time. It has really help her with time management.

This was what my daughter’s pediatrician said. She told us to wait for J&J because dd has had facial swelling and has had allergic reactions to vaccines in the past.

What I’ve heard from friends in medical research and biotech say is that EUA is not the same as FDA approval. The EUA means it is “reasonable to believe” that the drug “may be effective.” This “may be effective” standard is a much lower level of evidence compared to the “effectiveness” standard the FDA uses for product approvals.

We have been claiming our two college kids as dependent, until this year. It was much more beneficial for them to file their own taxes this year, because they will get the money from the first and second stimulus. They were left out originally because the were adult dependents.

I think balance is important. No pressure or too much pressure can both be detrimental. The opposite point of view where families unschool, can lead a child to no where fast. My SIL’s kids were unschooled, the kids are in their mid 20s now and are still at home, playing videos games.

He is a sophomore at Yale, majoring in CS

You’re right he didn’t have a lot of unstructured time and it’s not a path I would take with my own kids. But it was the right choice for this child because the parents were living and working in different cities at the time. The mom had to fill up his day with activities, because she was basically a single working mom.

One boy that we are close to, didn’t spend time on contest prep. He was one of my dd’s best friend. He went to PS, participated in science Olympiad, USACO, played a competitive sport, and played piano(actually considered a piano prodigy). I know that he would spend 1hour a on AoPS in the evenings. Most of his time went into playing the piano. But this is also a child that could have gone to college at 10 or 11, but the parents didn’t want early college for him.

The young AIME qualifiers that we know all have parents with PhDs or other advance degrees. They are normal kids that go to PS and play sports. I think what made the difference for these kids is having educated parents who care about their kids education and can teach advanced concepts.

nm

We are looking at homes and moving to the area for him to attend the school.

it’s the number 1 public school in CA. No lottery you just have to live within the district boundaries.

I don’t think drilling is going to make a child excel. Having a passion and the drive for math like you did, is key to success.