How to Prepare Your Child for the Admissions Process of a Gifted School

You know what gets your gifted child excited. You know that they possess a vast library of information related to their subjects of interest, but that doesn't mean that your child can confidently discus their strengths and weaknesses to a stranger. While you have seen proof of their brilliance time and again, that doesn't mean that they have the personal skills to display that brilliance for gifted school staff.

For starters, understand that not all gifted schools will sit your child down for a formal interview. They may allow your child to come into the school to shadow other students, or they may ask your child questions while interviewing your family as one unit. In one way or another, a gifted school is going to study your child's behavior and engage them in direct conversation in an effort to learn about their personality, their personal interests, and their ability to learn at an accelerated pace.

There are three things that you can do to prepare your child for these situations:

1. Help your child recognize their strengths and weaknesses. Many parents focus exclusively on their child's strengths and ignore their weaknesses, but that isn't the best approach if you want your child to enter the gifted school admissions process with maximum confidence. Help them identify past accomplishments so that they can use those achievements as proof of their strengths while conversing with teachers and administrators at the school.

Then discuss ways in which other students may outshine your child. This isn't always an academic weakness. For instance, some children are quieter than others and may not naturally stand out in a group interview or on a shadow day. If your child is aware of potential shortcomings, they can think of ways to highlight their strengths during the interview process. School administrators or recruiters may also see that your child is self-aware and willing to improve upon weaknesses rather than ignoring or hiding them.

2. Present this as a positive opportunity that your child should get excited about experiencing. Rather than telling your child that they must make a good impression or that their admittance to the school rests on this interview or school visit, tell them that the gifted school is impressed with their application and wants to meet them in person. This will ease your child's anxiety and prevent them from overthinking their answers to questions. You want their true personality to shine, and that is more likely to happen if they aren't stressed out over every word that they speak.

3. Introduce your child to the gifted school before the interview or visit. Your child should walk into the school excited about the academic and creative programs that match their personal interests. It's best to find other children who have visited or attended the school so that your child has more information, but at least go through the school's website and all materials that they have provided prior to the interview. If your child is excited about the school, representatives of the school are more likely to get excited about your child.

You never know what questions a recruiter or teacher may ask, and you don't want your child to practice their answers excessively. Gifted school representatives want to see your child's authentic personality, and they want to hear sincere responses rather than rehearsed lines. If you send your child in with a smile on their face and confidence in their abilities, you've done your job.