7th Grade Talented Youth

There are a handful of talented youth programs around the country, primarily Duke TIP and Johns’ Hopkins CTY, that student can qualify for by taking the SAT or ACT in 7th grade. Ask us for more information about these exciting programs!

Duke TIP Talent Search Discontinues Use of SAT/ACT

Posted on by Kennon McCaa

It looks like there will not be any on-campus summer programs in 2021 and will no longer use the SAT or ACT to identify new students. I’ve added bold to the most important parts.

On October 9th, 2020 Duke TIP sent the following email:

Dear Members of the TIP Community,

COVID-19 has disrupted every part of our lives, from our health and education to our mobility and our livelihoods. Nothing has been untouched, and we have all had to make difficult and painful choices.

Today, we are writing to inform you about one of those difficult choices that Duke has had to make. The pandemic-induced closure of Duke TIP’s Summer Studies residential programs on our main campus in Durham and at colleges across the country in 2020 and likely again in 2021 has fundamentally disrupted the business and financial models that have long supported the TIP organization.

At the same time, the pandemic has also led Duke to accelerate a review of all precollege academic programs. A key strength of Duke has been its ongoing ability and willingness to innovate. The pause in operations across a range of precollege academic programs has given us an opportunity to step back and assess how best to serve students in a post-pandemic world. Based on this review, Duke will be creating a new unit in the Office of Academic Affairs to better align the existing important and diverse precollege activities with Duke’s current educational priorities and operational practices. Students served by Duke TIP will be a principal focus of this unit, which will oversee all our precollege programs and ensure they meet the highest standards of quality, reflect the best practices in education and are tightly linked with Duke’s extraordinary academic community.

As a result of this change, Duke TIP will not be offering programming (including the Academic Talent Search) for the remainder of 2020 through spring 2021 as we go through this transition and re-envision how to best serve all precollege learners. We look forward to resuming our activities next summer with a new and exciting slate of online courses on a wide range of topics—including artificial intelligence, coding, financial markets and pandemics, among others—taught by Duke faculty and graduate students and using the latest innovations in online education. As we redesign our precollege and talented offerings, we will not resume the talent search with above-level testing, but will instead be looking at new ways to identify students and facilitate their access to these enrichment programs. We will continue to work with families who participated in prior talent searches to provide the promised programs, research, and resources, which will remain available at https://tip.duke.edu.

We know that the suspension of Summer Studies and Talent Search will come as a disappointment to you, and it is a disappointment to us as well because we know how valued it has been by generations of TIPsters. But we are equally excited about the opportunity to update and modernize our programming, and to build on the innovative, enriching and challenging educational experiences that have made TIP such a transformative resource for more than three million students over the past 40 years. We will provide more information on this transition in the weeks ahead, as well as opportunities for students, parents and alumni to remain engaged.

Thank you for your continued support of Duke University.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Francis

Executive Vice Provost

Perfect 800 on the SAT – Congratulations Carter!

Posted on by Kennon McCaa
Carter on the first day of 9th grade

We just got the official score from the College Board that Carter got a perfect 800 on the SAT math test. We are so proud of Carter for this outstanding accomplishment.

Use the Official SAT Practice Tests

Carter had taken the SAT at the start of 7th grade and scored a 760, so we knew he was going to do well, but we decided to not take any chances and have him do all of the official SAT practice tests, just to get his mind back into SAT mode. He did a great job as you can see below:

Practice Makes Perfect! - Carter's completed official SAT practice tests that helped him get his perfect 800 on the SAT math test in 9th grade.

Rewarding Hard Work Paid Off

Part of why Carter succeeded (and why some others do not) is that he was really motivated to do quality work on these practice tests. I offered him the following incentive plan, $5 for 80% (90% on packets 5-10) correct and $10 for perfect packets. Then, if he got a perfect score on the actual SAT test, I would double the total. Carter likes money just as much as most people that I’ve met, so he was highly motivated to do quality work. This is the component that I see lacking in so many students these days. They seem to be going through the motions. They don’t really want to do the work and do not push themselves to get every question correct, regardless of the how difficulty of the question. It’s sort of an “I’ll try harder next time” approach. Rewarding him for his tenacity on the practice problems is the key ingredient to making sure that he has the will, the skill and the experience to break apart any unusual question that appears on the actual test.

Why Younger Students Can Succeed When Older Students Sometimes Cannot

Some people are probably wondering why a 7th or 9th grader would be taking the SAT at all. There are several reasons. First, the 7th grade test was to qualify for talented youth programs like Duke TIP and Johns Hopkins CTY. The 9th grade test was based on what I was seeing every week in my tutoring center. Older students often have too many distractions and too much stress to actually perform at their best. Also, older students seem to forget a lot of what they learned in middle school (which to the surprise of many people is actually a sizable portion of what is on the SAT math test). Carter has a fantastic understanding of math, so I never worry that he will forget his middle school math, but I wanted to shelter him from some of the pressure that I see negatively affecting the older students.

Only time will tell if a perfect score in 9th grade will be a benefit or not, but for now we are celebrating his extraordinary achievement and could not be prouder of him! Congratulations Carter! You are amazing!

Register for the October 5, 2020 SAT ASAP!

Posted on by Kennon McCaa

The October SAT is one of the three tests per year where you can select the “Question and Answer Service” (QAS). For an additional $18 you get to see a complete copy of the actual test as well as your answers. This can be really helpful for reviewing and eliminating mistakes. Got questions about the SAT? Our SAT FAQ page is packed with valuable information.

Make sure to select this option during the registration process:

Spend the extra $18 and get a full copy of the test!

My son Carter is just in 9th grade, but he will be taking the October test as a diagnostic check-up and a chance for me to analyze the latest trends in the test questions.

Make sure to register ASAP because registration after Sept. 6th requires paying the “Late Registration Fee.”

You can register for the test here.

More Free Official SAT Sample Tests

Posted on by Kennon McCaa

The College Board has recently released two more free sample tests on their website. Now there are 10 free practices tests available online!

We have all of the math sections available on this page.

The topic of Standard Deviation is starting to appear on the test more and more. It does not appear often, but it was not on any of the original 8 practice tests. Because most students have not taken statistics, this is a way to help those that have as well as help many students learn something new. If you do not know what Standard Deviation is, think of it as a measure of variability in data. If a stock price changes by a tiny bit here and there then it has a small standard deviation, but if a stock price changes frequently and has wild ups and downs then it has a large standard deviation. Alternatively, you could think of standard deviation as a way of measuring how thrilling a roller coaster is; a kiddie coaster has a small standard deviation while a full size roller coaster has a large standard deviation.

As always, a student’s success is determined by their long-term understanding of math and the work they have put in during their entire education, so we recommend studying hard every day in school and then doing dedicated test prep of 10-15 minutes per day (don’t miss any days!!) over an 8-10 week span to do your best on the SAT. With 10 free practice tests, that is enough to keep you practicing for about 45 days!

Preparing for Success on Test Day

Posted on by Kennon McCaa

One Week Before Test Day

  • Start reviewing & reworking past mistakes as you lead up to test day. So, go back through all of your practice tests and find any questions you missed and make sure you can do them with ease. If you find any that still are awkward, then make a list of which test #, section # & question # and we can review them in the final week before you crush this test. Keep up the great work. Your extra effort in this final week can really make an enormous difference. You’ve got this! Finish strong!
  • Buy some peppermint gum. Peppermint helps with concentration.

Thursday

Friday

  • Find an old school watch if you want to bring one on Saturday. Advanced watches such as the Apple Watch are NOT permitted.
  • Pack your backpack:
    • Bring your registration confirmation information.
    • Bring your picture ID.
    • Find your calculator.
      • Make sure your calculator has lots of battery life.
      • Make sure your calculator is in degree mode. If you don’t know what that means, then it won’t matter what mode you are in.
    • Sharpen your trusty handful of #2 pencils.
    • Pack your peppermint gum.
    • Pack a snack or two.
    • Prepare your water bottle.
  • Review my full SAT study guide.
  • Do another practice test or two. I recommend section 3, test 8.
  • Pick out your favorite outfit. Do you have something you wear that makes you feel awesome, powerful, smart and/or relaxed? Wear it on test day to improve your mood.
  • Set your alarm early enough to have a quality breakfast and arrive to the testing center early. You don’t want to be nervously standing at the end of a long line.
  • Go to bed at your normal time or a little bit earlier.

Saturday

At home

Arriving at your test site

  • Arrive early.
  • Leave your phone in the car. Phones can only get you in trouble inside the testing center. They are NOT allowed during breaks.
  • Have your picture ID and registration form ready.
  • Start chewing that peppermint gum.
  • Use the restroom one last time.

During the Test

  • Do the less difficult non-multiple choice problems first. 80% are easy!! Do the hard ones later. Do these easy problems first. They’re a nice warm-up.
  • If you have to guess on a non-multiple choice problem, guess “2”.
  • Quickly decide if a question is easy (1), medium (2) or difficult (3). You probably don’t want to invest much time on difficult questions. 90-95% of the questions are 1’s and 2’s. Stick to the 1’s and 2’s and you’ll do great. Battle the 3’s and you’ll get bogged down and potentially lose confidence. You can always do the 3’s last if you have time. Spending 5 minutes on a problem 95% of people will get wrong is a terrible use of valuable time.
  • Always pick the most likely answer before going to the next question. That’s your best guess and you’ll have to use it if you run out of time.
  • Put a question mark next to answers you are not certain of. You can review these questions as you fill in all the bubbles near the end of the test.
  • Write “+” next to questions you are certain are answered correctly.
  • To save time, bubble in all of your answers for each page once you have completed the page. That is faster than going one question at a time.
  • Review my test problem solving strategies in my full SAT study guide.

After the Test

  • Go unwind. Do something fun and relaxing.
  • Drop me a quick note to let me know how it went.

2019 Johns Hopkins CTY Camps

Posted on by Kennon McCaa

Johns Hopkins has just announced the 2019 dates and courses for their CTY talented youth summer camps. Residential camps start as young as 5th grade (1 week) and extend to three weeks for 7th grade through age 16. CTY offers exploratory as well as intensive study courses. For older students they offer leadership sessions.

Visit the CTY site to search for a great camp for your child. Give Kennon a call at 941-882-3039 to learn more about qualifying (a qualifying score on the SAT or ACT).

Session dates vary depending on which college campus and program you attend, so it is best to explore the CTY site.

Registration is now open. Registration is first come, first serve by week although all applications received by January 25th, 2019 are all considered equally. It’s complicated.

Scholarships are available for those who qualify based on financial need.

Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth
Duke University offers summer camps and more for talented youth.

2019 Duke TIP Summer Camps

Posted on by Kennon McCaa

Duke has just announced the 2019 dates and courses for talented youth summer camps. Visit their site to search for a great camp for your child. Give Kennon a call at 941-882-3039 to learn more about qualifying (SAT or ACT in 7th grade) and participating (summer camps for 7th – 10th grade).

Session one is from June 9th – 29th.

Session two is from July 7th – 27th.

Registration opens January 22nd for grades 8-10 and March 19th for 7th grade. Registration is first come, first serve by date, not date and time so you do NOT have to register at 9 AM on the first day.

Duke TIP - Summer camps and more for talented youth.
Duke TIP – Summer camps and more for talented youth.

Now Open! The Transformation Begins…

Posted on by Kennon McCaa

Visit us at 151 N. Tamiami Trail, Osprey, FL 34229.

Kennon McCaa has launched Transformative Tutoring, LLC to help students improve their confidence, knowledge, skills, and performance in math. His goal is to create an important and lasting change for his students.

Kennon brings a love of learning and a lifelong passion for helping others through education to Transformative Tutoring that will significantly benefit either you or your student. His joy of teaching and mathematics makes him effective with students of all ages and interests, as evidenced by success stories ranging from 3rd grade to college.

Contact us to get started with your transformation!