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Do you think that Harvard and other topnotch colleges are tailored to meet the needs of the gifted? Do you think this is one of their main criteria...to find out whether a student is gifted or not? After all, they say they look for curiosity, passion, tenacity, high energy level- traits which characterize the gifted? Do you think that's just their way of saying "we are looking for gifted students" without actually saying it?

By Uncchlocalmayor (Uncchlocalmayor) on Monday, June 02, 2003 - 06:11 pm: Edit

yes and no.

By Gianscolere (Gianscolere) on Monday, June 02, 2003 - 06:23 pm: Edit

Hey Uncchlocalmayor, can you please justify your case? I'm just really curious.

By Jimjunior (Jimjunior) on Monday, June 02, 2003 - 08:28 pm: Edit

If by gifted you mean really smart and talented, then yes they do tailor to those people

By Kad (Kad) on Monday, June 02, 2003 - 08:39 pm: Edit

Gifted also means rich in this case.

By Dream5 (Dream5) on Tuesday, June 03, 2003 - 02:13 am: Edit

Definitely no.

Harvard became famous thanks to their graduate schools, not college.

black kids with 1100 on their SAT's,
asian kids whose whole life is nothing but "to get into Harvard",
kids who sold the fact that their father died to get into Harvard,
kids whose parents donated 2 million dollars

talk about the gifted

By Hahaha (Hahaha) on Tuesday, June 03, 2003 - 02:17 am: Edit

slightly stereotypical, eh?
I see your point, Dream 5, but Harvard also does target gifted kids. Imagine- an ivy league wanting smart kids! No way!!

By Jimjunior (Jimjunior) on Tuesday, June 03, 2003 - 05:19 am: Edit

Dream5 with an average sat score of 1500 I doubt that Harvard is overrun with rich idiots and 1100's

By Lethalfang (Lethalfang) on Tuesday, June 03, 2003 - 01:17 pm: Edit

Gifted can mean lots of things, including gifts to Harvard. Those are certainly in the very small minority (Harvard don't need your stinky 6-figure checks! They need more!), but they exist.

By Gianscolere (Gianscolere) on Tuesday, June 03, 2003 - 01:26 pm: Edit

Sorry, I was unclear in my first post. I meant: does Harvard look for gifted students, meaning those with an IQ of 130 or above? Yes, there are some who donate $20 million to get their kids into Harvard, but that probably isn't the case for most who get in. I respect your opinion, though...

By Azrunner (Azrunner) on Tuesday, June 03, 2003 - 01:53 pm: Edit

generally people with high iq's fare well in school.
so their (top colleges) criteria isn't based on raw intellect per se, but rather the effecive use of that intellect

By Gianscolere (Gianscolere) on Tuesday, June 03, 2003 - 01:55 pm: Edit

I've also noticed the same pattern with high schools. The elite boarding schools like Andover, Exeter, and Milton don't say outright that they are looking for gifted students but rather give a description of traits they are looking for (which really translates to they are looking for gifted students). Why don't they just say it outright? Then would that be unethical...like for non-gifted kids who want to apply? To not discourage anyone? Is that their logic? Actually, same is true for college preps in my area. In elementary, it's different...usually they say Edison Gifted Center or something. In high school, it's just like Northside College Prep, but it's really a high school for gifted students, where even students 3 deviations above grade level are still not accepted. The kids there are definitely gifted.

By Uncchlocalmayor (Uncchlocalmayor) on Tuesday, June 03, 2003 - 07:25 pm: Edit

yes: there are some extremely gifted students at Harvard.

no: there are some students who attend because of their parents' money.

so the answer would be no, Harvard is not exclusively for the gifted.

By Sywolf1122 (Sywolf1122) on Wednesday, June 11, 2003 - 04:56 pm: Edit

Umm, last I checked colleges don't administer any kind of "intelligence test" in admissions. You could say the SAT is a variant of it, but that's obviously not true. The point is, any private school or elite college is recruiting smart kids. Unlike public schools for the gifted/magnet schools however, there are many more ways to be considered "smart" and thus get into these schools than simply doing well on a biased test. i.e. excellent grades, ethnic/socioeconomic background, special talent, athletic skills, etc.

By Sidis (Sidis) on Sunday, September 28, 2003 - 06:39 pm: Edit

What about those who are not gifted and get 1600 SAT and those who are gifted adn get less than 1500?