GEP Preparatory Program
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Where to go? And, any experiences you have (good or bad) or heard of … please share.
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Some of us in this forum feel strongly that parents shouldn’t send their children for any GEP preparatory programme. If your child has what it takes to get into GEP he should clear the GEP screening and selection tests without any problems. If he is hothoused to clear the tests and somehow gets selected, he may face an uphill struggle in GEP. The programme is challenging and it is very disheartening to be at the bottom of the cohort.
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i used to have the same conviction
now …, i feel that i am "wavering". why? simply cause it isn’t an absolute scoring - eg, you score >X%, you will get in. rather, it is RELATIVE to your peers. putting financials & extremely "gifted" kids aside, i feel that one will be put in an advantageous position if one has been exposed to some of the questions type.
(i feel the name of the program is somewhat "misleading" - a more accurate one would probably be "high ability / advanced" program / students.)
having said all the above - all compliments to students in the GEP program … it isn’t an easy program and you are top1% of your cohort. being top1% in any context is in itself very outstanding!
can anyone describe the Pri4 GEP program in a typical term (for example) ? -
chopin123:
Since the program will select the top 1% of the cohort, in a sense this is 'relative', isn't it?i used to have the same conviction
now ..., i feel that i am \"wavering\". why? simply cause it isn't an absolute scoring - eg, you score >X%, you will get in. rather, it is RELATIVE to your peers. putting financials & extremely \"gifted\" kids aside, i feel that one will be put in an advantageous position if one has been exposed to some of the questions type.
(i feel the name of the program is somewhat \"misleading\" - a more accurate one would probably be \"high ability / advanced\" program / students.)
having said all the above - all compliments to students in the GEP program ... it isn't an easy program and you are top1% of your cohort. being top1% in any context is in itself very outstanding!
can anyone describe the Pri4 GEP program in a typical term (for example) ?
Seriously, I think parents should not send their children for any preparatory program. Even if your child is not selected due to lack of 'exposure to the question type', if he/she is truly gifted/high ability, he/she will definitely shine through eventually. Case in point, not all top and sucessful scholars are from GEP.
Take heart, if you read thru the forum here, you will find many parents have shared that they did not send their children for any GEP prep class and yet, their children surprised them and were selected for GEP. Cheers! -
chopin123:
Can you share where did you confirm this? I have been asking around about this and some parents shared that it is not entirely based on relative scale. Some years they can have lesser intake and some years more but of course there is a maximum number they can go to due to the limited number of centres, but no minimum. So some cohort can have lesser kids. The relative scale only kicks in when the number of children grossly exceeds the vacancies. So if I were to let my child \"compete\" at the bottom level just to squeeze in by training (as high ability kids) due to a blooming year of more gifted kids, I would be very concerned too. I don't think it would be good for a child's esteem to be near the bottom of the ranking in the programme if the child has been performing well as high ability in the mainstream.i used to have the same conviction
now ..., i feel that i am \"wavering\". why? simply cause it isn't an absolute scoring - eg, you score >X%, you will get in. rather, it is RELATIVE to your peers.
So the % actually varies, some years is top 0.x%, some years 1% and some years 1-1.x% and also the cohort size varies. That is my understanding, I stand corrected. -
HVR:
just to share, DD1 didnt qualify for GEP when she was in p3 but did well at PSLE, her scores were on par with some of her fellow schoolmates in GEP.
Since the program will select the top 1% of the cohort, in a sense this is 'relative', isn't it?chopin123:
i used to have the same conviction
now ..., i feel that i am \"wavering\". why? simply cause it isn't an absolute scoring - eg, you score >X%, you will get in. rather, it is RELATIVE to your peers. putting financials & extremely \"gifted\" kids aside, i feel that one will be put in an advantageous position if one has been exposed to some of the questions type.
(i feel the name of the program is somewhat \"misleading\" - a more accurate one would probably be \"high ability / advanced\" program / students.)
having said all the above - all compliments to students in the GEP program ... it isn't an easy program and you are top1% of your cohort. being top1% in any context is in itself very outstanding!
can anyone describe the Pri4 GEP program in a typical term (for example) ?
Seriously, I think parents should not send their children for any preparatory program. Even if your child is not selected due to lack of 'exposure to the question type', if he/she is truly gifted/high ability, he/she will definitely shine through eventually. Case in point, not all top and sucessful scholars are from GEP.
Take heart, if you read thru the forum here, you will find many parents have shared that they did not send their children for any GEP prep class and yet, their children surprised them and were selected for GEP. Cheers!
DS2 just qualified for GEP, he has no trg no enrichment program excpet MT (just like his elder sis). He is pleased to be selected but we hv told him that being in GEP does not guaranteed him being a top scorer 3 yrs down the road (PSLE). We highlighted to him that he is still learning but under a diff method under the GEP that is deemed more suitable that's all. At the end of the day, he has to work just as hard as his mainstream peers in the PSLE. Oh and we also told him that there are GEP students who return to mainstream if they cant cope and if that happens to him, it is OK and we wont be ashamed of him. -
although it is "relative" in the fact that only the top 1% is selected for the GEP under the GEP screening tests, the kid will definitely struggle, and worse, get demoralised with studies, if the kid is hothoused to get into GEP and find the going tough in GEP
not in GEP is not bad too, less pressure, and if the kid is naturally inclined in academic, s/he will show it from pri 4 to pri 6 and that will be a great motivator for the years to come
every year, there are many many mainstream kids who perform better than GEP kids during PSLE and they compete head-to-head with the GEP peers in secondary school -
For students who somehow get into GEP via a prep programme, chances are they’ll be more inclined to attend all sorts of tuition and enrichment classes to keep up with the rest. Not that they’re not capable but the kiasu mentality of the parents may persist. Not the kind of childhood I’d want for my kid to have to go for endless tuition.
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jtoh:
For students who somehow get into GEP via a prep programme, chances are they'll be more inclined to attend all sorts of tuition and enrichment classes to keep up with the rest. Not that they're not capable but the kiasu mentality of the parents may persist. Not the kind of childhood I'd want for my kid to have to go for endless tuition.
I agree. I saw (maybe half, one-third?) the boys in my DS class attending English/Maths/Science classes at The Learning Lab ... imagine this, on top of their busy workload, what for? I only see the tuition centers benefiting from it all. These same kids struggle so hard to get above 80 for their subjects. -
actually I won’t say that the GEPpers are top 1% of the cohort. Son wasn’t even top 10 in his school, he still got in.
I personally find that GEPpers are naturally inquisitive and driven in the search for knowledge. If your child is already such, you probably don’t even have to send him/her to any courses and he/she will be selected base on his/her own merit.
OTOH, sending courses and too many enrichment classes may actually backfire, quenching his natural thirst to learn.
That’s jmho.
Oh, btw, I didn’t send son for prep course.
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