Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship Webinar Dec 2025

0:00 So we will begin. And there's a few more there will be trickling in, but we'll begin. I am Mallory Aldrich. I'm the senior manager for the Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship. Hi, everybody. My name is Daniel Martinez. I'm the program coordinator for the CDB scholarship. And we will, just ask for you all to, wait to answer, ask questions. At the end, because we may get to, get to your question earlier.

0:30 So if you could just wait, and, wait for questions to begin. So we will, start. So, the Caroline D Bradley Scholarship is run by the Institute for Educational Advancement, which is a nonprofit that works with gifted, youth across the nation and in our, home offices in Pasadena. We have a few kind of signature programs, which include UNHCR, which is our, summer camp that, focuses on supporting the whole gifted child.

1:01 We have our academy courses, which are primarily in our learning center here in Pasadena, but we do have some online courses. These are enrichment courses for kids ages about five to, 14. That want to take a little bit, go more depth in depth on a subject matter that maybe they don't have, the ability to do, at their school or for home school classes and then also online. We have our Gifted Resource Center, which is a free public tool, that is on our website that has all things giftedness for, students.

1:38 Sorry if you're hearing phone ringing in the background. Okay. So just, kind of the timeline of everything. So, the application is due April 16th, 2026, at 8 p.m. Pacific time. In May of 2026, our finalists will be our semifinalists will be announced. And those are who made it to the next round. And then in June of 2026, our finalists will be announced. The finalists are those who made it to the interview stage.

2:10 And we will conduct, between June and August of 2026. We will hold our finalist interviews and those will be, in person in a city that's closest to each of the finalists. And we work with each, family to, optimize their schedule. And then in September of 2026, the class of 2031 scholars will be announced. Yeah. Yeah. And then, as we always have been mentioning. So this is just some of the eligibility or some of the things that we look for, for applicants and for scholars.

2:44 And so the top one is kind of to demonstrate exceptional academic ability and achievement. They've scored in the top tier in one hour or more of the major academic areas of school administered, nationally normed, standardized tests. And we'll talk a little bit more about what a standardized test is, exactly which ones we accept. Basically, if your school makes everybody take it, that's a standardized test. And this year again, we've added the CTD level above assessment as SAT or Act as a requirement again.

3:13 And we'll get a little bit more depth in that. They strive for excellence. They demonstrate leadership abilities, creative thinking. They're extremely curious. And they have a thirst for knowledge. They have a passion for learning. They're highly motivated. They're, embrace integrity and they're honest. They demonstrate a high level of maturity and a strong sense of self, which, again, comes through in the essay and in their application. And ultimately in the interview, they seek an accelerated, diversified high school program.

3:40 And there that is US based and they're U.S. citizen who's going to attend a high school program based in the US. And so we'll go over all these bullet points a little more in detail as we go along the presentation. So to start your application you go to educationaladvancement.org/caroline-d-bradley-scholarship/ how to apply or when you go to educationaladvanacement.org just click Caroline D Bradley and how to apply and you'll get there. So you'll click the Apply Now button and you will do this every time you want to start your application.

4:15 The first page of the application looks like this. And what is really important, is, that you can start and save your application multiple times. So each time, if you want to just add something in there, you, will click Save my Progress and resume later. And then you'll type in your email address, and each time you'll have to create a new password. I don't know why they designed it that way, but they did. So each time. That's not abnormal.

4:42 You will to write your, email address and a, and a new password when you come back to start an application that you've already started, you'll click resume, a previously saved form where you're typing your email address and your password. And if you're having trouble starting your application, please, do not start a second application because it's really hard to merge multiple applications if you can't access it. Please just, either if it's during business hours, give us a call or email us.

5:14 Email is often faster because, we're not always at our desks to be able to troubleshoot it. And it's usually just a typo in the email address. And we can fix it really, really fast. So, just please do not start a second application because it does make things very confusing. If you have two applications going. So there are 12 total pages, some are longer than others. And we'll go through the different components. The first page does have a check box.

5:39 And I did forget to mention on the main page here you can download a checklist if you want to download and print it out and check as you go. And also you can download the essay questions here as well. Yeah. And so kind of take a deeper dive into the application component. So once you start that application you're going to have the general application form. And you're just like collecting demographic information in your address things like that.

6:05 Just so we know the context of the applicant. Again this is pretty standard. It will be your full name, your age, grade enrolled in school, where you go to school. And then, the next part will be our CTD above level grade assessment or the SAT or the ACT. Just one of those, not all three. Just one of those. Your two most recent years of school state standardized test scores. Your transcripts from, 25-26 and from 24-25, any outside academic coursework that you want to include, your extracurriculars, your honors and awards, the quick takes, which are kind of like essays, but way shorter.

6:44 These are meant to be like, quick, 2 or 3 word answers, reflective prompts, essays. The student work sample, which is, we'll talk a little bit more about how that's changed this year. Parent Guardian statement, which is written by the parent. And then two recommendations, one academic, one additional one. And again, we're going to go more in-depth into those 12 pages of the application. So mandatory testing and this also is a little confusing. But it really is actually fairly, easy to just kind of bear with us as we explain it.

7:15 So we have two different types of testing that we require. The first one are your two most recent years of school or state standardized testing. So if you, that could be the STAR test, the PARCC test, the TerraNova, the MAP, the CAASPP. Every state has a different test. So if your child goes to public school, you just submit your two most recent, years of state standardized testing and you're good to go. Very easy. Now, if your child is homeschooled or attends a private school, they may not have these standardized tests, and that's okay.

7:53 If at that point you will, just submit on your application and say why you don't have standardized testing. We see that every year. We have participants every year who don't, have standardized tests, who become, scholar. So, as long as we know why those pieces of the application are, not, submitted, that's easy for us to know. Now, your child may have taken a different test outside, for different reasons that ISEE, the SSAT, the SCAT or the SCAT Different ones like that.

8:28 You could submit those. That's fine too, if you have them. But the kind of the easiest if your child's enrolled in public school, your two most recent years of state standardized testing, if there are in a home, private school where they have standardized testing, that is easy to just know that it's a test that isn't just created for the school, that it's created for other people. So if you have more questions about that, please email us and we can help you answer that.

8:57 Most tests are, labeled into this. Then there are there are more who who are then there aren't. And applicants must be in the top tier in at least one of the qualifying test subjects. So that can be labeled and percentile stand lines. They can have symbols that could be exceeds or advances. Different tests have different levels. Just the highest level in one of the subject matters. Then the next put point tests that require is for most of the scholarships origin, they did require, the applicant to take the strict.

9:38 In a post-Covid world, there was some changes in how sat in the College Board and allowed younger people to take the test, and it made it much more difficult. So we had that as an optional for the past few years. Now we are partnering with Northwestern's Center for Talent Development, and offering the CTD above level assessment. And this is, a test that is it's not the SAT or the ACT, but it mimics the SAT or ACT. And it is proctor through them.

10:09 It is $75. We do have fee waivers for that. If that's something that you will need, and you'll just need to email us, and we can help you get that fee waiver. So it's very easy. You can take this test at home. And this is the test that we are encouraging applicants to take instead of the ACT or SAT. So you will need to submit this or the ACT or SAT. These are the, dates that we have listed, and we know that the April 12th date is four days before the due date.

10:39 That's fine. It's a very fast turnaround for us to get the scores. So, we are, kind of encouraging, of the mandatory testing to take. We encourage the CTD above level assessment. If for some reason you're unable to take the CTD above level assessment, you can take the SAT or the ACT and information, to register for that is on, the College Board or the ACT website because it is a little bit different if you are, under 13.

11:11 So there are two forms of mandatory testing that you have to submit your state standardized testing or your nationally normed standardized testing. And one of the other three, the CTD above level assessment, the SAT or the ACT. We are encouraging you to take the CTD above a level assessment. We also do not have fee waivers for the ACT. or SAT So those are the tests that are required for this year. Yeah.

11:41 Okay. And then the next part of the academic kind of component of the application is your transcript or your academic coursework. So we'll need unofficial transcripts. No need to go to your principal or anything like that. Most of the times you can download these on your own. So we need the unofficial transcripts. Or if you have just the report cards from 24 to 25. So that would be last year, your sixth grade year, and the first semester of the 2025 2026 school year.

12:07 Whether that be fall or winter, whatever your school calls it, just that first semester of your seventh grade year. Now, what if your child is homeschooled or you don't have traditional grading? That's fine. We see every transcript on this planet. We've seen, really long transcripts using very traditional transcripts. If your child is homeschooled, we just ask that you send us their homeschool plan because we know you need to develop those. And we'll take that as the transcript.

12:31 And if your child doesn't have traditional grading at their school, they have narrative grading or anything else like that. No worries. Just send whatever you have in for the same amount of time. The sorry, there's the slide I got on, the 2024-2025 school year and the first semester of the 2025-2026 school year, and then additional academic coursework. Again, this is an opportunity for you to share anything you've taken outside of school, whether that be during the summer, whether that be during the school year, whether that be through CTY, CTD, Art of Problem Solving any of those additional classes outside of traditional school.

13:08 You can include those if you feel like that's something important to your application. And they can be both graded and non graded. The only thing I will say is that, it's one per slot when you're filling out the application, don't try to put in too much information into that slot because our system doesn't really handle it. That well. And that can cause an error when submitting your application. So try to keep it, to a minimum and try to keep it to just the most important pieces, of your additional academic coursework and make sure that, all of these are uploaded as PDFs, because that's, the best way to upload those things onto our application.

13:42 And one quick thing they did to forget, I apologize to register for the CTD test. All that information is on our website. And there's a, there's a word doc that you download that you will tell you exactly what to do to register for that test. So I do apologize. I forgot to mention that. So the reflective prompts, this is the, a really fun aspect that we really get to learn about the applicant as we're reading through it, and they get to really shine of who they are.

14:12 So part A is a mandatory prompt. Everyone has to answer the same question. And this has to be an essay. So no longer than 500 words. This one's the same for everybody now part B they can they choose two of the five prompts and part B for one of the prompts. It has to be an essay again, no more than 500 words. But if an applicant chooses, it can be a more creative piece. So it can be, a collage, artwork, painting, an audio file, video recording, poetry, anything like that can be creative side.

14:48 If it is a video or audio file, they need to be no longer than three minutes. And what you will do and the directions are on the application, but you will either create a private YouTube channel, a Dropbox link, or Google Drive link, to the video and just make sure that the settings are all correct, that we are able to view those, do not upload audio or video files to your application. The system doesn't handle that.

15:13 So part B one essay and then it could, you could do two essays if that's what you wanted. If you're not super creative, that's totally fine. A lot of applicants do that. But if you wanted to showcase your creative side, you could do that as well. And like I said, the on our homepage, you can download the essay questions right now just to see what they are. They are also on the application. Yeah. And so this is the other big, change that we did this year.

15:42 This is the mandatory graded work sample. So the work sample traditionally we used to say anything. Now it's, mandatory graded work sample. And this is again just to make sure that we're all having it on a level playing field. So they submit a graded paper project or a piece of work that they've created in the past school year from a core academic subject. So that means that this is from a math class, from a science class, a humanities class, or an English class, or a writing class or anything like that.

16:13 This it has to be a graded paper just so we can see the type of feedback that you're getting on these things, and so that we can, again, see your passion in, in an academic setting or in a school setting. They should include a 3 to 5 sentence written description of the work sample. It shouldn't be more than one chapter of a book or five pages of a written academic report. And this one, again, we're asking for it to be written and for it to be graded in school.

16:39 There is another section for the creative work sample, so and Mallory, go over that in a little bit. And that's the optional work sample. So the applicants can submit a creative work sample that was significant to them from last year. As we kind of reflect every year, we were seeing that some kids felt that they weren't able to, showcase their more creative side and often would submit that in their work sample, but also wanted to submit their work as well.

17:05 So it's a little bit hard now. They, can choose something from a creative side. This does not need to be a graded piece. It can be, but it does not need to be and it does not need to be from it cannot be from a core academic subject. So we don't want it to be from math or humanities or science. We want it to be something else. So, examples of this music, sports, dance, poetry, novels, art portfolios, something more creative.

17:29 And this is again optional. This can be an audio video file, unlike the mandatory graded work sample, but again, should be no longer than three minutes. If it's a written as a novel or an art portfolio, it should be no longer than five pages of a novel or, of or a chapter. And again, if it's an audio visual file and please don't, submit a link, do not upload a, media file. Our application system cannot handle that.

17:58 Too big. But again, this is just to showcase the creative side of an applicant. So, whatever they want to show in this part, they can. And it just makes it a more a level playing field for all of our applicants. Okay. And so the optional information and the parent statement. So I'll go over the parent statement first. The parent Guardian statement, is opportunity for parents to share information about their child that isn't already highlighted in their application.

18:25 So this shouldn't just be a list of the things that were already mentioned, the application that should really contextualize, what the applicant is like at home and what parents see. So we ask guiding questions. Our parents understand, and the statement in total should be no longer than 500 words. And so you'll see a whole bunch of different questions. We recommend that you answer those. But just the total word count should be 500 or about a page, for all of the information.

18:52 And then that's the parent Guardian statement. And the next one is the optional information. So this is where applicants can submit, an essay or another, piece of the application that they feel hasn't been highlighted elsewhere. So they can be, again, 500 words total and you can submit up to two documents to support your statement. And so this can be either you struggled in a class and you really want to tell us about that, or you do ballet and you're really passionate about it, but you really didn't have anywhere to fit that in your application.

19:25 Or you do community service that you feel wasn't highlighted enough in the application. So this is again an optional information. It is not an extra piece of information to submit a resume or anything like that. This is more to showcase that, an area that you feel isn't highlighted in the application. Enough. Awards extracurriculars and QuickTake. So there's space for five each. Extracurricular activity and honors and awards on the application.

19:56 And we know that so many of these applicants are super involved and super, awarded. And that is really great. And we're happy for them. But we asked them to choose their top five, so maybe we don't need to include something for first grade. And we just really focus on that from the last couple of years. So okay. Again, that follow the directions is very, very important. We want to know what are the things that are most important to the applicant.

20:23 So do not try to cram more in that. That's very important for us. And then the quick text section, this is my favorite section of the application. It is really fun. And they are quick tips. So it's to show the application readers more about them in a fun short answer way. Most of these can be answered in one sentence, and I think that there's one that maybe requires three sentence and that's it. And this is truly just a really fun way for the applicant.

20:51 The for the readers to get to know the applicant. Not in a formal essay, not in a graded work example, not in a video, just kind of quickly what they're thinking as they're going. Yeah. So, these are the recommendations now. So we again, you need two recommendations. One will be an academic recommendation and the other will be an additional. And we'll go into depth about what each of those is. So the academic recommender has to be your sixth or seventh grade humanities or STEM teacher.

21:20 They don't need to be the same teacher from sixth and seventh grade, just as long as they were your teacher in the past two years. So it can be your sixth grade math teacher, your seventh grade math teacher, or your sixth grade social studies, or your sixth grade, English teacher. Any of those. So again, the humanities course is typically social studies English and STEM is obviously science technology, engineering, mathematics. And so these, should be teachers that know you in an academic context and that can and can contextualize the applicant in, in regards to their own class.

21:52 So it should be a teacher that these many students, if you're homeschooled, you should submit, from your STEM tutor or your math tutor or your humanities tutor. And if not, they can you can reach out to us and we can, have some ideas about who else could be your academic recommender. And then your additional recommender should be someone that knows you outside of the classroom. So this could be an elective teacher. Traditionally, you know, a music teacher, an art teacher, a dance teacher, anything like that.

22:21 It can be a school administrator that you've grown really close to, whether that be your principal or your counselor, etc. it can be a coach, a sports coach or a music coach, a community leader. Anybody that does not know you in an academic context should be your additional recommender. If you. Well, one of the questions we always get is, can my robotics teacher or my robotics club leader be my additional recommender? They can. They just can't write about you in the classroom setting.

22:51 So they should write from the perspective of your club leader, not from your perspective of your math teacher, if that makes any sense. And on our application you're going to download the PDF form. And the recommenders will fill that out. They will then email that directly back to us and we will attach it to your application. If you're concerned and you say, hey, I gave it to my teacher, you know, a month ago and they haven't heard back.

23:15 You can email us and we can tell you if they if we've received it or not. And again, we're not in the business of making seventh grade cry. So if we, get to the application due date and we see that you're missing your recommendation, we will reach out directly to you and let you know, and it won't just be, you know, an automatic disqualification. We'll give you some time, to get that into us, because we know that things happen.

23:36 Yeah. And that goes with any aspect, because sometimes you upload you thinking, you're uploading your work sample and you accidentally upload the essay again. So, if we see an end issue, we will reach out. So this is what Daniel is talking about. You will download where the red arrow is, the PDF. You will still write the first and last name and email of your recommenders. And that's just so we have it internally. But you download the PDF from here and the PDFs, this is the academic one, but the extracurricular one looks very similar.

24:07 They fill it out, they answer the questions in the text boxes. They're fillable PDFs. They save hours and then they email it back to us. Very simple. And then again, because we live in, a world where we know that technology is, you know, readily available to students and we, know that AI especially is really advancing. We just understand that it's a tool the students often use, and it can be beneficial for learning, especially in the modern digital landscape.

24:36 But we do not allow applicants to use AI to write their essays or answer any prompts. So again, we want to learn more about you and the applicant. And any improper use of AI will disqualify an applicant from further consideration. We have run all of the prompts through AI, so we have like an idea of what those prompts do. We are also, you know, working on our, our own, capacities with AI. So we again, we just want to know what the applicants are like and what their best work is.

25:05 So again, we do not allow any of our applicants to use AI to write essays or answer any prompts. For how to prepare for the Carolyn de Bradley Scholarship. So take the applications instructions and directly seriously. So word count space limits. That's very, very important for us to have plenty of time to complete your application. This is not something that can be done the night before it's due. So, give yourself time to review and check it.

25:32 Stay within the maximum. Workouts don't include extra items if specifically given number limits and certain categories such as recommendations. We only want two. the CDB Scholarship asks for two. And we think you're spectacular. But again, this follows under the follow the rules. But rule of thumb. So don't include extras. We don't want your resume because we don't ask for your resume anywhere. So just really, it's important to, follow the directions. Yeah. And then again, just some, other tips as the student applying is the applicant.

26:06 So while we encourage parents and teachers to help students, we do really want to learn about the student and from the students. So all of the work should be from the student, obviously not including the parent sample, but all of the essays and all of the applications should really be a student led effort. And we really, you know, we can tell when things are written by a student. Things are written by a parent. We also ask that you proofread your work.

26:29 It's always good to have somebody else read it. So again, that recommender might be a good person to have proof your work. And again, proofreading is okay. We just really want to make sure that it's the student making all the decisions and applying, be original. A good essay like sticks with a lot of our committee members and a lot of us, when we read these applications, we really do appreciate originality. And that really does help us stick out.

26:52 And again, we want to know about you. So share your passion. Share what you really love to do, why you love to learn, why you like to do things outside of school. So that's really what we're looking for. And what are to keep in mind when applying for the for the scholarship. And just again, to reiterate, our application platform doesn't really like big files and it doesn't like it when you go over the word limit or you put way too much information in there that might cause an error and it might cause your application to not submit.

27:19 So please be mindful of all of the, character limits, word limits, and, file size limits. And again, like Mallory said, if you're encountering problem, email us really quickly. And that's, usually the quickest way to solve any of those problems. And we'll get through them. And again, anything like that, we will, reach out to you. And even if, let's say it's April 15th and you are submitting it at midnight, it's okay to take a break and to email us and wait until the next day so that we can get all that solved.

27:48 We'd rather, you know, have it solved than have seven different applications. That we have. And I think the the biggest mistake that we see from applicants is they tried to make their application what they think we want to read, not what they're actually passionate about. And you can really tell the difference if a child's writing about something that they're not passionate about, whether they don't like doing, but they think that's what we we as the application readers and the selection committee want to hear.

28:14 Same with the letters of recommendation. They asked, for letters for people who don't really know them, but they think it's what we want to see. So if you think your swimming coach really knows you the best outside of class, that was a perfect, extracurricular, or additional letter of recommenders. So that's fine. It doesn't need to be your robotics coach. If you think you're you're swimming coach or your rabbi or your priest or your pastor or whoever knows you better, that's what we want to know.

28:40 Because they're there, they'll be able to write those better letters of recommendation. And this is a really long application. So there's not one part of the application that is more important. There are. We see the rumors online that say certain parts are that isn't like we can tell you right now or from our lips, that is not true. So that is a reason, like we don't say a minimum test score for the ACT or SAT or this, CTD test.

29:06 We just want you to submit it and see where and see where that out. So don't. Trust us, We have, the gamut of test scores that come in and are selected to scholars. This isn't a portfolio application because we want to learn about, the application applicants that we're reading in the students, and what their passions are. So the best way to get Ahold of us, is email. Just because we are not always at our desk sometimes or in meetings or we're working from home.

29:37 And so scholar that scholarship at educational advancement.org the application due date against April 16th, 2026 at 8 p.m. Pacific time. This QR code does, put you up to be on our newsletter, but I think if you signed up for this webinar, you were already on our newsletter. Now, and we will give updates to that. But at this point we will open it up to questions. So feel free to just, put it in the Q&A point. We can't we won't be able to do the raised hands, but you should be able to submit a Q&A.

30:08 So yeah. So someone wrote, about the issue for standardized testing. Yes. The IRBs or something that you could submit for the standardized test state standardized test portion. What is the most important of the application component or the component? The application link math. They did a really good job of explaining that, like one aspect is not more important than the other. We look at students and applicant holistically. And so that's all we like to say. Just share your passion.

30:34 Just share, your truest self. Don't try to impress the application committee. Don't try to impress the reader. Just know that you should put your best foot forward and there's no minimum score for the testing or anything like that. So all the application, components are weighed equally. So the CTD above level, is differ from the SAT in that it's not the S.A.T.. That's your biggest one. It kind of mimics them. So the questions are written similarly. It is timed, but it is at home.

31:06 It's proctored by northwestern. It's, kind of looks more like a practice test than the actual act or the act, but it is, similar. And for what they're seeing for their scores, kids. They're kind of scoring on the same level. They did some, testing with that as well. So, that's how it's it's similar but different because it's not that test. And so basically the CTD level predict scores for the SAT ACT, but it is not an official SAT.

31:37 Act score is the best way to put it. So it's based on the SAT/ACT. But like Mallory said, it's not quite the SAT/ACT Yeah. So if you have if you've taken the SAT or ACT or the CTD above level testing through Davidson or another one of their programs or the SAT or ACT through another program, whatever it is, if it's within the last, year. So by if you took it from April 2025 to April 2026, we'll that you can submit that.

32:08 If your school has trimesters again for the transcripts specifically, just upload, everything from the from sixth grade and the most recent ones from seventh grade. So whether that be fall and winter or just fall, either one is fine. The reason that, the CTD above level assessment is encouraged is for a few things. Rather than SAT or ACT, the SAT and ACT make it very difficult if you are under 13 to register for the test, so it really, the eat the ACT doesn't allow you to do at all anymore.

32:41 And the SAT, you have to fill out a piece of paper and mail it and like, we can't even do it online. And they make it very, very difficult. It's very hard to do, this test, that northwestern CTD has kind of helped and develop and put out mimic, like we said, mimics the scores and predicts the scores and written very similarly. So that's why, we are using it. Davidson Scholars also uses it. And also we are able to give fee waivers for their to this test, to make it more, to have more access for applicants across the country where we are not, able to give out, fee waivers for the ACT or SAT.

33:16 So just a better, experience all around. Yeah. The sports count for the videos where the child is performing in a very competitive sport. So if you're referring to part B, the, reflective prompts, as long as you answer the reflective prompt, like, I think there's one that says, like, share something you're passionate about. Yes. That could be a video. And again, I would just always, remind applicants to everything you're doing on the reflective prompts, make sure you're always tying it back to answering said reflective prompts.

33:46 But then it could also be for the optional work samples. Or if you have something else for the reflect upon their optional creative work. Simple. It could be in the optional information area as well, but yes, you could do a competitive sport. Yes, the ISC, can be a standardized test score for the, standardized portion. You can take any of the tests more than once. That's up to you. We don't encourage it, but if you like them, you can just.

34:21 Yes. The optional. Yes. So the optional essay can be a video file. Same process to upload that, make sure to upload a link to the video file, not the actual video file itself. And just provide a little bit more context. You do get two additional, pieces of or PDFs to explain that. So yes, it can be a video just again, follow the same guidelines as uploading the video to upload a link. More information about the CTD test can be found on our website.

34:48 Under that whole area, there's two attachments that talk about how to register and information about the test. And you will give they will send you access our information about how to prepare for the tests and test, prep questions. So that was the other benefit of this test is that it does, knowing that CTD primarily works with younger kids and their, younger gifted kids, they have all the the mechanisms in place to help support them as well.

35:14 So, all that information can be found on our website. The additional recommend or kind of be a close family friend. I would say that if they're involved in the students, in the students like life outside of school. So whether that be like a community leader or they know the student. In a different context, I would say yes, but also be very mindful. It's that it should be, tied back to like a community service or tied back to an extracurricular thing that, that the applicant does.

35:49 If that answers that question. Yeah. We get between, about 375 to 500 applications every year, and about 26 scholars are selected every year. You can submit the application as early as today. We don't recommend that, but you can submit the application as early as today. We see a lot of applications be turned in, typically from like January through the end of April. We see a steady flow of those, start to come in.

36:20 There's no really advice on it. Just take your time on it. Don't. It's definitely not an application that you can do in a day. It definitely takes more than day. And that's why we open it up. Now in, you know, November all the way until April. Is it only is this. Yeah. So if they're asking you if the scholarship only available for high school programs or will also be beneficial for after school programs as well, if a student is currently happy at their school?

36:49 Yes. Maybe, that as a US, we decided the, the scholarship committee, and the scholarship program, not the scholarship committee. Daniel and I, work with those families if they're currently have their public school and want to supplement it somehow. We work with each, family, every year on that. And it looks different from every, every child. But it could be. When you ask for work from the past year, do you mean seventh grade? Spring of sixth. Yeah. So just the past year.

37:20 So anything from April of 2025 through April of 2026, should be your graded work sample. So anything from, Yeah. Like you said, the spring of seventh of sixth grade, all the way until, the spring of seventh grade, just depending on if that's graded by that time or not. How does this work for math? They're looking for more substantive feedback than just a graded test. I would say that, yes, we're looking for a little bit more substantive.

37:45 So just whatever you have for math, specifically in the greater work sample, we also do encourage you to contextualize your work samples. So if you're submitting, a test that you took for linear algebra per se, we would want a little more context in that so that we can know, like what that level is. And yes, if you have it available more than just a graded test. I'm seeing, quite a few questions about, the preparing for the CTD test or the SAT or the ACT.

38:16 So, again, there's this kind of notion and I think it's just because this is really it's easy to conceptualize and you get a grade and you see it. But this is the most important component. And it's not we do not have a mandatory or a minimum score that they need to have. They just need to submit it. So we know that they're in seventh grade, and they may not even learn some of the stuff that's going to be on those tests.

38:37 And that's totally fine. At this level. It's more served as an aptitude test, not as like a placement test or a preparedness test for college like it is in the high school level. So we just tell kids to relax. If they've never really taken a lot of standardized tests, one way do prep is to like, kind of go through the motions of how, timing works and things like that. That's probably what we would say to, prepare for the test.

39:01 But we're not saying to go out and get a tutor or anything like that. That's not what we're looking for. We really this is just one really piece of the, of the application of the portfolio application, that every, applicant will now submit. So it makes it a more level playing field. So really, I know that there's notion that it is super important, but it is just one piece of a very long application. How do you really individual contribution a student has Seymour's.

39:32 So I think this kind of touches on the award section and the extracurricular sections. I would say that if, for example, the student, participates in soccer, but they're not really passionate, and the only place that we see that is for them to put that they participate in soccer, then that is different than if the student participates in soccer. But then they write a really good reflective prompt about why they love soccer and why they do the things that they do because they might not necessarily be a team captain or a team leader, but they show leadership in other areas.

40:02 And so I think that that's how we balance, like individual contribution and with the team awards, or if they're on the robotics team, again, don't put things in there just to put them in there. Everything you put in there should be intentional, and it should be with, the intention of, you know, showcasing your passion and showcasing, why you love the things that you love. You can submit a CV test score as part of the standardized tests.

40:31 Can you please better define top tier test score? This is why it looks a little bit, different. It's gonna look different for each standardized test, because everything is so different. So the highest area that they can go. So in some standardized testing it's going to be the 90th percentile. Because they don't grade, they don't do anything higher than the 90th percentile. Some will be the 97th percentile. If you do do percentiles. We're really looking for the 90th percentile and higher.

40:56 The 99 exceeds or master shows mastery. What are the. Cells. Excels. Those are the kind of the the highest point that we can get. Every state, they all do it a little bit differently. Now, it's not, uniform as as uniforms, as it used to be. I kind of always think of, like, when you get your standardized test scores here in California, there's a bar that goes from like red to green. So basically just aim for the green in those standardized test scores.

41:28 That's the highest, you know, stand high near the highest. Standardized test score that you can get. If the extra. This is a great question. If the extracurricular activity doesn't have any awards associated with it, is it not worth it to know you if it's something that you as the applicant, are really passionate about, then you should tell us about that. Like let's say you play, just kind of rec league soccer every Wednesday and there's not a tournament associated with it or anything, but it is like your one favorite outlet that you look forward to every week, because it just helps center for you every week. Right?

42:01 Absolutely. Tell us about it. It's okay if there's not an award associated with it. Not everything needs to have an award associated with it, right. I read about it on the website, the, contractual agreement IEA this is again, this is just so that once students are accepted into the program to be scholars, they do sign a contract just saying that they're good stewards of the award and that they will keep a minimum GPA at a minimum.

42:26 You know, a one big like, seminar that we then we host here, in different parts of the country. So that's more so what it means. It's not really anything that big. So it's not like you have to do anything for IEA. It's just a contract that says you're going to be a good steward of the organization and a good representative. And it is a merit based scholarship at the end of the day. So they need to keep certain GPAs and things like that as they go through, which is about a B-plus average.

42:57 If a recommender wants to use AI, that's, none, then that's totally fine. It's pretty common in the recommendations. Now, we just really are more focused on the applicant. So yeah, the creative sample can be something that they submitted for a writing contest. Again, as long as it's not from an English class, so, or a core subject class. So yes, the great. And that's a perfect example of what a creative sample creative work sample could be. Yeah.

43:21 So if they had stuff for like the Scholastic Awards or something that they wanted to submit, that's great. No. So the application can be completed in multiple sessions. We think within it more on quality that you look out for. I think I keep repeating this word passion. I would just say that they're the students that love to learn and students that love to do the things that they like and that they're maybe they're not necessarily that great at it.

43:46 You know, like we've had scholars that are great at math, but then they try out for the, or they do a lot of poetry, or they do poetry club and vice versa. We've had students that are really great in English, but then they try out the robotics lab and they love it. So they're just well-rounded students that really do follow what they love and they follow, they like to explore new things. And that's not to say that's not okay.

44:09 If you're one note, that's totally fine. If you're someone who just loves math and it brings them so much joy, that's totally great. And you want to write about in your application, that's totally fine. But we kind of mean by that is that they're open to the opportunity when they're accepted to these great schools that many of our scholars go to, that they take advantage of the, amazing education that they are going to have. So it's okay if, you know, we are building a cohort, so we will have points and we will have, circles and all the things in the kids that we are looking for.

44:41 The support that they provide so that we provide, so the number one is tuition support. And so that's again, just tuition. And once college are accepted, we'll we go into that a little more, we provide some community. So again, once you once you're in the program, you get introduced to the rest of the city. The community. We also provide some support, with students to find that that's where high school. That's why we ask applicants to be in seventh grade when they apply.

45:09 So that by the time we're in eighth grade and really applying for those high schools, Mallory and I can really, get to know the family and, consult kind of with what the best options are around you, what you're looking for. We have, you know, scholars that come in with a detailed Excel sheet of exactly where they want to go, exactly where they've looked, and some scholars that are like, I'm very new to this and I don't know where to go.

45:32 And it's it's all it's all valid. And that kind of the support that we provide, especially in, a seventh and eighth graders. And then as they're continuing on, they check in with us, we pair them up, we, with each other, if they need help finding, you know, jobs, internships, etc. we try to work through that and build a community. This is actually a really great question. This next one about standardized testing. Let's say for some reason, you only have fifth grade or you only have sixth grade, or for some reason you have seventh grade available and you just have that, yes, submit the one that you have and then also upload something, to us, letting us know why you only have one test score.

46:09 That's totally fine. That happens a lot. Very common. Is the mandatory prompt pilot. You must do so. You would have three. So you have prompt a, which is mandatory for everybody. And then you pick two from prompt B, right. Yes. Correct. So this thank you. Someone found yeah. So kids who are applying this year will be starting and they'll submit their application in April of 2026 to start high school in the fall of 2027.

46:41 Thank you for pointing out that typo on the website. We will fix that. But yeah, so they're planning to start high school in the fall of 2027 and graduate in the spring of 2031. The city level. It is just nothing. I think it is. I believe it is just math and reading. Yeah. It's again based on the SAT. So that would be, whatever the SAT for getting the word right now. And if you wanted to, submit multiple tests, that's fine.

47:10 We don't recommend it. But if you want to, that's fine. And we will super score. If you do take, multiple tests, meaning we'll pick the highest score in each, part. Yes. Yeah. So if you've already taken the above level sat, through CTD for Davidson, we do accept that, for this year, especially because it's the first year, and if you're having them submit it multiple times, just make sure to submit both of those scores and then we will, you know, quote unquote super score them.

47:38 We'll just take the highest score from either section and then again, standardized test. We already went over the the highest is just whatever the highest standard possible is. The PSAT would count as a one of the, standardized test scores. It wouldn't count, for the other part, but you could submit it as one of the standardized test scores. If you win the award, are you required to apply to other schools? Are you can you stay at the current school that you're, at?

48:06 Yes you can. We have lots of scholars who decide to stay at their school, go through 12th grade, and they have they love it. But, we do ask for you to look at at least two other schools because we don't want, scholars to come back later and say, oh, my gosh, you never told me that this was out there. So we just ask that you look at other schools, but totally fine if you want to stay, where you're at.

48:32 Yeah. If you are at a bilingual school and it is in French, we do have someone at the office that reads French. So I would encourage you to submit whatever their best work is, whether that is in French or in English, whichever one. Just include an explanation that again, it's a bilingual school. And so it's going to be in French. So we understand that. For the reflective prompt. So part A is one every everyone has the same essay question that they answer them.

49:04 Part B they submit two other reflective prompts. So total three total. But everyone has to answer part A. Again we receive about 4 to 500 applications. And then anywhere from 25 to 30 scholars are awarded. Again for the CTD above level results. There is not we you just need to take it and you submit it. We do not have a, a score. This is just type to type of serve as an aptitude test in a world where, we have kids coming from all different types of educational backgrounds, different grading and all this kind of stuff.

49:42 It's one piece that is the same for everybody. So, it is a really it's probably the most, the most fair, piece to submit. So it's not to we tell the families, relax, have the kid relax. It's not to be scary by any means. And that's why also where we like it. Because they are able to take it at home and not in a random high school that they've never been to. Yeah. The CTD test again is based on the SAT, the Act.

50:10 We've already answered this one. We have so scholar athletes succeed as applicants. We see applicants from every Lake Valley rising. We have a cohort. And so we see applicants that are super, focused in on math or on English. We have applicants that are super well rounded. We have applicants, that are very good scholar athletes. And so I would say that, yeah, every you see, every sort of applicant and they're all successful is just about sharing again, your true authentic self.

50:36 Can my student use an optional work sample in another language? You could we do recommend, that if you have some translation with it, submit that as well, because we cannot guarantee that the committee, who is reading your application can read that. So we do want to be able to kind of understand what it is, just like with a if it's a high level math problem, not many will be able to understand that. So we kind of ask the applicants to explain what they're doing, for us as well. So we're able to see it.

51:08 This one, could you please provide more details about the new changes and the application materials you consider for 2026? We went over them, but I think this might be a question that might be better answered via the phone or via email. So if you wrote this and you're still logged in, if you could send us an email or give us a phone call, in the office, and we can help you answer that a little bit better because I'm just a little bit confused.

51:34 Major, thank, see, a lot mentioned that, so can you share some statistics about the nature of giftedness or kids? Mostly gifted academically with cellar grades. Most are most are. They're not all, tested as gifted because, you know, they homeschool private schools, etc. some public schools are no longer doing gifted testing.

52:05 They are all when I say driven, they're driven by their passions. Right? So they're not necessarily driven, because they need to be the best. Now, some of them are, in a good way, in a good, healthy way. But they're really driven for their passions. And I think that's the number one quality that each one of our scholars has, that they're passionate about their passions, and they're passionate about learning, and passionate about, making the world a better place in whatever way that means to them.

52:33 And then just to I see the AC instead of AC. No. So the AC would be a standardized test. It cannot replace the SAT or ACT. Those are two separate components of the testing. So the CTD above level assessment does not have a code. They send us the tests, directly to us. The SAT or the ACT do have a code that you need to have it sent to us as well. Again, that's another reason why we are recommending the CTD test over the other two.

53:06 And if we do have any families in here who are younger, not applying for this year, next year, it will most likely be only the CTD above level assessment that we will accept. So, don't, guilt kind of jump to register for the SAT your act for next year? An art tutor can absolutely be an additional recommender again as long as they're outside of class. And yes, you're right. David. Typically, 400 to 500 applicants and only 25 to 30 is accepted.

53:39 You can use IRA. Yes, yes, you can use that already. That's fine. I think if somebody asks why shouldn't should apply for the KDB scholarship, I would say, that they're given an opportunity to be with a really great community of learners, not just within their cohort, but, those who are older and those who are ready to come. The scholarship amount is a big thing. They're given access to some of the best, educational institutions in the nation, depending on where they go and, access to environments that many other students, do not get to.

54:13 And that is a gift on itself. It's a really supportive community, that want you to succeed in whatever that is. For many of our kids, it's the first time that they've ever felt that they've been seen or, been able to relate to other people, other in their cohort, and they feel like themselves because they're not labeled as the smart kid or the nerdy kid for the first time. And that's really important. So they also can get the community, the friendship, the leadership skills, I think are all just as important as well.

54:48 No, it does not. A we don't see if you submitted in January or April. It does not matter if you submitted before or after. We've had, applicants and scholars submitted, you know, at April 16th at 8 p.m. when it's due. Will the presentation fall into the part about the written work, like a chapter or book report? Yes, maybe. So like we said, there was that asterisk that like, exceptions can be made for length. That's where you reach out to us and we can talk about it.

55:18 Because that's kind of an individual one on one thing of like exactly what the presentation is like. We've seen if it's a major lab research presentation, that's 700 slides. Probably not. But if it's something else, we can we can look at that. That's why we generally give that three minute rule, the three minute video. So think about if you're presenting this and it's sort of, you know, 2 or 3 minute presentation. You can upload it as a video instead of a presentation to a transcript from outside of school from the same subject, kind of put them in the same slot.

55:49 I think that might be a more specific question. So if you want to email us about the two transcripts from outside of school in the same subject, because if it's a different class, it just depends. So just email us. So for the interview, process, like we said, in the summertime after the finalists are announced in June, we spend the summer and we cross the go across the country and re-interview each of the finalists. And it is a really conversation, interview.

56:13 So we have a lot of kids who are not shy. And that's Daniel in my job. We're the ones that travel primarily, and that's our job to get to communicate and we are great communicators. We very rarely do not have kids who, as their parents will say later, I've never seen them talk so much. So, we find something that they want to talk about, and we are able to get to know them. It's a very it's a conversation.

56:36 And we always joke that the this is the the interviews, the fun part of the application process, even though it's most nerve wracking and all of our scholars come back and they joke with us and they say, you tell us that that day we think that you're lying. But it really was the most fun part because we ask some questions that they want to talk about. So, so it's not like we're expecting ninth grade standards. Again, it's just the highest nine, in one of the subtests.

57:04 So it doesn't have to be verbal and math and science. It's just been one of the subtests. Does it. That's a great question. Does it let's say following up with that, let's say they got a night stand on in math, but, seventh in verbal or seventh and reading or something like that, that does not hurt the applicant. And we see that that could be, you know, like we said, we have points and we have circles of kids and things like that.

57:26 So that's, something that maybe, could also mean other things for a student. So that's where we had that, optional information section to go. And they could talk a little bit about that. But we see that every year. And then again, this is kind of on the same platform of like if you scored 100 percentile, is it a big difference is the 90th percentile. They both, have scored in the top percentile, albeit at different points of that represent Daniel.

57:54 And I would say again, every application component is the same amount of not points, but it's the same weight. So it would not make a big difference. In addition, recommend or be from someone outside of school that works with the child. And yes, again, as long as they talk about the applicant and the child, from that perspective and not from the school perspective. So again, talking about defining the term gifted and specifically within IEA, there's not really there's lots of types of how you could define gifted, especially with how we work with kids.

58:29 Some are, tested, gifted, and we have those test results. Right. And some we see that in other ways and how that they learn it with, how they, they interact in the, in the world. So everything's a little bit different. It's okay if you are a child who was not, your applicant was not, tested, gifted or identify gifted in their schooling. We are. That's why that portfolio application is so long. So we can see what their gifts are.

58:55 And we're able to kind of differentiate between someone who has really good scores in math, and science because they love it and they want to learn about it, or because their, parents and grandparents and teachers say, we want you to have this. So, I don't really get stuck on that word term gifted. Especially for this application, it is a little bit different if you want to have a more conversation about that, feel free to, give us a phone call.

59:23 There is no minimum that you should have in your overall, whether that be GPA or whether that be, test scores. Can the scholarship be used to continue homeschooling, if it ends up being best fit for the student? Yes. So we have scholars who homeschool, who go to school online, who do hybrid, where they're part time and online school and part time in their public school, boarding schools, religious schools, independence independent schools, you name it. We've got kids in a program and then we've seen a kid in a program.

59:51 So it's whatever the best fit for each child. Don't we hear some of the previous scholars profiles? I think we've already done some of that. So again, we've seen every, imaginable type of, you know, gifted routine, a KDB scholar who is very passionate about math. And that's kind of like their whole, academic route is just math. But then they really love the community aspect of the scholarship. We've also seen, kids that are super well-rounded and kids that, you know, hate math, but they love English and they love, the creative arts and things like that.

60:27 So we really seen, there is no singular, you know, KDB scholar profile. It's just that they're passionate about the things that they do. And they love to learn. If a student, lists extracurricular, extracurricular, and they haven't won any awards and there is another student with awards, which one do you select? Of course, authentic authenticity matters and the student without awards isn't lucky in that pool of applicants. Is that the way to look at it? Absolutely not.

60:54 So it really depends on how we they talk about their extracurriculars, because oftentimes they're also addressed in their, in elsewhere in the application. So we can see, whether it's a student who's doing these things just because they feel like you need to have, all the awards and all the extracurriculars, for whatever reason. And there are kids who do it for a reason because they enjoy it and they have fun. And then there's other kids who have extracurriculars, that don't have awards for whatever reason.

61:24 So it does not hurt you to not have any awards? Absolutely not. Like it. Also depends on where you go to school. If you go to a school with limited resources, your extracurriculars may not include any extra things because the school doesn't. If you're from an under funded public school, that's not going to be an option for you, right? Or you are from a rural environment. You may not have any, options of that. So, that's why we should be authentic and tell us about yourself and why you do the things you do.

61:51 What brings you that passion to do that? Yes. The next two questions kind of touch on the same thing. Yes. You can still attend your local high school, or you can, keep at the same school. Like Mallory said, we just ask you to look at different options, but you know what's out there and, you know, the possibilities. But if you're a local public high school and you feel like you're being served, there's no need for you to, you know, change high schools.

62:14 Same if you're at an independent school and you feel like you're being served and you really don't want to leave, you don't have to leave. Someone asked you just to clarify again, if your child took the PSAT and for some reason, another program that you could submit as part of the standardized testing, it is not something that you could submit, for the CTD test, the PSAT is different. Yes. State standardized. Yes. You can use it already.

62:43 M-Step is answered. Yes, CTD CTD level is kind of graded like the SAT. Again, their predictive scores, CTD does their own thing with that. For your standardized test scores that you get from the school and for your transcripts, you just get the PDFs and you upload them onto the application yourself. The school doesn't submit them for you. So the funding matches. And so we're just going through to make sure that we, yeah, I think we may have answered most of these.

63:25 So again, if you've already taken the SAT through another program or whatnot, that's within the last year. So April of 2025 on you are good to go. You've already gotten that SAT ACT or CTD, but if you want to take that again, you can. But you do not have to use Yeah. Just answer. The. If you signed in, and your child's already registered for the SAT and they're taking it this weekend or next month, or they're taking the Act next month, that's totally fine.

63:59 You're good to go. Don't worry. That gonna hurt your child. That's when we're still, having it be, an option this year as we're transitioning into the CTD test. But if you're coming in blind and you're not registered for anything, we recommend the, the CTD test. Yeah. So we again, we typically take 25 to 30 students each year. And then we yes, the other scholars again, community is a big aspect of this. They do get to meet other scholars. So, at least once a year, it just depends on, more area.

64:30 Other sorry, there's certain areas of the country have more kids, and that's just because that's where we see more applications from. And so they get to see each other a lot more than some of our other scholars. But every scholar does get to does have the chance to meet and love the other scholars. We don't have an opportunity for applicants to connect with any of the local scholarship winners. If they know them, then they can on their own.

64:52 They're able to talk about their experience through the program and through the application, but they're not the official answers. But, we do not formally have those connections. During the selection process, do you try to have a broad based geographical representation of scholars? Kind of. It's not the number one thing. So, we, you know, if you're from a larger populous state, don't worry that, like, we're only have one kid from New York or something like that. So yes and no, it's not a complete it's a merit based scholarship.

65:25 We try to find the 26 most merits of the application pool. Yeah. And and we don't have, like, quotas for any state or anything like that. So it's again, it's not like we have a maximum of five California scholarships to give. You know, it's if those five California kids are the most deserving and they have the most merit than they will receive. There's an online rumor that California kids get preference. We've seen that before. That's not true.

65:47 I'm not really sure who started that one. So, Yes, if you we will have this recording on our YouTube, either tomorrow or Thursday. By the end of the week, it'll be on our YouTube query piece, be from the research project. Yes, the creative piece can be from, a math research project. As long as it is outside of school. Again, don't just submit your graded math test. But if you did a math research project or a math paper outside of school, that can be a part of the creative, work sample.

66:18 We do not give feedback to applicants or semifinals or finals. We are unable to do that. If you are, if they have been identified as highly gifted, can you submit their IQ test? With the application? Yes. You are able to, if you want. That would be in that, optional area. Yes. Or the standardized test. Other. This is another great question. Have you ever had a scholar start at one school and then change high schools if it was not a good fit? Yep.

66:48 We do. Then that's something that we work with a family to make sure that it is, what's not working to try to find something that is. So it is something that pretty common that we see, the Woodcock Johnson test would be something that you would submit in the, optional, area there, wouldn't it be the standardized testing. Between semifinals and interviews, how do you get finals? So, basically semifinalists are just, you know, selection committee and then, the interviews are the finalists.

67:19 And so that again, there's no great there's no set criteria. It's just. Making it through the. Rest. From second round, so on and so forth. Yeah. We submit. Yeah. So again, the IQ test can be submitted with the optional information. You already answered that question. So CTD specific test questions are best to answer them. And that and those two documents that we have on our website, they give a lot of information that's on there.

67:53 So look at that. They may be able to answer your questions. And all of that, within that. And yes, the creative piece should be from something that they did outside of school. So we are a little bit over time. Thank you so much for joining us tonight. Again, if you have any questions, please feel free to give us a call, or to email us, and we will be able to answer your questions. Thank you so much for coming this evening.