Talented and Gifted School for Young Scholars Admissions| How to Get In To TAG!
/The Talented and Gifted School for Young Scholars, more commonly known as “TAG,” is one of the most diverse gifted and talented programs in New York City. The school is located on East 109th street in Harlem and serves students from kindergarten through eighth grade. Students must test in under the city Gifted and Talented exam – read on to learn more about TAG admissions and to see if the Talented and Gifted School for Young Scholars might be the right choice!
TAG admissions| School Information
TAG was founded in 1989 and expanded to serve kindergarten through eighth grade by 2004. Until 2008, TAG had its own entrance exam, which has been replaced by the New York City Gifted and Talented Assessment. Children come from all boroughs to learn at TAG, a district four school, and TAG serves approximately six hundred students in total.
In addition to the typical lower and middle school curriculum, TAG is focused on developing collaboration in its students and a love of lifelong learning. The school requires students to dedicate time for reading each night, beyond normal homework, which helps these students achieve strong reading and writing mastery before graduation.
In math, students ahead of their age counterparts will level up and take more advanced classes as needed. TAG also blends several math curricula so students see new challenges and learn multiple approaches to problems.
TAG also helps students prepare for the Specialized High School Admissions Test (SHSAT), the only means of admission to some selective high schools in NYC. See more about the exam in our SHSAT overview.
At TAG, test prep starts in seventh grade for interested students, and teachers oversee and assist in the prep. Beyond the specialized high schools, TAG graduates often go on to elite boarding schools and private schools in the New York City area.
For more information, visit the official school website.
TAG Admissions Information & Tours
Because TAG serves gifted and talented students, all students who would like to attend must test in at least the 97th percentile for the NYC Gifted and Talented Assessment.
Families of interested students can request a spot for the exam in November, and the actual test takes place in January.
Results come out in April and inform admissions at all the gifted and talented schools in New York City.
Thankfully, TAG does not require any additional admissions preparation or exams beyond the city test.
Once Gifted and Talented Assessment results come out in April, TAG offers families a chance to visit and see if TAG will provide the correct fit. These tours all occur in the spring and can be scheduled on the TAG website.
The NYC Gifted and Talented Assessment
The Gifted and Talented Assessment includes two separate exams for students: the Otis Lennon School Ability Test, or OLSAT, and the Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test, or NNAT. The purpose of both exams is to test children on a verbal and a non-verbal basis, which helps provide a more holistic view of student performance across the city.
The Otis Lennon School Ability Test (OLSAT®) is a verbal comprehension and reasoning exam – students should understand English to have the best chance at doing well.
For this test, students will need to follow the directors of an instructor. During the test, children will look for patterns and discover relationships among different components.
In the past, children need to decide whether items are similar or different, remember words and numbers, copy sequences, and solve basic arithmetic problems. The OLSAT is thirty questions long.
The nonverbal problems appear on the Nagleiri Nonverbal Ability Test, or NNAT®. During this exam, children will need to discover patterns and use reasoning to compare shapes and symbols.
There is no language component on the NNAT and no requirement to have English proficiency. The NNAT is forty-eight questions long, but it is equally weighted with the OLSAT in determining final scores.
For more information on the Gifted and Talented Assessment, please see our NYC gifted and talented resource page.
We also have sample questions for interested families, which can be a great way to see if a gifted and talented school will be a good match.
Talented and Gifted School for Young Scholars Admissions | How to Prepare
Because the TAG admissions are entirely based on assessment results, the top students will have the best chance at earning a seat in next year’s kindergarten exam. While in practice the minimum score for TAG is a 97th percentile result, many students reach that benchmark – the most competitive scores are in the 99th percentile range. For the best chance at admittance, families should work toward the best score possible.
We have multiple resources for students and families, including practice questions, test prep strategies, and overall advice as students decide whether to take the G&T exam and later determine which schools to join.
One way to kick off G&T test prep is to make sure your child is familiar with the questions likely to appear on the exam. In addition, feel free to review our top test prep tips for the Gifted and Talented test here!.
To get started with 25 sample questions, please click the button below.
How Can We Help?
At Origins Tutoring, we believe that preparation for Talented and Gifted School for Young Scholars admissions, namely the Gifted and Talented Assessment, does not have to be daunting and exasperating; instead, it can represent an important opportunity along a student’s path to learning mastery. Indeed, the perspectives and abilities acquired during preparation can last throughout a student’s school career and beyond.
Our two-track approach to mastering content and improving test-taking skills means that students will not only thoroughly understand the fundamental concepts and skills on the NYC Gifted and Talented test used by TAG for admissions, but they will also excel in using essential techniques to improve attitude, endurance and focus.
Our students hone their independent thinking skills while developing a resilient mindset so they can perform on test day in a powerful, resourceful, creative and calm manner. Each student in our program receives the undivided attention and expertise of a dynamic and experienced coach who provides the framework to support each student on his unique path to becoming a master learner.
Please contact us now for a complimentary consultation to discuss how we can help your child achieve his or her personal best on the TAG admissions test.
