I think it was publicly administered (for free) to all grade 2 students, but it may have been my specific school.

Originally Posted by Mowicz

Doh...after reading 14 pages, I can conclude that no one has gone to my loser highschool. xD

Don't feel bad. In these 14 pages I've discovered nobody new is coming from my high school either. >:

In regards to big fancy highschools, let's put it this way:

-Einstein would still thrive in a highschool made from discarded tin cans
-All the money in the world won't help a complete idiot

The way I see it, being declared 'gifted' and offered admission to a big fancy school is just a big scam.

Welllll, first year sociology will disagree with that. =/

Don't get me started on sociology :p it's too easy...We don't want faculty wars here xD

For one thing, sociology measures trends. EXCEPTIONS to the trends aren't its (or the scientific method in general) domain. That's when sociologists go "la la la" and plug their ears, while scientists say "It's experimental error!"

@ Reeves; I think what you're doing is really commendable. I'm sure you don't need to hear that as you probably have several times over but it takes a lot of determination to commit to a 4 year degree after a long break and have a plan of sticking through to it and that's laudable. You may feel like a first year n00b but I assure you, you'll leave feeling quite proud of yourself, as you should.

I want my mum to send my brother to UTS and she said, "15000? Why am I doing that?"



I'm not sure if I'd want my kids to go to a public school or a private school. In certain countries, I'd pick private without a doubt because you still get a lot of people from diverse walks of life and it doesn't necessarily mean your child would be disadvantaged or limited by attending.

I really don't like the changes I'm seeing in the public schools I've attended myself because the atmosphere is disgusting. Grade 6's making racial slurs about the Holocaust and not being suspended for a few days or weeks doesn't really make sense to me. I like the variety of people you can meet in public schools but I also don't like that there's that real high school/middle school/elementary let's-join-cliques-and-make-fun-of-each-other mentality prevalent.

Originally Posted by goodnews.inc

@ Reeves; I think what you're doing is really commendable. I'm sure you don't need to hear that as you probably have several times over but it takes a lot of determination to commit to a 4 year degree after a long break and have a plan of sticking through to it and that's laudable. You may feel like a first year n00b but I assure you, you'll leave feeling quite proud of yourself, as you should.

I want my mum to send my brother to UTS and she said, "15000? Why am I doing that?"



I'm not sure if I'd want my kids to go to a public school or a private school. In certain countries, I'd pick private without a doubt because you still get a lot of people from diverse walks of life and it doesn't necessarily mean your child would be disadvantaged or limited by attending.

I really don't like the changes I'm seeing in the public schools I've attended myself because the atmosphere is disgusting. Grade 6's making racial slurs about the Holocaust and not being suspended for a few days or weeks doesn't really make sense to me. I like the variety of people you can meet in public schools but I also don't like that there's that real high school/middle school/elementary let's-join-cliques-and-make-fun-of-each-other mentality prevalent.

I don't know if it's just the schools that I went to... but my elementary school didn't have cliques and we didn't make fun of each other. We all got along and played together. But then again I went to a French school so there weren't many people in school. I'm also only talking about the boys, I have no idea what the girls did on their own time.

As for highschool, there were groups of kids that hung out with each other but we all pretty much behaved most of the time.

I don't know if it's just the schools I went to or if it's because I can only talk about the boys (I went to an all boys school). But yeah, not a lot of making fun of each other in my lifetime.

Originally Posted by Mowicz

Don't get me started on sociology :p it's too easy...We don't want faculty wars here xD

Psh, go on about sociology as much as you like. I'm a commie. >_>

Originally Posted by jc0390

Psh, go on about sociology as much as you like. I'm a commie. >_>

Woot Commies!

Originally Posted by jhan523

Not all schools teach your the necessary prereq lab skills. I've seen many students that have never had a lab in their life.

That varies greatly from public school to public school, my HS was new and we had better lab equipment than most of the stuff I used in my first year labs here, but I've also met people who went to schools with pathetic lab facilities or no labs at all.

Originally Posted by Mowicz

I think it was publicly administered (for free) to all grade 2 students, but it may have been my specific school.

It is in some regions, my cousins go to catholic school in newmarket and they all took the test for free and are all in gifted programs now, but I never took one when I lived in Scarborough, and I know my cousins in Brampton never took one either

Originally Posted by goodnews.inc

@ Reeves; I think what you're doing is really commendable. I'm sure you don't need to hear that as you probably have several times over but it takes a lot of determination to commit to a 4 year degree after a long break and have a plan of sticking through to it and that's laudable. You may feel like a first year n00b but I assure you, you'll leave feeling quite proud of yourself, as you should.

I want my mum to send my brother to UTS and she said, "15000? Why am I doing that?"



I'm not sure if I'd want my kids to go to a public school or a private school. In certain countries, I'd pick private without a doubt because you still get a lot of people from diverse walks of life and it doesn't necessarily mean your child would be disadvantaged or limited by attending.

I really don't like the changes I'm seeing in the public schools I've attended myself because the atmosphere is disgusting. Grade 6's making racial slurs about the Holocaust and not being suspended for a few days or weeks doesn't really make sense to me. I like the variety of people you can meet in public schools but I also don't like that there's that real high school/middle school/elementary let's-join-cliques-and-make-fun-of-each-other mentality prevalent.

A lot of the stuff you're complaining about is more based on the people than the actual education quality. I moved around a decent amount as a kid, so from first hand experience I can say schools differ wildly based solely on the people in them. If you can find a school where the kids are good, there's no point sending your kid to private school.

Personally, I think most private schools are a waste of money unless you're looking to apply to ivory league US schools where an internationally known name like UTS might pull some weight. Other than that, your HS diploma becomes pointless once you have a university degree.

Originally Posted by Tailsnake

It is in some regions, my cousins go to catholic school in newmarket and they all took the test for free and are all in gifted programs now, but I never took one when I lived in Scarborough, and I know my cousins in Brampton never took one either

I also lived in Scarborough, went to school in North York and never took one... I also went to a French school, so that might have affected it as well.

Edit: I actually never knew about the gifted program until I got to university.

Is the University of Toronto Schools (UTS) a high school for gifted students?

Originally Posted by Mowicz

The way I see it, being declared 'gifted' and offered admission to a big fancy school is just a big scam.

I took the gifted test in grade 3 and got streamed into the gifted program from Grades 4-10. I'm not sure if the program itself helped me, but being surrounded by 29 other gifted kids I think definitely helped. I don't think it's a scam (the gifted program is @ a public school, so you don't pay tuition).

And I mean, the results show for themselves. One of my friends who was in the program is now in Health Sci, and just made it on to Provost's Honor Roll, I made it into Commerce (not health sci hard, I know lol ) but I just got on Provost's Honor Roll as well, and another went to Harvard (no his parent's weren't rich ).

Originally Posted by Kevin S

Is the University of Toronto Schools (UTS) a high school for gifted students?

I know for sure you need to pass some sort of admissions standard. Most likely a test, and an interview process.

Originally Posted by PTGregD

I took the gifted test in grade 3 and got streamed into the gifted program from Grades 4-10. I'm not sure if the program itself helped me, but being surrounded by 29 other gifted kids I think definitely helped. I don't think it's a scam (the gifted program is @ a public school, so you don't pay tuition).

And I mean, the results show for themselves. One of my friends who was in the program is now in Health Sci, and just made it on to Provost's Honor Roll, I made it into Commerce (not health sci hard, I know lol ) but I just got on Provost's Honor Roll as well, and another went to Harvard (no his parent's weren't rich ).

Whoa Greg, which year was that?

Originally Posted by goodnews.inc

@ Reeves; I think what you're doing is really commendable. I'm sure you don't need to hear that as you probably have several times over but it takes a lot of determination to commit to a 4 year degree after a long break and have a plan of sticking through to it and that's laudable. You may feel like a first year n00b but I assure you, you'll leave feeling quite proud of yourself, as you should.

Thanks! I know it's gonna be tough, but I think I'll do better now than I would have at 19. I just didn't care back then. I would have done maybe a semester, then dropped out. At least now I know I'm ready to stick to it.

My only regret is that I won't get to do it with all my friends, who all graduated many years ago, and are now cops, teachers, film directors, business executives and doctors. And I'm about to start first year lol.

Originally Posted by PTGregD

I took the gifted test in grade 3 and got streamed into the gifted program from Grades 4-10. I'm not sure if the program itself helped me, but being surrounded by 29 other gifted kids I think definitely helped. I don't think it's a scam (the gifted program is @ a public school, so you don't pay tuition).

And I mean, the results show for themselves. One of my friends who was in the program is now in Health Sci, and just made it on to Provost's Honor Roll, I made it into Commerce (not health sci hard, I know lol ) but I just got on Provost's Honor Roll as well, and another went to Harvard (no his parent's weren't rich ).

Originally Posted by reeves

Thanks! I know it's gonna be tough, but I think I'll do better now than I would have at 19. I just didn't care back then. I would have done maybe a semester, then dropped out. At least now I know I'm ready to stick to it.

My only regret is that I won't get to do it with all my friends, who all graduated many years ago, and are now cops, teachers, film directors, business executives and doctors. And I'm about to start first year lol.

My mum reinvented herself at 40 Simply more reason to be proud of her