Young Scholars: Portfolio Requirements

If you are submitting testing that is more than 4 years old or that are PSAT 8/9, PreACT, SAT, ACT, or Davidson-specific ITBS scores of any age, a portfolio of three (3) work samples, as described below, is required. For all other applicants, this supplemental information is optional, but you can submit a portfolio if you choose. 

While information provided through the portfolio will not override scores that fall significantly below the Eligibility and Testing criteria, this section can be used to enhance the review committee’s understanding of the applicant’s abilities. See also How to Apply for additional information.

We understand that profound giftedness and twice-exceptionality look different for each child. We understand that PG and 2e profiles can be asynchronous, and that a test score does not define a child’s intelligence or ability. If you feel like your child’s test score doesn’t tell the entire story of why the Young Scholar Program is a good fit for them, we encourage you to submit a portfolio to help us get to know your child better.

All applicants may upload a portfolio with a maximum of 6 items. The purpose of this portfolio is to provide additional evidence of the applicant’s current intellectual ability outside of what has been included in the parent questions, the testing report and the nomination form. All portfolio items must have been completed by the applicant within the last 4 years, when your child was at least 4 years old.

The portfolio may include items such as:

• Work samples including:
  • Academic work samples completed in school, in an online class or as part of a homeschool curriculum.
  • Projects, presentations or written work completed outside of school as part of an extracurricular activity or completed independently at home.
  • Videos of the applicant discussing a topic of interest in depth or demonstrating advanced academic abilities.
  • If you are submitting work samples, please include samples from at least two of the following domains:
    • Math
    • Science
    • Engineering or Coding
    • English Language Arts/Creative Writing
    • World Language – language other than English
    • Humanities
    • Arts
    • Athleticism
  • One additional letter of recommendation (not your chosen recommender): Please do not submit more than one additional letter of recommendation.
  • No more than 2 of the following: awards, certificates of completion submitted, standardized test report, or report cards.

The review committee is looking for concrete examples that demonstrate:

• academic abilities in areas such as math, writing, reading, science or social studies
• ability to work at least two or more grade levels above age peers
• an innate curiosity to explore subjects in surprising depth or the ability to learn and process complex information rapidly

Each portfolio submission must have the following which is collected in the application:

• The age and grade level of the applicant at the time the work was completed;
• Description of the submission. In the description, please include whether or not the work was reviewed by anyone (i.e., whether the work was a first draft, a final copy that was edited based on the comments of a teacher, a work-in-progress that had received help from a parent, etc. If a specific curriculum or workbook used, please include the title and grade level.

Acceptable file formats for portfolio submissions include: .PDF, .DOC, .DOCX, .MP3, .ODF, .WAV, .MP4, .JPG, .GIF, .PNG.

Please see our Frequently Asked Questions page for additional portfolio guidance.