Spoilt for Choice

This post is a thinly veiled brag about my daughter.  She took the OLSAT and BRSA and scored 99%.  Since most of my reading audience (Hi, Mom!) is probably not familiar with the insanity that is facing middle class parents in New York City, those acronyms are preschool intelligence tests.  So, now we have a week to apply to a gifted school if we choose.  Well, duh!  Of course we're interested.  She can apply to city or district gifted and talented programs.  There are 32 districts in the city, and there are 5 citywide G&T programs: one in Brooklyn, one in Queens, and the other 3 are in Manhattan.  The city programs in Manhattan are, naturally, much more desirable than the local district program.  The schools there are literally unbelievable.  And, our district G&T is only in its second year.  Attending school in Manhattan would be a huge inconvenience, obviously, but I want the best for my little patootie, and Manhattan is the best.  What lengths would you go to for your little one?  Would you commute from Queens to Manhattan, back to Queens (for my job), and then back to Manhattan to return to Queens?  FOR SIX, NINE or THIRTEEN YEARS? 

The face of a gifted student

Yet, this is what I wanted.  I wanted her to attend a school in Manhattan: Hunter College Elementary.  And, now that the opportunity is here, I'm seeing just how impractical it is.  Nothing like a solid dose of reality to invalidate your dreams.  I've even looked into studio apartments on the Upper West Side and I'm considering finding a new job in the city, easing the commute to only two trips a day instead of five (I cannot believe that is even an option for this commutaphobe).

I am so proud of my little girl.  She did such a good job!