Post-High School Education Outcomes for Level Two Gifted (Highly Gifted)

Level Two people are in the gifted to highly gifted range of advanced learners.

Mar 28, 2024

How much does previous background and “good fit” affect their options and choices by the time they finish high school and go on for post-secondary education and enter their careers?

Where any individual fits in his or her setting or environment depends, to a significant extent, on who else is there. That’s called the relativity of intelligence, of high giftedness. Having — or not having — access to true peers with whom they can share their ideas and easily understand each other can be a detriment to their progress. It can lead to other long-term issues, as well, so the goal is to help readers here see what some of these less-than-ideal outcomes are for the different Levels of Gifted.

We continue with Level Two: The Conventionally Gifted

People in the Level Two range, as with those in the Level One range, are also in the what I call the Conventionally Gifted range. I chose the term “conventionally gifted” to describe the first three Levels because most teachers and most students have had such gifted students in their classes. These are the people others think of as smart and most likely gifted. Within the Conventional range are Levels One, Two and Three.

Post-High School Education and “Good Fit”

The idea is that a “good fit” extends past the regular school years in our lives. With the background on what a good post-high school fit looks like, we can continue to explore what really happens for any cross-section of gifted people — not just the ones in this study — and some typical, real, and recurring reasons behind the school and educational choices different people of similar abilities make. And please remember, someone, including you, does not need to have been identified as gifted or told by some authority figure that they are gifted. When you read my material, you will figure yourself out as far as that goes.

One purpose of this post is to demonstrate that it is the social-emotional — the sense of well-being — plus the reveling-or-not in the challenge and wonder of engaging, comprehensive learning and work that give our lives meaning.

Reader Refresher Course

How Smart or Advanced Are People in Each Level of Gifted?

People within each Level of Gifted are capable of learning more than the typical, or average, learner during the K-12 school years when the conditions are good for them. How much more?

How rapidly could the child progress through the academics of grades K-6 lessons and objectives?

Level One (moderately gifted) ~ 4 years (or about 2/3 of the standard time)

Level Two (highly gifted) ~ about 3 years (or about ½ the standard time)

Level Three (exceptionally gifted) ~ 2 years (or about 1/3 the standard time)

Level 4 (exceptionally to profoundly gifted) ~ 1–2 years or less (or about 1/6 the standard time) particularly in their strength areas

Level Five (profoundly gifted) ~ less than 1 year

What is the Estimated Frequency of Level Two Students in their School Settings?

As many as one to three Level Two gifted students are in a typical mixed-ability classroom in Type II school; and you will see more than them in high socioeconomic Type III schools.

How can years of sitting through inappropriate schooling affect people long-term?

“Being ahead” is generally about the gifted child’s ability to understand and maintain the learning before they officially start any formal, and sometimes even before informal, schooling. When the parents of gifted children describe their children as being like sponges who simply absorb everything, this is why their children are ahead when the regular school years start. They start learning and using what they learned much younger than typical children, and that means they’ve already experienced enough repetitions to master many topics. How much more than typical depends on their Level and profile of intelligence, but it also has something to do with their access to toys and books and other people and walks around the neighborhood and trips to the park. In order to “show their stuff” they usually need a certain lack of any overwhelming trauma in their lives.

The K-12 path (kindergarten through grade 12 school years) is strongly related — and usually impacts — the post-high school education and career choice options and outcomes for most study participants. I’ve already posted about the K-12 years themselves. All of those 5 pieces (blog posts) start with the same title: Post-High School Education Outcomes.

To assure the anonymity of participants, rather than identify the post-high school institution by name, I created tables that use a number to indicate how competitive it is as far as the percentage of applicants who apply compared to those who are accepted. 1 means most competitive/ elite and 5 means it’s something other than regular college or university.

US News and College Simply ratings are used to establish the selectivity factor and the standardized ACT/SAT score ranges. The main point to this is to give us a metric for whether each study participant found a way to attend an institution of post-secondary learning that would likely have true peers and appropriate coursework depth and pacing for their intellectual ability level. And as readers may have noticed, doing away with such standardized testing didn’t help the elite institutions select students who had the ability to handle their curriculum and intellectual expectations. [1]

I have known for a long time that grades are a poor predictor of college or life success.[2]

It is likely a good fit when the student’s ACT/SAT score is not too high above or below that of the range posted by the institution as representing the average student who matriculates there.

For example, if someone in Level Three attends an Elite University[3] (and many did), anyone from Level Three could have theoretically done well — both in performance and in their social and emotional connections — in such an institution. But not all of the Level Three study subjects had the option to attend an elite school and the different reasons are laid out here.

In this study group, there is no one who attended a school that was above their ability to do well.

Many, however, did get their post-high school training and education in places and institutions — not the traditional college path — that were more of the same poor fit they experienced during their earlier school years. As they reached adulthood, many of the study subjects found themselves again involved in institutions or on paths that were not a good fit for them emotionally, socially, academically, or competitively.

In this series of post-secondary results and fit, I add slightly expanded tables that include summary results of what each young person experienced (Unsatisfactory, Acceptable, Satisfactory, and Excellent) during their kindergarten through high school years. I’ve added categories to the Levels’ tables connected to their post-secondary environments and choices. The intention is to illustrate that a poor school fit can have repercussions well beyond one’s grade school years because it continues to affect the self-concept, goals, ability to compete or keep up, and a sense of belonging — fitting in — of the individuals.

As you read through the tables in each post about post-secondary life and training and the Levels of Gifted study subjects, consider that each table represents a Level of Giftedness that indicates, within it, a similar range of abilities among the study participants. Readers will see that an earlier “good fit” generally leads to later good fits and options, options that support the development of their talents, careers, social, and emotional needs. Conversely, it becomes clear that lack of an early “good fit” can have negative repercussions far into the future of people who are every bit as capable as those gifted students whose needs were met. Although you may have only looked at the K-12th grade education environment fit so far, readers can see here that subsequent training options and choices are related to the book subjects’ earlier experiences.

Why This Matters

Of the 13 Level Two people for whom I had some information, there are four for whom there are no available college entrance examination scores. Although scores are generally proxies for ability level, we can still estimate the appropriate Level when additional information from the 5 Levels of Gifted book and other outcome information are available. The Level’s placement continues to be an amalgam of factors that include scores, behaviors, interests, attitudes, goals, accomplishments (not awards, but what the person can do), and other “ways of being” that add up to a profile of one’s abilities.

We start with some general information about Level Two students. For instance, if they are in public or private schools which draw from a working class, rural, or “unsettled” population that experiences lots of moving or poverty, as with a Type I school, there are likely to be one to three Level One students in each classroom. Double the number estimate for a Type II school setting. If a district has a high socioeconomic population or if there are schools in a district where most of the parents are highly educated professionals, Level Two children are more common and constitute at least a quarter of the students in their schools. For the Level Two student, what stands out most is that parents and teachers alike expect good grades and cooperation and yet the student realizes the pace is too slow … almost always. Right now, we will look just at what they did as they left high school and started their careers.

Level Two Post-High School Fit Summary

Since the late 1970s, the school years have continued a practice of whole-class instruction with little to no ability grouping. The curriculum and pacing are designed for the abilities of the average child in the classroom.

The Level Two Subjects’ Post-Secondary Outcomes So Far

I’ve selected a sample of Level Two subjects’ outcomes to share with you.

Donald Wolsfeld and Boyd Updoﬀ

For two Level Two subjects from the book study, both young men experienced post- secondary environments that were likely Unsatisfactory for them intellectually and socially. These two examples represent some other book participants in subsequent Levels, so going into some depth here may prove useful.

The difference between Donald’s intellectual abilities and those of most classmates he would encounter at his Tier 4 school is vast. His ACT score is 32, which correlates well with his assessed intelligence profile for Level Two, highly to exceptionally gifted range, but the average ACT acceptance range for his chosen school is 20–25, an unfortunate option. This is an example of a student whose grade school environment was so unsuitable for his abilities that he simply would not take it seriously or conform to expectations of perfect grades and high enthusiasm for the subject matter. He attended Type I schools throughout his childhood school years.

When the gifted child does not fit the school environment but is still expected to keep going to that school, people like Donald develop the view that school is never fun, almost always boring, and there is no other way it could ever be any other way.

Donald had no idea that there was a better way or a better place for him because his school environments had always been Unsatisfactory.

Donald’s approach to finishing a degree is a slow one, but he says he is determined to finish and is on course for earning an engineering degree. His career goal is to look for a lab tech job in the area because he likes where he lives. He takes one or two courses a semester, skipping some semesters while he saves more money, and his social life is entirely separate from his academic life. This means he is not positioned to gain the attention of possible mentors or classmates with whom he can eventually start a business or network with as his career gets off the ground. In fact, in Donald’s case — as with many gifted students who go through getting their education this way — he is always the smartest one he knows.

Now in his late twenties, Donald is still working at a bar, in a relationship with a woman he has been with for nearly six years, still not quite done with his degree, and his recent updates about his life seem content and upbeat. Donald’s parents paid for schooling until Donald first dropped out. He thinks they probably would still pay, but he prefers to take care of it on his own. He has no school loans.

Parents and teachers were frustrated with Donald, and, although they could tell he was smart, they saw him as lacking motivation and executive function skills.[v] Most people do not understand that gifted students cannot develop such skills in what amounts to an intellectual vacuum. Once a student such as Donald ascertains that what he is being asked is, in his view, pointless, he sees two choices: do it anyway and get good grades to please the adults in your life, or do not do it well (or at all) and get bad grades, continue not to qualify for more rigorous or interesting programs, and disappoint the adults in your life. The youngster who chooses to do assignments anyway learns how to be organized and compliant, stifle his creativity, and surrender to what pleases others. This is unlikely, however, to create an excitement about learning in him. Some other young gifted subjects give us examples of people who do the uninteresting work anyway.

Boyd Updoff, homeschooled throughout his childhood, had his future all carefully planned, but it did not initially go the way he had hoped. Boyd wrote:

I enrolled part-time in a local community college at the age of 17 seeking a certificate in diesel mechanics, which I saw as a good path to a very secure career … I originally intended to get into a skilled trade and become a blue- collar worker, because in doing so I thought I could make a good living with stable employment fairly easily. I think this worked, but I really just didn’t enjoy my first two jobs at all. Whether this is because I don’t like the field or worked for bad companies, I’m still not sure, although I think it was the latter.

As mentioned earlier, many people who find themselves in the wrong school or work situation, and are unhappy or dissatisfied, are not aware that an intellectual difference may exist related to how different they are compared to most of the people they are around each day. Boyd was only 21 years old when he shared his views in the previous paragraph, and many of the things he wrote and said indicate he feels it is his duty to make it all work for himself and his family. He expressed a great deal of frustration and concern that he is not further along in reaching his goals yet and sees it as his personal failure.

It is instructive to see Boyd’s explanations about his circumstances because they show how he is starting to question — which is a sign of maturity — that he might be in the wrong place. His faith and closely-knit large family are important to him and he is eager to start a family himself, one with a stay-at-home wife and mother and many children to support. He also reports that since his rush to marry and start a family was thwarted by the parents of two girls he courted, he concluded that he should put that off “until I’m a little older.”

I recently moved to work with my father in his longtime career of technical sales for a change of pace and because if this family business takes off, it could leave me very financially well off very quickly.

Since then, and now in his mid-twenties, Boyd updated his work status:

A lot has changed, actually. I’m no longer working with my father because it was taking too long for the family business to take off. I wanted to become more financially independent, so after a fairly long job search, I’m currently employed in a sales role with a small software company in a niche market, instead. My performance there has been stellar, and I’m frequently praised by my boss, but I struggle with self-criticism because I don’t feel like I’m doing as well as I could. That’s just how my personality goes, I guess.

Kristin Miller

Kristin Miller admits she took a while to know her own mind when she took her first job that sounded good to her family. She quickly learned that no matter how good the job sounded, this one wasn’t good for her. Her first job had too much travel, so Kristin decided to look for something closer to home and more aligned with her college major in sociology and global humanitarian interests. She describes her current role here:

I’m a Responsible Sourcing Manager at [a major international corporation]. So, I help them monitor their human rights impacts within their supply chain. It is a great opportunity and I enjoy and feel good about it.

In her late twenties and married, Kristin’s husband is a writer who needs work with a flexible schedule. She works regular hours. She told me, “My parents got loans and paid for my college and my mother wanted to do that because her parents paid for college on the condition [that] she’d do the same for her kids.”

Greg Cooper

Greg Cooper spent six years in his post-secondary institution and graduated with a degree in conservation biology. It was a constant throughout his school years to perform well in classes he liked, especially if he liked the instructor, and get failing grades in classes he did not like. He developed no organizational or “study skills” in the environment of his first eight years of school because none of his classrooms provided ability grouping or sufficient pace and depth to hold his interest or necessitate such skills. Greg did, however, enjoy the social aspects of school, but not the instruction, homework, and assignments that were part of it. He wants to work professionally as a conservationist but, so far, has only been able to apply those skills in volunteer positions at a zoo. In his mid-twenties, Greg works at a hardware store and lives at home. His grandparents paid for his Tier 2 university tuition and he has no debt. [Update four years later, Greg has a good salary and benefits working at a major zoo].

Hans Fletcher

Hans Fletcher finished post-secondary school with a degree in business. He worked in sales several years for a large corporation. At the same time, he invested in starting up a couple small businesses. His parents paid for college, and he paid off his business loans in one year and is debt-free. In his late twenties, Hans says:

I left my [corporate] job in April. I have since focused full time on figuring out the ins and outs of small business by working on the janitorial business I got involved with three years back. My relationship status is still single, and I currently live in my own apartment.

Tony Matthews

Tony earned a full-tuition music composition scholarship at his Tier 2 school. In addition to that major, he minored in mathematics. In his mid-twenties, after more than a year of searching, he landed his “dream job” in music production in the same city where his longtime girlfriend already lived. Just one year later, Tony reported:

I’m now working with a music producer/mixer named Rich, working on an album right now. I’m not in the relationship anymore and am renting a place with a couple friends from college. We converted our garage into a fully functioning studio, and I am involved with that with my roommates. In my free time, I’ve been producing music for other artists and my own projects.

Chrissy Quan

Chrissy Quan earned an art degree and developed an online art commissioning and art fair business that adds to income she earns working for a specialty animal shop and overnight animal “hotel.” She also works as a volunteer for animal rescue. Her art centers around the kinds of animals with which she works. In her mid-twenties, Chrissy now rents an art studio, bought her own used car, and lives with her parents. Her parents paid for her college expenses, as well as the student loans of her and her sibling.

Takeaways From the Level Two Post-Secondary Fit

As you can see, there is a range of outcomes among these Level Two subjects, but, to me, the most notable outcome is that no one seemed to have gone straight from post-secondary education into a full-fledged career job or role. When parents are disappointed or baffled by this outcome, their children feel it. Early background, including one’s educational options and choices, continues to affect the social, emotional, educational and career attainment throughout one’s life. It affects confidence and self-esteem, too. It affects resilience. I’ll explain more — and go into more depth — in later posts.

References and Resources

The details of this post’s part of the longitudinal study can be found in Chapter 4 of Ruf, D. (2023). The 5 Levels of Gifted Children Grown Up: What They Tell Us, 2023.

[1] See this search result for more information about using the SAT and ACT: https://www.google.com/search?q=the+SAt+and+ACT+are+being+reinstated&oq=the+SAt+and+ACT+are+being+reinstated&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIHCAEQIRigATIHCAIQIRigAdIBCTE4NTMzajBqN6gCALACAA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

[2] One source that may interest readers: Dr. Fred Zhang of PrepScholar explains the relationship to IQ of results on ACT and SAT tests https:// blog.prepscholar.com/act-vs-sat-in-iq-intelligence.

[3] An elite university is The term “Elite” refers to one category of the ratio of how many students are accepted compared to how many people applied to an institution. This is also commonly referred to as the “competitive” factor — how “competitive” it is to gain entrance.

[4] For a definition of executive function skills see https://childmind.org/topics/concerns/executive-function/

The Five Levels of Gifted Children Grown Up: What They Tell Us (2023). https://www.amazon.com/Levels-Gifted-Children-Grown-Up/dp/B0C9SHFRLH or https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-5-levels-of-gifted-children-grown-up-phd-deborah-l-ruf/1143719859?ean=9798988323709. This is an 18 year longitudinal study follow-up about the original gifted child subjects in 5 Levels of Gifted: School Issues and Educational Options (2005, 2009).

5 Levels of Gifted: School Issues and Educational Options (2005, 2009). https://www.giftedunlimitedllc.com/store/p12/5_Levels_of_Gifted.html

… and other of my archived posts that explain more about giftedness on both Substack and Medium.

Gifted Through the Lifespan

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