Names of National Merit Semifinalists in DC Released: Sidwell -16. St. Albans - 1

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know the cut-off score for NM Commendation please?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know the cut-off score for NM Commendation please?

208

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I expect this has alot to do with the fact that Wilson didn't offer a PSAT or SAT to juniors last year but the privates did.

You are correct

https://www.compassprep.com/national-merit-semifinalist-cutoffs/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What happened to St. Albans? It used to be close.

https://patch.com/district-columbia/washingtondc/2022-national-merit-semifinalists-named-washington-dc

STA is 2/3 the size of sidwell for one and more importantly size wise percentages STA sent as many kids to Ivies and top 20. Actually STA’s college admissions was more impressive overall.

Bit defensive, STA parent?

DP. No it’s just that sta has less kids period. Facts matter. That being said sta normally has about 10 so for its relative smaller size to
Sidwell’s 130 it is about equal. Sounds like this year was off. Many maybe didn’t apply. I know several that had the scores but did not apply not just at sta but at other schools. Maybe the process was unclear?

I don't get it. Did STA not offer the PSAT? We heard all year how superlative the school was during COVID. If they did, then there was no "process" that needed to be clear or unclear.

STA has focused on recruiting kids of the wealthy that may or may not be that intellectually talented. Times have changed when the school was once a power house in academics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:St. John's with same number as St. Albans. One less than Georgetown Day. One more than Gonzaga.

SJC > Gonzaga. In pretty much everything these days.

1 NMSF vs. 0 NMSF?
That is hardly significant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What happened to St. Albans? It used to be close.

https://patch.com/district-columbia/washingtondc/2022-national-merit-semifinalists-named-washington-dc

STA is 2/3 the size of sidwell for one and more importantly size wise percentages STA sent as many kids to Ivies and top 20. Actually STA’s college admissions was more impressive overall.

Bit defensive, STA parent?

DP. No it’s just that sta has less kids period. Facts matter. That being said sta normally has about 10 so for its relative smaller size to
Sidwell’s 130 it is about equal. Sounds like this year was off. Many maybe didn’t apply. I know several that had the scores but did not apply not just at sta but at other schools. Maybe the process was unclear?

I don't get it. Did STA not offer the PSAT? We heard all year how superlative the school was during COVID. If they did, then there was no "process" that needed to be clear or unclear.

STA has focused on recruiting kids of the wealthy that may or may not be that intellectually talented. Times have changed when the school was once a power house in academics.

STA has always been focused in large part on recruiting the kids of the wealthy. This is nothing new and there has been no change. Quite often the kids of the wealthy are very smart. I guess this cohort is different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Blair magnet program had 47 NMSF 2022. .... on track with the 40 to 50 percent of class (n=100) for the last 20 years. Similar to RMontgomery IB program in montgomery county

It must be amazing to be in a school where 40-50% of kids are at this level. Really puts things in perspective.

[Anonymous]

All the private school NMSF numbers combined might equal the TJ numbers of NMSF. Go public magnets, wish we lived in a school district that had such programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All the private school NMSF numbers combined might equal the TJ numbers of NMSF. Go public magnets, wish we lived in a school district that had such programs.

Not everyone lives in a place that has a public magnet. In DC, if you want that kind of experience, the independent schools are closer to it than the public or charter schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All the private school NMSF numbers combined might equal the TJ numbers of NMSF. Go public magnets, wish we lived in a school district that had such programs.

Not everyone lives in a place that has a public magnet. In DC, if you want that kind of experience, the independent schools are closer to it than the public or charter schools.

Closer, yes. But still off by a ton. So interesting though, I think these schools really conceive of themselves of being academically at the top.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All the private school NMSF numbers combined might equal the TJ numbers of NMSF. Go public magnets, wish we lived in a school district that had such programs.

Not everyone lives in a place that has a public magnet. In DC, if you want that kind of experience, the independent schools are closer to it than the public or charter schools.

Closer, yes. But still off by a ton. So interesting though, I think these schools really conceive of themselves of being academically at the top.

What do you mean by “conceive of themselves”? Our kids have been at multiple of the so-called “big 3” and I have never heard anything from the school indicating that they assess or consider themselves as being at the “top” of anything. There is actually very little, if any, comparison to other schools, public or private, other than in connection with collaboration or seeking information on best practices or information gathering to be used for considering programmatic changes. Never, though have I heard any inkling of the schools placing themselves in any hierarchy or at the top with respect to any other institution. I am not sure what you mean by this or what it is based on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All the private school NMSF numbers combined might equal the TJ numbers of NMSF. Go public magnets, wish we lived in a school district that had such programs.

The number of NMSF students generated by a public magnet is an even dumber reason to envy a public magnet than their college admissions.

[Anonymous]

Private school forum posters are beyond weird. What kind of accomplishment is NMS anyways? Majority of my DS's public HS senior class have SAT in the 1500's but neither the school held the PSAT nor the SAT route to NMS was promoted.

The school did arrange for SAT for 11th graders and that was that. 37 of the 250 current seniors are semifinalists now. But around 40 more students would have made it as semifinalists if they had registered. They were not interested/paying attention and neither were their parents. I wish the counselors would have made these students register for the alternate route and asked them to get their scores send to NMSC also.

I am also amused at the narrative on this thread that PSAT is tougher than SAT. Not true. They are exactly the same exam but SAT has more content. Seriously.

For a lot of student that are commended or semifinalists through taking PSAT, they are lucky that so many high performing students were unable to take the PSAT and the qualifying scores thus dropped.

NMSC should automatically swoop up all students who take SAT and PSAT and evaluate them to make it more equitable. No one should be required to register. Maybe some Sidwell parent can sue NMSC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Private school forum posters are beyond weird. What kind of accomplishment is NMS anyways? Majority of my DS's public HS senior class have SAT in the 1500's but neither the school held the PSAT nor the SAT route to NMS was promoted.

The school did arrange for SAT for 11th graders and that was that. 37 of the 250 current seniors are semifinalists now. But around 40 more students would have made it as semifinalists if they had registered. They were not interested/paying attention and neither were their parents. I wish the counselors would have made these students register for the alternate route and asked them to get their scores send to NMSC also.

I am also amused at the narrative on this thread that PSAT is tougher than SAT. Not true. They are exactly the same exam but SAT has more content. Seriously.

For a lot of student that are commended or semifinalists through taking PSAT, they are lucky that so many high performing students were unable to take the PSAT and the qualifying scores thus dropped.

NMSC should automatically swoop up all students who take SAT and PSAT and evaluate them to make it more equitable. No one should be required to register. Maybe some Sidwell parent can sue NMSC.

You are jealous and it shows.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Blair magnet program had 47 NMSF 2022. .... on track with the 40 to 50 percent of class (n=100) for the last 20 years. Similar to RMontgomery IB program in Montgomery county

It must be amazing to be in a school where 40-50% of kids are at this level. Really puts things in perspective.

My kid goes to PHS. Poolesville HS has 37 NMSF. Most of the top performers at PHS did not register for the alternate route to NMS. No PSAT was held at the school. But for a tiny school - PHS did pretty ok. It seems that there is no buzz in the school regarding NMS, and there are several students with 1600 gadding about oblivious to it. Nonetheless, PHS is also an extremely laid back and low pressure school, so that comes with the territory.

But, to the point that was made be pp above, to be in a school where most kids are at this level is amazing. Most of these high performing kids think that they are average and that's what makes it an amazing school.