national merit semifinalists announced - link to area schools

[Anonymous]

These are all excellent schools, but the score differences between states really can explain differences for NMSF at least to some extent (and really does a disservice to DC public schools) and should at least be considered before people make all sorts of blanket ridiculous statements about "whipping the socks" off etc etc etc. If each parent/student is thrilled at their kid's school and its academic achievements, great, but then why be so nasty, boastful and competitive about this all? The schools and how they approach standardized testing, participation in various contests, and AP courses/exams differs enormously (many of the privates explicitly steer away from even designating courses APs because the department/teachers feel the content mandated by AP is not adequate and focuses too much on memorization or archaic content-for instance the bio AP until it was finally revised this past year). Any kid who is a NMSF is likely to have been in the same score range whatever school he/she went to, relatively low level and rote standardized testing skills tested by the PSAT and SAT. Some kids/families thrive in a public school and want the diversity and acceleration of math and science courses offered at TJ and Blair. Other kids who are focused more on the humanities or who in high school would far rather focus on learning to write with more individualized attention and participate in true discussion courses are not going to be happy at TJ or Blair and may stay at a smaller local public or an IB program or a different sort of magnet program, or may be lucky enough to have the means to attend a top private schools either from their family resources or financial aid.
All these kids seem to do very well from any of the schools being discussed here when they get to college.

Sour grapes and rationalizing excuses.

[Anonymous]

Actually, it's not out-of-state private school students raising the NMSF cut-off for DC. ETS made a policy decision to tie DC's cut-off to the highest state cut-off.

RE CTY and private schools. BTDT in ES and DC said that neither the curriculum nor the cohort was as interesting as regular school. And was kinda pissed off that the university library collection was off-limits to the CTY'ers (except for assigned texts).

In general, I think that, for a variety of reasons, public school parents are more likely to seek out certain kinds of academic enrichment programs than private school parents.

Bottom line: I think that there are great educations to be had and excellent students to be found in both public and private schools. And I'm a little baffled as to why someone would see other peoples' kids' PSAT scores as a source of bragging rights.

[Anonymous]

I don't understand the CTY point. My kid went to private school and did a CTY summer program as did several classmates. And I know plenty of other people from private schools who have done the CTY summer programs. But it doesn't have anything really to do with PSATs regardless of where you came from. Yes my kid took the SAT in 7th grade but that was hardly preparation for a test 4 years later. In fact if anything it was anti-prep because so much of the math was way beyond what she had learned in 7th grade math that it was silly to take it. Having been in both private and public schools there is plenty of standardized testing and test prep in both.

Similarly the APs don't have much to do with PSAT performance. Most kids only take 1-2 APs, if any, before 11th grade so in October of 11th grade their AP experience would not be that great. And I think the AP tests are much different than the PSATs/SATs. At least the ones my DC has taken are heavy on the essay/DBQ sections. And the multiple choice is very knowledge/subject based.

A huge piece of it is still SES based, not just generally but because those are the kids who have the resources for tutoring and test prep. Good test prep made an enormous difference for my kids.

[Anonymous]

I don't understand the CTY point. My kid went to private school and did a CTY summer program as did several classmates. And I know plenty of other people from private schools who have done the CTY summer programs. But it doesn't have anything really to do with PSATs regardless of where you came from. Yes my kid took the SAT in 7th grade but that was hardly preparation for a test 4 years later. In fact if anything it was anti-prep because so much of the math was way beyond what she had learned in 7th grade math that it was silly to take it. Having been in both private and public schools there is plenty of standardized testing and test prep in both.

Similarly the APs don't have much to do with PSAT performance. Most kids only take 1-2 APs, if any, before 11th grade so in October of 11th grade their AP experience would not be that great. And I think the AP tests are much different than the PSATs/SATs. At least the ones my DC has taken are heavy on the essay/DBQ sections. And the multiple choice is very knowledge/subject based.

A huge piece of it is still SES based, not just generally but because those are the kids who have the resources for tutoring and test prep. Good test prep made an enormous difference for my kids.

Wow, your kid took the SAT in the 7th? I took it for the first time in the Spring of 11 th grade. Amusing... hardly preparation for a test 4 years later. Maybe the preparatory SAT exam for a 12 year old in the 7th grade really doesn't count or amount to much! I wonder how many private school kids are taking SSAT and SAT in middle school well before high school and the PSAT and SAT? What a "Romnesque" luxury? I bet your child must have aced the PSAT in 10th and 11th grades?

[Anonymous]

CTY point is crucial and critical if middle school students in private school are taking SAT in 6th, 7th and 8th grades to enter CTY camps and then claiming they do not take standardardized tests like those at TJHS and Blair are doing to enter the magnet schools in their 8th grade. You must think the electorate is stupid.

[Anonymous]

The only kids in TJ and Blair (Magnet) are those that tested in in 9th grade from huge pools of students. Their NMSF results are a self-licking ice-cream cone. You can't compare these schools with any other public or privates. Their admits are just different. Maybe the schools have amazing teachers that make them smarter, but that is doubtful.

And yes, DC's higher cut-off makes a huge difference considering the population of kids in the DC privates. It's a joke to call it a National Merit test. It's really a State Merit test - students are only evaluated against students going to school in that state, using that state's score.

[Anonymous]

Gee, this thread was active all of yesterday, and then quiet today until 4pm. That timing meshes perfectly with some high school kid in MoCo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:CTY point is crucial and critical if middle school students in private school are taking SAT in 6th, 7th and 8th grades to enter CTY camps and then claiming they do not take standardardized tests like those at TJHS and Blair are doing to enter the magnet schools in their 8th grade. You must think the electorate is stupid.

The difference is that TJ and Blair take a tiny fraction of the top test takers. CTY, at least in our experience, wasn't that selective (after all they are selling products). And taking the SAT once in 7th grade to qualify for CTY without any prep was useless in terms of future test prep. I think my DC got something like a 400 on one section.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:CTY point is crucial and critical if middle school students in private school are taking SAT in 6th, 7th and 8th grades to enter CTY camps and then claiming they do not take standardardized tests like those at TJHS and Blair are doing to enter the magnet schools in their 8th grade. You must think the electorate is stupid.

The difference is that TJ and Blair take a tiny fraction of the top test takers. CTY, at least in our experience, wasn't that selective (after all they are selling products). And taking the SAT once in 7th grade to qualify for CTY without any prep was useless in terms of future test prep. I think my DC got something like a 400 on one section.

Experience with the SAT is experience with the SAT, whether you're doing it for CTY or for some other purpose.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:...

A huge piece of it is still SES based, not just generally but because those are the kids who have the resources for tutoring and test prep. Good test prep made an enormous difference for my kids.

ITA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nothing riduculous here. I stand by the statement that the kids at TJHS and Blair Magnet are in a class of their own. Just talk to HYP and Stanford MIT admission folk. You might not like it. But, I'm afraid that the current status. Work a little harder.

Blah blah blah. Every year, like the swallows returning to Capistrno, the Blair Magnet/TJ people return to populate this forum.

[Anonymous]

The only kids in TJ and Blair (Magnet) are those that tested in in 9th grade from huge pools of students. Their NMSF results are a self-licking ice-cream cone. You can't compare these schools with any other public or privates. Their admits are just different. Maybe the schools have amazing teachers that make them smarter, but that is doubtful.

And yes, DC's higher cut-off makes a huge difference considering the population of kids in the DC privates. It's a joke to call it a National Merit test. It's really a State Merit test - students are only evaluated against students going to school in that state, using that state's score.

Wrong. They test in the 8th grade (December). CTY testers all test with SAT in 7th and 8th grades.

[Anonymous]

Blah blah blah. Every year, like the swallows returning to Capistrno, the Blair Magnet/TJ people return to populate this forum.

Cry baby. I go to private school. But a spade is still a spade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
...

A huge piece of it is still SES based, not just generally but because those are the kids who have the resources for tutoring and test prep. Good test prep made an enormous difference for my kids.

Finally, a rare breath of honesty on these boards. A recessive trait in this breed.

[Anonymous]

The difference is that TJ and Blair take a tiny fraction of the top test takers. CTY, at least in our experience, wasn't that selective (after all they are selling products). And taking the SAT once in 7th grade to qualify for CTY without any prep was useless in terms of future test prep. I think my DC got something like a 400 on one section.

I didn't think any 7th grader could qualify for CTY with a score of 400?