How many here had students that missed being NMSF and were Commended instead

[Anonymous]

Top schools are full of students that did not achieve either NMSF or Commended. Most students, 97% of them, get neither. Without the whole package of GPA, test scores, ECs, recommendations, essays, etc, commended cannot get you an acceptance, but among the many students that have the whole package, it is one more thing that student did well that is taken into consideration.

That said, any student or parent that was paying attention would know whether that student was NMSF or commended. The cut scores are a simple google search and all the students have their scores. It is not rocket science.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm the 21:02 poster. I wanted to add that my Commended kid had a 35 ACT and chose to include Commended on her college app. It is NOT a participation award by any means, especially from this area.

The 35 is far more impressive than the commended.

[Anonymous]

Yes,Commended,both kids and both put it in their applications

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Top schools are full of students that did not achieve either NMSF or Commended. Most students, 97% of them, get neither. Without the whole package of GPA, test scores, ECs, recommendations, essays, etc, commended cannot get you an acceptance, but among the many students that have the whole package, it is one more thing that student did well that is taken into consideration.

Well said

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

That said, any student or parent that was paying attention would know whether that student was NMSF or commended. The cut scores are a simple google search and all the students have their scores. It is not rocket science.

Well said.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

That said, any student or parent that was paying attention would know whether that student was NMSF or commended. The cut scores are a simple google search and all the students have their scores. It is not rocket science.

Well said.

YES. That's why I do not get why the TJ thing is a thing worth a government inquiry over.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One child was a National Merit Finalist/Scholarship Winner and the other was a National Merit Commended Scholar. They both indicated their awards on their college apps, and their awards continue to be on their resumes, even though they are now in college. As reference, they both attend USNWR Top 10 colleges. The acceptance margins to top schools are so slim, and the margins are even slimmer when you come from a highly competitive area like DC, so I truly believe these awards can make a difference. Sure it's just one test on one day, but a Commended score shows that you can handle a significant amount of pressure and still do well. Also, many of the DC/MD/VA Commended students would have made the NMSF cutoff in other states, as DC and Maryland historically have had the highest cutoff scores in the country, and Virginia is usually only one point behind. What a shame for all the TJ and now Langley and Westfield kids.

Thank you for this. DD is high-commended so we're pulling apps outside of T10. I was at the VDARE conference on equity at magnet schools and an unemployable lawyer lady said same thing: my daughter is assured admission to MIT. Will use for Jane Street cover letter, too, when the time comes, and promotion package in middle age. And can you share names of schools your commended kid attends? Want to cross-reference with scattergrams available. TIA.

[Anonymous]

My kid wasn’t even commended. Perhaps an off day bc was focused on a school activity that afternoon or maybe not as smart as other kids. Whatever.

Kid did get a 1540 on SAT in 1 sitting (common app shows how many tries it takes to get score). Also had all 5s on AP exams and took a high number of AP exams compared to school peers. Had 2 B pluses in high school - including 1 junior year - so not valedictorian but higher GPA than many and high rigor (calc BC, all lab sciences, 4 years foreign language, wants to be Humanities major). Solid but regular high school activities (varsity letter winner in multiple sports, club officer, team captain etc). Known as a “nice” kid.

Was accepted REA to first choice school this fall.

All that is to say commended doesn’t make a kid or break an applicant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It wasn't "Not given in a timely fashion." It was concealed.

They were distributed at TJ. Not concealed.

They were withheld for 3 years 2020, 2021 and 2022. They only released the letters in 2022 after the issue came to light. Clear pattern of withholding these letters in multiple years. Not a one off human error.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid wasn’t even commended. Perhaps an off day bc was focused on a school activity that afternoon or maybe not as smart as other kids. Whatever.

Kid did get a 1540 on SAT in 1 sitting (common app shows how many tries it takes to get score). Also had all 5s on AP exams and took a high number of AP exams compared to school peers. Had 2 B pluses in high school - including 1 junior year - so not valedictorian but higher GPA than many and high rigor (calc BC, all lab sciences, 4 years foreign language, wants to be Humanities major). Solid but regular high school activities (varsity letter winner in multiple sports, club officer, team captain etc). Known as a “nice” kid.

Was accepted REA to first choice school this fall.

All that is to say commended doesn’t make a kid or break an applicant.

So some kids do get commended, but maybe didn't have one of the things YOUR kid has. Why is it ok to take that away from them?
What if your kid had been forced to intentionally hide one of the things you mentioned above? You'd be ok with that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid wasn’t even commended. Perhaps an off day bc was focused on a school activity that afternoon or maybe not as smart as other kids. Whatever.

Kid did get a 1540 on SAT in 1 sitting (common app shows how many tries it takes to get score). Also had all 5s on AP exams and took a high number of AP exams compared to school peers. Had 2 B pluses in high school - including 1 junior year - so not valedictorian but higher GPA than many and high rigor (calc BC, all lab sciences, 4 years foreign language, wants to be Humanities major). Solid but regular high school activities (varsity letter winner in multiple sports, club officer, team captain etc). Known as a “nice” kid.

Was accepted REA to first choice school this fall.

All that is to say commended doesn’t make a kid or break an applicant.

So some kids do get commended, but maybe didn't have one of the things YOUR kid has. Why is it ok to take that away from them?
What if your kid had been forced to intentionally hide one of the things you mentioned above? You'd be ok with that?

PP that started my post with "So some kids.." here

A better analogy--what if your kid's school decided they didn't want to make any of the less popular/capable kids "feel bad" so they didn't have club officers or team captains?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

That said, any student or parent that was paying attention would know whether that student was NMSF or commended. The cut scores are a simple google search and all the students have their scores. It is not rocket science.

Well said.

YES. That's why I do not get why the TJ thing is a thing worth a government inquiry over.

Are they perhaps first generation students (I've read many are Asian) and their parents aren't as aware of NMSF qualifications?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

That said, any student or parent that was paying attention would know whether that student was NMSF or commended. The cut scores are a simple google search and all the students have their scores. It is not rocket science.

Well said.

YES. That's why I do not get why the TJ thing is a thing worth a government inquiry over.

Doesn't matter. The schools purposefully and willfully withheld the only official notice these students were going to receive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One child was a National Merit Finalist/Scholarship Winner and the other was a National Merit Commended Scholar. They both indicated their awards on their college apps, and their awards continue to be on their resumes, even though they are now in college. As reference, they both attend USNWR Top 10 colleges. The acceptance margins to top schools are so slim, and the margins are even slimmer when you come from a highly competitive area like DC, so I truly believe these awards can make a difference. Sure it's just one test on one day, but a Commended score shows that you can handle a significant amount of pressure and still do well. Also, many of the DC/MD/VA Commended students would have made the NMSF cutoff in other states, as DC and Maryland historically have had the highest cutoff scores in the country, and Virginia is usually only one point behind. What a shame for all the TJ and now Langley and Westfield kids.

Thank you for this. DD is high-commended so we're pulling apps outside of T10. I was at the VDARE conference on equity at magnet schools and an unemployable lawyer lady said same thing: my daughter is assured admission to MIT. Will use for Jane Street cover letter, too, when the time comes, and promotion package in middle age. And can you share names of schools your commended kid attends? Want to cross-reference with scattergrams available. TIA.

There is no such thing as "high-commended." And your post is so painfully ridiculous I cannot even begin to imagine it is for real, particularly the second sentence.

BTW, no one needs a piece of paper from the school to know they met the commended score or to put it on their application.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid wasn’t even commended. Perhaps an off day bc was focused on a school activity that afternoon or maybe not as smart as other kids. Whatever.

Kid did get a 1540 on SAT in 1 sitting (common app shows how many tries it takes to get score). Also had all 5s on AP exams and took a high number of AP exams compared to school peers. Had 2 B pluses in high school - including 1 junior year - so not valedictorian but higher GPA than many and high rigor (calc BC, all lab sciences, 4 years foreign language, wants to be Humanities major). Solid but regular high school activities (varsity letter winner in multiple sports, club officer, team captain etc). Known as a “nice” kid.

Was accepted REA to first choice school this fall.

All that is to say commended doesn’t make a kid or break an applicant.

So some kids do get commended, but maybe didn't have one of the things YOUR kid has. Why is it ok to take that away from them?
What if your kid had been forced to intentionally hide one of the things you mentioned above? You'd be ok with that?

What was taken away from them? Did they fail to check their own score? My kid never got a 'certificate' or 'ceremony' from his school, but knew right away when he logged in and saw his score that he made the cut and put it on the common app. I haven't read all of this stuff, so maybe I'm missing facts, but what exactly is the argument people are making that these kids were prevented from knowing they were commended? Did they restrict access to their College Board accounts somehow? Or are we talking about high achieving kids who didn't know that commended was a possibility or that they could amend their Common App with supplemental information?