National merit 2026?

[Anonymous]

My kid found out from the list not from his school last year. Hope the names are released soon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For the ones above. Years ago, I lived in a small in Midwest. The high school nearby can only have 1-2 students qualifying semi finalist each year, no more than 3. So each year, they hold a cardboard saying “National merit semi finalist..” something like that to take a photo at the front door. Those photos were on the wall in cafeteria. Seriously, you can the ones back to probably 20 years.

Nice that they did that.

But unless they have changed the rules, my understanding is that there is no cap on the number of NMSF from any given HS. The students are selected by looking at the top ~1% for each state by the selection index score.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They say it is 12 schools but only list 11. Did they miss WJ?

they missed Einstein!

(confirmed)

Would be shocked if WJ didn't have any NMSF's this year tho.

I'm guessing they did not list the names because for some crazy reason, *they don't have them*

I’m also now wondering if maybe they don’t have a comprehensive list yet. I agree that it would feel surprising if WJ didn’t have any.

[Anonymous]

How much do you think the school administrators care about these numbers (public or private?). I’d guess of more importance is the whole school achievement (reading/math levels) for job evaluations and general job pride but still, do you think they wait for the number of NMSF with some hope?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:McLean/Great Falls?

McLean:
https://patch.com/virginia/mclean/66-mclean-seniors-named-2026-national-merit-scholarship-semifinalists

Interesting that McLean has so many more than Arlington. Why? Just bigger schools?

Oakton (25) has more NMSFs than Langley (23), McLean (20), or Marshall (15) but all these schools have more NMSFs than W-L (5), H-B Woodlawn (6), Yorktown (5), or Wakefield (0).

It's not because the FCPS schools are bigger. W-L is very big. FCPS places more emphasis on advanced academics and attracts more Asian families. The FCPS pyramids with the most NMSFs also send far more kids to TJHSST than the APS schools.

There were actually 9 from W-L, but I still hear you and get your point. I would have expected the Arlington numbers to be competitive with the McLean numbers when adjusted for size.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:McLean/Great Falls?

McLean:
https://patch.com/virginia/mclean/66-mclean-seniors-named-2026-national-merit-scholarship-semifinalists

Interesting that McLean has so many more than Arlington. Why? Just bigger schools?

Oakton (25) has more NMSFs than Langley (23), McLean (20), or Marshall (15) but all these schools have more NMSFs than W-L (5), H-B Woodlawn (6), Yorktown (5), or Wakefield (0).

It's not because the FCPS schools are bigger. W-L is very big. FCPS places more emphasis on advanced academics and attracts more Asian families. The FCPS pyramids with the most NMSFs also send far more kids to TJHSST than the APS schools.

There were actually 9 from W-L, but I still hear you and get your point. I would have expected the Arlington numbers to be competitive with the McLean numbers when adjusted for size.

You're correct about 9 from W-L, sorry.

To put in context, here are the sizes of the junior classes (current seniors) at these schools last year:

Oakton 698
W-L 665
McLean 628
Yorktown 556
Wakefield 552
Marshall 568
Langley 533
H-B Woodlawn 109

[Anonymous]

I googled and found it

[Anonymous]

does a NMSF or NMF help in college admissions? Eg would it help make up for a say ‘average GPA’?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:does a NMSF or NMF help in college admissions? Eg would it help make up for a say ‘average GPA’?

No. It's just one data point. In those cases, AOs might wonder why students aren't living up to their potential.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:does a NMSF or NMF help in college admissions? Eg would it help make up for a say ‘average GPA’?

sure - it can definitely make a difference when the case is right on the edge..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:does a NMSF or NMF help in college admissions? Eg would it help make up for a say ‘average GPA’?

It makes a difference in as much as it means the kid has higher test scores. But since the cut offs are different in each state, it's not really a fair measure because a finalist in Massachusetts could be significantly higher scoring than a finalist in Kentucky. So it's just one bar to clear, but it's not particularly illuminating without context.

[Anonymous]

agree. it makes a difference for some from a school like TJ - where students easily get Bs in Math courses - so a NMSF and a SAT 1500+ helps assure the AO that the student is strong and the B is only due to harder course work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:does a NMSF or NMF help in college admissions? Eg would it help make up for a say ‘average GPA’?

Holistic review. GPA is only part of the package. An average 3.9 gpa public (3.5 at a non-dmv top private) will not automatically disqualify you. Rigor, SAT, ECs are far more important than NMSF.

[Anonymous]

For kids in states where the cut off is very high, it some carries weight.

In the era of super scoring and taking the SAT multiple times seeing a high test score in Junior year taken one day assures them that the applicant is indeed highly intelligent.

It’s not to say that the kid who miss the cutoff are not smart. Plenty of them are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:agree. it makes a difference for some from a school like TJ - where students easily get Bs in Math courses - so a NMSF and a SAT 1500+ helps assure the AO that the student is strong and the B is only due to harder course work.

I don't know how much of a difference it makes vs just having a really high SAT or ACT score which these semi finalists will also have.