TJ Commended Student Emails Released - Who is really responsible?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Three (at least) FCPS high schools have not immediately notified students of their commended status. What about non-FCPS high schools? Do the promptly mail those commended letters or does it sometimes take a little while? Is Miyares investigating every high school in the Commonwealth?

crickets...

[Anonymous]

And what about the Black Commended students?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And what about the Black Commended students?

What about them? Should they be treated differently than other commended students?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The local Democrats have finally realized that minimizing the significance of getting a Letter of Commendation, or otherwise saying the failure to notify students was no big deal, is a losing strategy that makes them look like a bunch of out-of-touch elitists ("equity is at the center of everything we do, although your kid is a loser if they only scored in the top 3% and not just the top 1%").

They are now pivoting to complaining that Miyares' investigation is a case of selective prosecution (that is, that he's only looking into this so he can embarrass FCPS, the school system for a largely Democratic county).

That's a better strategy, but it's sure taken them an awfully long time to get there.

Anonymous people on DCUM throwing out facts isn’t a “political strategy”.

The local Democratic activists are kind of a hive mind on Twitter. They were all saying variations of the same thing about the late LOC notifications for a while, and then they pivoted to the "he just wants to 'own the libs'" angle.

It wasn’t a pivot. Both things are true.

Meanwhile, today a former admissions director weighed in on the matter:

“For a high school student to be designated a National Merit commended student is trivial. Although those students are commended for their score, tens of thousands achieve this status, and it is highly improbable that the presence or absence of this information would have any impact on a college admission decision. Both The Post and the governor of Virginia have wildly overreacted to the latest news from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.

As a former director of admission at three major research universities (Carnegie Mellon, Washington University in St. Louis and Michigan State) and a former member of the National Merit Scholarship Selection Committee, I am certain of this position.”

William H. Turner, Williamsburg, Va.

We can take any idea of actual harm in this situation and throw it out the window.

That was my gut feeling, but since it's been 20+ years since I applied to college, I can't speak from recent experience. I went to a T25 school and have no idea if I was commended or not (I moved out of state between 11th and 12th so I don't think NMSC l had a way to follow me but my scores were probably close). I definitely wouldn't have put it on college applications.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The local Democrats have finally realized that minimizing the significance of getting a Letter of Commendation, or otherwise saying the failure to notify students was no big deal, is a losing strategy that makes them look like a bunch of out-of-touch elitists ("equity is at the center of everything we do, although your kid is a loser if they only scored in the top 3% and not just the top 1%").

They are now pivoting to complaining that Miyares' investigation is a case of selective prosecution (that is, that he's only looking into this so he can embarrass FCPS, the school system for a largely Democratic county).

That's a better strategy, but it's sure taken them an awfully long time to get there.

Anonymous people on DCUM throwing out facts isn’t a “political strategy”.

The local Democratic activists are kind of a hive mind on Twitter. They were all saying variations of the same thing about the late LOC notifications for a while, and then they pivoted to the "he just wants to 'own the libs'" angle.

It wasn’t a pivot. Both things are true.

Meanwhile, today a former admissions director weighed in on the matter:

“For a high school student to be designated a National Merit commended student is trivial. Although those students are commended for their score, tens of thousands achieve this status, and it is highly improbable that the presence or absence of this information would have any impact on a college admission decision. Both The Post and the governor of Virginia have wildly overreacted to the latest news from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.

As a former director of admission at three major research universities (Carnegie Mellon, Washington University in St. Louis and Michigan State) and a former member of the National Merit Scholarship Selection Committee, I am certain of this position.”

William H. Turner, Williamsburg, Va.

We can take any idea of actual harm in this situation and throw it out the window.

Never heard of this guy and I don't see why his beliefs are any more credible than the beliefs of any other person.

Do a quick search on this guy. Nothing comes up on him. Furthermore, omitted by the trolls is the fact that the designation qualifies students to apply for scholarship pots of money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The local Democrats have finally realized that minimizing the significance of getting a Letter of Commendation, or otherwise saying the failure to notify students was no big deal, is a losing strategy that makes them look like a bunch of out-of-touch elitists ("equity is at the center of everything we do, although your kid is a loser if they only scored in the top 3% and not just the top 1%").

They are now pivoting to complaining that Miyares' investigation is a case of selective prosecution (that is, that he's only looking into this so he can embarrass FCPS, the school system for a largely Democratic county).

That's a better strategy, but it's sure taken them an awfully long time to get there.

Anonymous people on DCUM throwing out facts isn’t a “political strategy”.

The local Democratic activists are kind of a hive mind on Twitter. They were all saying variations of the same thing about the late LOC notifications for a while, and then they pivoted to the "he just wants to 'own the libs'" angle.

It wasn’t a pivot. Both things are true.

Meanwhile, today a former admissions director weighed in on the matter:

“For a high school student to be designated a National Merit commended student is trivial. Although those students are commended for their score, tens of thousands achieve this status, and it is highly improbable that the presence or absence of this information would have any impact on a college admission decision. Both The Post and the governor of Virginia have wildly overreacted to the latest news from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.

As a former director of admission at three major research universities (Carnegie Mellon, Washington University in St. Louis and Michigan State) and a former member of the National Merit Scholarship Selection Committee, I am certain of this position.”

William H. Turner, Williamsburg, Va.

We can take any idea of actual harm in this situation and throw it out the window.

Never heard of this guy and I don't see why his beliefs are any more credible than the beliefs of any other person.

Do a quick search on this guy. Nothing comes up on him. Furthermore, omitted by the trolls is the fact that the designation qualifies students to apply for scholarship pots of money.

False.

Any non-finalist is eligible to apply for the special scholarships. There are other criteria (parent is employee, etc). But being “commended” isn’t a qualifier for anything special. Semifinalists and non-commended students can also apply.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The local Democrats have finally realized that minimizing the significance of getting a Letter of Commendation, or otherwise saying the failure to notify students was no big deal, is a losing strategy that makes them look like a bunch of out-of-touch elitists ("equity is at the center of everything we do, although your kid is a loser if they only scored in the top 3% and not just the top 1%").

They are now pivoting to complaining that Miyares' investigation is a case of selective prosecution (that is, that he's only looking into this so he can embarrass FCPS, the school system for a largely Democratic county).

That's a better strategy, but it's sure taken them an awfully long time to get there.

Anonymous people on DCUM throwing out facts isn’t a “political strategy”.

The local Democratic activists are kind of a hive mind on Twitter. They were all saying variations of the same thing about the late LOC notifications for a while, and then they pivoted to the "he just wants to 'own the libs'" angle.

It wasn’t a pivot. Both things are true.

Meanwhile, today a former admissions director weighed in on the matter:

“For a high school student to be designated a National Merit commended student is trivial. Although those students are commended for their score, tens of thousands achieve this status, and it is highly improbable that the presence or absence of this information would have any impact on a college admission decision. Both The Post and the governor of Virginia have wildly overreacted to the latest news from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.

As a former director of admission at three major research universities (Carnegie Mellon, Washington University in St. Louis and Michigan State) and a former member of the National Merit Scholarship Selection Committee, I am certain of this position.”

William H. Turner, Williamsburg, Va.

We can take any idea of actual harm in this situation and throw it out the window.

Never heard of this guy and I don't see why his beliefs are any more credible than the beliefs of any other person.

Do a quick search on this guy. Nothing comes up on him. Furthermore, omitted by the trolls is the fact that the designation qualifies students to apply for scholarship pots of money.

Agreed. I did find a man by that name that lives in Williamsburg, but he's in his 80s! If that is the same guy, how long ago would he have been an admissions counselor at the 3 schools he mentioned?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The local Democrats have finally realized that minimizing the significance of getting a Letter of Commendation, or otherwise saying the failure to notify students was no big deal, is a losing strategy that makes them look like a bunch of out-of-touch elitists ("equity is at the center of everything we do, although your kid is a loser if they only scored in the top 3% and not just the top 1%").

They are now pivoting to complaining that Miyares' investigation is a case of selective prosecution (that is, that he's only looking into this so he can embarrass FCPS, the school system for a largely Democratic county).

That's a better strategy, but it's sure taken them an awfully long time to get there.

Anonymous people on DCUM throwing out facts isn’t a “political strategy”.

The local Democratic activists are kind of a hive mind on Twitter. They were all saying variations of the same thing about the late LOC notifications for a while, and then they pivoted to the "he just wants to 'own the libs'" angle.

It wasn’t a pivot. Both things are true.

Meanwhile, today a former admissions director weighed in on the matter:

“For a high school student to be designated a National Merit commended student is trivial. Although those students are commended for their score, tens of thousands achieve this status, and it is highly improbable that the presence or absence of this information would have any impact on a college admission decision. Both The Post and the governor of Virginia have wildly overreacted to the latest news from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.

As a former director of admission at three major research universities (Carnegie Mellon, Washington University in St. Louis and Michigan State) and a former member of the National Merit Scholarship Selection Committee, I am certain of this position.”

William H. Turner, Williamsburg, Va.

We can take any idea of actual harm in this situation and throw it out the window.

Never heard of this guy and I don't see why his beliefs are any more credible than the beliefs of any other person.

Do a quick search on this guy. Nothing comes up on him. Furthermore, omitted by the trolls is the fact that the designation qualifies students to apply for scholarship pots of money.

False.

Any non-finalist is eligible to apply for the special scholarships. There are other criteria (parent is employee, etc). But being “commended” isn’t a qualifier for anything special. Semifinalists and non-commended students can also apply.

Wrong! Being at least 'commended' does qualify a person for over 800 scholarship opportunities that look specifically for those who were, at least, commended.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The local Democrats have finally realized that minimizing the significance of getting a Letter of Commendation, or otherwise saying the failure to notify students was no big deal, is a losing strategy that makes them look like a bunch of out-of-touch elitists ("equity is at the center of everything we do, although your kid is a loser if they only scored in the top 3% and not just the top 1%").

They are now pivoting to complaining that Miyares' investigation is a case of selective prosecution (that is, that he's only looking into this so he can embarrass FCPS, the school system for a largely Democratic county).

That's a better strategy, but it's sure taken them an awfully long time to get there.

Anonymous people on DCUM throwing out facts isn’t a “political strategy”.

The local Democratic activists are kind of a hive mind on Twitter. They were all saying variations of the same thing about the late LOC notifications for a while, and then they pivoted to the "he just wants to 'own the libs'" angle.

It wasn’t a pivot. Both things are true.

Meanwhile, today a former admissions director weighed in on the matter:

“For a high school student to be designated a National Merit commended student is trivial. Although those students are commended for their score, tens of thousands achieve this status, and it is highly improbable that the presence or absence of this information would have any impact on a college admission decision. Both The Post and the governor of Virginia have wildly overreacted to the latest news from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.

As a former director of admission at three major research universities (Carnegie Mellon, Washington University in St. Louis and Michigan State) and a former member of the National Merit Scholarship Selection Committee, I am certain of this position.”

William H. Turner, Williamsburg, Va.

We can take any idea of actual harm in this situation and throw it out the window.

Never heard of this guy and I don't see why his beliefs are any more credible than the beliefs of any other person.

Do a quick search on this guy. Nothing comes up on him. Furthermore, omitted by the trolls is the fact that the designation qualifies students to apply for scholarship pots of money.

False.

Any non-finalist is eligible to apply for the special scholarships. There are other criteria (parent is employee, etc). But being “commended” isn’t a qualifier for anything special. Semifinalists and non-commended students can also apply.

Wrong! Being at least 'commended' does qualify a person for over 800 scholarship opportunities that look specifically for those who were, at least, commended.

Wrong. The special corporate scholarships are open to all non-finalists.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The local Democrats have finally realized that minimizing the significance of getting a Letter of Commendation, or otherwise saying the failure to notify students was no big deal, is a losing strategy that makes them look like a bunch of out-of-touch elitists ("equity is at the center of everything we do, although your kid is a loser if they only scored in the top 3% and not just the top 1%").

They are now pivoting to complaining that Miyares' investigation is a case of selective prosecution (that is, that he's only looking into this so he can embarrass FCPS, the school system for a largely Democratic county).

That's a better strategy, but it's sure taken them an awfully long time to get there.

Anonymous people on DCUM throwing out facts isn’t a “political strategy”.

The local Democratic activists are kind of a hive mind on Twitter. They were all saying variations of the same thing about the late LOC notifications for a while, and then they pivoted to the "he just wants to 'own the libs'" angle.

It wasn’t a pivot. Both things are true.

Meanwhile, today a former admissions director weighed in on the matter:

“For a high school student to be designated a National Merit commended student is trivial. Although those students are commended for their score, tens of thousands achieve this status, and it is highly improbable that the presence or absence of this information would have any impact on a college admission decision. Both The Post and the governor of Virginia have wildly overreacted to the latest news from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.

As a former director of admission at three major research universities (Carnegie Mellon, Washington University in St. Louis and Michigan State) and a former member of the National Merit Scholarship Selection Committee, I am certain of this position.”

William H. Turner, Williamsburg, Va.

We can take any idea of actual harm in this situation and throw it out the window.

Never heard of this guy and I don't see why his beliefs are any more credible than the beliefs of any other person.

Do a quick search on this guy. Nothing comes up on him. Furthermore, omitted by the trolls is the fact that the designation qualifies students to apply for scholarship pots of money.

False.

Any non-finalist is eligible to apply for the special scholarships. There are other criteria (parent is employee, etc). But being “commended” isn’t a qualifier for anything special. Semifinalists and non-commended students can also apply.

Wrong! Being at least 'commended' does qualify a person for over 800 scholarship opportunities that look specifically for those who were, at least, commended.

Stop parroting RWNJ lies.


https://www.nationalmerit.org/s/1758/interior.aspx?sid=1758&gid=2&pgid=424
Special Scholarships
Every year some 800 National Merit Program participants, who are outstanding students who have not been named Finalists, are awarded Special Scholarships provided by corporations and business organizations. To be considered for a Special Scholarship, students must meet the sponsor's criteria and the entry requirements of the National Merit Scholarship Program. They also must submit an entry form to the sponsor organization. Subsequently, NMSC contacts a pool of high-scoring candidates through their respective high schools. These students and their school officials submit detailed scholarship applications. NMSC's professional staff evaluates information about candidates' abilities, skills, and accomplishments and chooses winners of the sponsor's Special Scholarships. These scholarships may either be renewable for four years of undergraduate study or one-time awards.

A list of corporate organizations that sponsor National Merit Scholarships and/or Special Scholarships is given in the PSAT/NMSQT® Student Guide.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The local Democrats have finally realized that minimizing the significance of getting a Letter of Commendation, or otherwise saying the failure to notify students was no big deal, is a losing strategy that makes them look like a bunch of out-of-touch elitists ("equity is at the center of everything we do, although your kid is a loser if they only scored in the top 3% and not just the top 1%").

They are now pivoting to complaining that Miyares' investigation is a case of selective prosecution (that is, that he's only looking into this so he can embarrass FCPS, the school system for a largely Democratic county).

That's a better strategy, but it's sure taken them an awfully long time to get there.

Anonymous people on DCUM throwing out facts isn’t a “political strategy”.

The local Democratic activists are kind of a hive mind on Twitter. They were all saying variations of the same thing about the late LOC notifications for a while, and then they pivoted to the "he just wants to 'own the libs'" angle.

It wasn’t a pivot. Both things are true.

Meanwhile, today a former admissions director weighed in on the matter:

“For a high school student to be designated a National Merit commended student is trivial. Although those students are commended for their score, tens of thousands achieve this status, and it is highly improbable that the presence or absence of this information would have any impact on a college admission decision. Both The Post and the governor of Virginia have wildly overreacted to the latest news from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.

As a former director of admission at three major research universities (Carnegie Mellon, Washington University in St. Louis and Michigan State) and a former member of the National Merit Scholarship Selection Committee, I am certain of this position.”

William H. Turner, Williamsburg, Va.

We can take any idea of actual harm in this situation and throw it out the window.

Never heard of this guy and I don't see why his beliefs are any more credible than the beliefs of any other person.

Do a quick search on this guy. Nothing comes up on him. Furthermore, omitted by the trolls is the fact that the designation qualifies students to apply for scholarship pots of money.

False.

Any non-finalist is eligible to apply for the special scholarships. There are other criteria (parent is employee, etc). But being “commended” isn’t a qualifier for anything special. Semifinalists and non-commended students can also apply.

Wrong! Being at least 'commended' does qualify a person for over 800 scholarship opportunities that look specifically for those who were, at least, commended.

Stop parroting RWNJ lies.


https://www.nationalmerit.org/s/1758/interior.aspx?sid=1758&gid=2&pgid=424
Special Scholarships
Every year some 800 National Merit Program participants, who are outstanding students who have not been named Finalists, are awarded Special Scholarships provided by corporations and business organizations. To be considered for a Special Scholarship, students must meet the sponsor's criteria and the entry requirements of the National Merit Scholarship Program. They also must submit an entry form to the sponsor organization. Subsequently, NMSC contacts a pool of high-scoring candidates through their respective high schools. These students and their school officials submit detailed scholarship applications. NMSC's professional staff evaluates information about candidates' abilities, skills, and accomplishments and chooses winners of the sponsor's Special Scholarships. These scholarships may either be renewable for four years of undergraduate study or one-time awards.

A list of corporate organizations that sponsor National Merit Scholarships and/or Special Scholarships is given in the PSAT/NMSQT® Student Guide.

You are proving the opposite claim by posting the above. It says, 'participants' in the first sentence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The local Democrats have finally realized that minimizing the significance of getting a Letter of Commendation, or otherwise saying the failure to notify students was no big deal, is a losing strategy that makes them look like a bunch of out-of-touch elitists ("equity is at the center of everything we do, although your kid is a loser if they only scored in the top 3% and not just the top 1%").

They are now pivoting to complaining that Miyares' investigation is a case of selective prosecution (that is, that he's only looking into this so he can embarrass FCPS, the school system for a largely Democratic county).

That's a better strategy, but it's sure taken them an awfully long time to get there.

Anonymous people on DCUM throwing out facts isn’t a “political strategy”.

The local Democratic activists are kind of a hive mind on Twitter. They were all saying variations of the same thing about the late LOC notifications for a while, and then they pivoted to the "he just wants to 'own the libs'" angle.

It wasn’t a pivot. Both things are true.

Meanwhile, today a former admissions director weighed in on the matter:

“For a high school student to be designated a National Merit commended student is trivial. Although those students are commended for their score, tens of thousands achieve this status, and it is highly improbable that the presence or absence of this information would have any impact on a college admission decision. Both The Post and the governor of Virginia have wildly overreacted to the latest news from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.

As a former director of admission at three major research universities (Carnegie Mellon, Washington University in St. Louis and Michigan State) and a former member of the National Merit Scholarship Selection Committee, I am certain of this position.”

William H. Turner, Williamsburg, Va.

We can take any idea of actual harm in this situation and throw it out the window.

Never heard of this guy and I don't see why his beliefs are any more credible than the beliefs of any other person.

...because he was a director of admission at three major research universities? If you don't understand why that gives a person credibility, you're monumentally clueless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The local Democrats have finally realized that minimizing the significance of getting a Letter of Commendation, or otherwise saying the failure to notify students was no big deal, is a losing strategy that makes them look like a bunch of out-of-touch elitists ("equity is at the center of everything we do, although your kid is a loser if they only scored in the top 3% and not just the top 1%").

They are now pivoting to complaining that Miyares' investigation is a case of selective prosecution (that is, that he's only looking into this so he can embarrass FCPS, the school system for a largely Democratic county).

That's a better strategy, but it's sure taken them an awfully long time to get there.

Anonymous people on DCUM throwing out facts isn’t a “political strategy”.

The local Democratic activists are kind of a hive mind on Twitter. They were all saying variations of the same thing about the late LOC notifications for a while, and then they pivoted to the "he just wants to 'own the libs'" angle.

It wasn’t a pivot. Both things are true.

Meanwhile, today a former admissions director weighed in on the matter:

“For a high school student to be designated a National Merit commended student is trivial. Although those students are commended for their score, tens of thousands achieve this status, and it is highly improbable that the presence or absence of this information would have any impact on a college admission decision. Both The Post and the governor of Virginia have wildly overreacted to the latest news from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.

As a former director of admission at three major research universities (Carnegie Mellon, Washington University in St. Louis and Michigan State) and a former member of the National Merit Scholarship Selection Committee, I am certain of this position.”

William H. Turner, Williamsburg, Va.

We can take any idea of actual harm in this situation and throw it out the window.

Never heard of this guy and I don't see why his beliefs are any more credible than the beliefs of any other person.

Do a quick search on this guy. Nothing comes up on him. Furthermore, omitted by the trolls is the fact that the designation qualifies students to apply for scholarship pots of money.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/he.36919782105

From a paper that he published a while back, you can see the bio highlighted. Given the way that college admissions has gotten MORE competitive over the years, not less, it strains credibility to imagine that a Commended Student designation would mean MORE now than it would have when he was active in admissions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The local Democrats have finally realized that minimizing the significance of getting a Letter of Commendation, or otherwise saying the failure to notify students was no big deal, is a losing strategy that makes them look like a bunch of out-of-touch elitists ("equity is at the center of everything we do, although your kid is a loser if they only scored in the top 3% and not just the top 1%").

They are now pivoting to complaining that Miyares' investigation is a case of selective prosecution (that is, that he's only looking into this so he can embarrass FCPS, the school system for a largely Democratic county).

That's a better strategy, but it's sure taken them an awfully long time to get there.

Anonymous people on DCUM throwing out facts isn’t a “political strategy”.

The local Democratic activists are kind of a hive mind on Twitter. They were all saying variations of the same thing about the late LOC notifications for a while, and then they pivoted to the "he just wants to 'own the libs'" angle.

It wasn’t a pivot. Both things are true.

Meanwhile, today a former admissions director weighed in on the matter:

“For a high school student to be designated a National Merit commended student is trivial. Although those students are commended for their score, tens of thousands achieve this status, and it is highly improbable that the presence or absence of this information would have any impact on a college admission decision. Both The Post and the governor of Virginia have wildly overreacted to the latest news from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.

As a former director of admission at three major research universities (Carnegie Mellon, Washington University in St. Louis and Michigan State) and a former member of the National Merit Scholarship Selection Committee, I am certain of this position.”

William H. Turner, Williamsburg, Va.

We can take any idea of actual harm in this situation and throw it out the window.

Never heard of this guy and I don't see why his beliefs are any more credible than the beliefs of any other person.

Do a quick search on this guy. Nothing comes up on him. Furthermore, omitted by the trolls is the fact that the designation qualifies students to apply for scholarship pots of money.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/he.36919782105

From a paper that he published a while back, you can see the bio highlighted. Given the way that college admissions has gotten MORE competitive over the years, not less, it strains credibility to imagine that a Commended Student designation would mean MORE now than it would have when he was active in admissions.

Again, I'm not sure what this proves. All I can see is 2 sentences--is there somewhere else where I can read this whole document and see what this proves? I do see that it was published 45 years ago, so again, I am doubtful of his experience having any bearing on TODAY's admission process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The local Democrats have finally realized that minimizing the significance of getting a Letter of Commendation, or otherwise saying the failure to notify students was no big deal, is a losing strategy that makes them look like a bunch of out-of-touch elitists ("equity is at the center of everything we do, although your kid is a loser if they only scored in the top 3% and not just the top 1%").

They are now pivoting to complaining that Miyares' investigation is a case of selective prosecution (that is, that he's only looking into this so he can embarrass FCPS, the school system for a largely Democratic county).

That's a better strategy, but it's sure taken them an awfully long time to get there.

Anonymous people on DCUM throwing out facts isn’t a “political strategy”.

The local Democratic activists are kind of a hive mind on Twitter. They were all saying variations of the same thing about the late LOC notifications for a while, and then they pivoted to the "he just wants to 'own the libs'" angle.

It wasn’t a pivot. Both things are true.

Meanwhile, today a former admissions director weighed in on the matter:

“For a high school student to be designated a National Merit commended student is trivial. Although those students are commended for their score, tens of thousands achieve this status, and it is highly improbable that the presence or absence of this information would have any impact on a college admission decision. Both The Post and the governor of Virginia have wildly overreacted to the latest news from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.

As a former director of admission at three major research universities (Carnegie Mellon, Washington University in St. Louis and Michigan State) and a former member of the National Merit Scholarship Selection Committee, I am certain of this position.”

William H. Turner, Williamsburg, Va.

We can take any idea of actual harm in this situation and throw it out the window.

Never heard of this guy and I don't see why his beliefs are any more credible than the beliefs of any other person.

...because he was a director of admission at three major research universities? If you don't understand why that gives a person credibility, you're monumentally clueless.

WAS. 50+ years ago. If you don't understand why that has no bearing on today's admission standards, you're monumentally clueless.