National Merit Semifinalists 2024

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.reddit.com/r/psat/comments/1fehvjy/2025_nmsf_delaware_and_washington_dc/#lightbox

Wow, only 1 kid from JR, that’s surprising!

They don't pay the $8k for a neuropsych exam.
Sorry for being salty but some of these results are a joke. Their parents bought them. Off my soap box but there are kids who never, not once used their accommodation for in-school work but kept it active from early childhood and whipped it out for the PSAT (and then SAT).

many of the smartest kids from our school are not on the list. the cheaters are.

Others are of course legit.

Stop being a hater. There are MANY kids who wouldn’t qualify, even if they had 24 hours to take the exam.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's me, your local testaholic!

The local lists are starting to come out.

https://www.mymcmedia.org/158-county-students-named-national-merit-semifinalists/

Congrats to the following MoCo non-publics whose students made the list:

Holton-Arms School (5)
Georgetown Preparatory School (3)
Our Lady of Good Counsel High School (2)
Heights School (1)
Landon School (1)
Living Grace Christian School (1)
Sandy Spring Friends School (1)
Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School (1)
Washington Waldorf School (1)
Yeshiva of Greater Washington (1)
Homeschool (1)


Congrats especially to Living Grace Christian School (tuition $5,750) and Yeshiva of Greater Washington ($19,950), which I have never seen on this board, for tying perpetual DCUM topics Landon ($52,360) and SSFS ($43,200), and defeating Bullis ($53,405 tuition, zero NMSF).

[Yes, I know the school doesn't necessarily have that much to do students' success on the SAT -- intentionally so, via test design -- but I enjoy being snarky.]

Thank you for sharing this! My DC is a Freshman but it is interesting to see the results.

For the sheer volume of bashing that MCPS and all public schools in general get by parents on this sub-forum, it was eye-opening to see the results of our MCPS HS compared to the most expensive Privates around here. I teach my kids to be gracious and I will do the same.

Congratulations to every student- homeschooled or public schooled or private schooled, who made it to the list!! I am sure your hard work paid off!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.reddit.com/r/psat/comments/1fehvjy/2025_nmsf_delaware_and_washington_dc/#lightbox

For DC it looks like less than 50 kids?

SFS 11
GDS 7
STA 6
Walls 6
NCS 3
Basis 3
WIS 2
St John’s 2
Latin 2
Maret 1
Field 1
JR 1
Gonzaga 1

Interesting. At the top end in Texas you have private schools with 20-30% of their graduating class earning NMSF.

I’m guessing the discrepancy has to do with distribution of student bodies among public/private schools among other things.

Compare the score cut cutoff for Texas and DC. That’s your answer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.reddit.com/r/psat/comments/1fehvjy/2025_nmsf_delaware_and_washington_dc/#lightbox

Wow, only 1 kid from JR, that’s surprising!

They don't pay the $8k for a neuropsych exam.
Sorry for being salty but some of these results are a joke. Their parents bought them. Off my soap box but there are kids who never, not once used their accommodation for in-school work but kept it active from early childhood and whipped it out for the PSAT (and then SAT).

many of the smartest kids from our school are not on the list. the cheaters are.

Others are of course legit.

Stop being a hater. There are MANY kids who wouldn’t qualify, even if they had 24 hours to take the exam.

Different poster. And there are many who would with extra time.
When most of the NMSFs at your school have extra time (but don't used it outside of the PSAT), there is a problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.reddit.com/r/psat/comments/1fehvjy/2025_nmsf_delaware_and_washington_dc/#lightbox

Wow, only 1 kid from JR, that’s surprising!

They don't pay the $8k for a neuropsych exam.
Sorry for being salty but some of these results are a joke. Their parents bought them. Off my soap box but there are kids who never, not once used their accommodation for in-school work but kept it active from early childhood and whipped it out for the PSAT (and then SAT).

many of the smartest kids from our school are not on the list. the cheaters are.

Others are of course legit.

Stop being a hater. There are MANY kids who wouldn’t qualify, even if they had 24 hours to take the exam.

Different poster. And there are many who would with extra time.
When most of the NMSFs at your school have extra time (but don't used it outside of the PSAT), there is a problem.

How do you (a parent) know what accommodations other students have? Get a life!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.reddit.com/r/psat/comments/1fehvjy/2025_nmsf_delaware_and_washington_dc/#lightbox

For DC it looks like less than 50 kids?

SFS 11
GDS 7
STA 6
Walls 6
NCS 3
Basis 3
WIS 2
St John’s 2
Latin 2
Maret 1
Field 1
JR 1
Gonzaga 1

Interesting. At the top end in Texas you have private schools with 20-30% of their graduating class earning NMSF.

I’m guessing the discrepancy has to do with distribution of student bodies among public/private schools among other things.

Compare the score cut cutoff for Texas and DC. That’s your answer.

Plus the difference in the quality of public schools. Look how many high-achieving kids in MCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's me, your local testaholic!

The local lists are starting to come out.

https://www.mymcmedia.org/158-county-students-named-national-merit-semifinalists/

Congrats to the following MoCo non-publics whose students made the list:

Holton-Arms School (5)
Georgetown Preparatory School (3)
Our Lady of Good Counsel High School (2)
Heights School (1)
Landon School (1)
Living Grace Christian School (1)
Sandy Spring Friends School (1)
Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School (1)
Washington Waldorf School (1)
Yeshiva of Greater Washington (1)
Homeschool (1)


Congrats especially to Living Grace Christian School (tuition $5,750) and Yeshiva of Greater Washington ($19,950), which I have never seen on this board, for tying perpetual DCUM topics Landon ($52,360) and SSFS ($43,200), and defeating Bullis ($53,405 tuition, zero NMSF).

[Yes, I know the school doesn't necessarily have that much to do students' success on the SAT -- intentionally so, via test design -- but I enjoy being snarky.]

Thank you for sharing this! My DC is a Freshman but it is interesting to see the results.

For the sheer volume of bashing that MCPS and all public schools in general get by parents on this sub-forum, it was eye-opening to see the results of our MCPS HS compared to the most expensive Privates around here. I teach my kids to be gracious and I will do the same.

Congratulations to every student- homeschooled or public schooled or private schooled, who made it to the list!! I am sure your hard work paid off!

8.8% of Sidwell’s seniors are NMSFs this year. Which MoCo public has a higher percentage? I’m not trying to argue…just genuinely curious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.reddit.com/r/psat/comments/1fehvjy/2025_nmsf_delaware_and_washington_dc/#lightbox

Wow, only 1 kid from JR, that’s surprising!

They don't pay the $8k for a neuropsych exam.
Sorry for being salty but some of these results are a joke. Their parents bought them. Off my soap box but there are kids who never, not once used their accommodation for in-school work but kept it active from early childhood and whipped it out for the PSAT (and then SAT).

many of the smartest kids from our school are not on the list. the cheaters are.

Others are of course legit.

Congratulations. You have impugned the character of every student on this list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.reddit.com/r/psat/comments/1fehvjy/2025_nmsf_delaware_and_washington_dc/#lightbox

Wow, only 1 kid from JR, that’s surprising!

They don't pay the $8k for a neuropsych exam.
Sorry for being salty but some of these results are a joke. Their parents bought them. Off my soap box but there are kids who never, not once used their accommodation for in-school work but kept it active from early childhood and whipped it out for the PSAT (and then SAT).

many of the smartest kids from our school are not on the list. the cheaters are.

Others are of course legit.

Stop being a hater. There are MANY kids who wouldn’t qualify, even if they had 24 hours to take the exam.

Different poster. And there are many who would with extra time.
When most of the NMSFs at your school have extra time (but don't used it outside of the PSAT), there is a problem.

Which school? Name it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.reddit.com/r/psat/comments/1fehvjy/2025_nmsf_delaware_and_washington_dc/#lightbox

For DC it looks like less than 50 kids?

SFS 11
GDS 7
STA 6
Walls 6
NCS 3
Basis 3
WIS 2
St John’s 2
Latin 2
Maret 1
Field 1
JR 1
Gonzaga 1

Interesting. At the top end in Texas you have private schools with 20-30% of their graduating class earning NMSF.

I’m guessing the discrepancy has to do with distribution of student bodies among public/private schools among other things.

It's also really hard to take the test in DC if your school doesn't offer it. Before we moved to DC, we lived in FL, and DC took the SAT in 8, 9 and 10, both at the start of school year and end of school year, in class, so they had lots of practice. I think Texas is similar.

[Anonymous]

meant to say PSAT 👆 in 8,9 and 10.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's me, your local testaholic!

The local lists are starting to come out.

https://www.mymcmedia.org/158-county-students-named-national-merit-semifinalists/

Congrats to the following MoCo non-publics whose students made the list:

Holton-Arms School (5)
Georgetown Preparatory School (3)
Our Lady of Good Counsel High School (2)
Heights School (1)
Landon School (1)
Living Grace Christian School (1)
Sandy Spring Friends School (1)
Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School (1)
Washington Waldorf School (1)
Yeshiva of Greater Washington (1)
Homeschool (1)


Congrats especially to Living Grace Christian School (tuition $5,750) and Yeshiva of Greater Washington ($19,950), which I have never seen on this board, for tying perpetual DCUM topics Landon ($52,360) and SSFS ($43,200), and defeating Bullis ($53,405 tuition, zero NMSF).

[Yes, I know the school doesn't necessarily have that much to do students' success on the SAT -- intentionally so, via test design -- but I enjoy being snarky.]

Thank you for sharing this! My DC is a Freshman but it is interesting to see the results.

For the sheer volume of bashing that MCPS and all public schools in general get by parents on this sub-forum, it was eye-opening to see the results of our MCPS HS compared to the most expensive Privates around here. I teach my kids to be gracious and I will do the same.

Congratulations to every student- homeschooled or public schooled or private schooled, who made it to the list!! I am sure your hard work paid off!

8.8% of Sidwell’s seniors are NMSFs this year. Which MoCo public has a higher percentage? I’m not trying to argue…just genuinely curious.

The comparables would be the magnet programs, where kids have access to a stronger curriculum. 42/100 Blair magnet seniors and 24/100 Richard Montgomery magnet students earned NMSF.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:LOL at BIM having only four.

They have a small class I believe.

I thought the school was supposedly so great that they admitted only students who were academic superstars, or turned their students into them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's me, your local testaholic!

The local lists are starting to come out.

https://www.mymcmedia.org/158-county-students-named-national-merit-semifinalists/

Congrats to the following MoCo non-publics whose students made the list:

Holton-Arms School (5)
Georgetown Preparatory School (3)
Our Lady of Good Counsel High School (2)
Heights School (1)
Landon School (1)
Living Grace Christian School (1)
Sandy Spring Friends School (1)
Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School (1)
Washington Waldorf School (1)
Yeshiva of Greater Washington (1)
Homeschool (1)


Congrats especially to Living Grace Christian School (tuition $5,750) and Yeshiva of Greater Washington ($19,950), which I have never seen on this board, for tying perpetual DCUM topics Landon ($52,360) and SSFS ($43,200), and defeating Bullis ($53,405 tuition, zero NMSF).

[Yes, I know the school doesn't necessarily have that much to do students' success on the SAT -- intentionally so, via test design -- but I enjoy being snarky.]

Thank you for sharing this! My DC is a Freshman but it is interesting to see the results.

For the sheer volume of bashing that MCPS and all public schools in general get by parents on this sub-forum, it was eye-opening to see the results of our MCPS HS compared to the most expensive Privates around here. I teach my kids to be gracious and I will do the same.

Congratulations to every student- homeschooled or public schooled or private schooled, who made it to the list!! I am sure your hard work paid off!

8.8% of Sidwell’s seniors are NMSFs this year. Which MoCo public has a higher percentage? I’m not trying to argue…just genuinely curious.

The comparables would be the magnet programs, where kids have access to a stronger curriculum. 42/100 Blair magnet seniors and 24/100 Richard Montgomery magnet students earned NMSF.

Nope, that’s not how this works. That’s like Sidwell saying it only wants to count the students in the top 10-15% of the grade, based on GPA.
So, how many seniors TOTAL are in Blair and RM’s grades? This calculation requires the denominator.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's me, your local testaholic!

The local lists are starting to come out.

https://www.mymcmedia.org/158-county-students-named-national-merit-semifinalists/

Congrats to the following MoCo non-publics whose students made the list:

Holton-Arms School (5)
Georgetown Preparatory School (3)
Our Lady of Good Counsel High School (2)
Heights School (1)
Landon School (1)
Living Grace Christian School (1)
Sandy Spring Friends School (1)
Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School (1)
Washington Waldorf School (1)
Yeshiva of Greater Washington (1)
Homeschool (1)


Congrats especially to Living Grace Christian School (tuition $5,750) and Yeshiva of Greater Washington ($19,950), which I have never seen on this board, for tying perpetual DCUM topics Landon ($52,360) and SSFS ($43,200), and defeating Bullis ($53,405 tuition, zero NMSF).

[Yes, I know the school doesn't necessarily have that much to do students' success on the SAT -- intentionally so, via test design -- but I enjoy being snarky.]

Thank you for sharing this! My DC is a Freshman but it is interesting to see the results.

For the sheer volume of bashing that MCPS and all public schools in general get by parents on this sub-forum, it was eye-opening to see the results of our MCPS HS compared to the most expensive Privates around here. I teach my kids to be gracious and I will do the same.

Congratulations to every student- homeschooled or public schooled or private schooled, who made it to the list!! I am sure your hard work paid off!

8.8% of Sidwell’s seniors are NMSFs this year. Which MoCo public has a higher percentage? I’m not trying to argue…just genuinely curious.

Montgomery Blair was about 6%. Not trying to argue, just genuinely more impressed with MB's results considering the cost. Signed, private school parent