So why does Wilson not have a single National Merit Semifinalist?

[Anonymous]

It is really hard to be a semifinalist in DC. In most states scores in the top 98% will get you there. In DC you have to score in the top 99.5% (of kids in school in DC). Some kids are really well prepared. Some are great at taking tests. The fact that no one from Wilson got it this year doesn’t say anything about the school. There could be a hundred kids there who scored in the top 99% and in this city that wouldn’t be enough.

[Anonymous]

About 20% of my class at a public magnet was semifinalists, maybe higher. State with a reasonably high cutoff though not quite as bad as DC. I wish DC had real magnets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was a semifinalist because I'm good at tests.

But that was 2 decades ago. Things are different now. I wouldn't expect to be a semifinalist without prepping. There are too many kids who have their eyes on the prize and will work their fingers to the bone to try and get it.

So why does no one at Wilson have their eye on the prize?

Because they can still get into Ivies without out it.

-- Signed current Wilson parent.

oxoxoxoxoxo
+100000
—parent of a Wilson senior

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is really hard to be a semifinalist in DC. In most states scores in the top 98% will get you there. In DC you have to score in the top 99.5% (of kids in school in DC). Some kids are really well prepared. Some are great at taking tests. The fact that no one from Wilson got it this year doesn’t say anything about the school. There could be a hundred kids there who scored in the top 99% and in this city that wouldn’t be enough.

The cutoff is the same in every state for percentile of kids that attend school in that state. What hurts DC kids is that it's done by where you go to school, not where you live. DC has the highest cutoff score in the nation -- tied with a couple other states -- because it has a relatively large number of kids who score very high. A score that will qualify in most of the country won't in DC. DC has a relatively small school population -- about 7,000 high school seniors each year -- and private schools that draw high-scoring kids from the surrounding suburbs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is really hard to be a semifinalist in DC. In most states scores in the top 98% will get you there. In DC you have to score in the top 99.5% (of kids in school in DC). Some kids are really well prepared. Some are great at taking tests. The fact that no one from Wilson got it this year doesn’t say anything about the school. There could be a hundred kids there who scored in the top 99% and in this city that wouldn’t be enough.

The cutoff is the same in every state for percentile of kids that attend school in that state. What hurts DC kids is that it's done by where you go to school, not where you live. DC has the highest cutoff score in the nation -- tied with a couple other states -- because it has a relatively large number of kids who score very high. A score that will qualify in most of the country won't in DC. DC has a relatively small school population -- about 7,000 high school seniors each year -- and private schools that draw high-scoring kids from the surrounding suburbs.

That is not technically correct. Each state is assigned a percentile for NMSF based on the national percentage of college seniors who attend school in that state. DC is a city so obviously it's percentage is miniscule (~5600 seniors in DC/~3.6 million graduates = ~0.0015). So the "cut" would be at the score of roughly the top 8 students' scores. That becomes ridiculous in practice, so DC is assigned a cut score (always the top one), as are boarding schools and US schools abroad, and anyone who gets that top national cut score is a NMSF.

[Anonymous]

The bottom line is that you have to be a top test taker to get this in DC. What happens to DC's top test takers who live IB for Wilson? They get the top scores on the Walls test and on the SSAT, so they get offers from Walls and multiple private schools, some of which will give that kid significant aid to attend a great private school. Whichever school that kid chooses will likely get to claim a NMSF, not because they taught that kid something extra special, but because they attracted the top handful of test takers.

So the better question vis a vis Wilson, is why are the handful of top test takers who live IB for Wilson (maybe 10 out of the 54??) not choosing Wilson over Walls or DC privates like Sidwell/GDS/STA/NCS/SAAS? And that is a somewhat silly question. Many of this small group of kids have a hard time making that choice, but at the end of 8th grade they know that have this one shot at something different, and if they don't like it they can always go back to Wilson.

[Anonymous]

Not buying it. Don't believe in top test takers. The PSAT (along with SAT, GRE, MCAT, GMAT etc.) simply isn't a difficult test for the bright, hard-working and well-prepared. I got a perfect score from a mediocre public school as a FARMs student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids have gone to school with them since K and I am friends with the families.

parents don’t tell how much extra help their kids get. We were friends with a family who always boasted how their kids did everything in their own. We later found out they had an on call salaried tutor. For ACT , one kid went to a tutoring company for 8 months ( his words to my kid) and was able to boost the total from 25 to 33.

[Anonymous]

Because it is a majority minority lower SES school which as a type traditionally does not do well on standardized tests

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is really hard to be a semifinalist in DC. In most states scores in the top 98% will get you there. In DC you have to score in the top 99.5% (of kids in school in DC). Some kids are really well prepared. Some are great at taking tests. The fact that no one from Wilson got it this year doesn’t say anything about the school. There could be a hundred kids there who scored in the top 99% and in this city that wouldn’t be enough.

The score required for nsmf is based on percentile scores of students taking the test in each state.

So by definition it is exactly as easy to score above the NSMF breakpoints in DC as in every other state.

What you mean is that more kids in DC have high scores so the breakpoint is set higher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is really hard to be a semifinalist in DC. In most states scores in the top 98% will get you there. In DC you have to score in the top 99.5% (of kids in school in DC). Some kids are really well prepared. Some are great at taking tests. The fact that no one from Wilson got it this year doesn’t say anything about the school. There could be a hundred kids there who scored in the top 99% and in this city that wouldn’t be enough.

The score required for nsmf is based on percentile scores of students taking the test in each state.

So by definition it is exactly as easy to score above the NSMF breakpoints in DC as in every other state.

What you mean is that more kids in DC have high scores so the breakpoint is set higher.

Yah some how I don’t this it is that

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is really hard to be a semifinalist in DC. In most states scores in the top 98% will get you there. In DC you have to score in the top 99.5% (of kids in school in DC). Some kids are really well prepared. Some are great at taking tests. The fact that no one from Wilson got it this year doesn’t say anything about the school. There could be a hundred kids there who scored in the top 99% and in this city that wouldn’t be enough.

It's no harder to be a finalist in MD---DC and MD have the same cut--off score for semi-finalist status. And yet, multiple Montgomery public high schools have DOZENS of finalists each and Wilson has ZERO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not buying it. Don't believe in top test takers. The PSAT (along with SAT, GRE, MCAT, GMAT etc.) simply isn't a difficult test for the bright, hard-working and well-prepared. I got a perfect score from a mediocre public school as a FARMs student.

Clearly not in statistics. You understand that the cutoff is designed to select the top 0.5% of test takers, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is really hard to be a semifinalist in DC. In most states scores in the top 98% will get you there. In DC you have to score in the top 99.5% (of kids in school in DC). Some kids are really well prepared. Some are great at taking tests. The fact that no one from Wilson got it this year doesn’t say anything about the school. There could be a hundred kids there who scored in the top 99% and in this city that wouldn’t be enough.

It's no harder to be a finalist in MD---DC and MD have the same cut--off score for semi-finalist status. And yet, multiple Montgomery public high schools have DOZENS of finalists each and Wilson has ZERO.

And thousands more students taking the test.

You need to be in the top .5%. Obviously there will be more .5% students in MD than in DC because there are more students in MD than DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:About 20% of my class at a public magnet was semifinalists, maybe higher. State with a reasonably high cutoff though not quite as bad as DC. I wish DC had real magnets.

Let me guess. WG Enloe in the House!

I also wish DC had a great magnet.

I was a semifinalist from there. I never mentioned it much or put it on a resume or anything. I was a National Merit scholar. Am I supposed to?