TJ Commended Student Emails Released - Who is really responsible?

[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.

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.

And one of those 2 sentences...
"The eighteen-month admbsions year is filled with innumerable decisions for both the prospective student and the admissions offucer."
Yeah, sorry. I'm not going to take what this guy says too seriously.

[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.

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.

The key phrase to describe what you're doing here is "intentional ignorance". The guy was a director of admissions at three major universities. If you're rejecting his experience in favor of some BS narrative that is presently supported by zero admissions professionals, that's just plain moronic. Take the L and move on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Participants = entrants

"Nearly all program participants (entrants) will be juniors planning to enter college in 2024"
https://www.nationalmerit.org/s/1758/images/gid2/editor_documents/student_guide.pdf?gid=2&pgid=61 (page 4)

Stop pushing RWNJ lies.

[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.

...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.

Of all of the hilarious deflections I've seen in this whole saga by people who insist that this was a big deal, this one is the funniest.

Starting to think that they're just taking it personally that their kid didn't make Semifinalist status and insisting on their snowflakey participation trophy.

[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.

...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.

Of all of the hilarious deflections I've seen in this whole saga by people who insist that this was a big deal, this one is the funniest.

Starting to think that they're just taking it personally that their kid didn't make Semifinalist status and insisting on their snowflakey participation trophy.

They need a ceremony for THEIR kids too.

[Anonymous]

For those saying students have not been harmed, Langley commended students were not notified until Friday evening 1/6/23 according to the email from Kimberly Greer the Langley Principal and it appears from the article below that Westfield students weren't notified until Saturday 1/7/23. These students absolutely missed the deadlines to apply for merit based scholarships. [u]

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those saying students have not been harmed, Langley commended students were not notified until Friday evening 1/6/23 according to the email from Kimberly Greer the Langley Principal and it appears from the article below that Westfield students weren't notified until Saturday 1/7/23. These students absolutely missed the deadlines to apply for merit based scholarships. [u]

article link: https://www.fairfaxtimes.com/articles/area-principals-admit-to-withholding-national-merit-awards-from-students/article_2e5ed028-8f01-11ed-997c-37c69ccfb584.html

[Anonymous]

No one is giving someone a merit scholarship for commended status, except Liberty Univ and a handoff other religious schools. I guarantee none of these kids are interested in those schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Participants = entrants

"Nearly all program participants (entrants) will be juniors planning to enter college in 2024"
https://www.nationalmerit.org/s/1758/images/gid2/editor_documents/student_guide.pdf?gid=2&pgid=61 (page 4)

Stop pushing RWNJ lies.

Stop pushing lies, period. Once again, see that “not” in that first sentence?

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:For those saying students have not been harmed, Langley commended students were not notified until Friday evening 1/6/23 according to the email from Kimberly Greer the Langley Principal and it appears from the article below that Westfield students weren't notified until Saturday 1/7/23. These students absolutely missed the deadlines to apply for merit based scholarships. [u]

article link: https://www.fairfaxtimes.com/articles/area-principals-admit-to-withholding-national-merit-awards-from-students/article_2e5ed028-8f01-11ed-997c-37c69ccfb584.html

Haha, that Langley dad thinks his kid was rejected from VT because he didn’t note commended on his app. My NM Finalist was rejected from VT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one is giving someone a merit scholarship for commended status, except Liberty Univ and a handoff other religious schools. I guarantee none of these kids are interested in those schools.

Stop lying, please.

Based on the selection index score set by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), two-thirds (34,000) of the 50,000 high scorers receive Letters of Commendation in recognition of their academic performance. Despite gaining high scores, being considered as a commended student means they are no longer qualified for the National Merit Scholarships. However, they can still receive PSAT scholarships from private corporations and businesses.

[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.

...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.

Of all of the hilarious deflections I've seen in this whole saga by people who insist that this was a big deal, this one is the funniest.

Starting to think that they're just taking it personally that their kid didn't make Semifinalist status and insisting on their snowflakey participation trophy.

They need a ceremony for THEIR kids too.

It all makes sense now!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one is giving someone a merit scholarship for commended status, except Liberty Univ and a handoff other religious schools. I guarantee none of these kids are interested in those schools.

True but that's not the point. It's about creating a bunch of fuss over nothing to try and affect regime change. They're still made they can't game admissions and hope that this might help their cause.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Participants = entrants

"Nearly all program participants (entrants) will be juniors planning to enter college in 2024"
https://www.nationalmerit.org/s/1758/images/gid2/editor_documents/student_guide.pdf?gid=2&pgid=61 (page 4)

Stop pushing RWNJ lies.

Stop pushing lies, period. Once again, see that “not” in that first sentence?

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.

Again, the 800 scholarships are open to anyone who entered who is not a finalist. Could be semi-finalist, commended, or non-commended.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one is giving someone a merit scholarship for commended status, except Liberty Univ and a handoff other religious schools. I guarantee none of these kids are interested in those schools.

True but that's not the point. It's about creating a bunch of fuss over nothing to try and affect regime change. They're still made they can't game admissions and hope that this might help their cause.