National Merit Semifinalist 2018

[Anonymous]

https://patch.com/district-columbia/georgetown/s/g8enk/36-dc-students-named-national-merit-semifinalists

They did. 15 minutes ago, apparently.

[Anonymous]

11 at Sidwell
8 at GDS
7 at STA
4 at NCS
2 at Maret
1 at Visi
1 at St. John's

2 at Walls
1 at Wilson

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Holy crap! Back in fall 1991, the qualifying PSAT score for MD was 204. Makes you wonder how much of this is (1) the test getting easier vs. (2) kids becoming better coached for it.

It doesn't really matter - the qualifying score is set so that it captures the top 1/2% of test takers in each state.

Is this true? That seems like a really small cohort to me. I received a national merit scholarship 30 years ago ($2000 per year, IIRC), but so did my brother, and his scores were substantially better than mine. I would have guessed that it was top 5% or so.

Top 5% is nothing anymore, you have to be in the top 0.5% of higher even. That's not a good use of someone's time. My DD got a 98 percentile without a prep class or paying for pricey tutoring . She spent her summer working a meaningful job instead of taking an intense summer prep class or prepping herself which was a much better idea for her future. And now she's just taking the ACT, no SAT. I'm okay with that.

The PSAT seems less honorable now and more about adding to the standardized testing money machine. Our friend's kid was one of the smartest kids around and was accepted at all ivies and we never heard anything about nms. I'm sure he got one - right? - but it's not a big deal anymore. They should find a way to make it more of a meaningful honor and less of a rich people prep class kind of thing, though maybe that's impossible .

I'm sure that the 145 semifinalists at TJ all took a rich kids prep class to et the honor. You sound very bitter. How about recognizing there may be a lot of very bright kids who are being recognized?

lol are you kidding me half the kids at TJ have been prepping since elementary school if not earlier lol. You realize they have camps/classes for TJ prepping and hundreds of kids go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://patch.com/district-columbia/georgetown/s/g8enk/36-dc-students-named-national-merit-semifinalists

They did. 15 minutes ago, apparently.

Thank you! Hopefully Maryland will post some time soon.

[Anonymous]

No one from Gonzaga surprises me.

[Anonymous]

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/education/bs-md-national-merit-semifinalists-20170918-story.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/education/bs-md-national-merit-semifinalists-20170918-story.html

The link to the list of semifinalists doesn't seem to work for me--just goes to a blank page. Can others see it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://patch.com/district-columbia/georgetown/s/g8enk/36-dc-students-named-national-merit-semifinalists

They did. 15 minutes ago, apparently.

What are those numbers next to each name?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://patch.com/district-columbia/georgetown/s/g8enk/36-dc-students-named-national-merit-semifinalists

They did. 15 minutes ago, apparently.

What are those numbers next to each name?

They are codes for whatever the kid chose as their expected field of study in college.

[Anonymous]

Sorry about the link--just search national merit semifinalist maryland 2018 and it will come up. There is a link in the article.

[Anonymous]

I would say that it appears to be a fairly even result for the Big 3 (Georgetown Day School, National Cathedral School/St. Albans School, and Sidwell Friends School) this year. I continue to believe that these are all terrific schools (as are the other private schools) which attract very strong students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry about the link--just search national merit semifinalist maryland 2018 and it will come up. There is a link in the article.

Thanks. Your link works fine, but the link in that article to the list doesn't work (at least for me). The Baltimore Sun story you linked to is the only place I've seen reference to a list for MD.

[Anonymous]

walls continues to impress me. They do quite well, especially considering the relatively small size. Plus, one of last year's finalists was from walls.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:walls continues to impress me. They do quite well, especially considering the relatively small size. Plus, one of last year's finalists was from walls.

I agree, the DC public schools and notably Walls do an excellent job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:walls continues to impress me. They do quite well, especially considering the relatively small size. Plus, one of last year's finalists was from walls.

I agree, the DC public schools and notably Walls do an excellent job.

The last two years have seen Presidential Scholars from Wilson and Walls too.