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

[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.

Very simple to find out. Ask the school principal how many kids got the commended letter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

Reminds me of Bush quote ..."To those of you who received honours, awards and distinctions, I say well done. And to the C students, I say you, too, can be president of the United States"

[Anonymous]

The kids at Wilson are fantastic. I know Wilson kids that are among the most talented artists, athletes, musicians, student journalists, actors, debaters, etc. in the area. And I know Wilson students that are smarter - both academically and socially - than any private school kid I have ever met. And heck yes, these kids get into great colleges.

The fact that there are no Wilson kids among the National Merit Semifinalists tells me that there is something wrong the National Merit Semifinalist award criteria, not that there is something wrong with Wilson.

[Anonymous]

The kids at Wilson are fantastic. I know Wilson kids that are among the most talented artists, athletes, musicians, student journalists, actors, debaters, etc. in the area. And I know Wilson students that are smarter - both academically and socially - than any private school kid I have ever met. And heck yes, these kids get into great colleges.

The fact that there are no Wilson kids among the National Merit Semifinalists tells me that there is something wrong the National Merit Semifinalist award criteria, not that there is something wrong with Wilson.

- Signed,

Parent of Two Wilson Students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:


The kids at Wilson are fantastic. I know Wilson kids that are among the most talented artists, athletes, musicians, student journalists, actors, debaters, etc. in the area. And I know Wilson students that are smarter - both academically and socially - than any private school kid I have ever met. And heck yes, these kids get into great colleges.

The fact that there are no Wilson kids among the National Merit Semifinalists tells me that there is something wrong the National Merit Semifinalist award criteria, not that there is something wrong with Wilson.

- Signed,

Parent of Two Wilson Students.

Hey, Wilson is soo wonderfull that the fail at the PSAT.... please
To me Wilson is to much talk and nothing to show.

[Anonymous]

[flash]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


The kids at Wilson are fantastic. I know Wilson kids that are among the most talented artists, athletes, musicians, student journalists, actors, debaters, etc. in the area. And I know Wilson students that are smarter - both academically and socially - than any private school kid I have ever met. And heck yes, these kids get into great colleges.

The fact that there are no Wilson kids among the National Merit Semifinalists tells me that there is something wrong the National Merit Semifinalist award criteria, not that there is something wrong with Wilson.

- Signed,

Parent of Two Wilson Students.

Hey, Wilson is soo wonderfull that the fail at the PSAT.... please
To me Wilson is to much talk and nothing to show.

Like I said in another thread, maybe you should master the English language before you start posting snarky comments on this forum. You’re just exposing you’re own incompetence.

[Anonymous]

I've been an Ivy League interviewer in this area for 20 years. DC has the highest high cutoff score, so it is difficult to become a semifinalist here. Colleges though, don't look at the PSAT; they just look at your SAT scores. They also know that there is a margin of error around these scores, so that any rating that makes distinctions between someone who got a 222 and someone who got a 223 probably isn't useful.

In addition, SAT scores aren't that well correlated with college success. Colleges would rather take a kid with all 750+ scores on the SAT who ran a canned food drive and coaches Little League than a person with all 800s who hasn't accomplished anything else. This is because people who get things done are more successful in life.

All this is to say that prepping to squeeze every last point out of the test is not the best use of a high school student's time

[Anonymous]

Another Ivy League interviewer who agrees with this. If your student can score high enough on the PSAT to make the grade for NMSS without much prep, great. If not, no problem. There are far better ways for a kid to strive to stand out in any given admissions pool than to shoot to make the cut-off with a lot of prep. Still, something's going a bit wrong at Wilson when nobody makes the cut-off in a given year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The kids at Wilson are fantastic. I know Wilson kids that are among the most talented artists, athletes, musicians, student journalists, actors, debaters, etc. in the area. And I know Wilson students that are smarter - both academically and socially - than any private school kid I have ever met. And heck yes, these kids get into great colleges.

The fact that there are no Wilson kids among the National Merit Semifinalists tells me that there is something wrong the National Merit Semifinalist award criteria, not that there is something wrong with Wilson.

The fact that you’d post something so silly tells me that there is something wrong with you. Wilson students simply fall short of the mark.

[Anonymous]

+1

[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.

So your theory is that because the test was easy for you, every kid at Wilson should be in the top 1% of DC test takers? I'm assuming you are smart enough to see why that doesn't work. Also, if everyone got a perfect PSAT score, it would completely invalidate the test.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


The kids at Wilson are fantastic. I know Wilson kids that are among the most talented artists, athletes, musicians, student journalists, actors, debaters, etc. in the area. And I know Wilson students that are smarter - both academically and socially - than any private school kid I have ever met. And heck yes, these kids get into great colleges.

The fact that there are no Wilson kids among the National Merit Semifinalists tells me that there is something wrong the National Merit Semifinalist award criteria, not that there is something wrong with Wilson.

- Signed,

Parent of Two Wilson Students.

Hey, Wilson is soo wonderfull that the fail at the PSAT.... please
To me Wilson is to much talk and nothing to show.

Let me guess....you don't really know much about Wilson or the kids who attend school there.

[Anonymous]

Maybe the issue is more with the test administration at Wilson. I heard that last year's SAT test started 2 hours late and was a very confusing experience for the kids. This can cause some kids to underperform on these tests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe the issue is more with the test administration at Wilson. I heard that last year's SAT test started 2 hours late and was a very confusing experience for the kids. This can cause some kids to underperform on these tests.

Bingo, and you are understating the scope of the problem by quite a bit. As the parent of two Wilson students, I will confine my comments to this: there are many very smart and motivated students at the school, and to the extent that they succeed, it’s largely despite Wilson, not because of it. The school is blessed with so many excellent teachers and so many intelligent students, from all parts of the city, and the admin and the school system consistently undermine progress. I will be happy when my kids to graduate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:


The kids at Wilson are fantastic. I know Wilson kids that are among the most talented artists, athletes, musicians, student journalists, actors, debaters, etc. in the area. And I know Wilson students that are smarter - both academically and socially - than any private school kid I have ever met. And heck yes, these kids get into great colleges.

The fact that there are no Wilson kids among the National Merit Semifinalists tells me that there is something wrong the National Merit Semifinalist award criteria, not that there is something wrong with Wilson.

- Signed,

Parent of Two Wilson Students.

Weird post bro