National Merit Semifinalists

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Impressive results for DC public schools:

Public: 8
Private: 22

Walls beat every private school in the DC—kudos to them!

And, for privates, Gonzaga bested NCS and SAAS.

Please stop using words like beat and bested. Sheesh.

Beat it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's odd that people deemphasize SATs but emphasize being a National Merit Semifinalist.

All being a semifinalist means is that you did well on a pretend, practice SAT. It's not very meaningful and doesnt get you much (I was a semifinalist a long time ago).

My kid got a full ride to college. It was meaningful. No, not a HYP but Florida automatically gives NMF a full ride.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's odd that people deemphasize SATs but emphasize being a National Merit Semifinalist.

All being a semifinalist means is that you did well on a pretend, practice SAT. It's not very meaningful and doesnt get you much (I was a semifinalist a long time ago).

My kid got a full ride to college. It was meaningful. No, not a HYP but Florida automatically gives NMF a full ride.

Congratulations! It is important and leads to scholarships. A full ride is the ultimate goal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's odd that people deemphasize SATs but emphasize being a National Merit Semifinalist.

All being a semifinalist means is that you did well on a pretend, practice SAT. It's not very meaningful and doesnt get you much (I was a semifinalist a long time ago).

My kid got a full ride to college. It was meaningful. No, not a HYP but Florida automatically gives NMF a full ride.

Congratulations! It is important and leads to scholarships. A full ride is the ultimate goal.

For adults too..

😉

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Impressive results for DC public schools:

Public: 8
Private: 22

Walls beat every private school in the DC—kudos to them!

And, for privates, Gonzaga bested NCS and SAAS.

Please stop using words like beat and bested. Sheesh.

Beat it.

PP totally bested you, PPP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's odd that people deemphasize SATs but emphasize being a National Merit Semifinalist.

All being a semifinalist means is that you did well on a pretend, practice SAT. It's not very meaningful and doesnt get you much (I was a semifinalist a long time ago).

My kid got a full ride to college. It was meaningful. No, not a HYP but Florida automatically gives NMF a full ride.

Congratulations! It is important and leads to scholarships. A full ride is the ultimate goal.

+1

Thanks for pointing that out PP. Not everyone is hyper focused on Ivies and MIT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's odd that people deemphasize SATs but emphasize being a National Merit Semifinalist.

All being a semifinalist means is that you did well on a pretend, practice SAT. It's not very meaningful and doesnt get you much (I was a semifinalist a long time ago).

My kid got a full ride to college. It was meaningful. No, not a HYP but Florida automatically gives NMF a full ride.

Did you do or can you recommend any type of prep for the test?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's odd that people deemphasize SATs but emphasize being a National Merit Semifinalist.

All being a semifinalist means is that you did well on a pretend, practice SAT. It's not very meaningful and doesnt get you much (I was a semifinalist a long time ago).

My kid got a full ride to college. It was meaningful. No, not a HYP but Florida automatically gives NMF a full ride.

Did you do or can you recommend any type of prep for the test?

Just do a couple of practice PSATs and learn the SAT vocab words.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's odd that people deemphasize SATs but emphasize being a National Merit Semifinalist.

All being a semifinalist means is that you did well on a pretend, practice SAT. It's not very meaningful and doesnt get you much (I was a semifinalist a long time ago).

My kid got a full ride to college. It was meaningful. No, not a HYP but Florida automatically gives NMF a full ride.

Did you do or can you recommend any type of prep for the test?

We did a prep tutor service. I get that it's controversial but I would advise any kid to prepare for a test. Especially if they are in high level mathematics classes, they may have forgotten what geometry covered since it could be several years ago. It was money well spent IMO. If your budget is very tight, or your kid is very disciplined, online Khan academy or other practice tests are available. It's not rocket science. They take practice tests and go over whatever questions they missed. There are only so many topics covered. If you do that enough times, you're good to go. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's odd that people deemphasize SATs but emphasize being a National Merit Semifinalist.

All being a semifinalist means is that you did well on a pretend, practice SAT. It's not very meaningful and doesnt get you much (I was a semifinalist a long time ago).

My kid got a full ride to college. It was meaningful. No, not a HYP but Florida automatically gives NMF a full ride.

Did you do or can you recommend any type of prep for the test?

We did a prep tutor service. I get that it's controversial but I would advise any kid to prepare for a test. Especially if they are in high level mathematics classes, they may have forgotten what geometry covered since it could be several years ago. It was money well spent IMO. If your budget is very tight, or your kid is very disciplined, online Khan academy or other practice tests are available. It's not rocket science. They take practice tests and go over whatever questions they missed. There are only so many topics covered. If you do that enough times, you're good to go. Good luck!

yup. I was a Kaplan teacher (and a NMSF!) for a long time and this is very effective. Also: Kids who a big readers will always have an advantage because they have been building their vocabulary for a long time, but studying word roots is EXTREMELY helpful. Math -- spend a few weeks going from arithmetic through proportions through algebra to geometry to make sure it's all fresh. it doesn't take too long. Paying for the classes/a tutor is not totally necessary -- all the same information is available in a $30 book.