I'm confused--why do you need OP to answer all those many questions?? Didn't OP provide raw data? Aren't you all with the questions just as able to analyze it? And just as able to fill in missing information if that's what you want to do? Why all the demands?

A few months ago, I got sick of people making unsubstantiated claims about which schools have good or bad records of National Merit Semifinalists. So I did some research and plugged the results into a spreadsheet. I just recently cleaned it up, and I'm posting it here: http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AqmbmeXDw6...djRTaTU0SUtfSk5WLS1CY0E&hl=en. I'm not interested in starting a discussion about how different schools stack up on NMSF data. My hope is only that others who want to argue about this stuff will at least be able to talk from a common set of facts, and will be less likely to make up false info. Also, if someone does start to make stuff up, people can call bullshit more easily by referencing this spreadsheet. Let me be clear that I'm not suggesting NMSF data can be used to claim one school is better or worse than any other. At best, it's just one way of looking at schools, and there certainly are many other more significant factors for most families.

I gathered most of the NMSF numbers from newspaper listings or from the schools' own press releases. For a few assorted years, I used data from other websites that seemed reliable. To calculate the number of students in each class, I averaged three class years of data from NAEP. I'm pretty confident most of the data is valid. However, people should recognize that the sample sizes are so small that there likely is still a large amount of variability in the final numbers.

If anyone has more years of data I can add to the spreadsheet, please post a link with the data source. I'm not going to add data just based on some anonymous person's say-so, but if you link to a credible source, I'd like to add the extra data.

I hope this helps.

Anonymous wrote:To use the poster's own term: Analytical method for arriving at percentages = bull shit in, bull shit out.

Anonymous wrote:I don't have anyone at STA -- but I'm curious as to why there is so much STA bashing on so many of these threads.

I don't get why people are so obsessed with some of these stats. Look to where the students go to college -- that is a good final sum test.

Anonymous wrote:You are all freaks.

OP here. Many thanks for all the kind words. I hope the data will prove useful, despite its limits. And most importantly, many thanks to those who posted links leading to more data to fill some of the gaps -- that's the most helpful of all. I'll try to answer a few questions that have been asked, before I have to go to work.

What was my original plan? Why did I start collecting the data? Simply because I was frustrated a few months ago by some people who were making unsubstantiated claims about the NMSF numbers at various schools. I can't even remember now the exact context. At the time, I just quickly dug up a few NMSF lists to test whether the DCUM claims I was seeing rang true or not. After I found some good data, I decided to plug it into a spreadsheet rather than just discard it. Over time, I added to the data and it grew into a more extensive set. I did the work to compile the data because I was interested, so why not share with everyone?

Why did I look back 10-11 years? Why not longer? Why not shorter? No particular reason. I just started gathering data for various years. As the data extended beyond 10 years ago, I lost interest and figured no one else would care. If others want more data in the spreadsheet, just post the data with a substantiating link. I'm happy to add it. On the other side of the question, I can see the argument that more recent years might be more relevant, but there's just not that much data in recent years right now. Once people can point me to full data sets for recent years, then I'm happy to add percentage calculations for other date ranges. In actuality though, I don't think most schools really change that much over a short period like 10 years -- that's not even long enough for one child to make it all the way from K through 12.

Why is data missing for some years? Did I purposefully select certain years? I did not purposefully select or deselect any years. I included all credible data I could find. If particular schools in the spreadsheet lack data for certain years, it's because I simply have not been able to find data for those years yet. Help me out by finding and posting data!

What conclusions do I draw from these numbers? I'm not trying to suggest anything about any school by posting this data. I just offer it up so that other parents who care about such things can look at actual data, and not have to rely on rumors and other unsubstantiated claims about how different schools compare.

Enjoy the data, and please keep posting links to more! Thanks.

Wow - 15:09 you are really a little nutty. I assume you are the same TJ booster from the STA thread. I hope your son is able to live up to your expectations. Woe is him if he is not a NMSF.