Reply to Presidential Scholarship Candidates

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[quote=Anonymous]There are two big differences between the Presidential Scholar Candidate selection process and National Merit Semifinalist selection process that are relevant in looking at how schools "did":

1.  For the Presidential Scholar program, they look at where the student lives, not the school location.  So if you go to school in DC (at say, Maret or GDS) you are still matched up against other students from the jurisdiction in which you live.

2.   The National Merit Semifinalist program effectively penalizes Washington, D.C. by pegging the D.C. qualifying score to the top in the country.  In the Presidential Scholar Candidate selection process, being from DC is more advantageous than being from VA or MD.  The reason is that the Presidential Scholar program uses a "flat" approach not taking into account the state's population or number of high scoring students.  The top 20 male test takers and top 20 female test takers in any jurisdiction, whether it's giant California or tiny Delaware or tiny Washington, D.C., are designated as candidates.

So, the D.C. private schools -- which have a lot of D.C. residents who are also disproportionately good test takers compared to the entire pool of D.C. high school seniors -- have a built in structural advantage when it comes to Presidential Scholars.  But those same D.C. kids with high scores have a built in disadvantage for National Merit Semifinalist, so it works out in a cosmic sense.
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