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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The NMSF designation goes to the top 0.5 percent of kids in each state, so of course DC only has a few compared to the much larger high school populations of VA and MD. The cut off score also varies by state, with MD and MA usually having the highest cutoff. [b]DC 's cutoff is set at the highest state cutoff, and is generally higher than VA's cutoff score.[/b][/quote]

Why the heck would they do this? Seems like a very odd design choice, given the high poverty rate for families in DC.

Why wouldn't they just apply the same 0.5 percent methodology to kids in DC?[/quote]

[b]I don't think they apply it differently.[/b]  I think we have a much higher cutoff because the NMSFs skew to a very high-income demographic in DC.  You won't see another state where private schools represent 80% of the schools having NMSFs like we do in DC.[/quote]

Huh?  it doesn't matter what you "think."

DC has the highest cut-off because there is a rule that DC automatically gets the cut-off of the highest state which this year is New Jersey with 223. Americans living abroad are given the same cut-off.

https://www.compassprep.com/national-merit-semifinalist-cutoffs/#:~:text=New%20Jersey%20also%20established%20the,Wyoming%20%E2%80%94%20had%20cutoffs%20of%20207.

[/quote]

Great.

Why?

[/quote]
Because DC is not a state.[/quote]

Not an answer.

Why is that the rule for DC and not for other non-states?

[/quote]

For all of them the method is different because they are too small to have fair representation under the normal formula for states (each state's percentage of semifinalist approximates the state's percentage of graduating seniors nationally). DC would be allotted something like 18 if that were used (and the cut score would be super high).

In addition to the formulaic number of students awarded, I believe a secondary aim in setting the cut score is for between .5 and 1 percent of kids in each state to get the recognition (these two factors are considered together when deciding what the exact cut score will be in each state, particularly if many students got the same score on the edge of the cut off). So when the formula doesn't work because the selection unit is too small, they try to find the number that will get them the .5-1%. Other territories use the commended score, and that works out the same as it does for the states where scores are too low and thus they too get the commended level as the cut score. However, DC has so many kids who meet the commended score, usually close to 200, that the percentage of SF would be over 3%, some years as high as 5%. On the other hand, DC usually has enough kids who meet the highest state's standard that it falls within the .5 to 1% range at that level (DC usually has between 30 and 50ish).

I suppose the other option they could have used for DC is the Boarding School cut method, where the Boarding school students' cut score is the same as the highest state score in the region. It seems that it would make sense if DC were given the highest cut score between MD or VA, particularly given that a number of DC's semifinalists live in MD or VA. But again, it may be that that yields too high a percentage for DC again, but we just don't know how many of DC's 177 commended students met MD's 221.[/quote]

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